Employer Strategies

While employers expect to continue implementing cost-sharing measures in their health care plans in 2014, most plan on keeping group coverage for the next year. And just 5% of employers anticipate moving employees to a private exchange, according to the 2013/2014 Verisight and McGladrey Compensation, Retirement and Benefits Trends Survey.

The most recent LIMRA survey reveals that approximately 60% of Americans who have used health exchanges so far to try to shop for health coverage say they sought out assistance when actually buying their health insurance plan.

Much concern had been voiced about the ability for consumers and insurers alike to execute billing and payment between Dec. 23 and Dec. 31 for coverage effective Jan. 1. AHIP offered to extend that deadline to Jan. 10 on Wednesday.

Why small employers haven’t bought into private exchanges — yet

The guidance in Notice 2013-74 relates to the expansion of such rollovers under the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, which settled the expiring tax breaks as part of the fiscal cliff deal around the New Year.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued guidance on the application of rules in the Tax Code relating to health savings accounts and flexible spending accounts to same-sex couples in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision earlier this year striking down the Defense of Marriage Act.

In what can be viewed as a victory for plan sponsors, the Supreme Court ruled that statute of limitation periods written into plan documents are valid, as long as those periods are “reasonable.”

What does next year look like for retirement plan sponsors and participants? Here’s an early call on what many experts expect to see.

While carolers may chant joyfully about the holidays being “the most wonderful time of the year,” many workers find themselves singing the blues during the winter months. One in 10 people will experience depression at some time in their lives, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This not only inflicts suffering on individuals and families, it costs employers $44 billion annually in lost productivity.

As baby boomers plan to retire in the next five years, nonprofit organizations are readying for the challenges ahead. More than a third of nonprofits surveyed by the Plan Sponsor Council of America anticipate difficulties recruiting staff to fill vacancies left by retiring boomers.