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What's New from EBRI
Health costs in old age: Recent EBRI research finds that the recurring, more-predictable health costs in retirement tend to remain stable throughout retirement: Expenses such as doctor visits, dentist visits and usage of prescription drugs.

The average annual expenditure for recurring health care expenses among the Medicare-eligible population was $1,885. Assuming a 2 percent rate of inflation and 3 percent rate of return, a person with a life expectancy of 90 would require $40,798 at age 65 to fund his or her recurring health care expenses.

However, the non-recurring, less-predictable costs increase with age—overnight hospital stays, overnight nursing-home stays, outpatient surgery, home health-care and usage of special facilities. These expenses can sometimes be catastrophic, and nursing-home stays in particular can be very expensive. For people ages 85 and above, the average and the 90th percentile of nursing-home expenses were $24,185 and $66,600 during a two year period, respectively. MORE.
 

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Regulatory Items
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services:  Essential Health Benefits: List of the Largest Three Small Group Products by State -- Revised [May 19, 2015]
 
NAPA Net:  “DOL Extends Comment Period on Fiduciary Reproposal”
 
PlanSponsor:  “Fiduciary Rule Could Have Unintended Consequences”
 
U.S. Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration:  176^th Meeting of the Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans; Notice of Meeting [as published in the Federal Register on May 6, 2015 - The three-day meeting will take place on May 27-29, 2015. The Advisory Council will study the following issues: (1) Model Notices and Plan Sponsor Education on Lifetime Plan Participation, on May 27 and (2) Model Notices and Disclosures for Pension Risk Transfers, on May 28. The Advisory Council will hear testimony on May 29 on privacy and security matters affecting the two issues above.]
 

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What’s New(s)—Health & Workforce
Bloomberg BNA Health Care Blog:  “Health Plans Poised to Ask for Higher Premiums for 2016, Blue Cross Executive Warns”
 
The Commonwealth Fund Issue Brief:  “The Problem of Underinsurance and How Rising Deductibles Will Make It Worse: Findings from the Commonwealth Fund Biennial Health Insurance Survey, 2014”
 
Employee Benefit News:  “Transition to private exchanges could be easier than expected”
 
Forbes:  “Employers Latest Healthcare Experiment”
 
GAO Report:  Contingent Workforce: Size, Characteristics, Earnings, and Benefits. GAO-15-168R, April 20.
 
Human Resource Executive Online:  “Time for New Measures -- In today’s ever-changing global marketplace, business and HR leaders must measure and manage their workforces in new and better ways to ensure their strategies are effective.”
 
InsuranceNewsNet:  “Enrollment Growth Is ‘The Wild Card’ for Employer Health Care Costs”
 
Mercer/Signal:  “Make the Shift Now to More Strategic Health Communication”
 
Milliman Research Report:  “2015 Milliman Medical Index: Will the typical American family of four be driving a ‘Cadillac plan’ by 2018?”
 
Third Way:  “Help Consumers Shop for High Value Health Care”