Category: Monday Briefing

The “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016″ bill has been signed.  (whitehouse.gov) (CNN) (GPO). We discussed the bill briefly last week, but a few things are worth repeating: The Cadillac tax gets delayed to 2020. Full speed ahead for the DOL’s fiduciary rule. That’s in spite of...

We’re running a little behind today. Here are some post-climate talk, pre-budget bill things to think about in the benefits world. Congress continues to negotiate on a budget deal and there’s a good chance we will see benefits provisions–either in the budget bill or pending...

Let’s see. It’s early December. That means open-enrollment is winding down for many, year-end checklists are in vogue and ACA has survived for another year. What are we thinking about this week? Some good stuff from our actuary friends. ASPPA comments may have been influential...

Here are a few things to consider alongside your cyber-Monday web-surfing. We have some very good intelligence suggesting that Congress is considering pushing the Cadillac (tax) down the road a few years. Members of Congress reportedly left for Thanksgiving break with a proposal on the...

Many expect retirement policy to be a focus of the next Congress. That seems to be supported by recent events. Here are a few: The DOL gave a green light to various state retirement plan designs last week, explaining how they can avoid ERISA. State...

How many of you are tired of ACA reporting questions? Here are a few other things to take your mind off Forms 1094 and 1095: The Real Reasons People Retire. (Fidelity) Maybe it’s those 1095s? TowersWatson / National Business Group on Health released their impressive...

A few things to ponder as you start your week in the world of employee benefits. Another rock (or is it a hard place?) for wellness plans. EEOC issues proposed rules under GINA.  (EEOC Proposed Regs) (EEOC Fact Sheet) More evidence that individual consumer issues will...

Today’s Monday Briefing is “short form” to give time to prepare for Dorsey’s annual Corporate Counsel Symposium (over 900 attendees the last time we checked) featuring a panel discussion on “Avoiding Liability in the Rapidly Changing Healthcare Industry.” Proposed IRS regulations save some big re-writing time...

As predictably as the leaves changing in “the North,”the benefits world is starting to see lots of activity. Here’s a sampler. Retirement security is going to eclipse ACA talk in the coming years. That will of course include discussion of health care costs in retirement....

Just back from American Benefits Council Board meeting in Chicago. More on that later this week. Here are some happenings in the benefits world: Let’s hope the PACE Act (which preserves the small employer definition at 50 rather than allowing it to grow to 100...

Here’s your short-form Monday Briefing for the first week of October. Yikes! Another court finding successor liability for multi employer withdrawal liability in an asset sale. Be careful out there.  (Resilient Floor Covering Pension Trust Fund v. Michael’s Floor Covering, Inc. / 9th Circuit) This...

This last week had us wondering if Volkswagen makes an ACA reporting software package that we could use, maybe just for 2015. (That’s benefits humor.) Here’s our full disclosure of interesting benefits news from last week: You can keep (offering) your plan? See here for a...

Monday morning. So soon. Here are a few reads to get the synapses firing: The DOL’s fiduciary rule is moving towards final form. It will be published before President Obama leaves the White House and possibly later this year or early in 2016. But that doesn’t...

Right on cue, things seem to be picking up a bit. Lots to think about from last week’s screen time. Here’s a sampler of what has been catching our attention. We are still betting on leave laws as a megatrend in the coming years. Now...

First day of the week … last day of August. Where does the time go? This is Minnesota State Fair week here in the North. That means just about anything you might deep-fry is available for a few days. Here are a few things we have...

It felt like fall here in Minnesota last week. We’re hoping that’s temporary. (We like to talk about the weather.) Here are a few things to think about with your morning coffee: State and local time off and leave rules. We heard a lot about state...

Sorry to be late on this post. My fingers went most the week without touching a keyboard after last week’s Monday Briefing. (I guess I wouldn’t do so well at Amazon.) Other than Lynn Dudley at the American Benefits Council (see below) it looks like...