Products May 21, 2025

Aon Introduces Health Pricing Tool Amid Rising Costs, Heightened Fiduciary Risks

The product offers insights from public health care pricing data to assist plan sponsors with managing rising costs and reducing fiduciary risks.

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Aon PLC, a professional services firm that offers risk mitigation solutions, launched a product that provides plan sponsors with information from publicly available health care pricing data to help them manage costs and reduce fiduciary risks.

The Health Price Transparency Analysis tool taps into available data on negotiated prices between insurers and providers. The offering aims to enable employers to compare the data for a clearer picture of how the fees they are paying for health-related services compare to the universe of public data.

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According to Aon, the tool allows for more seamless price comparisons by benchmarking negotiated rates across carrier networks representing 5,000 hospitals and more than 600 health systems. Employers can use the information to compare rates, assess network performance and spot discrepancies in what different providers charge for the same services.

The launch comes amid growing pressure on employers to manage their health care spending. According to Aon’s 2025 U.S. health survey, employers expect health care costs to rise 9.2% next year, up from an 8% increase in 2024. Under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, plan sponsors must attest that health care plan fees are fair and reasonable. 

“As employee expectations rise and healthcare costs continue to escalate, Aon’s Health Price Transparency Analysis equips employers with the data and analysis needed to make high-impact decisions,” said Farheen Dam, Aon’s head of health solutions for North America, in a statement. “By turning overwhelming volumes of pricing data into a clear view of market dynamics and provider value, this analysis helps plan sponsors protect their organizations, optimize network performance and manage health plan spend with greater precision.”

Recent Compliance Risk

Meanwhile, concern has also increased about fiduciary risks related to health care pricing.

In March, current and former participants in the JPMorganChase health insurance plan for employees sued J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and affiliates for allegedly breaching their fiduciary duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by mismanaging its prescription drug benefit under its health insurance plan.

That lawsuit followed the FTC releasing its first interim report in July 2024 and, a few months later, filing an administrative lawsuit against the “big three” pharmacy benefit managers—Caremark Rx, Express Scripts and Optum Rx—and their affiliated group purchasing organizations.

In April, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday, which includes measures to improve transparency into pharmacy benefit manager fee disclosures. 

Shortly after the FTC’s interim report, former Wells Fargo employees filed a lawsuit against Wells Fargo & Co., claiming the company mismanaged its health plan by allegedly causing employees to overpay for prescription drugs. In March, the case was dismissed by a U.S. district judge in Minnesota.

Data & Research May 21, 2025

Proposals Suggest Redirecting DB Plan Surpluses to Boost Benefits, Raise Revenue

Two proposals from the American Benefits Council suggest ways to redirect some $100 billion in surplus funds from pension funds without terminating retirement plans.

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The American Benefits Council has proposed changes that would reshape how employers use otherwise unusable surplus assets in retirement plans, offering a win for employees and a revenue boost for the federal government.

Citing the rise in interest rates since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, a rise which resulted in increased funded levels for the 100 largest corporate pension plans and a surplus of at least $62 billion in pension assets in the U.S. as of December 2024, according to data from Milliman, the ABC’s plans would avoid “a material incentive to terminate” pension funds.

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The ABC’s first proposal would permit surplus assets in a defined benefit pension fund to be transferred to provide contributions to participants in the employer’s defined contribution retirement plan without terminating the defined benefit plan. Such a use of plan assets is currently permitted only if the defined benefit plan is being terminated.

The second proposal would enable surplus assets in a plan sponsor’s retiree health account to be transferred and used to pay for other benefits, such as active employee health benefits.

Both proposals include the current-law protections for participants, including protections against reductions in health benefits for active employees or retirees and against reductions in contributions to defined contribution plans, according to information from the council.

The proposals were outlined in letters sent to the chairs of the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance, Jason Smith, R-Missouri, and Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, respectively, on May 8.

Under current law, companies may use surplus pension assets for other benefits if they terminate the pension plan. The proposed framework, however, would allow the plan to continue operating while excess assets could be used toward employee 401(k) contributions or active employee health benefits. According to the council, these changes could unlock more than $100 billion in otherwise idle surplus assets.

“These proposals are a win-win approach for employees, employers, and taxpayers,” said Lynn Dudley, the council’s senior vice president for global retirement and compensation policy, in a statement. “They provide immediate benefits to workers while also raising billions in federal revenue.”

The federal revenue would come as a result of the fact that companies that have collected the surplus assets have already received a tax deduction. Therefore, using that money for other benefits forgoes a second deduction, creating a cost-saving mechanism for the federal budget. The council argued that this mirrors the effect of similar rules under Internal Revenue Code Section 420, which governs the use of surplus pension funds for retiree health care.

The proposals include protections to ensure employee benefits are not reduced as a result of surplus transfers. The protections would also include protections against reductions in health benefits for active employees or retirees and against reductions in contributions to defined contribution plans. These safeguards aim to preserve the integrity of both retirement and health plans while expanding flexibility for employers, according to the council’s materials.

The American Benefits Council has urged Congress to consider the proposals as part of broader fiscal policy efforts.

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