Employees like it when their employers offer programs that can help them live healthier lives.

A recent survey funded by the National Business Group on Health found 54 percent of the 1,500 employees surveyed said they would take advantage of health-related activities offered by employers.

Of those who would participate in employer health and wellness programs, 59 percent said they would go for on-site health screenings, while 53 percent would enroll in weight-management programs. All of the survey respondents worked for organizations with more than 2,000 employees.

A whopping 88 percent said they started or continued steps to improve their health over the past year. But almost half said work demands prevent them from living healthier lives.

Almost three-quarters of employees took the time to review their health-care insurance options in the year before the survey, and almost a quarter of those switched plans.

The openness of employees to workplace-based health and wellness programs suggests that if employers offered these programs as part of their health-care plans, they likely would be successful in long-term efforts to raise the health of employees and thereby lower overall health-care costs.

-- Stephanie Bernaciak-Massaro,
UnitedHealthcare
svbernaciak@uhc.com

As the end of the year approaches, it is important to review whether any qualified plan action items must be addressed. This includes reviewing whether any participant benefit statements are required to be distributed, whether any annual notices need to be provided, and whether any plan amendments are needed.

Plan sponsors of defined benefit pension plans must either provide participant benefit statements once every three years to vested participants who are active employees or provide an annual notice to participants describing how a benefit statement may be obtained. If a plan sponsor decides to provide an annual notice instead of providing a benefit statement every three years, the notice must be provided by Dec. 31.

Participant-directed contribution plans are required to provide participant statements on a quarterly basis. Plans that do not permit participants to individually direct their account balances are required to provide statements at least once each calendar year. Thus, depending upon the type of plan you may sponsor, a notice or benefit statement may be required to be distributed by the end of the year.

Another important notice applies to 401(k) plans that automatically enroll participants. Sponsors of such plans are required to provide an annual notice to all eligible employees describing the circumstances under which contributions may be automatically made to the plan. This notice must be distributed at least 30 days before the beginning of each plan year.

Also, certain plan amendments are required to be adopted the end of the year. These include amendments that implement discretionary changes (changes not required by law, such as plan design changes and discretionary changes under the final Internal Revenue Code Section 415 regulations) and amendments to defined benefit plans to comply with the Pension Funding Equity Act. To take such steps, plans with calendar year plans must be amended by Dec. 31.

-- Lisa Barton,
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
lbarton@morganlewis.com