Phyllis C. Borzi, assistant secretary for Employee Benefits Security

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This is National Consumer Protection Week – a coordinated campaign among federal and state government agencies and non-profit groups that encourages consumers nationwide to take full advantage of their consumer rights and make better-informed decisions.

When most people think of the Department of Labor, they don’t think consumer protection. But it’s the Employee Benefits Security Administration’s job to ensure that workers, as consumers of investment products and health insurance coverage provided by their employers, know their rights and receive the benefits they pay for.

If you’re enrolled in your employer’s group health plan, there are certain rights that you as a consumer may be entitled to. EBSA enforces federal health care laws that protect your rights such as COBRA, HIPAA, and the Affordable Care Act. Information on these federal laws and your rights is available on our website along with general assistance about how life events, such as the birth of a child or a job loss, can impact your benefits. http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/consumer_info_health.html

Phyllis C. Borzi, assistant secretary for Employee Benefits Security testifies before the Senate Special Committee on Aging during a hearing titled, \"Opportunities for Savings: Removing Obstacles for Small Business.\"

EBSA also investigates and takes legal action against unscrupulous employers and insurers. For example, an employer that does not forward the bi-weekly health care deductions from your paycheck to your insurance provider is violating the law, and it’s our job to hold them accountable. There are also fraudulent health insurance arrangements whereby an insurance provider may fail to pay claims to your doctor, even though you – through your employer – have been paying your monthly premium. This too can lead to an investigation and legal action by the department.

EBSA also protects consumers participating in private employer-sponsored retirement savings plans, such as 401(k) accounts. EBSA takes legal action against employers who use employee retirement savings for unrelated purposes, or fail to forward worker contributions to individual accounts.

While we are out there enforcing the law, it is critical that you learn as much as you can to protect yourself. These days, most workers are responsible for directing their own money into investments such as 401(k) accounts and Individual Retirement Accounts. You need the right tools to make the most of your investments. You can learn more by visiting my agency’s website: http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/consumer_info_pension.html

In addition to learning all that you can on your own, you’ll likely need some outside guidance as well as you develop your savings plan. Your employer might provide a financial professional who can provide you with guidance or you may seek one out on your own. In selecting an advisor, it is very important that you choose someone who is acting solely in your best interest and is legally bound to this standard of care. Check out this guide for selecting an investment advisor, http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/newsroom/fsfiduciaryoutreachconsumers.html

Finally, your employer-sponsored retirement plan isn’t free – you’re paying for it – and as a consumer you’re entitled to know what you’re being charged for the services you’re getting. Later this year, companies that service your employer sponsored retirement plan will have to disclose the fees for your investments and the administrative costs associated with managing your savings plan. Your employer will then have to show those costs to you. You may encourage your employer to shop around for a service provider with lower fees. Trust me, your account balance will thank you for it. Visit this fact sheet to learn more, http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/newsroom/fs408b2finalreg.html.

If you have any questions about your health care rights, or retirement savings plan, please go online to: www.askebsa.dol.gov or call 1-866-444-EBSA (3272). EBSA is here to help.

Lastly, http://www.ncpw.gov/ offers consumers a wealth of tips and information from federal and state government and non-profit partner organizations. You can download and print the materials and share them with friends and neighbors, or use the NCPW Toolkit to plan a larger NCPW community event.

Phyllis C. Borzi, Nominee for Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employee Benefits Security, Department of Labor

Phyllis C. Borzi is currently a research professor in the Department of Health Policy, School of Public Health and Health Services, The George Washington University Medical Center, where she is involved in research and policy analysis involving employee benefit plans, the uninsured, managed care, and legal barriers to the development of health information technology.

In addition, she is of counsel with the Washington, D.C. law firm of O’Donoghue & O’Donoghue, LLP where she specializes in ERISA and other legal areas affecting employee benefit plans, including pensions and retirement savings, health plans, and discrimination based on age or disability. Until January 1995, Borzi served as pension and employee benefit counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives, Subcommittee on Labor-Management Relations of the Committee on Education and Labor. She was on the Committee staff for 16 years.

In 1993, in connection with the Presidential Task Force on Health Care Reform, chaired by former First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, Borzi served on working groups dealing with insurance reform, workers’ compensation and employer coverage. She holds a Master of Arts degree in English from Syracuse University and received her law degree from Catholic University Law School, where she was editor-in-chief of the law review.

Borzi is a charter member and a former President of the American College of Employee Benefit Counsel; she served as a member of its Board of Governors from 2000-2008. Borzi is also a current member of the Advisory Board of the BNA Pension & Benefits Reporter (and a former co-chair of the Board) and a former member of the Advisory Committee of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. She is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Pension Research Council, The Wharton School, The University of Pennsylvania and a member of the Board of the Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER).

In 2008, Borzi was appointed by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio to serve as a public member of the Administrative Committee for the Goodyear VEBA, an entity that was judicially established pursuant to a negotiated settlement agreement between the company, the Steelworkers and class representatives for the Steelworkers retirees. Borzi has published numerous articles on ERISA, health care law and policy and retirement security issues and is a frequent speaker on programs sponsored by legal, professional, business, consumer and state and local governmental organizations. An active member of the American Bar Association, Borzi is the current chair of the ABA’s Joint Committee on Employee Benefits (representing the Health Law Section) and a member of the CLE committee of the D.C. Bar Association.

She is a member of the District of Columbia Bar and has been admitted to practice before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court.

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