Leave of Absence Administrator
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
in DC

Advisory Sales Associate
Fi401k Advisors, LLC
in CO

Retirement Distribution Processor III
Alerus Financial
in MN

Retirement Plan Administrator
Gateway Pension Services, Ltd.
in MO

Education Consultant
Alerus Financial
in MI, MN, NH

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Health Benefits Laws Compliance Assistance Seminar
June 12, 2018 in MO
Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor

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All Topics , Grouped by Forum

For Applicable Large Employers Cutting Back Employee Hours Doesn't (Necessarily) Mean Cutting Off Coverage
"[W]hat happens if a full-time employee who has been employed for more than 12 months becomes a part-time employee during a stability period? In that case, the employer has three options to consider. The employer must apply the option they have chosen in a consistent and uniform way when addressing a change from full-time status to non-full time status among similarly-situated employees."
HUB International

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HHS Finalizes 2019 Benefit and Payment Parameters and Extends Transition Policy Allowing Certain Noncompliant Policies
"A lengthy discussion in the preamble explains the Exchanges' ongoing challenges in developing a reliable database to verify availability of employer-sponsored coverage for individuals seeking advance payment of premium tax credits -- a topic of interest to employers subject to employer shared responsibility. HHS also received a wide range of comments in response to its request for input on ways to incentivize value-based and consumer-driven health plans, including encouraging insurers to offer HSA-eligible high deductible health plans, but took no specific action to promote these designs."
Thomson Reuters / EBIA

CCIIO Modifies Employee Counting Method for MLR Provision
"[B]eginning with MLR reports filed in the 2018 calendar year (i.e., for the 2017 MLR reporting year), health insurance issuers ... may elect to use the same employee counting method that is used for the HHS-operated risk adjustment program ... [which] defers to the applicable state counting method, unless the state method does not take into account non-full-time employees.... The CCIIO has also issued technical guidance on the process for a state to submit a request for adjustment to the individual market MLR standard."
Wolters Kluwer Law & Business

How Employers Can Best Engage Millennials in Benefits
"[Y]ounger generations need to understand the healthcare options available to them, such as telemedicine or a mail-order pharmacy, when it makes the most sense to visit urgent care versus the emergency room, and even some education around how important preventive care is and how employees should attend well visits rather than skip them.... Millennials are more tech forward than their Gen X and baby boomer counterparts ... [R]each employees across the organization by using multiple message delivery styles."
Voya

Do Health-Management Programs Work? Health Plan Execs Might Have No Idea
"[T]ypical measurement approaches make it nearly impossible to pinpoint the impact. There are too many factors that can't easily be controlled influencing the results.... It might be time to consider design-based outcomes measurement."
Deloitte

Secretary Azar Announces Appointment of James Parker as Director of the Office of Health Reform
"[HHS] Secretary Alex Azar announced that James Parker will serve as Senior Advisor to the Secretary for Health Reform and Director of the Office of Health Reform at HHS. Mr. Parker will lead the initiative to address the cost and availability of health insurance.... Mr. Parker previously spent 20 years with Anthem, Inc. in a number of senior leadership roles advancing initiatives to improve the quality and affordability of health insurance."
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS]

Answering Questions About Health Care Price Transparency
"There are currently two sources of information blocking that prevent residents in states across the country -- even those with state transparency laws -- from having access to the full complement of claims data that could inform price transparency efforts. First, the US Supreme Court ruling in Gobeille v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company allowed all self-insured employers ... to be exempt from having their claims submitted to state-legislated all-payer claims databases.... The other mechanism used to block information is gag clauses masquerading as trade secrets."
Health Affairs

A Proposed Path Forward for Health Reform in 2018
"[This] plan targets the two main problems under Obamacare: Costs went up, and choices went down.... [The plan] would provide states with greater flexibility and new resources to serve as stewards in returning freedom and choice over health decisions to patients. Dollars would flow not to insurance companies, but to the states through block grants that would replace Obamacare's payments to insurers."
Sen. Rick Santorum, The Heritage Foundation, and 32 other organizations

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Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefits Provides Report on Plan Notices and Disclosures
"[T]he Council noted that there was generally consistent agreement among the witnesses that '...the goal of providing disclosures that are understood and utilized by participants has not been fully achieved by current mandatory disclosures.... [T]he overwhelming number and content of the disclosures being provided defeat the stated purpose.' ... [T]he Council recommended simplification and streamlining the communications.... The recommendations were accompanied by sample disclosures for the DOL's consideration[.]"
Masuda Funai

Midterm Elections Are on the Horizon: What Will That Mean for Retirement and Health Plan Legislation?
"The last chance to see benefits plan legislation before the November midterms is likely to be a loophole in the spending bill that left the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) only funded through September. This sets up FAA reauthorization as another must-pass vehicle before the midterms. Efforts are underway to encourage Congress to include beneficial retirement and health plan legislation as part of the FAA reauthorization. If that doesn't happen, the next best chance will be a possible budget deal in the fall or during the lame duck session following the midterm elections."
Lockton

Embracing the Quasi-Clawback
"In light of the difficulty of recouping compensation, companies should consider what ... the quasi-clawback, or the forfeiture of amounts that have not yet been earned, or have been earned but not yet paid....[W]ays in which companies can implement quasi-clawback features in their compensation programs: [1] Forfeiture of unvested incentive based compensation ... [2] Deferred payment of earned incentive-based compensation.... [3] Forfeiture of nonqualified deferred compensation."
Shearman & Sterling LLP

Advantages to Pre-Tax Deferral of Income in an Uncertain Tax Environment: 2018 Updates (PDF)
14 pages. "This article explains how you should consider recent and future tax rate changes when analyzing whether to participate in your company's nonqualified deferred compensation (NQDC) plan.... The only scenarios favoring the personal investment account involve high wage earners willing to settle for a meager 3% pre-tax return and invest their income over a short 10-year period. In all other scenarios, an NQDC account provided an advantage (in terms of the total amount accumulated after taxes are paid) ranging from a low of 1.75% to 47.75%."
Fulcrum Partners LLC

Press Releases

IMM, Ascensus Unveil Enhanced Version of IRAdirect eSign at Fiserv Forum Ascensus

Securities and Exchange Commission Charges Businessman with Stealing Millions from a Pension Plan U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Robert S. Socol Joins the GreatBanc Trust Company Board of Directors GreatBanc Trust Company

LIMRA LOMA Secure Retirement Institute Board Elects Carolyn Johnson of Voya to be 2018 Board Chair LIMRA LOMA Secure Retirement Institute

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