Regional Vice President of Sales The Retirement Plan Company
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Bates & Company, Inc.
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AimPoint Pension
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Loan & Distribution Specialist AimPoint Pension
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Defined Benefit Combo Cash Balance Compliance Consultant Loren D. Stark Company (LDSCO)
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Compass
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Qualified Plan Issues in Corporate Transactions: When Does a Transaction Trigger a 401(k) Participant's Right to a Distribution?
Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c. [Guidance Overview] Mar. 28, 2024 "[W]hen considering whether a corporate transaction will result in participants becoming entitled to a plan distribution, plan sponsors should not simply assume that a change in a participant's common law employer will entitle the participant to a distribution.... [W]hen it comes to determining whether participants will experience a severance of employment and be entitled to a 401(k) distribution as a result of a corporate transaction, there may not always be a clear answer." |
Seventh Circuit Orders Pension Fund to Return Withdrawal Liability to Employer
Jackson Lewis P.C. Mar. 28, 2024 "[This case] is an example of the complexity of the law in this area, especially the interaction between MPPAA and labor law. It also emphasizes that although an uphill battle, an employer can successfully contest a withdrawal liability assessment. Both competent counsel and patience are needed. (The Seventh Circuit's decision represented the end of a 12-year saga.)" [Bulk Transport Corp. v. Teamsters Union No. 142 Pension Fund, No. 23-1563 (7th Cir. Mar. 22, 2024)] Tags: Multiemployer Plans |
Text of Agency Final Regs: Short-Term, Limited-Duration Insurance and Independent, Noncoordinated Excepted Benefits Coverage
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS]; U.S. Department of Labor [DOL]; and U.S. Treasury Department [Official Guidance] Mar. 28, 2024 237 pages. "This document sets forth final rules that amend the definition of short-term, limited-duration insurance, which is excluded from the definition of individual health insurance coverage under the Public Health Service Act. This document also sets forth final rules that amend the regulations regarding the requirements for hospital indemnity or other fixed indemnity insurance to be considered an excepted benefit in the group and individual health insurance markets." Tags: Retirement Plan Design |
CMS Fact Sheet: Short-Term, Limited-Duration Insurance and Independent, Noncoordinated Excepted Benefits Coverage
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS], U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS] [Guidance Overview] Mar. 28, 2024 "The Departments are amending the federal definition of STLDI to limit the length of the initial contract term to no more than three months and the maximum coverage period to no more than four months, taking into account any renewals or extensions.... These final rules revise the consumer notice that is currently required for fixed indemnity excepted benefits coverage in the individual market and establish a new requirement to provide a consumer notice in the group market." |
Washington State Auto-IRA Latest to Become Law
American Retirement Association [ARA] [Guidance Overview] Mar. 28, 2024 "SB 6069 is among the bills the governor will sign into law on March 28.... The measure will require covered employers to allow employees an opportunity to contribute to an IRA through an automatic payroll deduction. The default contribution rate is to be not less than 3%, nor more than 7%, of wages." |
Can a Health Plan Participant Waive the Surprise Billing Protections? (PDF)
Thomson Reuters / EBIA [Guidance Overview] Mar. 28, 2024 "[F]or certain services, a plan need not apply the surprise billing protections, and a nonparticipating provider is not prohibited from balance billing, if the provider has satisfied notice requirements and obtained participant consent.... For each service furnished by a nonparticipating provider relying on the notice-and-consent document, the provider must timely notify the plan that the service was furnished during a visit at a participating health care facility, and, if applicable, provide to the plan or insurer a copy of the signed notice-and- consent document." |
Tips for a Successful Lump-Sum Window (PDF)
Buck Mar. 28, 2024 "[1] Identify your window participants and check your data.... [2] Make sure participants know the window is coming.... [3] Encourage participants to open the package.... [4] Keep it compliant and easy to understand.... [5] Enhance the election process." Tags: Retirement Plan Administration • Retirement Plan Design |
What Makes a TPA Great: How Technology Is Leveling the Playing Field
Ilene Ferenczy, via Stax•ai Mar. 28, 2024 "[We] are seeing the growth of technology and AI service providers who are providing the necessary avenues for even smaller TPAs to access data with the same or even more ease and efficiency as their big brothers have been exhibiting for several years.... [T]his is a game changer for everyone, and has the potential to make the entire plan administration process more efficient for everyone." |
Court Permanently Blocks Enforcement of ACA Section 1557 and Title VII Nondiscrimination Rules Against Christian Employer Organization (PDF)
Thomson Reuters / EBIA Mar. 28, 2024 "[W]hile this case was decided under the RFRA (and has relatively narrow applicability), another court has vacated the HHS and EEOC guidance on the grounds that it was arbitrary and capricious. HHS has proposed regulations that would reinstate, revise, and expand prior Section 1557 regulations, including making it clear that 'discrimination on the basis of sex' includes discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. But in the meantime, the agency guidance granting protections based on sexual orientation or gender identity remains vacated." [Christian Employers Alliance (CEA) v. EEOC, No. 21-0195 (D. N. Dak. Mar. 4, 2024)] Tags: Health Plan Design |
ACA Section 1557 Proxy Discrimination Challenge of Hearing Aid Exclusion Proceeds to Trial
Thomson Reuters / EBIA Mar. 28, 2024 "A federal trial court has allowed a proposed class action lawsuit to proceed against an insurer for its health plans' exclusion of all hearing aid devices except cochlear implants.... [A] successful proxy discrimination claim could call into question any plan exclusion of hearing aids or other items and services that are closely associated with a disability." [E.S. v. Regence BlueShield, 2023 No. 17-1609 (W.D. Wash. Mar. 16, 2023)] |
BlackRock's Non-ESG Funds Are Still ESG, Mississippi Order Says
planadviser Mar. 28, 2024 "Mississippi issued a cease-and-desist order against BlackRock Inc. and its subsidiaries on [March 27] alleging widespread fraud in the marketing of the firm's investment funds that do not carry an ESG label. The order does not contain a specific monetary penalty but indicates it could result in a 'multimillion-dollar penalty' at a later point for violations of the Mississippi Securities Act." |
CITs Lead 2023's Top Investment Strategies
401(k) Specialist Mar. 28, 2024 "[In] 2023, 67% -- or $104.5 billion -- of net inflows into target-date strategies went into CITs ... CITs now represent 49% of the market and are on pace to overtake mutual funds as the most popular target-date vehicle in 2024." |
How Insurers Are Communicating About Change Healthcare Security Breach
Corporate Insight [CI] Mar. 28, 2024 "Having created significant challenges for both patients and providers, the cyberattack is spurring new questions and actions in the insurance space regarding digital healthcare security. While the industry response is continuing to evolve, we'll likely see increasingly robust notifications efforts from insurers and health systems as they attempt to keep users in the loop." |
Medicare Spending on Ozempic and Other GLP-1s Is Skyrocketing
Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Mar. 28, 2024 "[T]otal gross Medicare spending on the three newest versions of these diabetes medications that have also been recently approved for weight loss -- Ozempic, Rybelsus, and Mounjaro -- has skyrocketed in recent years, rising from $57 million in 2018 to $5.7 billion in 2022.... [T]he combination of intense demand, new uses, and high prices for these treatments is likely to place tremendous pressure on Medicare spending, Part D plan costs, and premiums for Part D coverage." Tags: Medicare • Prescription Drug Costs |
Lifetime Income Products in CITs on the Rise
Mayer Brown Mar. 28, 2024 "Guaranteed income options can be included in CITs as part of their target date strategy, and employers interested in exploring the provision of in-plan lifetime income products may view this as a 'lower exposure' approach than causing the plan to contract directly with an insurance company." |
Terminating an Overfunded Pension Plan: Who Gets the Excess?
USI Consulting Group Mar. 28, 2024 "To determine how excess plan funds can be exhausted, which may include a reversion to the plan sponsor, there are seven possibilities to consider. As always, the place to start with any retirement plan issue is to answer the question: what does the plan say?" |
Benefits Leaders See Opportunities and Concerns in AI
HealthEquity Mar. 28, 2024 "More than 70% of survey respondents say they believe AI will have a positive impact on benefits administration, with only 6% indicating disagreement.... Health plan recommendations and access to care are among biggest opportunities for AI ... Data security and accuracy lead benefits leaders' concerns." Tags: AI • Health Plan Administration |
Medical Imaging Spending Growth in the U.S. Employer-Insured Population, 2010-2021
Health Affairs Scholar Mar. 28, 2024 "Nominal spending on imaging increased 35.9% between 2010 and 2021, but as a share of total health care spending fell from 10.5% to 8.9%. The 22.5% growth of nominal imaging prices was below inflation, 24.3%, as measured by the Consumer Price Index. Other key contributors to imaging spending growth were increased use (7.4 percentage points [pp]), shifts toward advanced modalities (4.0 pp), and demographic changes (3.5 pp)." Tags: Health Plan Costs |
ERIC Comment Letter to EBSA on Proposed Regs for Automatic Portability Transactions (PDF)
The ERISA Industry Committee [ERIC] [Opinion] Mar. 28, 2024 "[SECURE 2.0] allows -- but does not require -- defined contribution plan sponsors to offer automatic portability features. In implementing this provision, DOL should not impose burdens on plan sponsors or service providers that will unduly discourage participation in automatic portability arrangements. In certain areas of the Proposal, DOL has introduced complexity and administrative costs that are not required by the statute. Those provisions of the NPRM should be eliminated from any final rule." Tags: Retirement Plan Administration • Retirement Plan Design |
IRS Further Extends Tax Relief for Hawaii Wildfire Victims
Internal Revenue Service [IRS] [Official Guidance] Mar. 28, 2024 "The [IRS] today further postponed until Aug. 7, 2024, various tax-filing and tax-payment deadlines for individuals and businesses affected by the Aug. 8, 2023, wildfires in Hawaii.... [A]ffected individuals, businesses and tax-exempt organizations will now have until Aug. 7, 2024, to file their 2023 returns and pay any taxes due.... The IRS is offering relief to Maui and Hawaii counties ... Individuals and households that reside or have a business in these localities qualify for tax relief." Tags: Health Plan Administration • Reporting to Government Agencies • Retirement Plan Administration |
HSA Analysis Finds Contributions Below Maximum Levels, Most Accountholders Taking Distributions and Few Investing
Employee Benefit Research Institute [EBRI] Mar. 28, 2024 "Average employee contributions rose to $1,962, while the average employer contribution decreased slightly to $762.... Over one-half of accountholders withdrew funds. The average distribution rose to $1,868, continuing to rise from the COVID-era lows observed in 2020." Tags: HSAs |
HR Policy Urges Congress to Strengthen ERISA and Preserve Its Preemption Provisions
HR Policy Association [HRPA] [Opinion] Mar. 28, 2024 "HR Policy reiterated the importance of the national framework provided by ERISA during the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to this framework, employers were able to quickly implement crucial health care services, like telehealth, nationally. The comments urged the Committee to 'reject any attempts to weaken the federal restriction on state-by-state regulation of self-insured employers.' " Tags: ERISA Preemption |
Athene-Linked Pension Cases Strike at Need for New DOL Guidance
Bloomberg Law Mar. 27, 2024 "The lawsuits manifest an ongoing [DOL] project to revisit the nearly 30-year-old guidance that instructs plans to choose the 'safest available annuity' when shedding pension risks. Insurance lobbyists believe the rules should remain unchanged, while consumer activists want to protect savers from recent industry developments like private equity buy-outs and off-shore re-insurance investments.... Until regulators weigh in, the emerging trend of private-sector corporate litigation will grow." |
Aon Projects PRT Market Will Again Climb Above $40B in 2024
PLANSPONSOR; free registration may be required Mar. 27, 2024 "Aon attributed the growing interest in PRT to three factors: funded status improvement, rising interest rates and increasing [PBGC] premiums.... However, newer entrants to the PRT market, backed by parent companies associated with private equity, have caused some stakeholders to ask for a closer review of the [DOL's] Interpretative Bulletin 95-1, which gives guidance on selecting the 'safest available' insurer for a PRT. " |
Puerto Rico Special Paid Leave Activated for Dengue Fever State of Emergency
Jackson Lewis P.C. [Guidance Overview] Mar. 27, 2024 "[E]mployers are required to provide eligible non-exempt employees who have or are suspected of having dengue fever the five-day special paid leave due to emergencies declared by the Government of Puerto Rico ... [To] be eligible for the special paid leave, covered employees who are sick -- or suspected of being sick -- as a result of an illness that triggers a state of emergency ... must first use any other available paid leave, including accrued sick leave." Tags: FMLA and Other Leave • Local Regulation |