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What's New in Employee Benefits

What's New - May 2008

What's new at EBRI this month:

Publications:

April 2008 EBRI Issue Brief - "The 2008 Retirement Confidence Survey: Americans Much More Worried About Retirement, Health Costs a Big Concern"

April 2008 EBRI Notes - "Findings from the 2007 EBRI/Commonwealth Fund Consumerism in Health Care Survey: Implications for Plan Sponsors"

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New Survey Released March 19, 2008: Preparing for Their Future: A Look at the Financial State of Gen X and Gen Y - Press Release

October 6, 2005 - Updated Ballpark E$timate Available, Americans trying to estimate how much they need to save for a comfortable retirement now have an updated and easy-to-use tool -- the Ballpark E$timate.

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EBRI Research Findings for 2003-2004:

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What's new in employee benefits:

  • HR News Online -- a daily update from the Society for Human Resource Management

The following items have been added to the Government Accountability Office's Web site in Portable Document (PDF) format:

Presentations
"Making Tough Budget Choices to Create a Better Future," by David M. Walker, comptroller general of the United States, at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense University, in Washington, D.C. GAO-08-604CG, March 12, 2008.

"Saving Our Future Requires Tough Choices Today," by David M. Walker, comptroller general of the United States, on the Fiscal Wake-Up Tour at the Maddy Institute, California State University, Fresno. GAO-08-584CG, March 6, 2008.

Reports
Health Savings Accounts: Participation Increased and Was More Common among Individuals with Higher Incomes. GAO-08-474R, April 1.

If a title link above no longer works, click here for the Find GAO Reports page and search for the report by report number,  title, abstract, agency/organization names, or subject terms.   Searches for reports can also be conducted in the Government Accountability Office (GAO) Reports Online via GPO Access database.

If your computer does not already have the free Adobe Acrobat viewer software to read PDF files, click here for the one-time download necessary to read PDF publications.

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The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has established a National Call Center to serve its customers.  By calling 1-866-4-USA-DOL, America's employees and employers can find answers to questions on a range of employment issues.  This toll-free service offers live operator assistance and is a central access point for all DOL services and programs.  It serves both English and Spanish speaking callers.  The Call Center can assist workers and employers with questions about job loss, business closures, pay and leave, workplace injuries, safety and health, pension and health benefits, and reemployment rights for reservists.

 Additional Department of Labor toll-free numbers to call for questions regarding specific issues are listed below:

  •  1-877-US-2JOBS     Job Loss, Layoffs, Business Closures, Unemployment Benefits and Job Training

  •  1-866-4-US-WAGE     Pay, Overtime, Leave and Child Labor

  •  1-800-321-OSHA     Workplace Safety and Health

  •  1-877-889-5627     TTY number for all Department of Labor Questions

The Internal Revenue Service has announced that technical or procedural questions relating to retirement plans are answered at the EP Customer Account Services site.  Answers to many questions may already be available under Frequently Asked Questions about Retirement Plans.  If not:

Call:   TE/GE Customer Account Services at (877) 829-5500 (toll-free number).
            The call center is open 8:00am to 6:30pm Eastern Time.

Write:   Internal Revenue Service
               TE/GE Division, Customer Service
               P.O. Box 2508
               Cincinnati, OH 45201

Email:   RetirementPlanQuestions@irs.gov
               Note: All questions submitted via e-mail must be responded to via telephone,
               so please remember to include your phone number in your message.

[5/9/08]  Congressional Research Service:  H.R. 3185: The 401(k) Fair Disclosure for Retirement Security Act of 2007 [Updated April 24, 2008]

[5/9/08]  Prudential Retirement’s Pension Analyst:  “IRS Issues Plan Valuation Regulations for Single-Employer Defined Benefit Plans”

[5/9/08]  Harvard Law School:  “Can VEBAs Alleviate Retiree Health Care Problems?” by Aaron Bernstein [Occasional Paper Series]

[5/9/08]  AARP Public Policy Institute:  Boomers at the Bottom: How Will Low-Income Boomers Cope with Retirement?

[5/8/08]  Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report:

[5/8/08]  U.S. Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration:

[5/8/08]  Prudential Financial:

[5/8/08]  Investment Company Institute:  2008 Investment Company Fact Book

[5/7/08]  Milliman, Inc.:  Monthly Benefits News and Developments, May 2008

[5/7/08]  Council for Affordable Health Insurance:  “Trends in State Mandated Benefits, 2008” [Updated May 2008]

[5/7/08]  PlanAdviser Magazine:  “Getting Down to Business with the New 403(b) Regulations”

[5/7/08]  Center for Retirement Research at Boston College:  Why Does Funding Status Vary Among State and Local Plans?

[5/6/08]  Internal Revenue Service:

[5/6/08]  Kaiser Family Foundation Snapshots:  “Offer Rates for Smaller Establishments by Business Age”

[5/6/08]  Society of Actuaries:  Understanding Changes During Retirement: Results of Two Studies Webcast, April 2008

[5/6/08]  HayGroup’s The Executive Edition:  “The Wall Street Journal / Hay Group CEO Compensation Study”

[5/5/08]  U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:  Employment Cost Index--March 2008

[5/5/08]  The Commonwealth Fund Issue Brief:  “Who Pays for Health Care When Workers Are Uninsured?”

[5/5/08]  National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators:  “403(b) Plans Frequently Asked Questions”

[5/5/08]  National Center for Policy Analysis Brief Analysis:  “Social Security and Medicare Projections: 2008”

[5/2/08]  Business Insurance:  “House Passes Genetics Discrimination Bill”

[5/2/08]  Associated Press (via The New York Times):  “Report Boosts Bipartisan Health Plan”

[5/2/08]  America’s Health Insurance Plans:  January 2008 Census Shows 6.1 Million People Covered by HSA/High-Deductible Health Plans

[5/2/08]  J.D. Power and Associates Reports:  “Satisfaction with Health Plans Varies Dramatically from Region to Region, Largely Due to Poor Communication from Insurance Providers”

[5/2/08]  Robert Wood Johnson Foundation:  Squeezed: How Costs for Insuring Families Are Outpacing Income: A State-by-State Analysis

[5/2/08]  Kaiser Family Foundation:  “Pulling It Together: Health IN the Economy”

[5/1/08]  U.S. Department of Labor:

[5/1/08]  TIAA-CREF Institute:  Defined Contribution Pension Plans in the Public Sector: A Best Practice Benchmark Analysis

[5/1/08]  Watson Wyatt Insider:  “Who Prefers Annuities? Observations About Retirement Decisions”

[5/1/08]  Barclays Global Investors InvestmentInsights:  “The Future Shock of Retirement” [Reprinted from The Journal of Investing]

[5/1/08]  Investment Company Institute:

Updated 5/9/08

 
 
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