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Testimony of Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Applauding Cutbacks Under Health Care Reform on FSA, HSAs

"The Affordable Care Act ... includes a number of spending reductions and tax increases designed to assure that expanding health coverage does not drive up the deficit. Some provisions limit the use of tax-advantaged accounts to pay for health-related expenses. These limitations make sense both as tax policy and as health policy, and repealing any of them would be unwise."  MORE >>

Text of Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Testimony on the Fee on Health Insurance

"All things considered, CBO estimates that health reform will slightly reduce premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance in the near term.... Claims that the health insurance tax in particular, or health reform in general, will kill jobs are unfounded. CBO foresees a small net reduction in labor supply, primarily because some people who now work mainly to obtain health insurance will choose to retire earlier or work somewhat less, not because employers will eliminate jobs."  MORE >>

President Misleads on Social Security Rate of Return, Says Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Excerpt: As with any type of insurance, a 'rate of return' is an inappropriate standard for measuring the value that these features of Social Security provide. For example, when one buys automobile or homeowners insurance, one is not looking for a good rate of return, since one's money will be returned only if one has an accident or one's home is vandalized or damaged in a fire or other such event.  MORE >>

Administration Signals Priority of Mental Health Parity Enforcement under Fiscal 2023 Budget

"The proposed budget reflects a substantial and sustained commitment to ramp up enforcement efforts, with specific funding for MHPAEA audit activity, including $275 million for the [DOL] over a 10-year period and $125 million for state grants to support their MHPAEA enforcement efforts."

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Budget Figures, Workload Data, Fiscal Year 2001 Priorities for PWBA

Excerpt: ... the budget request for [enforcement and compliance] ... includes program enhancements for ... implementing a new program (the Rapid ERISA Action Compliance Team initiative) to protect the rights and benefits of plan participants when the plan sponsor faces severe financial hardship ... expanding PWBA's reporting compliance help desk function related to Form 5500 Report filings ... installation of an interactive toll-free line ...

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Retirement Outlook and Policy Priorities: How the New President and Congress May Help Increase Retirement Confidence (PDF)

8 pages. Excerpt: The Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies has conducted a special edition survey to gauge how retirement confidence has changed over the past year and to find out what Americans think the next President and Congress should focus on to help improve their ability to achieve a financially secure retirement.

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Rhode Island Governor Promoting Pension Reform As Top Priority of Emergency Budget Plan

Excerpt: In an unprecedented prime time speech Wednesday night, the Governor outlined a three-part plan to reduce the state's retirement spending: 1) Establish Minimum Retirement Age of 59 for all state and municipal workers, including teachers; 2) Eliminate Cost of Living Increases; 3) Move New Hires Into a 401K-Style Plan. All three must be approved by the General Assembly before they can be implemented.

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Pension Rights Center Comment Letter to IRS Urging Additional Items for Upcoming Priority Guidance Plan (PDF)

"PRC urges Treasury/IRS to take [these] actions ... [1] Fix guidance on deferred vested individual statements ... [2] Increase consumer protections applicable to electronic delivery ... [3] Improve spousal protections ... [4] Reinstate the letter forwarding program ... [5] Revise Treasury regulations on forfeiture ... [6] Restore guidance prohibiting lump sum cash-outs to retirees in plan deriskings ... [7] Definition of church plans."

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Assessing Effects on the Federal Budget of Policies to Promote Health and Prevent Disease

36 slides from presentation to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by Assistant Director for Health, Retirement, and Long-Term Analysis Linda Bilheimer. Topics include "Assessing the Cost Impact of Health Interventions" and "Considerations in Estimating the Budgetary Impact of a Proposed Health Policy".

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House Committee Hearing: Examining the Policies and Priorities of the Employee Benefits Security Administration

Video of April 16 hearing. Opening Statement: Rep. Rick Allen (R-GA); Witness: The Honorable Daniel Aronowitz, Assistant Secretary, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA).  MORE >>

The Commonwealth Fund Health Care Opinion Leaders Survey: Assessing Congress's Policy Priorities

Excerpt: This was the seventh in a series of bimonthly surveys designed to highlight leaders' perspectives on the most effective and timely health policy issues facing the nation. The survey focused on health policy priorities for Congress over the next five years.

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Senate HELP Committee Reviews Retirement and Health Policy Priorities

"The leadership of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) listed some key retirement and health priorities for the Committee for this session of Congress ... [including] benefits portability, the definition of independent contractor, funding of the [PBGC], pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) reform, and the cost of prescription drugs."  MORE >>

DOL Backs Off Longtime 401(k) Policy Priority

"During the past five years, the DOL has filed friend-of-the-court briefs in every federal appeals court case asking whether a 401(k) plan service provider can be liable as a fiduciary under [ERISA]. The DOL this week declined to do the same in a case against Transamerica Life Insurance Co. that's pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. While this move could signal a shift in DOL enforcement priorities in the Trump administration, it also could be read as a natural byproduct of a federal agency lacking top leadership following a presidential transition[.]"

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2024 Policy Priorities of the ERISA Industry Committee (PDF)

17 pages. "ERIC's policy agenda is focused on improving employee wellbeing and financial security; increasing flexibility and opportunity; reducing costs and administrative burdens; and helping large employers continue to deliver uniform benefits. ERIC advocates for measures that ensure continued tax preferences for employer- sponsored benefits and exclusive federal regulation of nationwide benefits plans through ERISA preemption."

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2017 Public Policy Priorities to Advance Retirement Security

"[This] Blueprint identifies policy proposals that expand access to workplace retirement plans, increase lifetime income options to help Americans ensure their savings will not be outlived, protect access to professional financial advice, improve access to the education American savers need to make better-informed decisions regarding their finances, and preserve the current tax treatment and structures for Americans' retirement plans[.]"

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Medicare in the 2021 Trump Budget

"The budget would establish a new payment system for post-acute care, reduce Medicare coverage of bad debts, limit medical malpractice awards, extend through 2030 the 2 percent Medicare sequestration cut under the 2011 Budget Control Act, and pay for all doctor and other outpatient services at the same rate regardless of where they're provided. Most of these proposals also appeared in last year's budget."  MORE >>

The Effects of Two Specified Policy Options for Health Care on the Federal Budget Deficit (PDF)

4 page Letter to Ranking Member, House Committee on the Budget. Excerpt: This letter responds to questions you asked about how two policy options you presented would affect the budget deficit over the long term. One option would replace the current tax exclusion for premiums foremployment-based health insurance with a tax credit that would grow overtime at a rate less than that of health care inflation. The other option would convert Medicaid into a defined-contribution program with federal outlays increasing over time at a rate less than that of health care inflation. In the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO's) view, both options would reduce future budget deficits, relative to projections under current law, by amounts that increased over time. The analysis presented in this letter covers only the two general policy concepts described here and does not represent an analysis of any particular legislation.

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House Committee Hearing: Examining the Policies and Priorities of the DOL

Video of June 5 hearing. Opening statement: Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI) Witness: DOL Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer.  MORE >>

House Subcommittee Hearing: Examining the Policies and Priorities of the Employee Benefits Security Administration

June 27 hearing. Opening statement: Rep. Bob Good (R-VA); Witness: The Honorable Lisa M. Gomez, Assistant Secretary, EBSA. Also available: HELP Subcommittee hearing recap, dated June 28.  MORE >>

P4ESC Health Policy Priorities (PDF)

"ERISA uniformity is important to maintain common benefit coverage for employees in multiple states. But it is also vitally important to finding economies of scale in benefit administration.... To tamper with the current tax treatment of employer-sponsored coverage would be especially devastating to businesses and American workers. It would also fail to address the cost drivers behind rising health care costs."  MORE >>