• 2018 Annual Conference

    September 22–26, 2018

    We hope that you found the sessions to be timely, educational, and relevant as you work to provide pension and healthcare benefits to the millions of workers who rely upon the multiemployer system. We also hope that you found time to enjoy the wonderful activities and amenities available at the beautiful Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood, Florida, and look forward to seeing you next year!

    The full program agenda is available here, as well as below. Slides used by presenters are also available for download below.

    Download Program Agenda

    We hope you have enjoyed the conference!

     

     

    Agenda

    Saturday, September 22

    Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans: Implications for Healthy and Distressed Plans

    1:30 - 4:30

    The Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans was
    established in February of this year to address the impending insolvency of
    a small subset of multiemployer plans and the projected insolvency of the
    Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s multiemployer fund. However, since
    then the Joint Select Committee’s focus has expanded considerably to include
    issues affecting all multiemployer plans. Our panelists will consider the issues
    facing the Joint Select Committee, and the potential impacts for both healthy
    and distressed plans.

    UPDATE ON THE JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE

    The Honorable Earl Pomeroy
    Senior Partner, Alston & Bird LLP

    James Young
    Senior Director of Congressional Relations for Labor, HR and Safety, AGC

    Michael Scott
    Executive Director, NCCMP

    Dana Thompson
    Director Political Affairs, SMACNA

    APPROPRIATENESS OF CURRENT ASSUMPTIONS

    Jason Russell
    Senior Vice President & Actuary, Segal Consulting

    IMPACT OF ALTERNATIVE DISCOUNT RATES

    Mary Ann Dunleavy
    Consulting Actuary, Horizon Actuarial Services

    Ben Ablin
    Consulting Actuary, Horizon Actuarial Services

    A PRIMER ON FEDERAL CREDIT PROGRAMS

    Anthony Curcio
    Partner, Summit Consulting

     

    Sunday, September 23

    NCCMP Dad's Day Campaign - Charity Golf Outing

    7:00 - 2:30

    Thank you for partnering with the NCCMP Charity Golf Event again this year.
    The proceeds from our charity golf benefit will go to the Diabetes Research
    Institute Foundation which has been North America’s Building Trades Unions
    charity since 1985. Today, the Diabetes Research Institute continues to be
    the leading cure focused research facility in the world. While their mission
    continues, the DRI is moving ever closer towards a cure.

    This year’s event will be the NCCMP’s largest attendance and fundraising effort
    to date. Thank you for making it a success and we look forward to growing it
    in the years to come.

    Welcome Reception

    6:00 - 9:30

    We hope that you will join us at the South Palm Court for an evening of mingling, drinks,
    and entertainment. This is an excellent opportunity to engage with our attendees, speakers,
    and sponsors in a more informal setting.

    Monday, September 24

    Opening Ceremony

    8:00 - 8:15

    Opening Remarks

    8:15 - 8:45

    Sean McGarvey
    President, North America’s Building Trades Unions
    Chairman, NCCMP Board of Directors

    Outlook of the PBGC

    8:45 - 9:15

    The Honorable Tom Reeder
    Director, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation

    As a small but significant percentage of plans face insolvency in the coming
    years, there is an ever-increasing focus on the PBGC and the modest guarantee
    it is intended to provide to participants in multiemployer pension funds.
    However that modest guarantee is in significant jeopardy as the PBGC’s
    most recent Annual Report projects a greater than 90% probability that the
    multiemployer fund will be insolvent by 2025. Congress further honed that
    focus by including the objective of “improving the solvency of … the PBGC” in
    the task set forth for the Joint Select Committee. As the Director of the PBGC,
    Mr. Reeder will comment on the PBGC’s current outlook.

     

    Perspective from the Department of Labor

    9:15 - 9:45

    Jeanne Klinefelter Wilson
    Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy,
    Employee Benefits Security Administration

    The work of the Employee Benefits Security Administration of the Department
    of Labor affects all aspects of multiemployer plan operation and governance.
    Ms. Wilson will discuss the Department’s current positions and efforts as they
    impact multiemployer plans.

    Break

    9:45 - 10:00

    Atlantic Ballroom

    Challenges and Solutions for the Multiemployer System

    10:00 - 10:30

    Michael Scott
    Executive Director, NCCMP

    The expansion in the scope of issues being addressed by the Joint Select
    Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans represent significant
    threats to the multiemployer system and to the ability of the Joint Select
    Committee to achieve bipartisan support for constructive solutions. Mr. Scott will
    discuss the NCCMP’s efforts to ensure that the Joint Select Committee develops
    the right tools to provide a lifeline to severely distressed plans, while enabling
    healthy plans to continue to provide quality benefits to their participants, and
    providing Trustees with new, voluntary options to strengthen and grow the
    multiemployer system.

     

    A Primer on Federal Credit

    10:30 - 11:00

    Anthony Curcio
    Partner, Summit Consulting

    The Joint Select Committee process has made crystal clear that unless Congress
    acts to address the looming multiemployer pension crisis, the consequences of
    plan insolvencies will have devastating consequences on plan participants, plan
    employers, and the broader U.S. economy. Many people strongly support a federal
    credit program as a way to restore these troubled plans to solvency. As a foremost
    expert in the design, implementation, and scoring of federal credit programs,
    Mr. Curcio will provide an overview of how federal credit programs work and the
    challenges that can occur between passage and implementation with an eye
    toward careful design that can increase the likelihood that any multiemployer
    rescue program passed by Congress will actually lend to distressed plans.

     

    Real Assets - A Multiemployer Perspective

    11:00 - 11:45

    MODERATOR:
    Dan Pedrotty
    Director, Capital Strategies, North Americas Building Trades Unions

    PANELISTS:
    Michael D. Cairns, CEBS
    Partner, NEPC

    Michael Joyce
    Senior Vice President, Segal Marco Advisors

    Jeff Covell
    Area Senior Vice President, Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors, LLC

    Among defined benefit plans, multiemployer pensions are unique in that an
    asset allocation in infrastructure and real estate can provide market returns
    while generating significant new plan assets, and furthering the economic
    interests of the plan, participants, and beneficiaries. This panel will consider
    multiemployer asset allocation decisions to real assets, such as infrastructure
    and real estate in light of guidance provided in the recent DOL Field Assistance
    Bulletin 2018-01.

    Washington Legislative Update

    11:45 - 12:15

    The Honorable Earl Pomeroy
    Senior Partner, Alston & Bird LLC

    The Honorable Norm Coleman
    Senior Counsel, Hogan Lovells US LLP

    The issues currently under consideration by the Joint Select Committee on
    Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans extend far beyond those affecting plans
    facing insolvency to include potential changes to the way multiemployer plans are
    funded that would have severe consequences for all multiemployer plans – healthy
    and distressed alike. Our speakers will give their insights into the legislative
    process under way, and the numerous potential outcomes.

    Option 1: Contemporary Compliance Issues

    2:00 - 3:15

    Paul Green
    Attorney, Mooney, Green, Saindon, Murphy & Welch PC

    Kathy Bakich
    Senior Vice President, National Director Health Care Compliance, Segal Consulting

    Serena Simons
    Senior Vice President, National Retirement Compliance Practice Leader, Segal Consulting

    Carolyn Smith
    Counsel, Alston & Bird LLP

    This workshop on compliance issues of interest to retirement and health
    plan sponsors is intended to provide an informal forum for trustees and plan
    professionals to address a range of current issues relevant to plan administration.
    Among other issues, the panelists will lead discussions on: DOL guidance on
    ESG and ETI investing and proxy voting; IRS guidance on a 401(k) plan-based
    student loan repayment program; Executive Order on multiple employer plans and
    RMDs; recent developments with respect to the IRS determination letter program
    and DOL lost participant audits; “Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act
    (MHPAEA) challenges, including transgender coverage and reporting and disclosure
    issues; common findings from audits of health plan operations by the Department
    of Labor; wellness programs, focusing on wellness notices and what we are
    expecting from the EEOC; and issues surrounding paid leave laws, and the impact
    of new state laws, including Paid Family Leave and “surprise” bill legislation.

     

    Option 2: Appreciating Longevity Diversity

    2:00 - 3:15

    Douglas Anderson
    Founder, ClubVita UK

    Spencer Williams
    Founder, President, CEO, Retirement Clearinghouse

    As the Joint Select Committee completes its work, a strong focus on actuarial
    assumptions has developed – in particular on the selection of the discount
    rate and mortality tables used to develop the plan’s liabilities. Mr. Anderson
    will discuss the significant differences in lifespan observed among different
    types of workers in the UK, beyond a simple blue/white collar designation. He
    will discuss what’s driving the difference, how different approaches can assist
    in efforts to address missing participants, and possible considerations for US
    multiemployer plans.

     

    Option 1: Lawyers and Administrators Meeting

    3:30 - 4:45

    Paul Green
    Attorney, Mooney, Green, Saindon, Murphy & Welch PC

    Toni Inscoe
    Fund Administrator, Plumbers & Pipefitters National Pension Fund

    As always, one of the most important aspects of this conference is the ability
    to bring each of your in-depth knowledge and experience of the issues that
    you are facing to the conversation. This session offers you the opportunity
    raise those issues, and to leverage the knowledge of the group to see how
    others are confronting them.

    Option 2: Keeping Healthy Plans Healthy

    3:30 - 4:45

    David Dean
    Senior Vice President, Benefits Consultant & Actuary, Segal Consulting

    Jason Russell
    Senior Vice President & Actuary, Segal Consulting

    While much of the public attention recently has focused on multiemployer
    plans that are in severe financial distress, the majority of multiemployer plans
    are currently in the Green Zone. Mr. Dean and Mr. Russell will discuss what
    constitutes a healthy plan (which may not simply be a plan that is in the
    Green Zone) and how you can determine the financial health of your plan.
    In addition, they will review a number of options that can be implemented
    to keep your plan healthy (or make it healthier) such as adopting a plan
    management policy, de-risking your plan, or implementing a variable benefit
    plan for future accruals. Using case studies, they will illustrate how these
    options have worked for other funds and may be an option for you.

     

    Reception

    5:00 - 6:00

    South Palm Court

    Tuesday, September 25

    Opening Remarks

    8:00 - 8:30

    Eric Dean
    President, International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers
    Secretary, NCCMP Board of Directors

    Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans

    8:30 - 9:00

    The Honorable Donald Norcross (D-NJ)
    Member, Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans

    The Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans (JSC)
    was established in February of this year to address the impending insolvency
    of a small subset of multiemployer plans and the projected insolvency of the
    Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s multiemployer fund. However, the
    Joint Select Committee’s focus has since expanded considerably to include
    issues that will affect both healthy and distressed multiemployer plans.
    Representative Norcross will give his insight into the JSC process to date,
    as well as his outlook for the future as the deadline for the JSC’s report
    approaches at the end of November.

    Legislative and Legal Health Update

    9:00 - 9:45

    Kathy Bakich
    Senior Vice President, National Health Compliance Practice Leader, Segal Consulting

    Carolyn Smith
    Counsel, Alston and Bird LLP

    Now that the ACA survives, what is the health care landscape going into the
    midterm elections of 2018? This session will discuss the new Medicare for All
    caucus, what survives from the ACA and what doesn’t, and new enforcement
    efforts to address the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act and
    opioid abuse.

     

    Break

    9:45 - 10:00

    Atlantic Ballroom

    Association Health Plans

    10:00 - 10:45

    Carolyn Smith
    Counsel, Alston and Bird LLP

    Kathy Bakich
    Senior Vice President, National Health Compliance Practice Leader, Segal Consulting

    Stephen O’Sick
    Fund Administrator, Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers Local #2

    How does the Trump Administration’s new rule affect multiemployer plans?
    This session will give an overview of the new regulation expanding the
    ability of employers and working owners to form associations to offer
    health coverage – will it destroy collectively bargained arrangements? Will
    contributing employers be able to use them for their non-bargained people?
    This session additionally will cover the potential of AHPs to affect health
    care delivery.

     

    Providing Enrollment Choices in a Multiemployer Plan

    10:45 - 11:30

    Pam Kowalski
    Director of Communications and Member Education, Midwest Operating Engineers Fringe Benefit Funds

    In April 2016, the Midwest Operating Engineers Welfare Fund launched its
    “Midwest Operating Engineers Health Plan Marketplace” to allow more member
    choice while addressing rising health care costs for the Welfare Fund. Two
    years later, the Fund has expanded options in the Marketplace and has had
    the opportunity to study the results. This session will discuss how the choice
    program was implemented, lessons learned, and the impact on the Fund’s
    bottom line.

     

    Opioids and the Multiemployer System

    11:30 - 12:00

    Chris Trahan Cain
    Executive Director, The Center for Construction Research and Training

    The Opioid Epidemic has ravaged the nation and unfortunately those within
    the multiemployer system are not immune to this growing issue. This session
    will discuss efforts within the multiemployer community to identify and help
    those with opioid addiction.

     

    The Opioids Crisis from a Legal Perspective

    12:00 - 12:30

    Mark Dearman
    Partner, Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd, LLP

    Mark Dearman, a partner at Robbins Geller, will discuss how we ended up
    with a full-scale epidemic in the US and why litigation against the opioid
    manufacturers and distributors is part of the solution. He will talk about
    the cases his firm has brought against Purdue Pharma and other major
    pharmaceutical companies on behalf of a number of public and private
    entities, including Taft-Hartley multiemployer health and welfare funds.

     

    John L. Lewis Awards Luncheon - Joseph LoCicero

    12:45 - 2:00

    REMARKS:
    Michael Scott
    Executive Director, NCCMP

    ACCEPTANCE:
    Joseph A. LoCicero
    Chairman and Former President and Chief Executive Officer, Segal Consulting

    Option 1: Drug Pricing and the Next Big Thing

    2:00 - 3:15

    Ed Kaplan
    Senior Vice President & National Health Practice Leader, Segal Group

    President Trump and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
    published their Blueprint to Lower Drug Prices in May 2018. Multiemployer
    plan trustees have been fighting higher drug costs for many years. What
    are the most important new deterrents to high prices, how should trustees
    confront their PBMs about drug spend, and what’s happening in the fight to
    make drug prices transparent? How can plan sponsors form coalitions to help
    address drug costs?

     

    Option 2: Data Works for You!

    2:00 - 3:15

    MODERATOR:
    Bridget Gibbons
    Principle, Onward Healthcare Consulting, LLC

    PANELISTS:
    Lyle Berkowitz, MD
    Executive Vice President Product Strategy, MDLive

    James Kanary
    Senior Director Population Health, Cerner Corporation

    This session will explore the ways that multiemployer healthfunds can utilize
    “big data” to provide better clinical outcomes and service for participants, and
    better financial outcomes for funds.

    Option 1: Ask the Regulators

    3:30 - 4:45

    MODERATOR:
    Paul Green
    Attorney, Mooney, Green, Saindon, Murphy & Welch PC

    PANELISTS:
    Sam Alberts
    Special Master, Department of the Treasury

    Bruce Perlin
    Assistant Chief Counsel, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation

    Louisa Soulard
    Attorney, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation

    A perennial favorite, this workshop provides an opportunity for you to
    participate in an open dialogue with representatives of the various regulatory
    agencies with jurisdiction over our plans regarding the most important topics
    you are facing.

    You bring the issues. They bring the answers.

    Wednesday, September 26

    Opening Remarks

    8:30 - 8:45

    Michael Scott
    Executive Director, NCCMP

    Agency Updates

    8:45 - 11:15

    MODERATOR:
    Mariah Becker
    Director of Research and Education, NCCMP

    REMARKS:

    PBGC
    Bruce Perlin
    Assistant General Counsel, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation

    Theresa Anderson
    Deputy Assistant General Counsel, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation

    Internal Revenue Service
    Tom Petit
    TE/GE Employee Plans Area Manager–Gulf Coast, Internal Revenue Service

    HHS
    Nicholas Heesters

    Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

    Treasury
    Danielle Norris

    MPRA Case Team, U.S. Department of Treasury

     

    NCCMP Open Forum

    11:15 - 11:45

    Mariah Becker
    Director of Research and Education, NCCMP

    This is your chance to raise any topics or questions that you would like to
    discuss that you did not hear addressed during the formal program.

    Closing Remarks

    11:45 - 12:00

    Michael Scott
    Executive Director, NCCMP

    Adjournment

    12:00

    Thanks to our sponsors!

    Conference Sponsor

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