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Hearing Recap: 'A Healthy Workforce: Expanding Access and Affordability in Employer-Sponsored Health Care'

"As health care expenses continue to rise, the Committee is looking at solutions to bring down costs for working families. In [the April 2] subcommittee hearing, Committee Members and witnesses discussed the challenges that small business are facing as they seek to offer high-quality and low-cost health care."

House HELP Subcommittee Hearing: A Healthy Workforce: Expanding Access and Affordability in Employer-Sponsored Health Care

April 2 hearing. Video with Opening Statement by Chairman Rick Allen (R-GA) and witness testimony of [1] Ms. Angela Shields, on behalf of the National Association of REALTORS; [2] Ms. Marcie Strouse, on behalf of the National Federation of Independent Business; and [3] Ms. Bethany Lilly, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

House Ed and Workforce Chair Calls on DOL to Rescind Fiduciary Rule, MHPAEA Regs

"[T]he chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee called for the Secretary to 'rescind or withdraw' the fiduciary rule finalized under the Biden administration.... Chairman Walberg's letter to Secretary Chavez-DeRemer also urged her [to] rescind or withdraw the requirements under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act ... He said the Committee also strongly supports the creation of association health plans (AHPs) through the enactment of the Association Health Plans Act and DOL's rulemaking on AHPs."

TIGTA Snapshot Report: IRS Workforce Reductions as of May 2025 (PDF)

"According to IRS records, 25,386 employees separated, took a DRP offer, or used some other incentive to leave. Another 294 employees were sent termination notices due to RIF actions. These departures represent 25 percent of the IRS's [total] workforce ... [A]pproximately 27 percent of tax examiners separated, while 26 percent of revenue agents separated.... Business Units affected by the separations [include]: 569 employees, or 25%, of the Tax Exempt & Government Entities (TE/GE) unit."

Your Employees Are Financially Stressed: A Growing Benefits Trend Can Help Your Workforce (And Your Business)

"Regardless of how long the current state of economic uncertainty lasts or what kind of impact it may have, financial wellness benefits remain a vital part of any competitive benefits package for today’s workforce. If you would like to improve your employees’ financial health – and their productivity on the job – here are some of the key points you’ll need to consider to get started."

Social Security Announces Options to Its Workforce

"The Social Security Administration (SSA) will soon implement agency-wide organizational restructuring that will include significant workforce reductions. Through these massive reorganizations, offices that perform functions not mandated by statute may be prioritized for reduction-in-force actions that could include abolishment of organizations and positions, directed reassignments, and reductions in staffing. The agency may reassign employees from non-mission critical positions to mission critical direct service positions (e.g., field offices, teleservice centers, processing centers). Reassignments may be involuntary and may require retraining for new workloads."

Key Compliance Considerations Related to Organizational Furloughs, Layoffs, and Other Workforce Reductions (PDF)

24 pages. "[The authors] explore the technical, legal, and regulatory requirements underlying organizational workforce change management initiatives ... [and] evaluate the effects of organizational change management in the context of health and welfare plan administration ... [They] propose and evaluate certain holistic organizational change management strategies, defining and evaluating various practical alternatives and supplemental activities that can be undertaken to mitigate employee relations issues and diminish an organization's overall culture and functional workplace environment."

Understanding and Enhancing the Workforce Impact of Retirement Plans (PDF)

35 pages. "This report provides a framework for assessing how retirement plans best meet an organization's mission and objectives. The framework presents 10 key considerations ... which include how changes in broader economic and workforce factors can influence the effectiveness of plan designs.... The framework ... enables companies to prioritize what changes are needed and where, such as for what critical employee segments or organizational units. "

House Education and Workforce Committee Letter to DOL Inspector General Questioning EBSA Sharing of Confidential Retirement Plan Information with Plaintiffs' Attorney (PDF)

"The Committee on Education and the Workforce (Committee) has learned that the Department of Labor (DOL) shared confidential information involving at least six employee benefit pension plans with a plaintiffs' attorney.... DOL appears to be working in concert with plaintiffs' attorneys to circumvent the discovery protections of the FRCP by conducting a fishing expedition under the guise of an EBSA investigation and then supplying confidential information to plaintiffs' attorneys for use in private litigation against plan fiduciaries.... EBSA must immediately take steps to protect the confidentiality of information gathered during investigations and to reassure employee benefits plan fiduciaries that their cooperation during investigations will not lead to coercive actions from plaintiffs' attorneys."

House Committee on Education and the Workforce Seeks Feedback on ERISA

"[On] January 22, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce issued an RFI on 'ways to build upon and strengthen ERISA' in the lead-up to the law's 50th anniversary in September. The Committee noted that employer-sponsored health insurance, as the core of the American healthcare system, has been heavily impacted by rising health costs, leading to higher premiums, reductions in benefits, and less coverage held by small businesses.... [T]he Committee seeks feedback on several issues to explore ways of increasing affordability of coverage and quality of care.... Responses to its RFI must be submitted by March 15, 2024."