Like death and taxes, there are two inevitable truths related to employee benefits:
(1) they are necessary for a business to remain competitive, and
(2) they are mind-numbingly complex to administer.
As a result, most employers find themselves outsourcing many benefits functions to an array of third-party service providers.
This high level of reliance on outsiders for such a critical piece of your business can raise questions. Is the “objective” advice you receive really subject to hidden conflicts of interest? What do you do when you discover a costly gap between what a service provider promises and what it delivers? Are you comfortable relying on others to stay on top of the endless stream of regulatory compliance issues? How can you control runaway costs? Even with all this help, are you confident that you are satisfying the one thing you can’t outsource – your fiduciary duty?
Doug Powers brings nearly 25 years of dedicated employee benefits experience to bear on these problems. He can provide you with clear, unbiased advice regarding a broad range of benefits issues, from retirement to welfare plans, from compliance to litigation. Whether through an initial meeting or a comprehensive compliance audit, Doug can help spot issues and vulnerabilities you may not have recognized, and help you develop a preventive plan to minimize the risk of something going awry in your plans. Or if you are facing a specific benefits problem that looks like it may develop into a crisis, Doug can help you sort out the issues and set a course to resolution.
Some of the benefits issues Doug has addressed with clients include:
- Health care reform opportunities and challenges
- Fee disclosure rules for retirement and welfare plans
- Cafeteria plan development and compliance
- Service provider contract review and counseling
- Qualified domestic relations order (QDRO) compliance
- Determination letter applications
- IRS and DOL correction programs
- Fiduciary duty compliance
- Litigation of disputed claims
