Money
Working in Your Best Interest: A Proposal to Protect Consumers From Conflicts of Interest in Retirement Advice
"This boils down to a very simple concept: if someone is paid to give you retirement investment advice, that person should be working in your best interest," said Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez. "As commonsense as this may be, laws to protect consumers and ensure that financial advisers are giving the best advice in a complex market have not kept pace. Our proposed rule would change that. Under the proposed rule, retirement advisers can be paid in various ways, as long as they are willing to put their customers' best interest first." more »
FAQ: The House Passes A Bill To Fix Medicare’s Doctor Payments. What’s In It?
The troubled payment formula for Medicare physicians is one step closer to repeal. The current system would be scrapped and replaced with payment increases for doctors for the next five years as Medicare transitions to a new system focused "on quality, value and accountability." The deal also would permanently extend the Qualifying Individual, or QI program, which helps low-income seniors pay their Medicare premiums. There's enough in the wide-ranging deal for both sides to love or hate. more »
More States Demand Notification to Use Biosimilar Drugs
Legislative attempts in many states have been made to make sure that patients and doctors are notified whenever imitations deemed "interchangeable" by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are substituted for brand-name biologics. Already, Colorado has passed a notification law, and Utah has revised its earlier law. More than a dozen states are considering comparable measures. more »
Private Pensions: Participants Need Better Information When Offered Lump Sums That Replace Their Lifetime Benefits
"Since 2012, a number of large pension plan sponsors have given selected participants a limited-time option of receiving their retirement benefits in the form of a lump sum. Although sponsors' decisions to make certain lump sum "window" offers may be permissible by law, questions have been raised about participants' understanding of the financial tradeoffs associated with their choice. This report focuses on 1) the prevalence of lump sum offers and sponsors' incentives to use them, 2) the implications for participants, and 3) the extent to which selected lump sum materials provided to participants include key information. " more »
