Business Insights, Research & Perspectives

Changes in the business climate, economy, regulatory environment and workforce demographics all create dynamics that affect employee benefits offerings. How exactly are employers responding to continually rising health care costs?

Managing a health benefits program means managing change – perhaps now more than ever as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Health care benefits must serve the evolving needs of employees and their families, support the organization’s short- and long-term objectives, and adapt to the rapid-fire change – even paradigm shifts – occurring in the health care market and health care policy.

The tri-governing agencies released a set of FAQs on June 23, 2020 that clarify a number of issues relating to Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) and CARES Act and other health coverage issues.

Additional updates were released to requirement minimum distributions from qualified retirement plans.

Manufacturers and distributors were among the first sectors to feel the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Supply chains took an immediate hit as travel restrictions and distancing guidelines went into place across the globe. Organizations may continue to feel the effects during the recovery phase as social distancing guidelines augment typical production environments and suppliers respond to the financial repercussions of the pandemic’s disruption. 

In recent months, America has been battling COVID-19. No one knows for certain the long-term effects that this will have on financial wellness, but there are notable trends emerging since the announcement of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.

A pandemic has transformed “business as usual” to the “new normal.” As companies forge a path ahead, contact tracing and absence management have become critical transition tools. As well, employers will need to recruit and retain employees to successfully emerge from what has been, in some cases, a devastating blow to the workforce.

After approximately 20 years of a soft, buyer-friendly insurance market, we are facing a hardening market – one that is less friendly to insurance buyers. While the full human and economic cost of COVID-19 has yet to be seen, it’s clear that it has had a profound influence on businesses across the country and is sure to influence the insurance industry as well. 

While the business interruption impact of the COVID-19 pandemic hit virtually all companies in the second quarter, the financial impact from the coronavirus will still be felt through the third quarter.

The IRS recently issued Notice 2020-43 (the Notice) to seek public comment on a proposed requirement for partnerships to use only certain specified methods to satisfy the tax capital reporting requirement with respect to partnership taxable years that end on or after Dec. 31, 2020.