Employer Strategies

Have HR and benefit professionals who work for midsize employers lost their hunger for cafeteria plans in austere times? It seems that the answer depends on semantics and plan design nuances.

Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), the establishment of health care exchanges to enable individuals to purchase health insurance on the open market is proceeding as scheduled.

Exchange-traded funds are likely to grab a “significant” share of the 401(k) market in coming years, according to Skip Schweiss, president of TD Ameritrade Trust Co.

Helping employers get more bang for their health care buck is the focus of a new online tool from the Center for Health Value Innovation.

Employee benefit plan sponsors, fiduciaries and administrators that are using or interested in expanding the use of e-mail, automated phone systems, websites or other electronic media to communicate with plan participants and beneficiaries should review and share their input with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA) in response to its Request for Information regarding electronic disclosure. The deadline is June 6.

U.S. spending growth on prescription drugs slowed to 2.3% in 2010, the second lowest level in 55 years, according to a report by consulting firm IMS Health.

Those who operate a retirement plan face significant potential liability and risk, cautions a new Lockton report.

The Leapfrog Group, an employer coalition advocating increased health care quality and safety, joined many other organizations in applauding the Obama administration's new $1 billion Partnership for Patients safety program.

"Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It: The Results-Only Revolution," by Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson, is an easy read that outlines the concept of ROWE (Results-Only Work Environment) and how implementing ROWE can revolutionize work as we know it.

Employers who fail to remit timely participant contributions to a 401(k) plan on their Form 5500 are likely to receive a letter from the Employee Benefits Security Administration regarding the potential use of the Department of Labor's Voluntary Fiduciary Correction program. The letter informs employers that the failure to remit participant contributions, or the untimely remittance of participant contributions, violates ERISA. Such failure can result in significant civil penalties for the employer.