Newsletter Archive
November 2014
The November Benefits Spotlight highlights compliance delays and trends in the healthcare industry and contains year-end checklists to make your planning easier. On the retirement side, we focus on IRS Notice 2014-66 and developments in the use of income annuities in 401(k) plans.
October 2014
This October newsletter spotlights a strategic plan created by the American Benefits Council on the future of employer-provided health and retirement benefits. Additional coverage includes a report on retirement delay by TowersWatson and a guide to health plan identifiers from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Service.
September 2014
This Benefits Spotlight includes a link to important issues discussed during Employee Benefit Research Institute's 74th Policy Forum. Also included is a link to an IRS Q&A article regarding Affordable Care Act's Employer Shared Responsibility provision.
August 2014
The August Benefits Spotlight focuses on ERISA and the importance of acting entirely in the interests of plan participants. Several links are provided highlighting two recent court decisions. On the healthcare side, links to several articles explore the changing attitudes and approaches on wellness programs.
June/July 2014
The June/July issue highlights some surveys and research reports that delve into issues affecting your retirement and healthcare plans. These are worthwhile to take the time to read, and we encourage you to also take a look through our Resource Center for more insights.
May 2014
The May 2014 newsletter looks at the decision faced by many Baby Boomers—retire on time or continue working? That decision—whether based upon retirement savings (or lack of) or simply the desire to keep working—has a trickle-down effect on subsequent generations. On the healthcare side, we look at ACA’s exchange rates in comparison to employer-provided health insurance rates.
Spring 2014
The Spring 2014 Benefits Spotlight discusses the defined contribution (DC) strategy in both retirement and healthcare plans. Is the DC approach working in retirement plans and will it work for healthcare plans? Read on to find out more.
February 2014
The February issue of Benefits Spotlight looks at the messages that plan sponsors and providers are sending to DC plan participants and asks what needs to change to make employees more aware of their need to save more to improve retirement readiness. On the healthcare side, the newsletter highlights the “reprieve” for employers from full compliance with the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate, as the Obama administration announced a one-year transition period.
January 2014
The first Benefits Spotlight of 2014 examines the possible effects of a defined contribution approach to “benefits”—both retirement and healthcare. Readers will find links to articles on the difficulties today’s DC retirement plan participants face in converting account balances into a lifetime stream of income. On the healthcare side, there are links to several articles weighing the pros and cons of a DC approach to providing medical benefits as part of a continuum that began with the emphasis on consumer driven health plans.
December 2013
The December Benefits Spotlight focuses on changes on the benefits horizon. On the retirement side, you will find links to an article by the Center for Retirement Research (CRR) on why “70 is becoming the new 65” when it comes to collecting Social Security and the CRR’s guide to claiming Social Security Benefits. On the healthcare side, links to several articles explore private health insurance exchanges.
November 2013
The November newsletter discusses the latest IRS ruling in IRS Notice 2013-71 that allows some cafeteria plans to carry over $500 in unused amounts from 2013 FSAs to 2014. On the retirement front, there are links to the 2014 IRC limits, which did not change from 2013, and links to a J. P. Morgan article discussing risks in target date funds. Readers will also find a link to a UCS recorded webinar by Mike Falcone of 401(k) Advisors on how to prudently evaluate, select and monitor target date funds.
October 2013
This newsletter contains links to interviews conducted at our Las Vegas conference in September with Stig Nybo, president of Pension Sales and Distribution for Transamerica Retirement Solutions; Paul Fronstin, director of the health research and education program at the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI); and two directors of benefits, Julie Adamik of PETCO Animal Supplies, Inc., and Bob Foley of Mutual of Omaha. The four offer expert insights and tips on a wide range of today’s hottest topics, including employee engagement, retirement readiness and the future of employer-sponsored health benefits.
September 2013
The September newsletter highlights studies and articles on two specific topics: the gender gap in retirement savings and private health benefits exchanges. Here you will find links to a Lincoln Financial Group white paper and Prudential Financial’s study results, both of which examine the gender gap. Also included are links to some of the most informative articles on private exchanges from cfo.com, Human Resource Executive Online, EBRI, Booz & Co. and the National Business Group on Health.
July-August 2013
This Benefits Spotlight includes important resources for understanding the two biggest health and welfare benefits issues of the summer: DOMA and the delay of the ACA’s employer mandate until 2015. For more information, be sure to check the UCS website for the recorded webinar by attorney Kate Saracene of Nixon Peabody LLP titled “Unraveling DOMA: How the Supreme Court’s Windsor Decision Affects Your Employee Benefit Plans.”
May 2013
This newsletter includes a number of links to valuable healthcare resources, including the DOL page listing all the FAQs published to date, an excellent UCS webinar on healthcare reform’s employer “pay or play” rules and an informative 25-page summary of the HIPAA rules after modification by HITECH and GINA. On the retirement side, the newsletter contains links to the controversial PBS Frontline documentary, The Retirement Gamble, and EBRI’s 2013 Retirement Confidence Survey.
March 2013
The March newsletter highlights the final rules issued by the Department of Health and Human Services outlining standards of coverage for essential health benefits (EHB) and includes a link to a fact sheet posted by the Center for Consumer Information & Insurance Oversight. This month’s spotlight also focuses on the issue of retirement income adequacy and includes links to Aon Hewitt’s 2012 Retirement Income Adequacy at Large Companies study and a white paper issued by the Department of Labor.
February 2013
This Benefits Spotlight includes a link to an in-depth article by DLA Piper US LLP on the final rules of HIPAA/HITECH. Also included is a link to an article in U.S. News concerning retirement readiness and the fact that many American workers are working past age 65.
January 2013
This newsletter focuses on three specific ACA-related guidelines including PCORI, the Transitional Reinsurance Program and the shared responsibility provisions. On the retirement side, the newsletter spotlights an article on plan fees and a study by Transamerica Retirement Solutions on retirement readiness.