On February 10, the U.S. Senate confirmed Tom Price as Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). The following week, after Andrew Puzder withdrew his candidacy, President Trump announced his nomination of Alexander Acosta for Secretary of Labor. As the newly confirmed Secretary of HHS, Price is in a pivotal position to shape the future of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and other health policies. However, as Secretary of Labor, Acosta will also have a significant but little-discussed role in health policy, vested in the Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA) within the Department of Labor (DOL).

On December 19, 2016, the Department of Labor (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) published the final rule outlining claims procedure regulations for employee benefit plans providing disability benefits under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). The rule promotes greater disclosures for plan administrators denying disability claims. While originally in effect as of January 18, 2017, the ruling is on hold for 60 days with the January 20, 2017 Regulatory Freeze.

Last week, I attended the 2017 AcademyHealth National Health Policy Forum in DC, where experts from government, industry, and academia convened to discuss, debate and predict top priorities for the year ahead. 

On July 21, 2016, the Department of Labor (DOL) Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) proposed a rule that would change how employee benefit plans share information with the government. This proposal, which revises the existing Form 5500, is intended to make data more useful and protect employees. DOL has encouraged stakeholders to submit public comments on these changes. Read our other posts about the proposed rule here.

Summit recently submitted comments on the proposed rule to revise Form 5500. In this post, we break down key revisions that pertain to pension plans.

On July 21, 2016, the Department of Labor (DOL) Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) proposed a rule that would change how employee benefit plans share information with the government. This proposal, which revises the existing Form 5500, is intended to make data more useful and protect employees. DOL has encouraged stakeholders to submit public comments on these changes. Read our other posts about the proposed rule here.

On July 21, 2016, the Department of Labor (DOL) Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) proposed a rule that would change how employee benefit plans share information with the government. This proposal, which revises the existing Form 5500, is intended to make data more useful and protect employees. DOL has encouraged stakeholders to submit public comments on these changes. Read our other posts about the proposed rule here.

On July 31, 2016, I presented a research paper at the Survey Research Methods Section of the JSM Conference in Chicago. Mine was one of six contributed papers on the topic of Raking, Post-Stratification, and Calibration Methods in survey research.

Last week, Summit attended the 18^th Annual Retirement Research Consortium (RRC) at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. This annual meeting is organized by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, the Michigan Retirement Research Center, the National Bureau of Economic Research, and is funded through cooperative agreements with the Social Security Administration. 

In this series of blog posts, we are using an all-payer claims database (APCD) from the state of New Hampshire to explore some questions related to the Affordable Care Act (ACA).