What's New - September 2010

Index to All Months

What's new at EBRI this month:

New EBRI Blog Is Now Live! [March 23, 2010]

“EBRI Now on Twitter” [EBRI Press Release, 2/6/09]

401(k) Balances and Changes Due to Market Volatility

Publications:

August 2010 EBRI Issue Brief - "What Do We Really Know About Consumer-Driven Health Plans?"

August 2010 EBRI Notes - "Coverage of Dependent Children to Age 26 Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" and "EBRI's Spring Policy Forum: Retirement Income Adequacy--How Big Is the Gap and How Might the Market Respond?"

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Sixth Edition of EBRI's Fundamentals of Employee Benefit Programs Is Now Available

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

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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:

Reports
Consumer-Directed Health Plans:  Health Status, Spending, and Utilization of Enrollees in Plans Based on Health Reimbursement Arrangements.  GAO-10-616, July 16. Highlights.

Testimony
Defined Benefit Pension Plans: Plans Face Valuation and Other Challenges When Investing in Hedge Funds and Private Equity, by Barbara Bovbjerg, managing director, education, workforce, and income security issues, before the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions, Committee on Education and Labor, House of Representatives.  GAO-10-915T, July 20.

 

If a title link above no longer works, click here for the GAO home page and search for the report by keyword or report number. Click here to browse by date,  topic, or agency.   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 Retirement Plans Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).  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.

[9/2/10]  The President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board:  The Report on Tax Reform Options: Simplification, Compliance, and Corporate Taxation [See Section II.b., “Option Group B: Simplifying Savings and Retirement Incentives”]

[9/2/10]  Towers Watson:  Retirement Attitudes -- Part I: Confidence in Retirement:

[9/2/10]  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services:

[9/2/10]  The Washington Post:  “Health Insurance Tax Credit Likely to Affect Small Part of Small-Business Workforce”

[9/2/10]  The Commonwealth Fund:  Realizing Health Reform’s Potential: Small Businesses and The Affordable Care Act of 2010:

[9/2/10]  International Data Corporation:  “IDC Releases First Forecast for U.S. Employee Benefits Outsourcing Services; Healthcare Reform Will Be the Key Driver for Market Growth in the Coming Years” [Press Release]

[9/1/10]  Profit Sharing/401k Council of America:  Welcome to 401(k) Day 2010: “Taking You There” [This site includes a 401(k) Participant Center and a 401(k) Sponsor Center with links to a wide variety of resources.]

[9/1/10]  U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:  “Disparities in Automatic Enrollment Plan Availability”

[9/1/10]  U.S. News & World Report:  “5 Retirement Myths”

[9/1/10]  401khelpcenter.com:  Retirement Industry Acronyms and Abbreviations

[9/1/10]  U.S. Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration:

[9/1/10]  The Washington Post:


Updated 9/2/10