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July 14, 2003 - 8,367 subscribers
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(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Full Text of EEOC Proposed Regulations on Retiree Health Benefits (PDF)
8 pages. Excerpt: "The Commission therefore believes that quantifying the cost to employers of post-Medicare retiree health benefits under any formulation of the equal cost test would not be practicable.... [T]he Commission believes that the current regulatory framework of the ADEA does not provide a sufficient safe harbor to protect and preserve the important employer practice of providing health coverage for retirees." (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission)

Compromise Getting Harder to Find on Medicare Drug Coverage
Excerpt: "Agreement in Congress on a final compromise bill to add prescription drugs to Medicare could be far more difficult to negotiate than it seemed just a few weeks ago, with both sides in the debate digging in for a fight over important provisions, lawmakers and strategists in both parties say." (New York Times; one-time registration required)

Overview: Congress Debates Medicare Reform
Excerpt: "Employers that provide qualified prescription drug coverage to retirees who are eligible for prescription drug coverage but not enrolled in a prescription drug or Medicare Advantage plan would qualify for subsidies. Under the Senate bill, employers would receive a direct subsidy based on a share of the national average premium. Under the House bill, employers would receive 28 percent of costs incurred by a beneficiary between the $250 deductible and a $5,000 cap." (Watson Wyatt)

Democrat Candidates Better Have Healthcare Answers Ready, N.H. Coalition Says
Excerpt: "The New Hampshire For Health Care coalition aims to make health care a central issue in next year's presidential primary. The coalition of working families, small-business owners, seniors, community leaders, health-care providers and consumers is ready to tell stories one person at a time and via a radio ad campaign." (Portsmouth [Me.] Herald)

Democrats Attack G.O.P. in TV Ads on Medicare Bill
Excerpt: "Fearful of losing ground to Republicans on the potent issue of Medicare, House Democrats today began broadcasting television commercials attacking Republican lawmakers around the country for their support of the House-passed plan to create a new prescription drug benefit." (New York Times; one-time registration required)

House Votes to Allow Overhaul of Overtime
Excerpt: "The House narrowly voted [on Thursday, July 10] to let the Bush administration overhaul 50-year-old rules governing workplace overtime, a move that would help low-income workers but penalize many middle- and upper-income employees." (Washington Post via International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)

Opinion: Health Savings Accounts Are Critical to Medicare Reform
Excerpt: "The problem with MSAs is too many unnecessary rules. The law restricts who may open an MSA, how many people may open an MSA, what type of health insurance they must purchase, who may contribute to an MSA, and how long MSAs may be opened. (For example, MSAs are currently restricted to the self-employed and employees of small business.) The law also creates a 'doughnut hole' in MSA coverage by restricting MSA contributions to a fraction of the insurance deductible." (Michael F. Cannon published by the National Center for Policy Analysis)

3d Circuit: HMO Had No Duty To Disclose Physician Cost Incentives To Health Plan Participants (PDF)
21 pages; Horvath v. Keystone Health Plan East, No. 02-1731 (3d Cir. 2003). Excerpt: "[HMOs] routinely utilize financial incentives to encourage physicians to ration care in a cost-effective manner. This case presents the question whether, when the existence of such a plan has been disclosed, [ERISA] requires HMOs automatically to disclose further information on these incentives to plan beneficiaries." (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, via FindLaw.com)

Court of Appeals for D.C. Circuit Rejects Pilots' Challenge to PBGC Termination of TWA Plan
Allied Pilots Association v. PBGC, No. 02-5144 (D.C. Cir. 2003). Excerpt: "This case arises out of a settlement agreement concerning [TWA's] employee pension plans. Agreed to over a decade ago by TWA, TWA's employees, the financier Carl Icahn and the [PBGC], the agreement required the PBGC to terminate the plans if certain defined 'Significant Events' were to occur.... [W]e conclude that federal law authorizes the PBGC to enter into settlement agreements like the one challenged in this case ..." (U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, via FindLaw.com)

Alaska Constitution Protects Retiree Health Benefits
Excerpt: "In so ruling, the court rejected two other arguments raised by the State: (1) that the subject constitutional provision does not encompass health insurance benefits and (2) if it does encompass health insurance benefits, the constitutional provision only requires that premiums paid on behalf of retirees not be diminished." (Cypen & Cypen)

Overview: DOL Approves of Asset Transfer upon MEWA Termination (PDF)
Excerpt: "This Legal Alert discusses Advisory Opinion 2003-08A ... in which the DOL approved a transfer of surplus assets to a charitable foundation upon the termination of a multiple employer welfare arrangement ('MEWA')." (Kilpatrick Stockton LLP)

Challenges Loom from California' Paid Family Leave Requirement
Excerpt: "The criteria for leave are similar to other federal and state statutes, but with a unique twist: California workers will receive up to 55% of their pay, up to a weekly maximum equal to the California state disability insurance program, for up to six weeks." (BenefitNews.com)

Random Acts of Fitness Buff Up Employees at Portland General Electric
Excerpt: "After two health screenings revealed that 21 percent of Portland General Electric employees had significant health risks for diabetes and other metabolic disorders, the company launched an aggressive wellness program." (The Business Journal of Portland [Ore.] via bizjournals.com; one-time registration required)

Opinion: California State Mandates Drive Up Hospital Costs
Excerpt: "One important reason hospital costs are increasing in California is that the state government is requiring hospitals to comply with an ever-expanding array of expensive but unfunded mandates. For example, state law requires hospitals to meet new earthquake standards by rebuilding or retrofitting their facilities at a cost estimated at $24 billion or more." (William J. Cox on SFGate.com)


Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

3d Circuit: SPD Terms Can Trump Conflicting Plan Language (PDF)
42 pages; Burstein v. Retirement Account Plan for Employees of Allegheny Health Education and Research Foundation, No. 02-2666 (3d Cir. 2003). Excerpt: "[W]e join several other Circuits in ruling that when a summary plan description under ERISA conflicts with the complete, detailed ERISA plan document, a plan participant may nevertheless state a claim for plan benefits based upon terms contained in the summary plan description." (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, via FindLaw.com)

5th Circuit Adopts 'Serious Consideration' Rule for Requirement to Disclose Possible Plan Changes (PDF)
54 pages (!); Martinez v. Schlumberger, Ltd., No. 02-20173 (5th Cir. 2003). Excerpt: "This case presents the question whether the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ... imposes upon a company that acts as administrator of its employee benefit program a duty to truthfully disclose, upon inquiry from plan participants or beneficiaries, whether it is considering amending the benefit plan." (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, via FindLaw.com)

Overview: SEC Approves NYSE and Nasdaq Rules Governing Shareholder Approval of Equity Comp Plans (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "The new rules govern shareholder approval requirements for equity compensation plans provided by companies that are subject to the listing standards of the NYSE or Nasdaq. Accordingly, listed companies that adopt or materially revise any equity compensation plan, as defined under the NYSE and Nasdaq rules, after June 30, 2003 will be required to solicit shareholder approval for such actions unless an exemption applies." (Gardner Carton & Douglas LLC)


Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

Defined Benefit Implementation Analysts
for Constantin Control Associates
in NJ

Retirement Plan Sales Executive
for Ceridian
in CA

Inside Benefits Service Rep
for Rockville Area
in MD

Chief Compliance Officer
for Transamerica
in CA

Regional Compliance Manager
for Transamerica
in CA

RPS Technical Customer Service Representative
for Charles Schwab
in NC

Account Specialist- Recordkeeping
for AMVESCAP Retirement
in RI

Pension Plan Administration Consultant - Experienced CH-030619-004
for Hewitt Associates, Inc.
in GA
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)

Pension, Profit-Sharing, Welfare and Other Compensation Plans
in DC
October 9, 2003
ALI-ABA (American Law Institute-American Bar Association)

Pension, Profit-Sharing, Welfare and Other Compensation Plans
in CA
March 18, 2003
ALI-ABA (American Law Institute-American Bar Association)
Newly Posted Press Releases
(Post Yours!)

FORT WORTH TPA APPROVED BY AMERICAN FUNDS
(Pension Planning Associates, Inc.)

Reminder: No Form 5500 Required for 'Pure Fringe Benefit Plans'
(Internal Revenue Service)


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