US Labor Official Signals Actions on Health Plan Fiduciary Role

A top Labor Department official indicated the Trump administration is looking to strengthen rules around health plan fiduciaries amid broader backlash to third-party administrators’ roles in rising health-care costs.

Assistant Secretary Daniel Aronowitz, who leads the Employee Benefits Security Administration, said the agency is looking to aid fiduciaries—who are legally obligated to act in the best interest of health plan enrollees under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act—as well as hold them accountable.

“In the health-care space, unlike the retirement space, ERISA’s fiduciary duties have largely been undefined, untested, and unenforced,” he said Tuesday in a speech to employer group ...