In this issue:
What's New from EBRI
EBRI in the Media
Upcoming EBRI Presentations
Legislative Items
Regulatory Items
What's New(s) - Health & Workforce
What's New(s) - Retirement
Savings Education
What's New from EBRI
HSA rollovers: While there have been some ups and downs, rollovers in health savings accounts (HSAs) are generally increasing, according to data from the 2014 EBRI/Greenwald & Associates Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey (CEHCS).
When an employer offers its workers an HSA health plan, any money left in an account at the end of the year automatically rolls over and is available in the following year because there is no use-it-or-lose-it rule, although employers have discretion to place restrictions on the amount carried over.
Among the findings of the EBRI survey:
- Overall, the percentage of individuals with a rollover has increased. The number of accounts with a rollover increased annually until 2013, and the total level of assets being rolled over has increased in all years except for 2010, 2013, and 2014. In 2008, 2.5 million accounts rolled over $2.5 billion.
- Conversely, the share of accounts without a rollover has been going down. In 2008, 16 percent of individuals with an HSA or health reimbursement account did not roll over any money. By 2014, that had decreased to 11 percent.
- By 2014, 7.1 million accounts rolled over $8.9 billion. The average rollover increased from $1,000 in 2008 to $1,244 in 2014.
- The length of time that an individual has held the account had an impact on rollover amounts.
- Accounts with an employer contribution had a higher amount rolled over than those without an employer contribution in 2014.
More information about HSAs and HRAs is available
online here.
Save the Date—EBRI’s Dec. 10 policy forum: EBRI’s 77
th biannual policy forum will be held
Thursday, Dec. 10, in Washington. The half-day forum runs from 8:00 a.m. to noon, and will have three panels of experts presenting on:
- What Moves the Retirement Readiness Needle During the Accumulation Period: Quantification of Risks and Evaluation of New Proposals.
- The Cadillac Tax and the Future of Employment-Based Health Benefits
- The Impact of Likelihood of Retirement Success on DC Participant Behavior
The event is free and you can register for it
online here.
EBRI in the Media
EBRI's recent media coverage can be read
online here.
Upcoming EBRI Presentations
Oct. 14 - Jack VanDerhei,
The Conference Board Conference Center, The U.S. Retirement Landscape: Retirement Readiness Seminar, New York, NY -- Topic: “Best Employer Practices in Preparing Employees for a Secure Retirement”
Nov. 17 - Paul Fronstin,
National Business Coalition on Health 20th Annual Conference, Dallas, TX -- Topic: “Consumer-Driven Health Benefits”
The Commonwealth Fund: “
New ACA Marketplace Findings: Premium Costs For Lower-Income Enrollees Similar To Those With Employer Coverage; Many Who Say They Can’t Find an Affordable ACA Plan Could Qualify For Subsidies”
Congressional Research Service: “
A Framework for Understanding Health Insurance Consolidations”
Harvard Business Review: “
Why Health Care Mergers Can Be Good for Patients”
InformationWeek: “
Blue Cross CIO: Big Data Can Fix Healthcare Quality, Costs”
Kaiser Health News: “
Workplace Wellness Programs Put Employee Privacy At Risk”
Modern Healthcare: “
High deductibles more common in exchanges than in employer plans”
NextAvenue: “
Your Doctor Will Skype You Now -- Your employer may soon let you have virtual medical visits, but should you?”
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Urban Institute:
Post-Affordable Care Act Trends in Health Coverage for Small Businesses: Views From the Market [Executive Summary]
Segal Consulting: “
Prescription Drug Trends Projected to Reach Double Digits in 2016”
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Beyond the Numbers: Pay & Benefits: “
Access to specific provisions of employer-provided benefits: new estimates”
What's News—Retirement
BenefitsPro: “
Monitoring pension risk levels more closely now an option”
GOBankingRates: “
What Age Should I Start Planning for Retirement?”
Investment Company Institute: “
Retirement Assets Total $24.8 Trillion in Second Quarter 2015”
LifeHealthPro: “
Demand growing for fixed indexed annuities”
MainStreet: “
Financial Literacy Is the New, Coveted Employer-Supplied Job Benefit”
NextAvenue: “
How to Keep Savers from Cashing Out of 401(k)s -- Nearly 45 percent of workers extract the money when changing jobs”
PlanSponsor: “
Why Participation Is Low in K-12 403(b) Plans”
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Beyond the Numbers: Pay & Benefits: “
Access to specific provisions of employer-provided benefits: new estimates”
U.S. Census Bureau:
Summary of the Quarterly Survey of Public Pensions for 2015:Q2 - Assets Fall Slightly for Second Quarter of 2015 [Released Sept. 24, 2015]
WorldatWork [Blog]: “
Phased Retirement Programs: Will They Make a Comeback?”
Savings Education
Oct. 15 - Indexed Annuity Leadership Council:
The State of American Retirement: Navigating the Gender Imbalance [A discussion with financial and retirement experts, moderated by
The Washington Post’s Rodney Brooks, on ways we can bridge retirement’s gender disparity and ensure all women are aware of how to prepare for a secure retirement] - Thursday, Oct. 15, 9AM, Washington, DC
Oct. 26-27, 2015 -
Society for Financial Education & Professional Development, Inc., Eighth Annual Financial Literacy Leadership Conference, Arlington, VA -- Theme: “Financial Decision-Making”
U.S. Department of the Treasury:
myRA: my Retirement Account - A New Way to Save
myRA Newsletter
