Employee benefits

Industry trade groups and associations flooded the DOL with suggested amendments and revisions to its proposed fiduciary rule, ahead of the July 21 deadline for comments.

Commentary: Brokers are strategically positioned to encourage employers to commit to a more productive workforce.

Traditional IRA investors showed little reaction to the economic downturn in 2007.

Understanding these ACA compliance requirements and the tools necessary to track the required data can be confusing and overwhelming.

Commentary: Many of the world’s leading employers offer expert second opinions as a valued employee benefit that can save money by averting unnecessary testing and treatment, decrease absenteeism, and promote employee retention.

Employers offering high deductible plans – particularly those who have gone the full replacement route – still need to beef up their educational efforts.

Higher PBGC premiums and a volatile market are catalysts for risk management in DB plans.

Increasingly, employers are expanding wellness programs to include financial guidance. But do these programs go far enough?

Two Urban Institute reports funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that 9.4 million fewer families struggled to pay medical bills in early 2015 than just before the rollout of public exchanges and Medicaid expansion in 2013.

The consolidation of two health insurer giants has divided employers into two camps.

Women over the age of 65 are twice as likely as men to live in poverty in retirement because of lower wages, more time spent out of the workforce and lack of access to retirement savings plans.

How San Francisco-based Equity Risk Partners’ focus on private equity firms had made the small firm a big player in the niche market.

Commentary: Personal care in times of great distress not only delivers more effective care, but it also does it more efficiently, says Sam Fleet.

Commentary: It is not necessary to have an intricate knowledge of every IDI product provision to help clients get the income protection they need.

Culture week concludes with a wrap-up of tips and suggestions from leading industry experts about what it takes to build a better workplace culture and the benefits that come with doing so.

President Obama this week asked the Department of Labor to propose a set of rules by the end of the year that would provide a clear path forward for states to create retirement savings programs.

As they struggle to become financially stable, state-based health insurance marketplaces are lagging behind the federally-facilitated marketplace and are likely to continue to do so in the near future.

The ACA added new employer reporting requirements under Internal Revenue Code Sections 6055 and 6056, applying to employers that sponsor self-insured plans that provide minimum essential coverage regardless of size, and applicable larger employers.

The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department have thrown a wrench into the pension de-risking plans of many corporations with new regulations aiming to eliminate the lump-sum payout option for retirees who already are receiving retirement benefits from their defined benefit plans.

With 24 Republican senators up for reelection in November 2016, not to mention the presidential election, there is so much set to change for both public and private exchanges.