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Allen Steinberg : Perspectives

Employee benefit plans—especially retirement and health care—have become an increasingly important part of the employment relationship. For employers, these plans represent an important part of the total compensation package, a tool for retention and recruitment, and a growing financial and compliance burden. For employees, these plans represent a key part of their overall financial security and wellbeing, a financial burden, and a source of complexity and frustration. In effect, it’s complicated. Our firm is dedicated to helping employers manage these complexities and focus on the important things.

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Allen Steinberg

02.11.2017 06.57 CDT

The Administration’s latest actions will cause uncertainty in the markets. During this period of uncertainty, it is increasingly important for employers to seek stability.

ACA Update: Executive Order

An Executive Order seeks to expand use of “alternative (i.e., limited) health plans” in place of more comprehensive health insurance coverage.

HRA Short-Term Insurance ssociation Health Plans

President Trump has issued an executive order to encourage the use of alternative health coverages. The order seeks to expand the use of association health plans, short-term limited health coverage and health reimbursement accounts. The order could, over time, shake up health insurance markets – but, buyer beware.

Allen Steinberg

15.10.2017 10.06 CDT

Lawsuits challenging the fiduciary practices of major colleges and universities have survived motions to dismiss. And so, the legal battles over plan costs will continue.

Higher Ed Fiduciary Lawsuits: A Scorecard and Some Observations

Over the past few months, decisions have been issued in six of these cases (the suits against MIT, The University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins, NYU, Duke and Emory). Here are some comments on this first round of decisions.

Duke Emory Johns Hopkins MIT University of Pennsylvania

The first round of court decisions has been issued in the fiduciary challenges to major colleges and universities. Overall, the courts have been allowed the core allegations - that the schools breached their fiduciary duties by allowing the plans to pay excessive fees – to continue. These decisions increase the likelihood that other schools will be subject to copycat fiduciary litigation.

Allen Steinberg

08.10.2017 11.11 CDT

Employers are caught in the middle of the ongoing stalemate over the future of the ACA. Unfortunately, being caught in the middle could prove to be costly in a variety of ways.

Healthcare Wars: Employers Caught in the Middle

As the political battles over the possible repeal, replacement or repair of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) drag on, employers are likely to get caught in the middle.

Employers Healthcare Costs repeal

As the political battles over the possible repeal, replacement or repair of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) drag on, employers must come to grips with an unpleasant reality: they are likely to get the worst of all worlds for the foreseeable future.

Allen Steinberg

22.09.2017 10.04 CDT

: It is for plan administration to diverge from plan documents. It is also risky.

Do What You Say You Are Going to Do

Employers Paying the Cost for Not Following Plan Documents.

Fiduciary Litigation Plan document

Two recent cases (Acosta v. Macy’s, Inc. and Erwood v. Life Ins. Company of North America) serve as reminders of how easy it is for plan administrative practices to diverge from plan documents. The cases also illustrate the risks of allowing this to happen.

Allen Steinberg

08.09.2017 12.24 CDT

The downstreaming of care – to less resource intensive settings – is occurring throughout the U.S. healthcare system. This trend holds promise for patients and payers, but may be a threat to some existing providers.

The Downstreaming of Health Care

What are the Implications of Moving Care to a Less Resource-Intensive Setting?

cost savings Telemedicine

Healthcare services are, increasingly, being delivered in less resource-intensive settings. This “downstreaming” of care will only increase in the years to come and promises to produce lower costs, meet consumer preferences and take advantage of technological advances. However, downstreaming of care will also have significant implications for patients, payers and providers.