Products October 22, 2012

T. Rowe Price Offers Plan Sponsor Fiduciary Training

October 22, 2012 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – T. Rowe Price launched FiduciarySource, an online program designed to help plan sponsors better understand and fulfill their fiduciary obligations.
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The six training modules include:

  • The Big Picture: What fiduciaries must do, not do and what happens when they make a mistake;
  • The Practical Reality of Being a Fiduciary: How fiduciaries delegate authority and responsibilities;
  • Service Providers: What they do, hiring them and reviewing their performance;
  • Investing the Money: The use of investment policy statements, investment committees and investment managers;
  • Day-to-Day Operations: What must be done in plan operations and who is responsible; and
  • Communicating Financial Information to Workers: Whether sponsors are giving participants education, advice, or neither. 

The online tool offers training that accommodates plan sponsors’ learning preferences and time constraints, said Michael Skinner, head of client experience and research for Retirement Plan Services (RPS). The program tracks progress and offers a certificate of completion at the end of training, which could be important in the event of a plan audit, he said.

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FiduciarySource includes a series of seven training videos, corresponding print guides and an online quiz to test sponsor knowledge. Sponsors can use a computer or tablet device.

The program was developed by T. Rowe Price in collaboration with Bradford P. Campbell, former Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employee Benefits with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration. Campbell also narrates and is featured in many of the training videos.

For more information, visit www.troweprice.com. 

Benefits October 22, 2012

Local Governments Cutting Health Coverage

October 22, 2012 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – Seven percent fewer local units of government provide health coverage to their active employees than in 2011, according to data from Cobalt Community Research.
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Governments that do provide health coverage are paying a slightly smaller share of the premium. Fewer local governments are self-insuring. The percentage of governments whose employees receive insurance through their union jumped from 2% in 2011 to 13% in 2012.  

The research also found a drop in the percentage of local governments who provide health insurance for retired employees, down to 46% from 59% in 2011. The Midwest showed the largest drop, down from 68% to 50%. Nationally, those providing retiree health coverage are increasingly doing so through a coalition/pool, which increased from 12% to 26%. As in 2011, there was a slight decrease in the percentage of local governments that are fully or partially prefunding their retiree health liabilities.  

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Local government respondents expressed improved confidence in their efforts to contain health costs. Such efforts include greater engagement with unions to reduce coverage, a modest move away from deductible increases and toward premium sharing, a strong wellness push and continued work to roll out health savings account (HSA)- and health reimbursement arrangement (HRA)-type programs. Many local governments are reopening health care plans to renegotiate lower costs with the carrier/administrator.  

More than 2,330 local units of government replied to the 2012 survey, the largest response since the study began five years ago. The results are by local government size, type, Census region and division.  

The report is available at www.cobaltcommunityresearch.org/health.

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