American Benefits Podcast – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), and the high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) associated with them, still constitute a minority share of all employer-provided health offerings in the United States. But they probably also represent the most fertile area of employer innovations to reduce cost and improve health care value.

That is why the American Benefits Council included in DESTINATION 2030, its long-term public policy strategic plan, one of its 20 goals (“Preserve access to defined contribution health programs and enhance consumer-directed health plans”) and an entire section of policy recommendations (Section N) devoted to consumer-directed health.

On this episode of the podcast, Katy Spangler, the Council's senior advisor, health policy, "nerds out" with host Jason Hammersla about the past, present and future of HSA policy.

On Wednesday, February 12, the American Benefits Council released its long-term public policy strategic plan, DESTINATION 2030: A Roadmap for the Future of Employee Benefits.

In this episode, host Jason Hammersla speaks with Strategic Plan Task Force Chair Tami Simon about the plan's development and ultimate framework for advancing holistic well-being.

Even casual observers know that, over the past several decades, the nation's retirement system has evolved from a predominantly defined benefit system to a predominantly defined contribution system. That said, there are still nearly 47,000 defined benefit plans in the United States, (half of which are insured by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, or PBGC), covering almost 33 million people and totaling more than $3.2 trillion in assets.

On this past New Year's Eve, the PBGC’s Participant and Plan Sponsor Advocate, Connie Donovan, issued the 2021 Annual Report of the Participant and Plan Sponsor Advocate, highlighting the agency’s successes and improvements, as well as areas of lingering concern. (See the report here: https://www.pbgc.gov/documents/2021-annual-report-participant-and-plan-sponsor-advocate)

In this episode, Donovan speaks with host Jason Hammersla about the customer experience with PBGC, including what she has characterized as “internal administrative issues” within the agency.

In this episode, host Jason Hammersla speaks to John C. Scott, director of the Pew Charitable Trusts Retirement Savings Project, about recent research on the retirement preparedness of "nontraditional workers" and remaining barriers to their improved financial security.

According to a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 6 in 10 adults in the U.S. have at least one chronic disease, while 4 in 10 have two or more. The CDC also estimates that 90% of the nation’s health care expenditures are for people with chronic and mental health conditions. And it’s very likely that the pandemic has exacerbated chronic disease by disrupting access to chronic disease treatment and control services.

If we have any hope of lowering health care costs and improving outcomes – which is the crux of the Council’s health policy agenda – we have to address chronic care.

On this episode of the American Benefits Podcast, the Council’s Senior Advisor, Health Policy, Katy Spangler speaks to Dr. A. Mark Fendrick, professor of Internal Medicine in the University of Michigan School of Medicine and a Professor of Health Management and Policy in the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan, and Paul Fronstin, director of the Health Research and Education Program at EBRI, about a recent study they published on employer take-up of pre-deductible chronic care services.

Over the past year, the American workforce has undergone a forced evolution, with work environments and habits thrown into chaos. But even before the pandemic, human resources strategy had shown signs of strain under a rigid definition of "productivity." 

In this episode, host Jason Hammersla speaks to internationally respected HR consultant Richard Polak, who thinks there is a better way. Polak explains the philosophy behind his new book, Work Smart Now: How to Jump Start Productivity, Empower Employees, and Achieve More, what "compassionate productivity" means and why "work-life balance" is a misnomer.

With the nation in the throes of a lame-duck congressional session and slow-motion presidential transition, the judiciary is the only branch of the federal government that is working smoothly at the moment, even in the wake of seismic change in the U.S. Supreme Court’s personnel. And, as it happens, employee benefits policy hangs in the balance.

On November 10, the high court heard oral arguments in California v. Texas, the latest lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. A number of other important benefits cases will also come before the court in the coming months.

In this episode, special guest host James Klein, American Benefits Council president, speaks with Meaghan VerGow, a partner and litigator with the law firm of O’Melveny and Myers and a former clerk for Supreme Court Justice David Souter and for D.C. Appeals Court Judge Merrick Garland. VerGow and Klein discuss the fate of the ACA, the nuances of ERISA litigation and where the “highest court in the land” really is.

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The American Benefits Council is known for its staff continuity, with seven of our 15 staff members having been here for at least two decades. Occasionally, however, the employee benefit gods require new blood and new energy. The most recent addition to the Council family is Katy Johnson, who succeeds the newly retired Kathryn Wilber as Senior Counsel, Health Policy, directing the analysis and advocacy of health policy regulation and litigation.

In addition to her tireless work ethic, Katy brings a wealth of experience to the role after stints at the U.S. Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service. In this episode of the American Benefits Podcast, she talks to host Jason Hammersla about the origin of that work ethic, the path that led her to the Council and her favorite break room snack.

While we often focus on the Fortune 500 companies that dominate the world economy, another group of employers plays a fundamental role in the daily lives of millions of Americans: the churches, religious institutions and affiliated organizations that employ hundreds of thousands of clergy, lay workers, and their family members. This is a population with very typical health and retirement needs but also very unique practices and perspectives.

Ably representing these perspectives in the advocacy world and in the American Benefits Council is the Church Alliance, a coalition of the chief executive officers of 38 church benefit programs. In this episode, host Jason Hammersla speaks with Reverend Jeffrey Thiemann, vice chair of the Church Alliance and president and CEO of Portico Benefit Services (a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America), to talk about what makes church plan benefits so challenging -- and rewarding -- to administer.

The American economy crosses borders, oceans, time zones, cultures, languages and great walls. And therefore, compensation and benefits has gone global, too. For many multinational companies, figuring out how to scale employee benefits for a global population is a critical element of their economic competitiveness. Here at the Council, we’re engaged on global benefits in numerous ways, from functioning as the U.S. chapter of the International Employee Benefit Association (or “IEBA”) to serving as a private-sector advisor to the U.S. delegation to the Organizational for Economic Cooperation and Development. We’re also focused on practical matters for global employee benefit plan sponsors like governance, controlling costs, health plan offerings, employee mobility, mergers and acquisitions and much, much more.

In this episode, host Jason Hammersla talks to Mark Azzarello, vice president, global compensation & benefits, for the International Paper Company. Azzarello is a member of the American Benefits Council’s board of directors and chair of the Council’s Global Benefits Committee. In this wide-ranging conversation, Azzarello describes the objectives of the Global Benefits Committee and the upshot of the group’s October 2019 meeting. He also describes International Paper’s distinctive approach to employee benefits policy including global governance, employee financial wellness and electronic disclosure.