Book excerpt: Health and Welfare Benefit Plans, Third Edition, is a handy reference resource intended to demystify employee welfare benefits. Readers will gain an understanding of employee benefit regulation and will comprehend the ways benefit issues relate to the myriad of other employer legal obligations. Health and Welfare Benefit Plans chapters explore the mechanisms through which employers provide employee welfare benefits, and the focus is on the various forms of employee benefits (other than pension) that employers choose to provide to their employees. This work addresses benefit programs that are not ERISA covered pension benefits and thoroughly discusses the delivery of employer provided non-pension benefits. Intended for lawyers and human resource professionals who deal with employee benefits issues as part of their practice, it is a useful guide for planning and management. Health and Welfare Benefit Plans is timely and offers a current discussion of all the significant changes in employee welfare benefits in a practical single volume.