DATAIR Employee Benefit Systems, Inc.

Client Services Consultant
Ascensus
in PA

Plan Recordkeeping Manager
TPA
in DC, GA, MD, VA

New Business Consultant
United Retirement Plan Consultants
in WA

Retirement Plan Consultant
AXA
in MI, OH

Defined Benefit Pension Plan Manager
The Angell Pension Group, Inc.
in ANY STATE

Bilingual Benefits Representative - Defined Benefits
The Savitz Organization
in PA

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Cadillac Tax: A Regulatory Update on the ACA's 40% Excise Tax on Higher-Cost Employer-Sponsored Coverage
March 24, 2015 WEBCAST
(Ernst & Young, LLP)

Creating Health Engagement & Behavior Change: The New Paradigm in Health & Wellness
April 7, 2015 WEBCAST
(Benefitfocus)

A Practical Guide to Employee Benefit Plan Reporting and Disclosure Requirements Under the ACA, HIPAA, ERISA and the Code
April 21, 2015 WEBCAST
(ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits)

Impact of the New CMS ACO Model: Next Generation ACO Implications
April 22, 2015 WEBCAST
(Healthcare Web Summit)

Cadillac Tax Under Code § 4980I: IRS Notice 2015-16 Fills in the Details
April 29, 2015 WEBCAST
(Thomson Reuters / EBIA)

HSAs, HRAs, and Consumer-Driven Health Care
June 3, 2015 in IL
(Thomson Reuters / EBIA)

The Gathering Storm: How Should Plan Fiduciaries Address Health Care Provider Overbilling?
June 9, 2015 WEBCAST
(ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits)

ASPPA Regional Conference
July 9, 2015 in MA
(ASPPA [American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries])

2018 Enrolled Actuaries Meeting
April 8, 2018 in DC
(Conference of Consulting Actuaries)

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[Guidance Overview]

Your Annual Funding Notice May Need Tweaking
"The final model notices do not incorporate language required to comply with the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) and the Highway and Transportation Funding Act (HATFA). Supplemental language complying with HATFA and MAP-21 would not change, no matter if a plan is using the new, final model notices or its previous approach for the 2014 plan year." (International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans [IFEBP])  

[Advert.]

Are you making payments to dead people?

See how Fred stopped making payments to deceased participants using PBI's PlatinumPLUS solution with ObitPro! Contact us today for a 30 day NO CHARGE TRIAL. Call 415-482-9611 or email inquiry@pbinfo.com today ... you won't believe what you're missing!

[Guidance Overview]

DOL Revises Participant Fee Disclosure Timing (PDF)
"[P]lan administrators of individual account plans will now be required to provide participant fee disclosures at least once in any 14-month period, without regard to whether the plan operates on a calendar or fiscal year basis.... A plan administrator could choose to provide the fee disclosure with annual enrollment material provided on October 31, 2015 for the 2016 plan year, and then provide the disclosure on December 31, 2016 for the 2017 plan year. This relief applies only to the distribution of the fee disclosure notice. No changes have been made to the timing of the quarterly information or to requirements for providing change notices in advance of a plan change." (Buck Consultants at Xerox)  

[Guidance Overview]

DOL Provides More Timing Flexibility for Annual Participant Investment Disclosures
"In a creative use of administrative procedures, DOL provided this guidance in three forms: [1] A temporary enforcement policy, to the extent that plan administrators determine that making use of the two-month grace period benefits participants and beneficiaries; [2] A 'direct final rule,' which takes effect on June 17, 2015, unless DOL receives significant adverse comment during a 30-day comment period ending April 20, 2015, in which case the direct final rule will be withdrawn; ... and [3] A proposed rule, which will become the vehicle for considering and resolving commentary if the direct final rule is withdrawn." (Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP)  

[Guidance Overview]

DOL Makes Participant Fee Disclosure Deadline More Flexible (PDF)
"The DOL's new guidance ... provides that the annual notice must be given within 14 months of the prior year's disclosure. This gives plan administrators and practitioners some leeway to provide the notice at approximately the same time each year." (Ferenczy Benefits Law Center LLP)  

[Guidance Overview]

A Change in One Number Provides Relief for Participant Directed Account Plans
"[If] a plan administrator is preparing its annual investment and fee disclosure for participants currently, it can rely on the new requirement that it be distributed at least once in a 14 month period ... The temporary enforcement policy will end on the effective date of the final regulation or any other action by the Department on this rule ... The investment and fee disclosures to participants in a participant directed investment account plan will be treated as timely if it is distributed to participants in the plan at least once in any 14 month period, instead of a 12 month period." (Winstead PC)  

[Advert.]

Don't delay, save $100 today! Fee will increase after March 23.

Presented by SunGard's Relius Education and Ferenczy Benefits Law Center, LLP - Sessions cover current developments, plan design, and fiduciary concerns. 15 CE hrs, incl. 2 Ethics. Bring your questions for the "Ask the Oracles" session. Register Now.

[Guidance Overview]

DOL Provides Two Month Buffer for Annual Participant Fee Disclosures
"Plan administrators may rely on the new 14-month requirement before June 17, 2015, the effective date of the final rule, if they reasonably determine that doing so will benefit plan participants and beneficiaries. This temporary enforcement policy is intended to help plan administrators whose disclosures may be due before the effective date of the final rule." (Practical Law Company)  

Retirement Plan Assets Grow
"[T]otal assets held in employer-sponsored retirement plans were $11.3 trillion at the end of 2014, an increase of 11.5 percent from the $10.1 trillion one year earlier. Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) hold another $5.4 trillion of retirement savings. Total assets, including public, private, 403(b) plans and IRAs is $21.5 trillion.... [M]ore than $3.5 trillion ($3.537 trillion) is in defined benefit accounts among the public sector, while there is $458 billion in defined contribution accounts and $241 billion in 457 Plans[.]" (Spectrem Group)  

Women Need Retirement Planning Nudge
"Nearly half (48%) of men have calculated the amount of assets and investments they will have available to spend in retirement, but only 40% of women have done so. Two-thirds (66%) of men have determined what their Social Security benefits would be at different retirement ages, compared to 63% of women. Fifty-four percent of men have determined what their income will be in retirement, while 53% of women have done the same. Forty-eight percent of men have determined what their expenses will be in retirement, versus 47% of women." (PLANSPONSOR)  

Maximizing Your Lifetime Social Security Benefits (PDF)
"You can boost your annual payments significantly by waiting to claim your Social Security benefits until age 70. [A table] shows the yearly increase based on the year of your birth. For those born between 1943 and 1954, waiting until you are 70 will give you 32% more in annual benefits than if you took them at your full retirement age of 66, and 76% more than you would receive by taking them at age 62." (Bronfman E.L. Rothschild)  

[Advert.]

Looking to Connect with other EB Professionals? Start a New WEB Chapter!

Are you are a leader in employee benefits? Interested in developing qualifications of others in the field, while enhancing your own credentials? Contact us about joining a team of like-minded professionals to start a new WEB chapter in your geographic area.

Vanguard to Bring Price War to Small-Business Pensions Market
"In just over two years since its launch, Vanguard's small-business products have amassed $6.7 billion in assets under management as at the end of 2014, split among 2,678 pension plans with 126,956 members. Several other large investment managers including Fidelity Investments, Principal Financial Group and T. Rowe Price compete in the same market.... Vanguard charges a fee of 0.5% to 0.7% to small firms. Small businesses should usually expect to pay 1% to 1.5% in annual management fees, plus flat fees, for a 401(k) plan ... Fees can range as high as 2% in some cases." (The Wall Street Journal; subscription may be required)  

Third Circuit Opinion: Evidence of Fixed Policy of Denying Benefits Is Sufficient to Demonstrate Futility of Administrative Appeals (PDF)
"The Employees misconstrue the futility exception to the exhaustion requirement when they argue that, because exhaustion is an affirmative defense, United bears the burden of proving that it would not be futile... The failure of Hane's appeal, the existence of a fixed policy denying benefits as evidenced by the correspondence between Loughlin and the many TVPs with letters in the record, and the absence of any evidence before us to suggest that an appeal from Loughlin's letter was anything other than time wasted, lead us to conclude that the District Court did not abuse its discretion in applying the futility exception to the exhaustion requirement[.]" [Cottillion v. United Refining Co., No. 13-4633 (3d Cir. Mar. 18, 2015)] (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit)  

ERISA Damages: Two Bites from the Same Apple Are Impermissible
"The sole issue before the Sixth Circuit in the en banc rehearing was whether Rochow was entitled to recover under both ERISA Sections 502(a)(1)(B) and 502(a)(3) based only on LINA's denial of benefits.... [T]he court concluded that Rochow only alleged one injury (i.e., the failure to pay benefits due) and that the remedy available under ERISA Section 502(a)(1)(B) was sufficient to resolve that injury. The decision by the Sixth Circuit in the en banc rehearing seems to bring that circuit back into alignment with other federal circuits and the Supreme Court[.]" [Rochow v. LINA, No. 12-2074 (6th Cir. Mar. 5, 2015)] (Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP)  

Federal Agencies Monitoring Retirement Plans Try to Work Smarter with Less (PDF)
"DOL has said it will focus its investigations on issues with the greatest impact, and the IRS will zero in on compliance issues with a 'multiplier effect,' issues that will affect many plans. Despite money and manpower constraints, both agencies have been very busy addressing new and existing issues[.]" (ERISAdiagnostics, Inc. via Thompson Pension Plan Fix-It Handbook)  

SunGard Launches Health Information Exchange (HIE) Connectivity Solution for Health Payers
SunGard

HighRoads Hires Mark Manning as SVP and Chief Revenue Officer
HighRoads

Benefitfocus and RedBrick Health Integrate Wellness Programs into Employee Benefits Platform
Benefitfocus

EEOC Seeks Public Input on Plan to Review its Significant Regulations
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission [EEOC]

Now Available: Transcript from the Regulator’s Panel at 2015 ECFC Annual Conference
ECFC [Employers Council on Flexible Compensation]

Enrollment in Health Benefits Through Towers Watson’s Exchange Solutions Expected to Reach About 1.2 Million in 2015
Towers Watson

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