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CMS Announces Medicare Drug Spending Dashboard

"CMS is releasing a new online dashboard to provide information on Medicare spending on prescription drugs, for both Part B ... and Part D ... The dashboard includes information on each prescription drug, including cost trend analysis, brand names, generics, and the name of the manufacturer, and provides easily searchable, detailed information and data. The 80 prescription drugs included in the dashboard represent 33 percent of all Part D spending and 71 percent of Part B drug spending in 2014, or $55 billion of the more than $143 billion in Medicare prescription drug spending in 2014. Prescription drug spending in Parts B and D was 14 percent of total Medicare spending in 2014, up from 11 percent in 2010 -- just five years ago."

DCIIA and Manifest Launch DC Data Dashboard

"[T]his annually updated dashboard benchmarks participant behavior and reveals emerging trends, providing critical insights into the defined contribution system's health -- and opportunities for solutions ahead."

DOL 'Abandoned Plans' Guidance Moved Off OMB Dashboard

"The [DOL's] guidance to permit bankruptcy trustees to use its Abandoned Plans Program has moved off of the OMB dashboard and is back with the department, signaling the review is complete on the long-awaited release. A summary description of the proposal explains that the principal purpose is to permit bankruptcy trustees to use the Abandoned Plan Program to terminate and wind up the plans of sponsors in liquidation under Chapter 7 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code."

Best Practices for Retirement Plan Participant Homepages and Dashboards

"Homepages and plan dashboards can have a significant impact on overall satisfaction with the retirement plan digital experience.... Firms should look to [these] best practices ... [1] Prioritize the data that participants feel is most important. [2] Provide retirement readiness sections with modeling and transactional capabilities. [3] Incorporate design elements and data visualizations to maintain a clean display."

A Retirement Dashboard for the United States

"While it would not address systemic problems such as coverage, a dashboard could reduce the strain that a complex retirement system imposes on households. An effective dashboard could help employees and other savers, employers, recordkeepers, asset managers, plan providers, and the government, all of whom have an interest in ensuring that workers understand and manage their retirement savings appropriately."

CMS Updates Drug Dashboards with Prescription Drug Pricing and Spending Data

"This Administration's version of the drug dashboards ... adds information on the manufacturers that are responsible for price increases and includes pricing and spending data for thousands more drugs across Medicare Parts B and D and Medicaid.The dashboards focus on average spending per dosage unit for prescription drugs paid under Medicare Parts B and D and Medicaid, and track the change in average spending per dosage unit over time."

CMS Unveils Enhanced 'Drug Dashboards' to Increase Transparency on Drug Prices

"The dashboards are interactive online tools that allow patients, clinicians, researchers, and the public to understand trends in drug spending.... In 2012, Medicare spent 17 percent of its total budget, or $109 billion, on prescription drugs. Four years later in 2016, spending had increased to 23 percent, or $174 billion. In 2016, the drugs listed [in this news release] accounted for $39 billion in total spending by Medicare and Medicaid."

Fact Sheet: CMS Drug Spending Dashboards

"CMS is highlighting year-over-year changes in per unit spending for individual drugs at both the drug and the manufacturer-level. CMS is also expanding the dashboards to include the majority of drugs prescribed under these programs.... The tools focus on average spending per dosage unit and change in average spending per dosage unit over time. They also display consumer-friendly information on drug uses and clinical indications as well as spending information on manufacturer(s) of the drugs[.]"

ACA Data 'Dashboard' Will Track Chronic Conditions

"CMS said the new 'dashboard' would make it easy for physicians and others in the health system to find current information on where these types of conditions take place, what services these beneficiaries need, and what Medicare spends on them. In 2011, the program spent about 93% of its funding, or $276 billion, on beneficiaries with two or more chronic health issues."

Medicare Dashboard Advances ACA Goals for Chronic Conditions

"A new Medicare Chronic Conditions Dashboard ... furthers the [ACA]'s goals for health promotion and the prevention and management of multiple chronic conditions. The dashboard offers researchers, physicians, public health professionals, and policymakers an easy-to-use tool to get current data on where multiple chronic conditions occur, which services they require, and how much Medicare spends helping beneficiaries with multiple chronic conditions."

Local Conditions Affect Wellness Program Design

"[An] across-the-board wellness program (beyond its many other limitations) [can] miss many needs by not addressing local conditions that could make life changes more difficult to sustain.... So, how do you find out about what life is like for your people outside of the workplace? One approach might be the Health Policy Institute of Ohio's Health Value Dashboard.... The Dashboard brings the data closer to home by allowing you to zero-in county-by-county to see local factors affecting health that you probably couldn't know otherwise.... The Dashboard can provide the same kind of data on counties across the country, allowing you to see what differences exist at your various locations, allowing you to localize your well being efforts. Got a plant north of Atlanta in Cherokee County? Take a look at the data. The well being job to do there might be completely different than in [Ohio's] Cuyahoga County."

Text of IRS Form 14568: Model VCP Compliance Statement (PDF)

Revised Aug. 2016. Also released: Form 14568-A Model VCP Compliance Statement Schedule 1: Interim Nonamender Failures Form 14568-B Model VCP Compliance Statement Schedule 2: Other Nonamender Failures and Failure to Adopt a 403(b) Plan Timely Form 14568-C Model VCP Compliance Statement Schedule 3: SEPs and SARSEPs Form 14568-D Model VCP Compliance Statement Schedule 4: SIMPLE IRAs Form 14568-E Model VCP Compliance Statement Schedule 5: Plan Loan Failures (Qualified Plans and 403(b) Plans) Form 14568-F Model VCP Compliance Statement Schedule 6: Employer Eligibility Failure (401(k) and 403(b) Plans only) Form 14568-G Model VCP Compliance Statement Schedule 7: Failure to Distribute Elective Deferrals in Excess of the 402(g) Limit Form 14568-H Model VCP Compliance Statement Schedule 8: Failure to Pay Required Minimum Distributions Timely Form 14568-I Model VCP Compliance Statement Schedule 9: Limited Safe Harbor Correction by Plan Amendment

Upcoming Compliance Deadlines

"Employers must comply with numerous reporting and disclosure requirements in connection with their group health plans." [Chart describes deadlines that occur from March through December, 2025.]

2026 EB Compliance Guides

Seventeen 2026 compliance guides cover common employee health and welfare benefits issues and strategies for employers, including COBRA, HSAs, domestic partner issues, HIPAA, ICHRA, and more. 

Wellness Compliance Checklist

"As employers consider implementing a multifaceted, holistic approach to employee wellbeing, it is crucial to remember how compliance obligations may vary for each component of a comprehensive wellbeing program."

CMS Key Priorities for FFM Compliance Reviews for the 2015 Benefit Year (PDF)

"CMS will perform compliance reviews of issuers offering Qualified Health Plans (QHPs) in the Federally-facilitated Marketplaces (FFM).... CMS will review data at both the issuer and the QHP level... Table A below lists the regulatory standards governing QHP certification that we anticipate including as part of the FFM compliance reviews for the 2015 benefit year.... The compliance review that is the subject of this document is separate from other audits and reviews that may be conducted to ensure compliance with the Affordable Care Act (e.g., MLR audits, policy and rate filing reviews, and reinsurance-eligible plan audits). We have provided illustrative examples, in Table B, of regulatory standards that fall into this second category of requirements that will be monitored for compliance through other review and oversight mechanism."

Key Priorities for Compliance Reviews of Issuers and Plans on Federally-facilitated Marketplaces for the 2014 Benefit Year (PDF)

"CMS will perform compliance reviews of issuers offering Qualified Health Plans (QHPs) in the Federally-facilitated Marketplaces (FFM). For purposes of this document, QHPs include stand-alone dental plans, unless otherwise indicated.... CMS will review data at both the issuer and the QHP level. Policies, procedures and any other applicable documentation may be requested, as part of the compliance review process, to show compliance with issuer standards. As additional final regulations and operational guidance are published, those standards may be included as part of the compliance reviews ... [T]his list should not be construed as a comprehensive listing of all standards applicable to QHP issuers in the FFMs, nor a limitation on CMS' authority or ability to review compliance with standards not appearing on this list."

2026 Fiduciary Compliance Dates for Plan Sponsors

"Staying ahead of fiduciary deadlines is a big part of effective retirement plan governance. A proactive approach helps avoid penalties while reinforcing strong oversight, timely participant communication, and regulatory compliance. ... Q1 2026: Building the foundation ... Q2 2026: Testing, audits, and corrective actions ... Q3 2026: Heavy compliance season ... Q4 2026: Final requirements and participant notices."

DOL OIG Report: EBSA Faced Challenges Enforcing Compliance with Mental Health Parity Laws and Requirements (PDF)

41 pages. "[The] audit identified challenges that limited EBSA's efforts to enforce compliance with mental health parity NQTL laws and requirements.... EBSA lacked critical tools to enforce compliance and deter parity violations, such as the ability to assess civil monetary penalties or bring actions against all responsible parties. EBSA did not use many of the enforcement tools within its authority to ensure health plans' compliance. It also took up to 3 years to complete NQTL comparative analysis reviews."

Text of EBSA Notice: Changes to Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance Program

"Following a review of the DFVC Program, as modified in 2002 and 2013, the Department has determined to expand the penalty relief to plan MEWAs, non-plan MEWAs, and ECEs who are required to file the Form M-1.... The Department, to encourage voluntary compliance with ERISA's reporting requirements, is extending to plan and non-plan MEWAs and ECEs that are required to file Form M-1 the same $750 maximum penalty amount currently available to small plans filing a late Form 5500, and to filers of apprenticeship and training plans and top hat plans. In addition, top hat and apprenticeship plans will no longer be directed to the DFVC payment calculator. All plans eligible to pay a flat $750 fee will follow a link to a gov.pay site.... The DFVC Program described herein shall be effective December 19, 2025."