Aon Washington Report

May 30, 2017

Retirement

DOL Publishes New Transition Period Fiduciary Rule Guidance

On May 22, 2017, the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) Employee Benefits Security Administration issued new fiduciary investment advice rule guidance for financial advisors, retirement plan sponsors, and individual workers and retirees. In advance of the rule’s June 9, 2017 applicability date, the updated information includes a temporary enforcement policy (Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2017-02) and Conflict of Interest Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) (Transition Period).

On April 7, 2017, the DOL announced that the applicability dates in its fiduciary investment advice rule and related prohibited transaction exemptions would be delayed from April 10, 2017, to June 9, 2017, with certain provisions in the exemptions further delayed to January 1, 2018. As a result, on June 9, 2017, investment advice providers to retirement savers will become fiduciaries, and the “impartial conduct standards” will become requirements of the exemptions. Other exemption conditions scheduled to become applicable on April 10, 2017, will be delayed to January 1, 2018, while the DOL conducts its ongoing examination of the fiduciary investment advice rule as directed by the president./

 

The news release is available here.

The Conflict of Interest FAQs (Transition Period) are available here.

The temporary enforcement policy (Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2017-02) is available here.

Aon Publications

CBO Releases Cost Estimate of the House-Passed American Health Care Act (AHCA)

On May 24, 2017, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) released a cost estimate of the 2017 AHCA (H.R. 1628), as passed by the House on May 4, 2017. The CBO and JCT estimate that H.R. 1628 would do the following over the next 10 years:

• Reduce the cumulative federal deficit by $119 billion;
• Result in an estimated 51 million uninsured people under age 65; and
• Increase premiums by an average of about 20% in 2018 and 5% in 2019 compared to current law, with average premiums varying greatly starting in 2020 depending on whether or not states are granted full or partial waivers, or do not apply for a waiver at all.

The Aon bulletin, which provides a brief overview of the CBO cost estimate, is available here.