WELLESLEY, Mass., Nov. 8, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- In a
legislative webinar post-election yesterday, Sun Life Financial
U.S. experts discussed how the midterm elections could affect
employee benefits, and explored the growth of new paid leave laws
at the federal, state and local levels.
Sun Life's Marjory Robertson,
senior counsel and a leave compliance expert, and James Slotnick, head of government relations,
gave insight into the legislative landscape, particularly in regard
to paid leave.
"Paid leave is definitely on the rise," said Robertson. "The
2016 election brought it to the national stage. Washington State, Massachusetts and D.C. have passed mandatory
paid leave laws, and we expect to see more and more states passing
their own leave laws, and are closely watching Connecticut, Colorado, Maine, New
Mexico, Oregon and
Vermont. We may even see the
Democrat-controlled House pass federal paid leave legislation.
Employers need to stay updated because these laws increase
compliance challenges and will impact the structure of employee
benefits, paid time off policies, and short- and long-term
disability."
Slotnick and Robertson also discussed how opposing majorities in
the House and Senate will potentially slow the pace of legislation,
and what is next for the Affordable Care Act.
"With no support in the House, ACA repeal and replace has no
viable path forward for at least the next two years," said
Slotnick. "I am watching for the outcome of the state of
Texas' ACA lawsuit and whether it
makes its way to the Supreme Court. With tax reform reducing the
individual mandate penalty to $0, it
opened the door to argue that the ACA is no longer constitutional.
Currently, there are 37 states involved in this lawsuit, and it has
the potential to end the law."
Other key takeaways from the webinar, according to Slotnick and
Robertson:
- "Medicare For All": With 15 Democratic senators co-sponsoring,
Senator Bernie Sanders' proposed
legislation could become part of the 2020 Democratic platform;
- Balance billing: A group of bipartisan senators have discussed
a bill that would limit patient exposure and put more liability on
health-plan sponsors;
- Evolution of paid family and medical leave laws: Original laws
focused on wage replacement rather than job protection, and this is
changing to include protections for both wages and jobs; and
- Employer paid leave programs: More employers are adopting their
own voluntary paid leave plans, finding them to be a powerful
recruitment and retention tool with millennials.
For the full recording of the legislative update webinar, please
contact Devon.Portney.Fernald@sunlife.com.
About Sun Life Financial
Sun Life Financial is a
leading international financial services organization providing a
diverse range of insurance, wealth and asset management solutions
to individuals and corporate Clients. Sun Life Financial has
operations in a number of markets worldwide, including Canada, the United
States, the United Kingdom,
Ireland, Hong Kong, the
Philippines, Japan,
Indonesia, India, China,
Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda. As of September 30, 2018, Sun Life Financial had total
assets under management of C$984
billion. For more information, please visit
www.sunlife.com.
Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New
York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under the
ticker symbol SLF.
In the United States, Sun Life
Financial is one of the largest group benefits providers, serving
more than 60,000 employers in small, medium and large workplaces
across the country. Sun Life's broad portfolio of insurance
products and services in the U.S. includes disability, absence
management, life, dental, vision, voluntary and stop-loss. For more
information, please visit www.sunlife.com/us.
Media contact:
Devon
Fernald
Sun Life Financial
781-416-7151
Devon.portney.fernald@sunlife.com
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SOURCE Sun Life Financial