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309 Matching News Items

1.  U.S. Chamber of Commerce Comment Letter to DOL on Fiduciary Proposal (PDF)
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Link to more items from this source
Jan. 2, 2024
46 pages. "As a fundamental matter, the Chamber believes an entity or person giving investment advice for a fee should do so under a heightened standard of care. However, the regulation of investment advice must be with the appropriate regulator overseeing such advice and each regulator applying the law as directed by Congress. [The Chamber believes that] some aspects of the Proposed Regulation and the Amended PTEs are not within DOL's powers."
2.  U.S. Chamber of Commerce Comment Letter to IRS on Reporting of Health Insurance Coverage (PDF)
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Link to more items from this source
June 20, 2012
"[The Chamber believes] the reporting requirements contained in this provision are statutorily placed on those who offer minimum essential coverage and are therefore not likely to be penalized under the free rider penalty. [The Chamber does not believe] that this provision applies to employers who may be penalized for not offering coverage or having employees whom receive tax credits. [The Chamber believes] the statute intended to place a lower reporting requirement and burden on those employers who offer minimum essential coverage.... Not only [does the Chamber] have concerns about the Notice's interpretation of which provisions apply to which classifications of employers, the Chamber also has concerns which specific section of Section 6055 applies to employers."
3.  Health and Retirement Priorities for the 113th Congress: U.S Chamber of Commerce Looks at Year in Review and Year Ahead (PDF)
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Link to more items from this source
Jan. 6, 2013
"Although the Chamber is committed to reforming the nation's health care system to lower costs, improve quality and access, and build a more value-driven system, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) does not accomplish these goals.... The Chamber supports repealing the employer mandate to not only protect existing jobs, but to spur the creation of new jobs by removing much of the fear and uncertainty employers are experiencing.... The Chamber intends to work with Congress and other interested parties in finding solutions to longterm funding issues in the multiemployer pension plan system.... The Chamber believes that raising the PBGC premiums, without making comprehensive reforms to the PBGC or the defined benefit system, amounts to a tax on employers that have voluntarily decided to maintain defined benefit plans."
4.  U.S. Chamber of Commerce Letter to the HHS Secretary Becerra on Medicare Drug Pricing
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Link to more items from this source
Aug. 29, 2023
"Prudence and good governance would dictate that in implementing the price control mechanisms of the IRA, your agency would have sought to determine the extent of the negative side effects and taken steps to the maximum extent practicable to reduce the negative impacts. We seek to know whether in establishing the drug price program and in selecting the 10 initial medicines [HHS] did the following: [1] Conducted research to know the effects of the policy on new drug development. [2] Attempted to ascertain if the new treatments would likely be concentrated in particular therapeutic specialties such as cancer and Alzheimer's. [3] Assessed the impact on seniors' timely access to new treatments."
5.  U.S. Chamber of Commerce Amicus Brief to Fifth Circuit: Service Provider Contracts and Prohibited Transactions (PDF)
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Link to more items from this source
June 5, 2023
37 pages. "This case concerns the scope of ERISA's prohibition on transactions between the plan and a 'party in interest,' which the statute defines to include service providers. The interpretation advanced by Appellants, joined by the Secretary, would treat common and necessary arms'-length transactions between the plan and service providers who lack any preexisting relationship to the plan as prima facie unlawful. This interpretation would make non-fiduciary service providers sitting ducks for ERISA class actions[.]" [Markham v. VALIC, No. 22-20540 (5th Cir, amicus brief filed Apr. 26, 2023)]
6.  U.S. Chamber of Commerce Letter to EBSA: SECURE 2.0 Guidance Priorities (PDF)
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Link to more items from this source
May 10, 2023
12 pages. "[1] Overpayments ... [2] Exemption for certain automatic portability transactions ... [3] Eliminating unnecessary plan requirements related to unenrolled participants ... [4] Pension-linked emergency savings account ... [5] Retirement savings lost and found ... [6] Information needed for financial options risk mitigation ... [7] Employee ownership."
7.  U.S. Chamber of Commerce Comment Letter to CMS on 2015 Letter to Issuers in the Federally-Facilitated Marketplace (PDF)
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Link to more items from this source
Feb. 26, 2014
"Of the seven chapters in the Draft 2015 Letter, there are several areas of significant concern to the Chamber because of the significant impact that many of the proposed provisions would have on limiting choice, flexibility and variation in benefit plan design offerings on the Federally-facilitated Marketplace (FFM) ... In limiting choice and flexibility, these restrictions will also increase costs by limiting the tools that issuers and employers have historically used to control costs. Finally, the Chamber finds many of the proposals in the Draft 2015 Letter to be beyond the scope of the [ACA]."
8.  U.S. Chamber of Commerce Comment Letter to OSHA About Interim Final Rule on ACA Procedures for Handling Retaliation Complaints (PDF)
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Link to more items from this source
May 1, 2013
"[The Chamber urges] the Administration to remain mindful of the damage that this [interim final rule ('IFR')] will inflict by giving disgruntled employees and job-applicants -- particularly the many millions who will receive federal subsidies -- an open-ended opportunity to pursue frivolous claims. To mitigate this, we recommend more precise definitions and more equitable treatment for employers or respondents. The Chamber also has significant regulatory procedure concerns with the IFR. OSHA has issued this IFR as an interpretive rule and in so doing has avoided any of the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act. OSHA has failed to provide the economic analyses required ... Finally, the Agency also claims that because this is an IFR, no proposal has been issued thereby allowing the Agency to avoid any the requirements of the Regulatory Flexibility Act."
9.  U.S. Chamber of Commerce Comment Letter to HHS on Proposed Regs for Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2014 (PDF)
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Link to more items from this source
Dec. 31, 2012
"[The Chamber remains] concerned about the Administration's apparent procedural short-cuts and worry that it will deter the public from participating in the regulatory process.... [Further, the Chamber remains] concerned that several parts of the Proposed Rule are overreaching to inappropriately advance ideological goals. The statutory language imposes significant burdens on employers, insurers and individuals. Additional burdens will only harm the affordability of coverage and undermine the goal of improving access to affordable coverage.... Finally, the Chamber has serious concerns about the economic impact analysis in the Proposed Rule [and is] gravely troubled that the lack of economic analysis conducted and provided by HHS and CMS will inhibit the public's ability to properly assess the proposal."
10.  U.S. Chamber of Commerce Comment Letter to IRS on Minimum Value of an Employer-Sponsored Health Plan (PDF)
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Link to more items from this source
June 20, 2012
"[The Chamber] strongly recommends that the safe harbor concept be broadened ... Given that only two percent of individuals were then covered by plans which failed to meet the 60 percent actuarial value threshold, it will be an even smaller percentage once these plans are outlawed.... [Also, the Chamber disputes] the position taken in this Notice (and in the Actuarial Value and Cost-Sharing Reduction Bulletin by the Department of Health and Human Services) that, when calculating the minimum value of the contribution made by the employer to an HSA or HRA, only a portion or 'appropriate amount' of these employer contributions would be credited to the actuarial value calculation. Instead, the entire amount of the employer contributions should be included."
11.  Letter from U.S. Chamber of Commerce to House of Representatives on the Health Care Cost Reduction Act (HR 436)
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Link to more items from this source
June 6, 2012
"The U.S. Chamber of Commerce ... strongly supports H.R. 436 ... The new requirement that FSA and HSA account holders cannot use tax-preferred funds from these accounts to purchase OTC items unless they obtain a prescription limits access to affordable care, increases costs to the health care system, and places a new administrative burden on medical professionals. ... However, the Chamber is concerned about the FSA cash-out provision of the bill, which would allow employees to take the funds that remain in their accounts at the end of the year."
12.  U.S. Chamber of Commerce Comment Letter to HHS on Proposed Standards for Essential Health Benefits, Actuarial Value and Accreditation (PDF)
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Link to more items from this source
Dec. 26, 2012
"The 30-day comment period provided in the Proposed Rule is wholly insufficient and has hampered the Chamber's ability to conduct a thorough analysis and develop meaningful comments.... While [the Chamber appreciates] the general affirmation in the preamble that CMS will not 'prohibit issuers implementing EHB standards from applying utilization management techniques,' we remain very troubled and concerned by the subsequent statement. CMS continues by saying 'However, issuers could not use such techniques to discriminate against certain groups of people.' This statement in the Preamble not only indicates CMS's misguided view that all plans nefariously use utilization management solely for the purpose of depriving treatments or misdirecting patients, it also reveals CMS's intent to improperly extend the statutory language regarding nondiscrimination."
13.  U.S. Chamber of Commerce Testimony on the Individual and Employer Mandate (PDF)
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Link to more items from this source
Apr. 16, 2012
"The [Chamber] applauds [House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health chairman's] efforts to highlight the harmful economic impact that the employer mandate is having on our country now two years after the enactment of [PPACA], despite the fact that the mandate will not become fully effective for another two years. Your hearing regarding the Individual and Employer Mandates in the Democrats' Health Care Law on March 29, 2012 importantly showcased the ongoing harm that the mandate is having on business, jobs and the economy. The Chamber continues to support the repeal of the employer mandate and agrees that the employer mandate is discouraging employers from hiring, a fact that our members have verified in survey after survey."
14.  Text of Letter from U.S. Chamber of Commerce to Senators in Support of S. 1735, the 'Self-Insurance Protection Act' (PDF)
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Link to more items from this source
Nov. 25, 2013
"[HHS] has shown interest in the possibility of regulating stop-loss insurance which raises concerns that future regulations may make the administration of self-insured plans more burdensome and expensive for employers who choose this option. In addition to making self-insurance coverage less appealing, including stop-loss insurance in the definition of health insurance coverage could effectively force many self-insured entities using stop-loss insurance to discontinue their plans. In light of this tumultuous and highly transitional time for our country's private sector health insurance system, it is critical to ensure that businesses continue to have a variety of accessible options to offer their workers quality health care coverage."
15.  U.S. Chamber of Commerce Comment Letter to HHS Requesting Extension of Comment Period for Proposed Regs on Essential Health Benefits, Actuarial Value, and Accreditation (PDF)
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Link to more items from this source
Dec. 10, 2012
"The U.S. Chamber of Commerce requests that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) extend the comment deadline for the proposed regulation on Standards Related to Essential Health Benefits, Actuarial Value, and Accreditation by 60 days to February 26, 2013. This would provide an appropriate 90 day comment period which is necessary to appropriately analyze and thoughtfully comment on this complex proposed regulation.... A close reading of the NPRM ... reveals that the department withheld this proposed regulation until after the election, even though it was signed on August 1, 2012, over three whole months before the election.... The almost four months of delay and review in the Secretary's office, between August 1st and November 14th, in and of itself indicates the complexity of this regulation and highlights the absurdity of a 30-day review period for the regulated public."
16.  U.S. Chamber of Commerce Comment Letter to DOL on Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-01: 401(k) Plan Investments in Cryptocurrencies
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Link to more items from this source
Apr. 14, 2022
"[A]ny regulation of fiduciary investment decisions should be neutral with respect to the type of investment and instead focus on a prudent process. By singling out cryptocurrency for investigation and stating that fiduciaries must be prepared to 'square their actions' of permitting cryptocurrency investments with their duties of prudence, EBSA is at best putting a chilling effect on such investments and at worst condemning them.... EBSA's warning that plan fiduciaries that 'allow' cryptocurrency in brokerage windows will need to square that with their duty of prudence not only is contrary to how brokerage windows have been treated in the past, but likely impossible to defend."
17.  Amicus Brief of U.S. Chamber of Commerce to Supreme Court in Northwestern Fiduciary Breach Case (PDF)
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Link to more items from this source
Oct. 29, 2021
48 pages. "Amici file this brief to provide a roadmap for evaluating the plausibility of inference-based claims like those asserted in petitioners' complaint and the countless other ERISA class-action complaints that have flooded federal courts in recent years.... Under ERISA as elsewhere, circumstantial allegations should be rigorously analyzed, in context. For claims of fiduciary breach, context includes both the broad discretion and flexibility that fiduciaries enjoy under ERISA, and the realities of plan management that fiduciaries face.... Cheapest is not always best." [Hughes v. Northwestern Univ., No. 18-2569 (7th Cir. Mar. 25, 2020; cert. pet. granted No. 19-1401, Jul. 2, 2020)]
18.  U.S. Chamber of Commerce Comments to PBGC on Regulatory Planning and Review (PDF)
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Link to more items from this source
Aug. 25, 2017
"We recommend that the PBGC promote a correction program that is similar to correction programs at other agencies of jurisdiction.... The PBGC has revised premium filing procedures and instructions to require reporting of certain undertakings to cash out or annuitize benefits for a specified group of former employees. The Chamber strongly discourages collection of this information ... We encourage the PBGC to move forward with the missing participant program.... In 2016, the PBGC issued a rule lowering the penalty on late payment of premiums.... we again urge the agency to apply the changes as well to any penalty assessments for pre-2016 plan years where the penalty assessment has not yet been resolved."
19.  U.S. Chamber of Commerce Comment Letter to IRS on Expatriate Health Plans, Expected Benefits, and Limited Duration Insurance
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Link to more items from this source
Aug. 9, 2016
"If finalized, these regulatory proposals would render an overly narrow and restrictive application of the flexibility that the EHCCA was designed to provide: the compliance deadline or effective date; the new regulatory definition of 'substantially all;' the new notice requirement for electronic furnishing of statements; the truncated term for short-term, limited duration insurance; and travel requirements for expatriates. The Chamber has discrete concerns regarding each of these sections and recommends substantive changes for these provisions in the Final Rule."
20.  Text of U.S. Chamber of Commerce Memorandum in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment in Challenge to DOL Fiduciary Rule (PDF)
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Link to more items from this source
July 25, 2016
52 pages. "The Department has achieved this regulatory alchemy through a two-step process. First, it adopted an overbroad interpretation of who is a fiduciary under ERISA and certain parallel provisions of the Tax Code.... Second, the Department provided limited relief from the prohibitions resulting from this overbroad 'fiduciary' interpretation ... The Department thus exploited its limited interpretive authority to impose unworkable restrictions that necessitate exemptions, and then exploited its authority to grant exemptions by conditioning them on 'agreement' to an entirely new regulatory framework that the Department has no power to construct. And, precisely because the Department lacks enforcement authority in this area, it has delegated enforcement to private and class action litigation." [U.S. Chamber of Commerce, et al. v. Perez, No. 16-1476 (N.D. Tex., motion filed July 18, 2016)]
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