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Nebraska Medicine Retirement Plan
The Nebraska Medicine Retirement Plan operates as the core retirement vehicle for employees of Nebraska Medicine, a health system anchored in Omaha.
Nebraska Medicine Retirement Plan
The Nebraska Medicine Retirement Plan operates as the core retirement vehicle for employees of Nebraska Medicine, a health system anchored in Omaha. The plan was structured to provide both employee elective deferrals through a 403(b) and employer-funded contributions through a 401(a) that delivers a 3 percent base contribution and a 75 percent match on employee deferrals, vested over six years. For dually employed physicians at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, the 401(a) Base Plan replaces the matching structure with an employer-only 9 percent contribution that vests over three years, reflecting the system's effort to align retirement benefits with provider recruitment and retention. The plan's investment structure is administered by Empower, a $2 trillion recordkeeper serving over 93,000 retirement plans (per Empower, 2025). While Nebraska Medicine does not publicly disclose its plan-level asset allocation, Empower's platform typically offers participants a menu of target-date funds, core mutual funds, and a brokerage window — a structure common among large healthcare 403(b)/401(a) programs. The plan covers both clinical and non-clinical staff across Nebraska Medicine's hospital and clinic network in Omaha and the broader Douglas County region. The plan administrator, Laurie Willburn, oversees plan operations and compliance for the combined 403(b)/401(a) architecture. In recent years, healthcare retirement plans have faced heightened scrutiny around fee transparency and fiduciary governance, though no specific enforcement action or plan-design change has been publicly reported for the Nebraska Medicine plan in the last 24 months. The plan's relationship with the University of Nebraska Medical Center creates a dual-eligibility layer that adds administrative complexity — a structural feature shared by academic-medical hybrid employers that operate both a health system and a medical school. The Nebraska Medicine plan's most distinctive structural feature is the tiered employer-contribution formula that bifurcates its workforce: standard employees earn a base-and-match contribution while dually employed physicians receive a pure employer-funded contribution at three times the standard base rate. This architecture turns the retirement plan into a de facto compensation-differentiation tool, a pattern common among academic medical centers that must compete nationally for physician talent while maintaining uniform benefits for the broader employee base.
General information
Firm type
Pension Fund
Year founded
2000
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Omaha
Corporate office
Omaha, Nebraska, United States
Principals
Laurie Willburn
Plan Administrator
Frequently asked questions
How is the Nebraska Medicine Retirement Plan structured for standard employees versus dually employed providers?
Standard Nebraska Medicine employees participate in a 403(b) for their own elective deferrals and a 401(a) for employer contributions. The 401(a) provides a 3 percent base contribution plus a 75 percent match on employee deferrals, subject to a six-year graded vesting schedule. Dually employed physicians of both Nebraska Medicine and the University of Nebraska Medical Center receive a separate 401(a) Base Plan that contributes 9 percent with no matching requirement, vesting over three years.
Who administers the Nebraska Medicine Retirement Plan?
Laurie Willburn serves as the plan administrator responsible for plan operations and compliance. The plan's recordkeeping and investment platform is provided by Empower, which services over 93,000 retirement plans and $2 trillion in assets under administration (per Empower, 2025). The plan's dedicated microsite is hosted at www.empower.com/nebraskamed.
Does the plan use a single recordkeeper for both the 403(b) and 401(a) components?
Yes, both the 403(b) employee-deferral plan and the 401(a) employer-funded plan are administered on the Empower platform under the Nebraska Medicine plan umbrella. Consolidating both vehicles under a single recordkeeper simplifies participant enrollment, fee disclosure, and plan governance for the employer.
Why does the plan have a separate 9 percent contribution tier for UNMC providers?
The tiered structure reflects Nebraska Medicine's role as both a standalone health system and the clinical partner of the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The 9 percent employer-only contribution for dually employed providers is a recruitment and retention mechanism aimed at academic physicians who might otherwise negotiate individual retirement packages at competing academic medical centers. It substitutes a guaranteed employer contribution for the matching formula that standard employees receive.
How does the 401(a) employer contribution vesting work?
For standard employees, the 401(a) base and matching contributions vest over a six-year graded schedule. For dually employed providers receiving the 9 percent employer-only contribution in the 401(a) Base Plan, vesting follows a three-year schedule. The shorter vesting period for providers recognizes the more competitive market for physician talent and the plan's role as a retention tool.
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