Excerpt: The recent decision of a three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which overturned a federal judge's ruling on San Francisco's 'play or pay' employer health insurance mandate, highlights one important fact: The 1974 federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act, known as ERISA, is a mess. It was bad law when it was enacted, and it hasn't gotten better with time. It is because of ERISA that the states have gone crazy with mandated benefits and other regulations.  MORE >>