Washington, D.C., December 10, 2024 –The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) today announced that its President and CEO James Gelfand has been named one of The Hill’s Top Lobbyists, in the association category. The Hill, a daily online and published source of national political news and information, announced its honorees in early December.
According to The Hill, “The lobbyists on this list are some of the best in the business and have been go-to advocates during a year defined by unprecedented political events, legislative logjams, federal spending cut crusades and big rulemaking swings by the outgoing Biden administration.”
Gelfand is a well-respected health care and benefits lobbyist and policy advocate in Washington. He leads a team of federal and state lobbyists working on behalf of ERIC member companies, composed of the largest employers in the U.S., advocating for their interests as sponsors of employee health care and retirement benefit plans for tens of millions of employees, families, and retirees. Gelfand became ERIC’s president and CEO in April 2023, having previously served as its senior and then executive vice president for eight years, and serving as president since 2022.
“It is a privilege to be recognized among my peers by The Hill, and to work alongside our employer member companies to deliver meaningful health and retirement benefits to their workforces and their families. I am proud of the work ERIC’s team does every day to improve the government, the regulatory environment, and the economy,” Gelfand said.
This year Gelfand’s accomplishments included working on a range of critical health benefits issues aimed at boosting affordability of prescription drugs and enhancing transparency across the health care system. Gelfand and the ERIC team have also led the employer community in response to changes to the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act.
On key retirement benefits, Gelfand and ERIC continued to lead on implementation of the SECURE 2.0 Act. Gelfand also successfully supported efforts in several states on issues as wide-ranging as state regulation of pharmacy benefit managers and mandates related to paid leave.
View The Hill announcement here.