Products February 21, 2013

Groups Release Employee Health Education Toolkit

February 21, 2013 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – The National Business Coalition on Health (NBCH) and Pacific Business Group on Health (PBGH) released the Choosing Wisely Employer Toolkit.
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Benz Communications was retained by NBCH and PBGH to create the toolkit, and the materials can be used by employers of all sizes to build new campaigns and integrate Choosing Wisely materials into existing resources. The Choosing Wisely campaign is an initiative to encourage physicians, patients and other health care stakeholders to think and talk about medical tests and procedures that may be unnecessary—and in some instances can cause harm.  

The Choosing Wisely Employer Toolkit includes: 

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  • Eight new ready-to-use articles; 
  • More than 10 tip sheets from Consumer Reports; 
  • A PowerPoint presentation for use in meetings with employees; 
  • An index of Consumer Reports resources; 
  • An index of employer materials, with reference guide to familiarize employers with the available resources and their intended purpose; 
  • Aample campaigns, including a three-step guide to launching a Choosing Wisely campaign; 
  • A sample Choosing Wisely campaign timeline/editorial calendar; and 
  • Tips for integrating a Choosing Wisely campaign with current wellness, enrollment and other benefits campaigns.

“We know too many employees are getting tests they don’t need—and even treatment that is unnecessary,” said David Lansky, PBGH CEO. “This new resource is an important tool to help educate employees to talk to their doctors and really understand what tests and treatments are right for them.”   

The toolkit may be downloaded at http://www.nbch.org/Choosing-Wisely-Employer-Toolkit. More information about the Choosing Wisely campaign is available at http://www.choosingwisely.org and www.consumerhealthchoices.org.
Products February 21, 2013

Firms Launch Collective Trusts for DC Clients

February 21, 2013 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – Clear Sailing Investment Group (CSIG) and Hand Benefits & Trust, a BPAS Company, launched collective trust funds for Clear Sailing’s retirement plan clients.
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The underlying investment options in the CSIG risk-based series of funds include low-cost institutional mutual funds and collective trust funds with minimum investment thresholds; alternative investments; mutual funds with trading restrictions; and certain mutual funds that may be closed to new investors. Prior to November, CSIG was offering risk-based models for its defined contribution (DC plan clients), including plans administered by BPAS and other select recordkeeping firms.    

Most of the same asset class managers are utilized as before the conversion, but in an institutional share class or collective fund for maximum cost efficiency. Also, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other securities can be used within the collective funds that would not be appropriate as individual investment options within the plan.   

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The companies explained that while model portfolios are attractive from a participant perspective, they involve a considerable amount of additional administrative and operational work at the level of each plan, not to mention problems caused by fund closures, investment minimums, redemption fees and other matters. What’s more, new Department of Labor (DOL) disclosure regulations have caused retirement advisers to evaluate model portfolios from a disclosure and compliance standpoint. 

“Collective trust funds allow an investment group, like CSIG, to advise a single series of risk-based portfolios on behalf of all retirement plan clients, across multiple recordkeeping platforms.Efficient portfolio trading, lower underlying fund costs, compliance with disclosure regulations, audited financial statements and scale are features and benefits of these vehicles.  Daniel and his team calculated historical model returns, which we incorporated into the participant communications along with detailed disclosures on the how the returns were calculated.This provides retirement plan participants with additional investment performance information,” said David Hand, CEO of Hand Benefits & Trust.  

For more information on the administration of collective investment funds, please call Marty Campbell at 713-744-3818. For more information on retirement plan administration services offered by BPAS, please call Paul Neveu at 315-292-6968.

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