American Benefits Podcast

The defined contribution retirement savings plan is now the preeminent savings vehicle for working Americans. DOL data tells us that two-thirds of all full-time civilian workers have access to a defined contribution plan at work, and 72 percent of those individuals participate in the plan, adding up to nearly 100 million participants nationwide. It accounts for, conservatively, more than $10 trill...

It's not just you: the workforce is getting older. Health care advances and increased life expectancies mean people are working longer and later, while low birth rates mean that there are fewer workers to succeed the ones who retire. As of 2016, the median age of the labor force was 42, up from about 38 in 1996. That puts increased pressure on the federal social safety net as well as for workplace...

The Employee Benefit Research Institute (or "EBRI") describes itself as the place "where the world turns for facts on employee benefits." Founded in 1978, celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, EBRI is considered the gold standard for authoritative data and research on these critical, complex issues. Today, EBRI is led by Lori Lucas, who took over just four months ago, at a societally auspici...

Millennials – roughly, those born between 1981 and 1996 – are the most well-educated, most diverse and most populous generation in the workforce today. They told us in our national poll last year that employer-provided retirement benefits would be the most important benefit to them over the next ten years. And yet, a new report suggests that they are lagging behind in their preparedness for retire...

The American Benefits Council and Mercer, a global human resource consultancy firm, recently released a paper, Leading the Way: Employer Innovations in Health Coverage , which shows how large companies are using their stature and their ingenuity to try and tackle the pervasive problems surrounding health care, including high costs and inconsistent service. Podcast host Jason Hammersla speaks with...

Even though the Council boasts more than 7,300 members from 440 companies worldwide, the Council staff itself is only 15 individuals strong. The latest addition to the Council family is Ilyse Schuman , the Council's new senior vice president, health policy. Ilyse succeeds the previous VP, Katy Spangler, and now directs the development and advocacy of all health policy priorities. In this episode o...

William Shakespeare's admonition about lawyers notwithstanding, most employer-sponsored benefit plans could not function without the sage counsel of the attorneys who have devoted their careers to employee benefits law. The "hall of fame" for these skilled attorneys is the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel, which recognizes the small share lawyers who have made lasting contributions to...

Payroll-deduction, defined contribution plans have changed the way we save for retirement and may yet change the way we pay for health care and pay down college debt. Now the CEO of a large third-party administrator (TPA) has a plan to use it to create a nation of "everyday philanthropists." The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is likely to reduce the percentage of Americans who itemize – and thereby have ac...

While health and retirement benefits have long been the twin pillars of the American Benefits Council's policy agenda. As time has gone on, however, other kinds of employee benefits have arisen – namely, paid leave – posing unique challenges for employers' benefit programs. Unfortunately, Congress has thus far ceded this issue to the states, spurring a patchwork of state- and municipal-level laws...

In this session from the Council's 50th Anniversary Symposium on November 30, we find out how companies are reimagining their employee benefit programs to recruit and retain the talented workers of the future. We hear from an all-star panel of employer representatives spanning human resources, benefits, consulting and government relations. They talk extensively about the challenges associated with...

A full accounting of the future of employee benefits would be incomplete without the perspectives of employees themselves. If employers are to develop innovative, effective and responsive benefit programs, they must be able to anticipate the needs of the future workforce. In this excerpt from the Council's 50th Anniversary Symposium on November 30, we hear from representatives of organizations rep...

Few, if any, Americans have held as many senior federal government positions with direct responsibility for health and retirement security as David Walker, former Assistant Secretary of Labor, public trustee of Social Security and Medicare, and Comptroller General of the United States. In this excerpt from the Council's 50th Anniversary Symposium on November 30, Council President James Klein inter...

As lawmakers get closer and closer to tax reform – and have to find a way to pay for it – it is becoming increasingly likely that they will seek to alter the tax incentives supporting workplace retirement savings. Bob Reynolds, president and CEO of Great West Financial and Putnam Investments, sees this as a dangerous and counter-productive change to our national retirement savings policy. Reynolds...

With the congressional Republicans' health care "repeal-and-replace" efforts stymied, attention on Capitol Hill now turns to the difficult business of tax reform, where incentives for workplace health and retirement benefit plans continue to hang in the balance. The Council is working with the Save Our Savings coalition and Capitol Counsel to ensure that Americans' retirement savings are not affec...

The fate of the Affordable Care Act – and legislation to repeal and replace it – is at hand. Whether it succeeds or fails, the Council will continue to advocate for the employer-sponsored system of health insurance, which covers more than 177 million people nationwide.   This seems like an opportune time, then, to revisit the Council's health policy priorities: those that have guided our advocacy...

If you want to trace the history of employee benefits, one good way to do so is to look at the tax code. Employer-sponsored health and retirement benefits are governed in part by the tax code, and over the years the incentives for these plans have been dialed up and down, often to meet certain revenue goals.   Congress is now toying with the idea of comprehensive tax reform once again. To give us...

Public perception and prevailing data suggest the presence of a "retirement savings gap," the difference between what Americans have saved for retirement versus what they actually need. In this episode, Jason Hammersla talks with John C. Scott, Director of the Pew Charitable Trusts Retirement Savings Project, about the real challenges and potential improvements to building retirement savings, incl...

On June 6, the Council released a document of some import: ten principles for building a national retirement policy . In an effort to forge such a policy, we have gathered the insights of our member companies that sponsor these retirement plans into this one document that summarizes our recommended approach. In this episode, Jason Hammersla talks with Lynn Dudley, the Council's senior vice preside...

Millennials now constitute the largest share of today's workforce. Colin Seeberger , strategic campaigns advisor for Young Invincibles, sits down with Eunju Namkung to discuss Millennial wants and needs with regard to health benefits, retirement savings and other financial challenges. Young Invincibles is an advocacy organization founded in 2009 to represent the interests of 18- to 34-year-olds, i...

What are the unique disadvantages that women face saving for and during retirement? Cindy Hounsell, the president of Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER), sits down with host Jason Hammersla to discuss these challenges, as well as what can be done to build a more secure retirement reality for women. Cindy Hounsell is the President of WISER, the Women's Institute for a Secure Retiremen...

Katy Spangler, the American Benefits Council's senior vice president, health policy, talks to Harvard Medical School Professor Michael Chernew, PhD, about health care costs, the promise of value-based insurance and what it all has to do with peanut butter and jelly.

In the second of a two-part conversation with former U.S. Representative Earl Pomeroy (D-ND), host Jason Hammersla asks about the process and politics behind comprehensive tax reform, contemporary retirement policy challenges, and the rise of state-based benefits legislation.

In the first of a two-part conversation with former U.S. Representative Earl Pomeroy (D-ND), host Jason Hammersla discusses the American Health Care Act, the stalled Republican measure to repeal and replace President Obama's Affordable Care Act. We talk about the substance and the process behind the bill and what's next for lawmakers as they consider further efforts to reform health policy or perh...

The American Benefits Council's Jason Hammersla is joined by guest, Cam Marston, a noted author, columnist, blogger, and lecturer on generational change and its impact on the workplace. On this episode, Hammersla and Marston consider the future of work, human resource challenges and opportunities, and employee benefits. As a business strategist who advises on how generational characteristics and d...