Washington, DC – The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) is urging the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and Department of Treasury (Treasury), as well as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), to support employees and grow the post-pandemic economy.
“ERIC’s large employer members have worked nonstop throughout the pandemic to ensure the safety and security of their workforce, expanding access to health care, strengthening financial wellness and mental health benefits, and working with government authorities to facilitate the vaccination of millions of Americans. But employers continue to face unnecessary red tape and outdated regulations that add costs to benefits without providing support to workers,” said Annette Guarisco Fildes, President and CEO, ERIC. “ERIC calls on federal agencies to modernize their regulations to give employers the flexibility to better support their workforce and families.”
In a letter to the agencies, ERIC urges them to take actions that would provide immediate relief for employees that would improve COVID-19 testing, promote vaccine availability, open up patient access to health care providers, among many other measures relating to the pandemic.
ERIC is also calling on each agency to positively impact employee benefits by delivering pointed guidance that improves transparency and quality in health care and provides more financial security to employees. And while many still work remotely, ERIC encourages the agencies to allow extensions on filing deadlines for the many reporting requirements employers must meet as ERISA plan sponsors.
ERIC’s specific requests urge the agencies to:
- Update lifetime income disclosure requirements to reflect current practices
- Maintain the expansion of electronic delivery for retirement plan notices
- Continue with guidance to determine plan administrator role to locate missing participants
- Relax telemedicine state licensing requirements
- Maintain and expand efforts to implement transparency and accountability in health care
- Reduce the costs of prescription drugs
- Finalize the Obama administration’s rule to ban the third-party payment of premiums in the ACA exchanges
- Require drug manufacturer coupons be means-tested, or otherwise targeted to the impoverished, rather than being used to deny market-share to generic and biosimilar competition
- Improve patient safety throughout the health care system
- Permanently extend the use of remote authorization for notarization of spousal consent
- Improve high-deductible health plans
- Allow relief from single-employer PBGC premiums
“ERIC encourages the DOL, HHS, Treasury, IRS, and the PBGC to issue our requested guidance as soon as possible to provide appropriate relief for large employers and their employees and families. Employers must be able to continue to help their employees by providing financial and other assistance to them when they need it most,” said Guarisco Fildes.
Click here to read more about ERIC’s call to action.