Transparency and Fiduciary Issues at the Forefront

Over the past six months “transparency” has been getting a lot of attention. This started with the Final Rule on transparency from late 2020, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (CAA) then added more transparency requirements and bolstered Final Rule requirements, and new Broker Disclosure rules from the CAA brought to light how transparency rules also impact existing ERISA fiduciary duties. These are two sets of complex rules (transparency and fiduciary duties) that employer plan sponsors will likely need to become more familiar with. On transparency, employers can revisit our recent webinar Seeing Through Transparency: How the New Requirements Impact Group Health Plans  (slide deck) or review our Alliant Insight - Transparency Rules and Surprise Billing Protections. For a better understanding of ERISA fiduciary rules employers can revisit our recent webinar Employer ERISA Fiduciary Duties in the New Era of Transparency (slide deck) or review our Alliant Insight - ERISA Fiduciary Duties The Impact of Transparency and How to Protect Your Plan. The most important employer plan sponsor obligation with respect to both transparency and fiduciary duties is largely picking good partners who can support compliance with transparency rules. This generally meets the employer plan sponsor fiduciary obligations. Importantly, employers cannot comply with transparency rules without carrier and TPA support as employers do not have the required information. Alliant’s Transparency Compliance Checklist is designed to assist employer plan sponsors in understanding where their plan partners are in this process.