On February 3, 2017, Rep. Vern Buchanan (R FL. 16) introduced H.R. 854 to the House Ways and Means Committee. One major section of this legislation would allow a type of Multiple Employer Plan for private companies. The House bill would allow Pooled Plan Providers to offer a Pooled Employer Plan to unrelated companies. This type of plan was known as an Open Multiple Employer Plan prior to the DOL’s Advisory Opinion 2012-04a, which closed the door on Open MEPs.

Open MEPs enabled small employers to access the types of services typically only available to larger plans, at a price point that was feasible. These types of services included 3(16) Plan Administration Fiduciary support, 3(38) Investment Fiduciary support, and aggregation of multiple plan assets for pricing purposes.

As an advocacy group, we fully support the proposed legislation as a means for small employers to offer their employees a qualified retirement plan that is cost effective and protects the employer from liabilities. We will continue to bring you further information as the legislation moves forward and ask for your support.