The Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service issued proposed regulations providing guidance to employers that choose to make contributions to section 530A (“Trump”) accounts for employees or their dependents. The proposed regulations also clarify nondiscrimination requirements for employers offering Trump account contribution programs and dependent care assistance programs.

Congress is embroiled in a challenging month, with government funding, new taxes, and other high-profile and controversial issues facing lawmakers ahead of their scheduled August recess. The sudden passing of Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Chair of the Senate Budget Committee, will further complicate the ability to move legislation. Among the issues of interest to NAIFA are potential tax proposals that would index capital gains, increase the deduction for non-corporate business income, and impose new tax rules on cryptocurrency; offsetting tax increases; and health care affordability.

The Trump Administration has launched Trump Accounts, the new savings accounts for children program. Included in the July 4 launch were links to Trump Account apps, a list of financial institutions that will be administering the accounts, and a summary of how parents can set up Trump Accounts for their children. NAIFA supports the Trump Accounts program, and has pledged to help clients and prospects participate in it.

On July 1, the House Education and the Workforce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions held a hearing on the potential for direct health care contracts to reduce health care costs. The hearing generated considerable interest from both Republicans and Democrats on the subcommittee.

On June 30, in a rare bipartisan 51 to 0 vote, the House Committee on Financial Services approved H,R.7187, the Clarity for Compensation Act. The NAIFA-supported bill—it was a key element lobbied for at the May Congressional Conference—now heads to the House floor for a vote. It then must be approved by the Senate.

In comments submitted in connection with the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) proposed regulation regarding use of alternative investments in retirement plans, retirement industry representatives are encouraging the rule writers to include in their final rule specific examples that demonstrate how a fiduciary can include a collective investment trust (CIT) in a retirement plan’s investment options and still satisfy the proposed new rule through use of its safe harbor.

The House of Representatives has passed, by a vote of 414-2, H.R.2478, the bipartisan Financial Exploitation Prevention Act. The bill would strengthen protections preventing the financial exploitation of seniors and other vulnerable adults by granting investment firms and financial institutions the legal authority to temporarily pause suspicious transactions.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Treasury have issued a final regulation (RIN 1545-BQ58) designating certain trust arrangements (“certain arrangements purporting to be charitable remainder annuity trusts”) as listed (tax shelter) transactions. Designation as a listed transaction subjects promoters of the transactions to disclosure rules and potential substantial penalties.

On June 24, the Senate Finance Committee’s Subcommittee on Social Security held a hearing on ways to solve the looming shortfall in funding for Social Security benefits. While most Republicans expressed opposition to raising the wage cap, there were some who joined with Democrats in supporting the idea.

On July 3, in its mid-year regulatory plan, the Department of Labor (DOL) said it will continue to issue guidance that will allow more alternative (private equity, cryptocurrency, etc.) investments in retirement plans.

President Trump has nominated Keith Sonderling to serve as Secretary of the Department of Labor (DOL). Sonderling is currently serving as DOL’s acting secretary, following the resignation last April of then-Secretary Lori Chavez DeRemer.

Congress is in session, with a one-week June recess and a two-week Independence Day recess on tap, until the month-long August recess. In that short time for legislative work, lawmakers must resolve time-sensitive controversies unrelated to NAIFA interests, advance fiscal year (FY) 2027 government funding legislation, and determine whether another all-GOP reconciliation bill—this one with a significant tax title—can be done. There are a number of issues relevant to NAIFA potentially in play in that all-GOP bill.

On May 19 some 600 insurance and financial advisors met with Senators, Members of the House of Representatives, and/or their key staffers as part of NAIFA’s annual Congressional Conference. Of key importance, these meetings enable constituents to establish and/or grow relationships with their elected representatives.

High on the list of issues lawmakers from both parties want to address this summer is the affordability of health care and health insurance. Of course, Republicans and Democrats are not on the same page on the “how” to address these issues, which polling suggests are central to voter concerns. And voter concerns are at the top of lawmakers’ minds as they head towards the November mid-term elections.

A group of Senate Democrats, led by Finance Committee Chair Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), have released their plans to address long-term care issues in 2027. The plans cover an array of goals aimed at improving the availability and affordability of long-term care, including long-term care insurance (LTCi).

Reps. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) and Aaron Bean (R-FL) have introduced legislation, H.R.8867, aimed at educating the public about long-term care (LTC) accessibility, affordability, and necessity. The “Planning for Long-term Aging Needs (PLAN) Act,” said Rep. Suozzi, “would launch a public campaign to educate families about the necessity of planning for long term care, helping them avoid the financial crisis that hits many families when their loved ones age.”

Hill technical tax staffers say Congress may act on a “small ball” tax bill during the post-election lame duck session. The bill would be comprised of bipartisan, fairly narrow proposals that have wide support. Among the proposals that could be included in the bill is the LaHood-Panetta bill that would clarify and simplify the notices given to plan participants who are separating from service and would allow partial annuitization of plan funds while a participant continues to work.

The annual Trustees Report released on June 9 projects that the Social Security program will be insolvent by the third quarter of 2032. Absent Congressional action, beneficiaries would sustain a 22 percent benefits cut, the report says.

On May 20, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released guidance on the rules governing distributions from long-term care insurance (LTCi) policies and from long-term care benefit plans. The rules cover how much a plan participant can withdraw, without penalty (but the withdrawal is taxable), to pay for LTCi, and what insurers and plans must disclose to the IRS and to policyholders.

On May 15, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a new final rule that allows low-premium, high-deductible health plans (catastrophic plans) purchased through Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges to last up to 10 years. The rule also allows for certifying plans with no traditional doctor network.