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Church-Affiliated Hospital Pension Plans and the ERISA Exemption

There are hundreds of church-affiliated hospitals and other not-for-profit organizations that are exempt from ERISA’s funding and other requirements because they have IRS private letter rulings granting them church plan status. Many of them are seriously underfunded. Over the past few years, a number of class action lawsuits have been brought on behalf of participants challenging the validity of these exemptions and dismissing the authority of the private letter rulings. While the district courts have split on the issue, two appellate courts have ruled in favor of the participants and against the hospitals. The matter will ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. This article is an analysis of this complex and important development.