Search the News Archive

Proposed Cuts to Teamster Pensions Draws Fire from Retirees, Who Vow Action

" 'I was in shock as to what percentage they wanted,' [said] Mike Walden, 66, chairman of Northeast Ohio Committee to Protect Pensions who worked 31 years for now-defunct Roadway Express and retired 2010... [H]is pension would be cut from around $2,900 a month to around $1,450. 'They (Central States) had said the average reduction was supposed to 22 percent. I have not spoken to anybody whose cut is 22 percent. Most were in the 50 to 60 percent range. To me, their summary is very misleading,' Walden said."

Teamsters Rank-and-File Dig In Against Possible Pension Benefit Cuts

"Teamsters retirees from the trucking industry currently enjoy some of the most generous pensions in America -- up to $3,500 a month for 30 years of service from any unionized trucking company that contributed to multiemployer pension plans that once covered the industry like a warm fuzzy financial security blanket. But those pension plans, once thought to be the 'Cadillac' of all retirement plans, are in deep financial trouble.... The issue is acute because the Pension Protection Act of 2006, which prohibits any benefit cuts in troubled pension plans, is due to sunset at the end of this year."

California's COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave Mandate Brings Logistical Difficulties

"When an employee seeks time off under SB 95, the company can't require medical documentation unless there's reason to believe the employee isn't being truthful ... Also, employers generally can't require an employee to use other paid or unpaid leave -- such as accrued vacation time or sick time -- before using SB 95 leave."

District Court Holds a Surcharge Is Not a Contribution for Purposes of Determining a Withdrawn Employer's Payment Schedule

"While 'contribution rate' is undefined, ERISA defines 'obligation to contribute' as an obligation to contribute arising 'under one of more collective bargaining (or related) agreements,' or 'as a result of a duty under applicable labor-management relations law.' [ERISA section 4212(a).] Given this, the court found that a surcharge required by the PPA arises under ERISA, not a collective bargaining agreement or labor-management relations law. Thus, the surcharge could not be considered part of the contribution rate." [Board of Trustees of the IBT Local 863 Pension Fund v. C&S Wholesale Grocers/Woodbridge Logistics LLC, No. 12-7823 (D.N.J. Mar. 19, 2014)]

Supporters of Releasing Privately Negotiated Health Plan Rates Dominate Public Comments

"Halfway through the 60-day comment period on a controversial proposal to require hospitals to release their privately negotiated rates for health plans, nearly all the public comments submitted so far have come from supporters of the transparency proposal.... National hospital groups said they also were putting together their responses to the transparency proposal, which many industry officials worry could complicate negotiations with health plans, carry large logistical challenges and high costs, and provide little benefit to consumers."

What Happens to Your HSA in Retirement?

"In addition to gauging HSA quality, long-term HSA investors need to consider the logistics of managing their HSAs, especially if their plan is to carry the HSA assets into retirement. How should HSA assets be allocated during retirement? Where in the retirement-funding queue do these accounts belong? And importantly, what would happen to your HSA if you were to pass away before you spent all the money?"

Doctors Gain Small Foothold in CO-OP Insurance Before Funding Stops

"As federal funding rapidly dries up for a new consumer-oriented health plan model that was supposed to be a health system reform alternative to for-profit insurance, observers are suggesting that the financial and administrative challenges to launching these plans may explain why so few that managed to get off the ground are being sponsored by physician organizations.... Numerous physician organizations showed interest in this process, but most couldn't get past the logistical hurdles[.]