Regulation

Lawmakers in Springfield, Ill., decided this week to green light a new statewide private sector retirement program that will consist of individual retirement accounts to be funded by automatic employee payroll deductions.

This year, a number of rulings and hearings relating to labor and employment issues were decided at all judicial levels, up to the Supreme Court, that many say will have significant ramifications for employers and benefit plans in the coming years.

Despite enhanced compliance and tracking requirements in the post-ACA world, benefits administrators are still reluctant to adopt to new, time-saving technology, especially at small businesses.

HHS proposes making some significant changes to the ACA in 2016, including controversial new requirements for brokers and agents that some say put them at an unfair disadvantage.

President Barack Obama outlined steps Nov. 20 that would revamp the nation’s “broken immigration system” by allowing undocumented immigrants to play by the rules and gain work authorization – potentially changing the rules for benefit managers.

A majority of employers – regardless of workforce size – are planning to keep their health plan coverage going into next year as the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate takes effect.

The 2014 midterm elections did more than just make paid sick leave benefits mandatory and increase minimum wage; ballot measures also approved recreational use of marijuana in various states and regions.

The funded status of some multiemployer pension plans has not seen any drastic improvements since the great recession. But now, as proposals lurk in Congress to eliminate pension liabilities and improve the overall insolvency of these plans, there may be changes on the horizon.

The Supreme Court is set to decide the question of whether plan sponsors bound by a collective bargaining agreement have to provide medical benefits for the duration of a retiree’s lifetime, even after the collective bargaining agreement expires.

Open enrollment season is designed to not only allow employees to make changes to their plans, but also to educate them. Likewise, employers and advisers should use the fourth quarter as an opportunity to stay abreast of the latest changes in health care plans. Here are six trends to watch for during the 2014-2015 open enrollment season.