Congress’ 2023 well being care and retirement to-do checklist: What’s on the regulatory agenda

By Alan Goforth
UPDATEDMight 01, 2023 at 10:15 AM

On the committee stage, there’s numerous bipartisan exercise for well being care reform for 2023 that features PBM reforms and insulin caps within the industrial market, in addition to regulatory steerage on the brand new retirement invoice SECURE 2.0.

(Photograph: Senate Particular Committee on Growing older)

Though the Biden administration and Republican Home proceed to wrangle over elevating the federal debt ceiling, the eventual final result isn’t prone to have a major affect on the advantages business.

“There’s nothing within the Home invoice immediately affecting advantages coverage, and we’re not anticipating something alongside these strains,” mentioned Geoff Manville, authorities relations chief for Mercer’s Regulation and Coverage Group. “On the committee stage, nevertheless, numerous motion is going on on a variety of bipartisan well being care priorities in each the Home and Senate. The outlook isn’t clear proper now for a way all of this committee work may come collectively in a last bundle, as a result of there aren’t many must-pass payments this 12 months.”

Manville and several other colleagues participated in Mercer’s online Washington policy update on April 27. Congress has an bold agenda for well being care coverage for the remainder of 2023, he mentioned, that features:

• Prescription drug pricing proposals embrace pharmacy benefit manager reforms; dashing the time to convey generic medicine to market; and out-of-market caps for insulin within the industrial market.
• Potential laws to extend competitors and handle supplier consolidation contains site-neutral fee reform; limiting anti-competitive contract phrases between suppliers and plans; and stopping supplier billing practices that inflate prices.
• Mental health matters embrace increasing entry to psychological well being and substance abuse dysfunction care; making certain community adequacy; addressing well being care workforce shortages; and strengthening psychological well being coverage enforcement.
• Telehealth policy proposals embrace extending COVID-19 telehealth reduction for high-deductible well being plans paired with well being financial savings accounts; and increasing and making everlasting pandemic-related reduction for standalone telehealth.

Retirement coverage is predicted to shift to regulators, Manville mentioned. “It’s fairly quiet on the hill on retirement coverage,” he mentioned. “They beautiful a lot cleared the decks in December with the passage of SECURE 2.0. It’s in all probability a superb factor that issues will likely be quiet in Congress, on condition that it’s going to take years of labor on the regulatory aspect to implement SECURE 2.0.”

The business has lots to digest, mentioned Matthew Calloway, a principal in Mercer’s Regulation and Coverage Group.

“It has thrice the variety of provisions as the unique SECURE Act,” he mentioned. “We’ve got provisions affecting DC and DB plans, with each mandated and elective modifications. We’re going to want numerous regulatory steerage from the IRS and the Division of Labor.”

Though partisan fights over the debt restrict and federal spending should not but affecting retirement coverage, the Home price range invoice cuts IRS funding, whereas the Biden administration price range seeks curbs on Roth conversions and caps on tax-preferred financial savings. Retirement-related income sources will proceed to be engaging to each events.

Amongst different retirement agenda gadgets:

• Work will proceed on a SECURE 2.0 corrections invoice.
• Lawmakers are discussing implementation points with regulators, who could implement the legislation as supposed.
• Bipartisan Home laws would allow 403(b) plans to put money into collective trusts.
• The ultimate rule on environmental, social and governance funding is protected for now after the Republican repeal effort failed. Republican payments proceed to focus on plan investments, whereas Democrats search to codify Biden administration guidelines.
• Elevated Home oversight exercise could highlight considerations in regards to the Division of Labor’s agenda. The ESG rule, fiduciary definition, the certified skilled asset supervisor proposal and cybersecurity could also be targets.

Carol Silverman, a accomplice in Mercer’s Govt Regulation and Regulatory Group, offered an replace on a proposal that might have far-reaching office implications.

“The Federal Commerce Fee has proposed a sweeping ban on non-competes that might be a sea change outdoors of states that already ban them,” she mentioned. “The FTC needs to ban firms from coming into into non-competes with all staff and require firms to rescind current non-competes. There could be an exception associated to the sale of a enterprise the place the one who has a non-compete has at the very least 25% possession.

“Touch upon the proposal ended on April 19 with 1000’s of feedback, with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce charging the FTC with overreach and threatening authorized challenges, so we don’t have any predictions.”