71.   The consultancy unit advises companies on their pension, health and other benefit plans.

72.   The Employees Retirement Income Security Act, or Erisa, prohibits employers from receiving anything more than reimbursement of expenses from the benefit plans of their workers.

73.   The current plans, known as defined benefit plans, provide a fixed amount of money upon retirement.

74.   The Finance Committee is mulling a plan by US Senator Bob Graham, a Florida Democrat, that would create a voluntary, subsidized drug benefit plan within Medicare.

75.   The Grand Rapids, Michigan-based bank also said it would repurchase shares to fund dividends, employee benefit plans and other corporate purposes.

76.   The health benefits plan needs to be restructured.

77.   The law says that its provisions cannot be superseded by state laws since they involve employee benefit plans.

78.   The legal question is whether these state laws are pre-empted by the federal law that regulates employee benefit plans, under which most Americans receive their health care coverage.

79.   The law itself says the sole factor to be considered is whether the suit is related to a benefit plan, the group said.

80.   The law, known as ERISA, established uniform national standards, pre-empting any state laws that relate to employee benefit plans.