“If a small employer joins a MEP with many other small employers, the fixed costs of the plan are spread among the employees of all the participating employers, thus dramatically reducing the per-employee costs,” explained Krista D’Aloia, associate general counsel at Fidelity Investments, who testified at a House Education and Labor Committee hearing on behalf of the American Benefits Council.
The Retirement Security for American Workers Act (H.R. 854) would remove some of the barriers to open MEPs. It is included in the Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act of 2018 introduced in the House and the Senate by a Democrat and a Republican (H.R. 5282/S. 2526). Given the bipartisan support in both houses of Congress, eventual passage of the overall bill containing the MEP changes is as good a bet as there is in Washington these days.
August 2018
