Hearing on Reasonable Contracts or Arrangements for Welfare Benefit Plans Under Section 408(b)(2)-Welfare Plan Fee Disclosure, 68383-68384 [2010-27994]
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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 214 / Friday, November 5, 2010 / Notices
for this notice is the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3506
et seq.) and Secretary of Labor’s Order
No. 4–2010 (75 FR 55355).
Signed at Washington, DC, on November 1,
2010.
David Michaels,
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational
Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 2010–27946 Filed 11–4–10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510–26–P
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employee Benefits Security
Administration
Hearing on Reasonable Contracts or
Arrangements for Welfare Benefit
Plans Under Section 408(b)(2)—
Welfare Plan Fee Disclosure
Employee Benefits Security
Administration, U.S. Department of
Labor.
ACTION: Notice of hearing.
AGENCY:
Notice is hereby given that
the Employee Benefits Security
Administration will hold a hearing to
consider issues relating to the disclosure
of fee, conflict of interest and other
information by service providers to
group health, disability, severance and
other employee welfare benefit plans
under section 408(b)(2) of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act.
DATES: The hearing will be held on
December 7, 2010, beginning at 9 a.m.,
EST.
ADDRESSES: The hearing will be held at
the U.S. Department of Labor, Room S–
4215 (A–C), 200 Constitution Avenue,
NW., Washington, DC 20210.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Fil
Williams, Office of Regulations and
Interpretations, Employee Benefits
Security Administration, U.S.
Department of Labor, at (202) 693–8500.
This is not a toll-free number.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section
408(b)(2) of the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act, as amended
(ERISA), provides relief from the
prohibited transaction rules of section
406 for service contracts or
arrangements between a plan and a
party in interest, as defined in ERISA
section 3(14), if the contract or
arrangement is reasonable, the services
are necessary for the establishment or
operation of the plan, and no more than
reasonable compensation is paid for the
services. Regulations, at 29 CFR
2550.408b–2, clarify the conditions of
the exemption. On July 16, 2010, the
Department published an interim final
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SUMMARY:
VerDate Mar<15>2010
17:16 Nov 04, 2010
Jkt 223001
regulation amending paragraph (c) of
§ 2550.408b–2 to require certain service
providers to employee pension benefit
plans to disclose information to assist
plan fiduciaries in assessing the
reasonableness of contracts or
arrangements, including the
reasonableness of the service providers’
compensation and potential conflicts of
interest that may affect the service
providers’ performance. As proposed,
paragraph (c) of § 2550.408b–2 would
have applied to all pension and welfare
benefit plans. However, in response to
the invitation for comments on the
proposal, the Department received a
number of comments arguing that the
Department’s rationales for the
proposed rule apply to pension plans,
but not to welfare benefit plans. Other
commenters argued that if the
Department creates a disclosure regime
for welfare benefit plan service
providers, it should be promulgated
separately.
Specific concerns raised by
commenters relating to welfare benefit
plans included the potential for negative
effects on the insurance industry,
which, they assert, is highly regulated
by State laws. In this regard,
commenters asserted that, considering
the high level of State regulation,
subjecting welfare benefit plans to the
disclosure regulation would be
unnecessary and redundant because the
disclosures contemplated in the
regulation are already made available to
plan fiduciaries through State regulatory
processes. Other commenters noted that
most State insurance laws do not
require the types of disclosures
addressed under the proposed rule and
even where such State laws exist, they
are loosely enforced. Certain
commenters asserted that there are
‘‘transparency problems’’ in general in
the health and welfare industry, and
that these problems should be addressed
to the extent they affect employee
welfare benefit plans. At least one
commenter addressed specific concerns
of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs),
which are intermediaries between drug
manufacturers and health insurance
plans. This commenter stated that PBMs
believe that the reasons for disclosure
discussed in the preamble to the
proposed rule are inapplicable to them.
Other commenters disputed the idea
that PBMs should not be subject to the
regulation, arguing that the discounts
and rebates they receive from drug
companies are examples of undisclosed
indirect compensation.
As explained in the preamble to the
interim final regulation, the Department
continues to believe that fiduciaries and
service providers to welfare benefit
PO 00000
Frm 00069
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
68383
plans would benefit from regulatory
guidance regarding fees and conflicts of
interest for the same reasons that apply
to fiduciaries and service providers to
pension plans. The Department
acknowledged in the preamble,
however, that, taking into account the
pubic comments on the proposal, there
may be sufficient differences between
welfare and pension plan arrangements
to justify separate consideration of
welfare plan-related disclosures.1 In this
regard, the Department has decided to
begin its consideration of welfare planrelated disclosures by holding a public
hearing on December 7, 2010. The
purpose of this hearing is to obtain
information, related data and views
from interested persons regarding the
application of the standards set forth in
interim-final regulation § 2550.408b–
2(c) to welfare benefit plans.
Specifically, the Department is
interested in exploring what particular
provisions of the interim-final
regulation should not apply to welfare
plans and why. The Department also is
interested in exploring whether, or to
what extent, disclosure rules under
section 408(b)(2) should apply to all
welfare benefit plans, e.g., group health
plans, severance plans, vacation plans,
apprenticeship and training plans, etc,
or to only a subset, or whether different
disclosure standards are needed for
different types of welfare benefit plans.2
The hearing will be held on December
7, 2010, beginning at 9 a.m. at the
Department of Labor, Francis Perkins
Building, Room S–4215 (A–C), 200
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington,
DC 20210.
Persons interested in presenting
testimony and answering questions at
this public hearing must submit, by 3:30
p.m., EST, November 17, 2010, the
following information: (1) A written
request to be heard; and (2) An outline
of the topics to be discussed, indicating
the time allocated to each topic. To
facilitate the receipt and processing of
responses, EBSA encourages interested
1 See
75 FR 41600, at 41603, July 16, 2010.
3(1) of ERISA defines the term
‘‘employee welfare plan’’ and ‘‘welfare plan’’ to mean
any plan, fund, or program which was heretofore
or is hereafter established or maintained by an
employer or by an employee organization, or by
both, to the extent that such plan, fund, or program
was established or is maintained for the purpose of
providing for its participants or their beneficiaries,
through the purchase of insurance or otherwise, (A)
medical, surgical, or hospital care or benefits, or
benefits in the event of sickness, accident,
disability, death or unemployment, or vacation
benefits, apprenticeship or other training programs,
or day care centers, scholarship funds, or prepaid
legal services, or (B) any benefit described in
section 302(c) of the Labor Management Relations,
1947 (other than pensions on retirement or death,
and insurance to provide such pensions).
2 Section
E:\FR\FM\05NON1.SGM
05NON1
mstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with NOTICES
68384
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 214 / Friday, November 5, 2010 / Notices
persons to submit their requests and
outlines electronically by e-mail to
e-ORI@dol.gov. Persons submitting
requests and outlines electronically are
encouraged not to submit paper copies.
It should be noted that, while
reasonable efforts will be made to
accommodate requests to testify on the
specified issues, it may be necessary to
limit the number of those testifying in
order to adhere to the hearing’s format.
Any persons not afforded an
opportunity to testify will nonetheless
have an opportunity to submit a written
statement on the specified issues for the
record. The hearing will be open to the
general public.
Persons submitting requests and
outlines on paper should send or deliver
their requests and outlines to the Office
of Regulations and Interpretations,
Employee Benefits Security
Administration, Attn: 408(b)(2) Hearing
on Fee Disclosures to Welfare Benefit
Plans, Rooms N–5655, U.S. Department
of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue,
NW., Washington, DC 20210. All
requests and outlines submitted to the
Department will be available to the
public, without charge, online at
https://www.dol.gov/ebsa and at the
Public Disclosure Room, N–1513,
Employee Benefits Security
Administration, U.S. Department of
Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20210.
The Department will prepare an
agenda indicating the order of
presentation of oral comments and
testimony. In the absence of special
circumstances, each presenter will be
allotted ten (10) minutes in which to
complete his or her presentation. Any
individuals with disabilities who may
need special accommodations should
notify Fil Williams on or before
November 17, 2010.
Information about the agenda will be
posted on https://www.dol.gov/ebsa on
or after November 17, 2010, or may be
obtained by contacting Fil Williams,
Office of Regulations and
Interpretations, Employee Benefits
Security Administration, U.S.
Department of Labor, telephone (202)
693–8500 (this is not a toll-free
number). Those individuals who make
oral comments and testimonies at the
hearing should be prepared to answer
questions regarding their information
and/or comments. The hearing will be
transcribed.
Notice of Public Hearing
Notice is hereby given that a public
hearing will be held on December 7,
2010, concerning issues related to the
transparency of service provider
compensation and potential conflicts of
VerDate Mar<15>2010
17:16 Nov 04, 2010
Jkt 223001
interest in the welfare benefit plan
industry. The hearing will be held
beginning at 9 a.m. at the U.S.
Department of Labor, Frances Perkins
Building, Room S–4215 (A–C), 200
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington,
DC 20210.
Signed at Washington, DC, this 1st day of
November 2010.
Phyllis C. Borzi,
Assistant Secretary, Employee Benefits
Security Administration, Department of
Labor.
[FR Doc. 2010–27994 Filed 11–4–10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510–29–P
NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS
ADMINISTRATION
Nixon Presidential Historical Materials:
Opening of Materials
National Archives and Records
Administration.
ACTION: Notice of Opening of Additional
Materials.
AGENCY:
This notice announces the
opening of additional Nixon
Presidential Historical Materials by the
Richard Nixon Presidential Library and
Museum, a division of the National
Archives and Records Administration.
Notice is hereby given that, in
accordance with section 104 of Title I of
the Presidential Recordings and
Materials Preservation Act (PRMPA, 44
U.S.C. 2111 note) and 1275.42(b) of the
PRMPA Regulations implementing the
Act (36 CFR part 1275), the Agency has
identified, inventoried, and prepared for
public access approximately 265 hours
of Nixon White House tape recordings
and additional textual materials from
among the Nixon Presidential Historical
Materials.
DATES: The Richard Nixon Presidential
Library and Museum intends to make
the materials described in this notice
available to the public on Thursday,
December 9, 2010 at the Richard Nixon
Presidential Library and Museum’s
primary location in Yorba Linda, CA,
beginning at 9 a.m. (PDT). The newly
released Nixon White House tapes will
also be available on the Web at https://
www.nixonlibrary.gov at the same time
(9 a.m. PDT; Noon, EDT). In accordance
with 36 CFR 1275.44, any person who
believes it necessary to file a claim of
legal right or privilege concerning
access to these materials must notify the
Archivist of the United States in writing
of the claimed right, privilege, or
defense within 30 days of the
publication of this notice. These claims
should be sent to the Office of the
Archivist of the United States, National
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00070
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi
Road, College Park, MD 20740–6001.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Timothy Naftali, Director, Richard
Nixon Presidential Library and
Museum, 714–983–9120.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
following materials will be made
available in accordance with this notice:
1. NARA’s Nixon Library is proposing
to open approximately 1,802
conversations which were recorded
between February and early April 1973.
These conversations total approximately
265 hours of listening time. This is the
fourteenth opening of Nixon White
House tapes since 1980. There are no
transcripts for these tapes. Tape subject
logs, prepared by the Nixon Library, are
offered for public access as a finding aid
to the tape segments and a guide for the
listener. There is a separate tape log
entry for each conversation. Each tape
log entry includes the names of
participants; date and inclusive times of
each conversation; location of the
conversation; and an outline of the
content of the conversation. Listening
stations will be available on a first
come, first served basis at the Library in
Yorba Linda. The newly released tapes
will also be available on December 9 on
the Web at https://www.nixonlibrary.gov.
The Nixon Library reserves the right to
limit listening time in response to heavy
demand.
2. Previously restricted textual
materials. Volume: 0.8 cubic foot. A
number of textual materials previously
withheld from public access have been
reviewed for release and/or declassified
under the systematic declassification
review provisions and under the
mandatory review provisions of
Executive Order 13526, the Freedom of
Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552), or in
accordance with 36 CFR 1275.56 (Public
Access regulations). The materials are
from integral file segments for the White
House Special Files, Staff Member and
Office Files; National Security Council
(NSC Files); National Security Council
Institutional Files; and the Henry A.
Kissinger (HAK) Office Files, including
HAK telephone conversation
transcripts.
3. White House Central Files, Staff
Member and Office Files. Volume: 56
cubic feet. The White House Central
Files Unit was a permanent organization
within the White House complex that
maintained a central filing and retrieval
system for the records of the President
and his staff. The Staff Member and
Office Files consist of materials that
were transferred to the Central Files but
were not incorporated into the Subject
Files. The following file groups will be
E:\FR\FM\05NON1.SGM
05NON1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 214 (Friday, November 5, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68383-68384]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-27994]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employee Benefits Security Administration
Hearing on Reasonable Contracts or Arrangements for Welfare
Benefit Plans Under Section 408(b)(2)--Welfare Plan Fee Disclosure
AGENCY: Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of
Labor.
ACTION: Notice of hearing.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Employee Benefits Security
Administration will hold a hearing to consider issues relating to the
disclosure of fee, conflict of interest and other information by
service providers to group health, disability, severance and other
employee welfare benefit plans under section 408(b)(2) of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act.
DATES: The hearing will be held on December 7, 2010, beginning at 9
a.m., EST.
ADDRESSES: The hearing will be held at the U.S. Department of Labor,
Room S-4215 (A-C), 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Fil Williams, Office of Regulations
and Interpretations, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S.
Department of Labor, at (202) 693-8500. This is not a toll-free number.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 408(b)(2) of the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act, as amended (ERISA), provides relief from the
prohibited transaction rules of section 406 for service contracts or
arrangements between a plan and a party in interest, as defined in
ERISA section 3(14), if the contract or arrangement is reasonable, the
services are necessary for the establishment or operation of the plan,
and no more than reasonable compensation is paid for the services.
Regulations, at 29 CFR 2550.408b-2, clarify the conditions of the
exemption. On July 16, 2010, the Department published an interim final
regulation amending paragraph (c) of Sec. 2550.408b-2 to require
certain service providers to employee pension benefit plans to disclose
information to assist plan fiduciaries in assessing the reasonableness
of contracts or arrangements, including the reasonableness of the
service providers' compensation and potential conflicts of interest
that may affect the service providers' performance. As proposed,
paragraph (c) of Sec. 2550.408b-2 would have applied to all pension
and welfare benefit plans. However, in response to the invitation for
comments on the proposal, the Department received a number of comments
arguing that the Department's rationales for the proposed rule apply to
pension plans, but not to welfare benefit plans. Other commenters
argued that if the Department creates a disclosure regime for welfare
benefit plan service providers, it should be promulgated separately.
Specific concerns raised by commenters relating to welfare benefit
plans included the potential for negative effects on the insurance
industry, which, they assert, is highly regulated by State laws. In
this regard, commenters asserted that, considering the high level of
State regulation, subjecting welfare benefit plans to the disclosure
regulation would be unnecessary and redundant because the disclosures
contemplated in the regulation are already made available to plan
fiduciaries through State regulatory processes. Other commenters noted
that most State insurance laws do not require the types of disclosures
addressed under the proposed rule and even where such State laws exist,
they are loosely enforced. Certain commenters asserted that there are
``transparency problems'' in general in the health and welfare
industry, and that these problems should be addressed to the extent
they affect employee welfare benefit plans. At least one commenter
addressed specific concerns of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), which
are intermediaries between drug manufacturers and health insurance
plans. This commenter stated that PBMs believe that the reasons for
disclosure discussed in the preamble to the proposed rule are
inapplicable to them. Other commenters disputed the idea that PBMs
should not be subject to the regulation, arguing that the discounts and
rebates they receive from drug companies are examples of undisclosed
indirect compensation.
As explained in the preamble to the interim final regulation, the
Department continues to believe that fiduciaries and service providers
to welfare benefit plans would benefit from regulatory guidance
regarding fees and conflicts of interest for the same reasons that
apply to fiduciaries and service providers to pension plans. The
Department acknowledged in the preamble, however, that, taking into
account the pubic comments on the proposal, there may be sufficient
differences between welfare and pension plan arrangements to justify
separate consideration of welfare plan-related disclosures.\1\ In this
regard, the Department has decided to begin its consideration of
welfare plan-related disclosures by holding a public hearing on
December 7, 2010. The purpose of this hearing is to obtain information,
related data and views from interested persons regarding the
application of the standards set forth in interim-final regulation
Sec. 2550.408b-2(c) to welfare benefit plans. Specifically, the
Department is interested in exploring what particular provisions of the
interim-final regulation should not apply to welfare plans and why. The
Department also is interested in exploring whether, or to what extent,
disclosure rules under section 408(b)(2) should apply to all welfare
benefit plans, e.g., group health plans, severance plans, vacation
plans, apprenticeship and training plans, etc, or to only a subset, or
whether different disclosure standards are needed for different types
of welfare benefit plans.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ See 75 FR 41600, at 41603, July 16, 2010.
\2\ Section 3(1) of ERISA defines the term ``employee welfare
plan'' and ``welfare plan'' to mean any plan, fund, or program which
was heretofore or is hereafter established or maintained by an
employer or by an employee organization, or by both, to the extent
that such plan, fund, or program was established or is maintained
for the purpose of providing for its participants or their
beneficiaries, through the purchase of insurance or otherwise, (A)
medical, surgical, or hospital care or benefits, or benefits in the
event of sickness, accident, disability, death or unemployment, or
vacation benefits, apprenticeship or other training programs, or day
care centers, scholarship funds, or prepaid legal services, or (B)
any benefit described in section 302(c) of the Labor Management
Relations, 1947 (other than pensions on retirement or death, and
insurance to provide such pensions).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The hearing will be held on December 7, 2010, beginning at 9 a.m.
at the Department of Labor, Francis Perkins Building, Room S-4215 (A-
C), 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210.
Persons interested in presenting testimony and answering questions
at this public hearing must submit, by 3:30 p.m., EST, November 17,
2010, the following information: (1) A written request to be heard; and
(2) An outline of the topics to be discussed, indicating the time
allocated to each topic. To facilitate the receipt and processing of
responses, EBSA encourages interested
[[Page 68384]]
persons to submit their requests and outlines electronically by e-mail
to e-ORI@dol.gov. Persons submitting requests and outlines
electronically are encouraged not to submit paper copies. It should be
noted that, while reasonable efforts will be made to accommodate
requests to testify on the specified issues, it may be necessary to
limit the number of those testifying in order to adhere to the
hearing's format. Any persons not afforded an opportunity to testify
will nonetheless have an opportunity to submit a written statement on
the specified issues for the record. The hearing will be open to the
general public.
Persons submitting requests and outlines on paper should send or
deliver their requests and outlines to the Office of Regulations and
Interpretations, Employee Benefits Security Administration, Attn:
408(b)(2) Hearing on Fee Disclosures to Welfare Benefit Plans, Rooms N-
5655, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20210. All requests and outlines submitted to the
Department will be available to the public, without charge, online at
https://www.dol.gov/ebsa and at the Public Disclosure Room, N-1513,
Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor,
200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210.
The Department will prepare an agenda indicating the order of
presentation of oral comments and testimony. In the absence of special
circumstances, each presenter will be allotted ten (10) minutes in
which to complete his or her presentation. Any individuals with
disabilities who may need special accommodations should notify Fil
Williams on or before November 17, 2010.
Information about the agenda will be posted on https://www.dol.gov/ebsa on or after November 17, 2010, or may be obtained by contacting
Fil Williams, Office of Regulations and Interpretations, Employee
Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, telephone
(202) 693-8500 (this is not a toll-free number). Those individuals who
make oral comments and testimonies at the hearing should be prepared to
answer questions regarding their information and/or comments. The
hearing will be transcribed.
Notice of Public Hearing
Notice is hereby given that a public hearing will be held on
December 7, 2010, concerning issues related to the transparency of
service provider compensation and potential conflicts of interest in
the welfare benefit plan industry. The hearing will be held beginning
at 9 a.m. at the U.S. Department of Labor, Frances Perkins Building,
Room S-4215 (A-C), 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210.
Signed at Washington, DC, this 1st day of November 2010.
Phyllis C. Borzi,
Assistant Secretary, Employee Benefits Security Administration,
Department of Labor.
[FR Doc. 2010-27994 Filed 11-4-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-29-P
