2023 Interim Annual Conference

International Ballroom

Gold Room

Michael Scott
Executive Director, NCCMP

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

Director Hartogensis will provide an update from the PBGC, including a discussion of the status of the Special Financial Assistance Program and the PBGC’s financial outlook.

Hon. Gordon Hartogensis
Director, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation

• Presentation: Keynote Remarks PBGC Director Hartogensis

Panelists will discuss the evolution of the investment decisions facing plans that receive the Special Financial Assistance provided in the American Rescue Plan Act given the increased flexibility permitted by the PBGC’s final rule on SFA, the opening of the SFA application period to non-priority group plans, and the extended period of elevated interest rates.

MODERATOR:
Jonathan Siegel
Head of Taft-Hartley, Loomis, Sayles & Co., L.P.

PANELISTS:
Joshua Barbash
Director, Americas Pension Group, BlackRock

Michael Buchenholz
Head of U.S. Pension Strategy, JP Morgan Asset Management

Sue Crotty
Senior Vice President, Chief Investment Officer, Segal Marco Advisors

Shivin Kwatra
Head of LDI Portfolio Management, Insight Investment

Danielle Singer
Head of North America Pension Solutions, Invesco

• Presentation: 2023 Strategies for Investment of SFA Assets

Gold Room

Panelists will discuss the legislative and regulatory outlook for issues impacting multiemployer pension plans, including how the partisan divide between the House and the Senate impacts Congressional perspective, a look ahead at end of year spending debates, and a preliminary look at the election forecast.

MODERATOR:
Mariah Becker
Director of Research and Education, NCCMP

PANELISTS:
Missy Edwards
Founder, Missy Edwards Strategies

Richard Sullivan
Partner, State Federal Strategies

• Presentation: 2023 Legislative and Regulatory Update

SECURE 2.0 introduced more than 90 provisions intended to improve retirement security for millions of Americans. This panel will discuss the provisions applicable to multiemployer pension and 401(k) plans, as well as the challenges posed by some provisions including the Rothification of catchup contributions and autoenrollment, and the multiemployer specific input provided to IRS/Treasury on implementation.

John R. Harney
Partner, O’Donoghue & O’Donoghue LLP

Matthew Leppert
Partner, Schuchat, Cook & Werner

• Presentation: SECURE 2.0 for Multiemployer Plans

Gold Room

PBGC representatives will provide an update on the status and work of the special financial assistance program, as well as the PBGC’s regulatory activities that will impact multiemployer plans and an update on anticipated 4213 guidance on actuarial assumptions used to calculate withdrawal liability.

Bruce Perlin
Assistant Chief Counsel, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation

John Ginsberg
Assistant General Counsel, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation

Jim Donofrio
Chief Negotiating Actuary, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation

• Presentation: 2023 PBGC Update

Gold Room

Mr. Green will discuss recent court cases on the actuarial assumptions used to determine a withdrawing employer’s liability, the impact on plans and actuarial calculations, and the proposed guidance from the PBGC to clarify the assumptions.

Paul Green
Attorney, Mooney, Green, Saindon, Murphy and Welch

• Presentation: 2023 Withdrawal Liability Update

As trustees of pension and health funds, our funds are entrusted with a huge amount of sensitive participant data making them a tempting treasure trove for unscrupulous individuals. This session will discuss the risks that both pension and health funds face with regard to participant data, as well as steps that plans should consider to minimize those risks.

Adam Boston
Chief Legal Officer, International Painters and Allied Trades Industry Pension Fund

Rebecca L. Rakoski
Co-founder and Managing Partner, XPAN Law Partners

• Presentation: Cybersecurity Risk and Protecting Participant Data

International Ballroom Foyer

Gold Room

Assistant Secretary Gomez will provide an update from the Department of Labor on the Department’s regulatory activity impacting multiemployer plans, including the DOL’s recent proposed rule on mental health parity and the Department’s report to Congress on their enforcement activities.

Hon. Lisa Gomez
Assistant Secretary for EBSA, U.S. Department of Labor

This session will discuss the legislative and regulatory outlook for issues impacting multiemployer health plans, including federal efforts on drug pricing reform, pharmacy benefits reform, and changes to the independent dispute resolution process.

Meghan Horn
Vice President, Senior Compliance Consultant, Segal

Carolyn Smith
Counsel, Alston & Bird

• Presentation: Healthcare Legal & Regulatory Update - Horn

• Presentation: Healthcare Legal & Regulatory Update - Smith

On August 3, the Department of Labor issued long-awaited proposed guidance detailing the analysis health plans are required to perform and maintain to demonstrate that their mental health benefits are being provided in parity with their medical/surgical benefits. These proposed rules represent a sweeping change in approach and requirements with regard to any non-quantitative treatment limitations a plan may contain than had been previously understood, and include a number of new provisions, requirements, and a new certification of the results of the analysis by a named fiduciary. This session will review the proposed regulations and changes in detail, and will identify areas that plans have identified as particularly challenging.

Lisa Campbell
Principal, Groom Law Group

Elena Lynett
Senior Vice President, Segal

• Presentation: Sweeping Changes in Guidance

Gold Room

Over the past year, there has been an increased focus at both the federal and state level on implementing guardrails on common practices of pharmacy benefits managers. This session will discuss the state and federal level legislation, as well as the impacts on plans, recent court decisions, and implications for ERISA preemption that go beyond health plans.

John J. Franczyk, Jr.
General Counsel, Central States Funds

Brigen Winters
Principal, Groom Law Group

• Presentation: PMB Reform Legislation

Gold Room

This session will consider a variety of current issues facing multiemployer health plans including the federal focus on out of pocket insulin costs and the impacts for plans, the growing use of diabetes drugs to address obesity and weightloss, the lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health plans and costs, and the lasting prevalence of telehealth medical care.

MODERATOR:
Breanna Radtke
Assistant Administrator, Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council Benefit Funds

PANELISTS:
Sadhna Paralkar
Senior Vice President and National Medical Director, Segal
Eileen O. Pincay
Vice President and National Pharmacy Practice Leader, Segal

• Presentation: Hot Topics in Healthcare

Gold Room

Along with the proposed guidance on mental health parity released on August 3, the Department of Labor also issued their annual report to Congress on their enforcement activities with respect to mental health parity. This report describes in detail the situations the Departments encountered in the course of their audit activities, as well as the Departments’ responses and is an invaluable resource for real life examples of the implementation of the Departments’ approach to parity. This session will review the report, as well as the lessons for plans in the DOL’s findings.

Elena Lynett
Senior Vice President, Segal

Jennifer Rigterink
Senior Counsel, Proskauer

• Presentation: Mental Health Parity Enforcement

Mariah Becker
Director of Research and Education, NCCMP