A Multiple Employer Plans Primer: Exploring Their Potential to Close the Coverage Gap

The report’s key findings are:

• About half of private sector workers are not covered by an employer retirement plan at any given time; this coverage gap is driven by small firms.
• To encourage more small firms to adopt plans, policymakers have made it easier to participate in Multiple Employer Plans (MEPs).
• MEPs reduce the administrative burden and fiduciary responsibilities of a stand-alone plan, and – in theory – could be cheaper.
• But it’s not clear that they do cost less, and any such assessment should consider employee – as well as employer – fees.
• Overall, while MEPs could be attractive, adoption may be slow due to unfamiliarity with the product and uncertainty over any cost advantage.