EBRI Incorporates Workplace Health Research Group

The Employee Benefit Research Institute announced Thursday that it is incorporating the Health Enhancement Research Organization’s staff, research and benchmarking tools into the larger benefits organization.

Founded in 1996, HERO is a nonprofit organization headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina that is dedicated to researching workplace health benefits. Its tools include a “best practices scorecard” and “well-being questionnaire” to help employers assess their workplace health and wellbeing practices and live, policy-focused events for employers and policymakers.

“HERO’s strength comes from a community of employers, researchers and practitioners who learn from one another,” said Karen Moseley, president and CEO of HERO. “Bringing that community and expertise to EBRI gives our work a broader platform and our collective members new opportunities to contribute and learn.”

According to the merger announcement, the integration allows HERO’s members to access EBRI’s research on retirement, employment-based health benefits and financial well-being.

“We are expanding both the scope of our research and our ability to connect evidence with employers’ firsthand experience,” said Barb Marder, president and CEO of EBRI, in a statement. “This combination will help us address pressing workplace challenges and deliver actionable insights for employers, policymakers and benefits professionals.”

EBRI will be able to “expand its research agenda and connect independent evidence with employer experience, helping inform decisions about employee benefits, workplace health and financial security,” according to the announcement.

The groups’ combination comes as plan sponsors operating under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act are dealing with regulatory changes regarding health benefits; including working to establish best practices for their role as health plan fiduciaries. Focus on questions about the responsibilities of healthcare plan fiduciaries has grown since Congress, in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, amended ERISA to increase transparency related to health plan service providers, reinforcing plan sponsors’ responsibility to vet and monitor healthcare plan service providers.

In addition, the Department of Labor recently finalized its disclosure rule for pharmacy benefit managers, which is intended to improve transparency into fees and compensation plan sponsors pay PBMs and their affiliates.