Plan Administrator
Nationwide Financial
in OH

Retirement Plan Account Manager
401k Advisors Intermountain (401kAIM)
in UT

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Affordable Care Act 101 Webinar
January 16, 2014 WEBCAST
(U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA))

401(k) Essentials Plus Series
January 22, 2014 WEBCAST
(McKay Hochman Co., Inc.)

Designated Roth Accounts and Roth Conversions
January 22, 2014 WEBCAST
(McKay Hochman Co., Inc.)

Financial Wellness Initiatives: The Right Prescription for Employees’ Retirement Security
January 22, 2014 WEBCAST
(McDermott Will & Emery LLP)

Steering Clear Of A Pension Calamity In America
February 3, 2014 in NY
(Buck Consultants, A Xerox Company)

The Future of Employee Benefits
February 11, 2014 WEBCAST
(National Institute of Pension Administrators)

Evolution(k) How to win more ERISA business in a Post Disclosure World
March 3, 2014 in NC
(Millenium Investment & Retirement Advisors, LLC)

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[Guidance Overview]

DOL Issues Additional Clarifications to ACA and Mental Health Parity Implementation
"The FAQ clarifies that fixed indemnity coverage that supplements other group health plan coverage may, nonetheless, qualify as excepted benefits under existing law even if it pays on a per-service versus a per-period basis.... If these proposed revisions are implemented, fixed indemnity insurance in the individual market would no longer have to pay benefits solely on a per-period basis to qualify as an excepted benefit." (Constangy, Brooks & Smith, LLP)  

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DATAIR! More Choices – Better Guidance – Less Cost

FSA, DCAP, Full-Flex, HRA, HSA, 132(f)
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(888) 328-2474   Sales@DATAIR.com   www.DATAIR.com

Yes, Virginia, ERISA's Fiduciary Rules Apply to Welfare Benefit Plans Too
"In [a complaint recently filed against a welfare benefit plan sponsor,] the [DOL] seeks recoupment ... of nearly $500,000 and the removal of fiduciaries of the company's self-insured health benefit, dental, and flexible benefit plans.... Nothing puts a sharper point on the fiduciary nature of the employer's obligations this than the complaint's prayer for relief. It seeks the appointment of 'an independent fiduciary for the proper administration of the plan.'" (Fiduciary Plan Governance, LLC)  

Using Data to Drive HSA Program Engagement
"[Y]ear after year, more employers offer a Health Savings Account (HSA) program to employees as part of their healthcare benefits options ... a significant number of company administrators will be looking to optimize their 'investment' in their HSA Program -- and turning to analytics to drive their program design and management decisions. Insights derived from data will help them align their companies' goals with their employees' goals more effectively, resulting in more successful employee healthcare benefits programs." (Healthcare Trends Institute)  

Making HSAs and Wellness Work Together
"[S]ome employers are expanding use of HSAs to drive wellness participation.... By increasing the conditions that must be met, it creates a natural progression that helps employees become more aware of their health and to do something about any issues identified by the screening. It also demonstrates to employees what they need to do to control their personal health care costs; those who make progress get discounts on their plan, so they become more responsible for their own health and ultimately their own savings. As employees control their costs, they help control the employer's costs as well." (Employee Benefit News)  

Nearly a Quarter of Health Marketplace Enrollees Are Young Adults
"Almost 40 percent of the potential market for the exchanges is people 18 to 34 years old. Based on the [CBO] estimate that 7 million people would enroll this year, that would be 2.7 million young adults.... Young adults are the most likely group to lack coverage --- 19 million people between 18 and 34 are uninsured.... About 18 million of the 19 million will qualify for subsidies to buy private coverage or for Medicaid[.]" (Kaiser Health News)  

Mixed Reports on New York State Health Exchange
"New York has been one of the most successful states in signing up people for new insurance plans under the [ACA] and, as of Dec. 24, the deadline for enrollment for coverage beginning New Year's Day, 230,624 had enrolled. As of [January 12], that number was 294,000. (People who sign up by the 15th of a month can get coverage the next month.) About 30 percent of the people who enrolled in private plans in New York are under 35 years old ... Nationally, only 24 percent were under 35[.]" (The New York Times; subscription may be required)  

Data Collection and Use in the New Health Insurance Exchanges
"[I]nsurers seeking to sell plans in the marketplaces ... must pass a two-part test before any products can be listed for sale.... Taken together, these two new data reporting requirements ... have the potential to improve the quality of marketplace health insurance products, since issuers will be subject to quality measurement ... [M]any of the results of this two-pronged data review, along with some of the data elements themselves, will be posted on the marketplace websites for consumers to use in selecting plans." (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)  

An October Through December Exchange Enrollment Report
"The December report for the first time ... tells us the proportion of individuals who actually enrolled in a plan who received financial assistance: 78 percent in the state-based exchanges, 80 percent in the federal exchange. This is close to the level of subsidy-eligible exchange enrollees projected by the [CBO] and suggests that the exchanges are actually reaching the uninsured -- those who could not have previously afforded health insurance -- as well as individuals who had individual coverage previously but really could not afford it." (Timothy Jost in Health Affairs Blog)  

Health Insurance Marketplace: Enrollment Report for the Period: October 1, 2013 - December 28, 2013 (PDF)
29 pages. Excerpt: "46 percent of the persons who have selected a Marketplace plan are male; 54 percent ... are female.... 24 percent of the persons who have selected a Marketplace plan are between the ages of 18 and 34; 30 percent ... are between the ages of 0 and 34.... 20 percent of the persons who have selected a Marketplace plan have selected a Bronze plan; 60 percent ... have selected a Silver plan.... 79 percent of the persons who have selected a Marketplace plan have selected a Marketplace Plan with Financial Assistance." (Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)  

[Guidance Overview]

IRS Issues Two Final Rules With Implications for High-Income Taxpayers
"[By] deferring compensation, employees may be able to avoid the 3.8% tax on interest and earnings during the period of deferral that would otherwise apply to most investments held outside the employer/employee relationship. This would include nonqualified deferred compensation that either earns interest or pays dividends on shares held as nonqualified deferred compensation (like deferred RSUs). As with all income-deferral decisions, nonfinancial factors, such as the loss of flexible access to the money under the 409A rules and the credit status of the employer, would need to be balanced against the potential for increased investment earnings on pretax deferrals." (Towers Watson)  

What to Do About Employee Benefits When the Company Is Headed Towards Insolvency
"If you are a board member or senior executive of a company that is rapidly failing, what do you about employee benefits? No one has ever liked my answer: freeze the benefits. This is counterintuitive advice for someone who is trying to keep the company afloat, and who would be personally affected by the loss of benefits. But let me explain why this is so important, using a complaint that was recently filed by the DOL, and the facts as they were alleged." (Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP)  

Requiem for ERISA Class Actions (PDF)
"Over the last four years, the Supreme Court decided six cases favoring mandatory arbitration clauses. Taken together, these six Supreme Court rulings strengthen the case for including mandatory arbitration clauses with class action waivers in all ERISA-regulated plans and all employment agreements. So long as the arbitration clauses and class waivers are properly drafted and the elements of contract formation are properly observed, employers will be able to eliminate their exposure to the runaway costs of class action litigation." (Baker & McKenzie)  

SEC Report Finds More Study Needed Before Compensation Disclosure Rules Will Change
"[The SEC's] recently issued Report on Review of Disclosure Requirements in Regulation S-K recommends only that the SEC take more time to 'confirm that the required information is useful to investors' and explore 'whether further scaling is appropriate.' ... This lack of action by the SEC means companies will not have any new disclosure rules to consider as they craft the Compensation Discussion and Analysis sections of their 2014 proxy statements." (Towers Watson)  

Segal Rogerscasey and Frontier Advisors Announces The Expansion of Global Investment Research Alliance – Now Covering United Kingdom and Europe
Segal Rogerscasey

ING U.S. to Become Voya Financial in 2014
ING U.S.

Commonwealth Financial Network And Castle Rock Innovations Partner To Implement Axis Retirement Analytics Platform
Castle Rock Innovations

Castle Rock Investment Certified As A Women’s Business Enterprise
Castle Rock Investment Company

Segal Group Expands Public Sector Health Practice
The Segal Group

ProCourse Fiduciary Advisors, LLC Has Been Certified For Fiduciary Excellence
Centre for Fiduciary Excellence (CEFEX)

ConnectYourCare Announces Nationwide Expansion of Sales Team to Meet Growing Demand
ConnectYourCare

Computershare Adds Retirement Eligibility Taxation Functionality For Employee Equity Plan Clients
Computershare

December State-by-State Health Exchange Analysis Released by Transamerica Center for Health Studies
Transamerica Institute

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