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From Maryland to Hawaii, Obamacares state-run enrollment operations are running into technical difficulties, creating new headaches for the White House even as the federal insurance website finds its footing.
The deadline to enroll in health plans that begin Jan. 1 was extended to midnight today from yesterday for most of the U.S., the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said. The extension was announced as healthcare.gov yesterday experienced a single-day record number of visits and consumers were moved into a queuing system deployed when the website approaches 50,000 simultaneous users.
The success of the health care overhaul relies on a diverse pool of customers where younger, healthier participants balance the costs of covering older, sicker people. Insurers say they cant make more concessions without putting themselves at risk that patients will wait and sign up only when they need care.
The Insured Retirement Institute Friday responded to the Federal Insurance Offices request for comment on how to modernize insurance regulation in the U.S., saying that the nations insurance regulatory system needs to be modernized and insurance products, most notably annuities and other insured retirement income products, need to be made available to underserved populations.
The 11th quarterly Allstate-National Journal Heartland Monitor Poll found that near-retiree baby boomers have pushed back initial plans to retire at age 60, to 66. Additionally, 68% of baby boomers expect to work in some form after retirement, the survey of 1,200 Americans found. Only 11% of current retirees currently work.
The new Department of Labor 401(k) fee disclosure rules that go into effect on April 1 will radically shake up the industry, according to Tom Gonnella, senior vice president of corporate development at Lincoln Trust, who gave six predictions for the defined contribution industry in 2012.
Walmart, the worlds largest private employer, and Merrill Lynch, without admitting to wrongdoing, have agreed to pay $13.5 million in a class-action lawsuit accusing them of breaching their fiduciary duty to two million past and present Walmart workers. The suit was settled in Kansas City federal court.
Since the financial crisis and Great Recession, 401(k) plans have undergone dramatic shifts. To foster diversification and greater participation, 51% of participants in Fidelity Investments' 401(k) plans are in automatically enrolled plans, up from 16% five years ago, and 73% of the plans use target-date funds as the default, up from 11% in 2006.
The Pension Protection Act of 2006 is having a positive effect on 401(k) plans, according to Fidelity Investments.
Nearly two-thirds, 63.8%, of plan sponsors have changed the investment lineup in their 401(k) plan in the past year, up markedly from a mere 20% in 2008, according to the Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America.
Mercer has launched a new blog for employers that it hopes will be thought-provoking. M/THINK also includes data-rich infographics and commentaries on key business issues facing todays employers.
Living more frugally and paying off debt has paid off for one in five retirees but fewer are looking out to the future to estimate how long their assets will last in retirement.
Only 4% of plan sponsors have established goals to engage workers younger than 35 in their defined contribution plans, even though they know the younger generation's participation and contribution rates lag their older colleagues, a survey by Greenwich Associates for Northern Trust finds.
Be they young or be they old, people across America are worried about their financial prospects in retirement and the economic direction of the nation, a survey of Gen X, Gen Y and baby boomers by The Guardian Life Insurance found.
The Department of Labor on Monday issued final rules on investment advice in 401(k) plans, largely in line with its initial definition of advice.
Although Edward Jones recommends that retirees start with a plan to withdraw 4% of their retirement savings each year, Americans have a widely varying idea of how much they will need, the investment firm found in a survey of 1,011 people.
In the wake of economic and stock market volatility, many 401(k) investors are questioning the wisdom of 401(k), 403(b) and 457 plans, a survey by Allianz Life Insurance Company finds.
Automatic enrollment greatly increases participation in 401(k) plans for all racial and ethnic groups, with particular success for Blacks and Hispanics, even among low earners, Vanguard research shows.
Investors appear to have switched gears from focusing on replenishing their balances from 2008s market downturn to taking all of the responsible steps to prepare for retirement, according to Principal Financial Groups analysis of retirement plan participants behavior in 2010.
MassMutual Retirement Services 2011 campaign to prompt 401(k) participants to save more has succeeded in boosting deferral rates by 4.34%. It also was aimed at getting those who were not saving into the game, and helping those with portfolios to revisit their allocations.