| BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter |   |
September 17, 2004
Today's sponsor: BenefitsLink Yellow Pages
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
Outsource benefits tasks by selecting a vendor from our online directory Your employee benefits service or product can be advertised in an online directory sponsored by the nation's leading employee benefits web site-- BenefitsLink. Your listing can take readers directly to your web site, or to a full-page advertisement we'll create. Just $200 per year (or $400 per year for a premium listing)! Request your ad today and receive 3 months of free banner advertising!
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Bush Blasts Kerry Health Plan Saying It Would Cost Too Much and Put the Government in Control
Excerpt: "President Bush stepped up his attack on Sen. John Kerry's health-care proposals yesterday, accusing the Democratic nominee of seeking to expand the federal government's power by controlling the nation's health-care system - something Kerry says he is not proposing at all." (The Philadelphia Inquirer; one-time registration required)
Overview: DOL Final Regulations for the Timing and Content of COBRA Notices
Excerpt: "This past spring, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued final rules providing standards for the timing and the content of notices required under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) and establishing standards for administering the notice process. This is the first significant guidance that the DOL has offered on COBRA since 1986." (Dow, Lohnes & Albertson)
The Chronic Problem of Declining Health Coverage As Employer-provided Health Insurance Falls
Issue Brief. Excerpt: "The costs to working families of the recession and jobless recovery have been amply documented in terms of jobs, wages, and incomes (Mishel et al. 2004). Yet the persistently weak labor market in tandem with sharply increasing health costs have led to a related problem for working families: the loss of employer-provided health coverage." (Economic Policy Institute)
Private Plans / Health Maintenance Organizations, Costing Medicare More Than Traditional Plans
Excerpt: "Members of Congress expressed concern on Thursday about new data indicating that Medicare pays private health plans more than it would cost to care for the same patients in the traditional Medicare program." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)
Health Status and Medical Treatment of the Future Elderly: Predicting the Costs
Excerpt: "To help the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services more accurately predict future health care costs, RAND Health developed the Future Elderly Model (FEM). A demographic-economic model of health spending projections, the FEM enables the user to answer 'what-if' questions about the effects of changes in health status and disease treatment on future health care costs. This report describes the development of the FEM and its application in four key clinical areas." (RAND)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Brokers Fighting Their Former Employers Over Money Held in Deferred-Compensation Plans
Excerpt: "A group of former Smith Barney advisors recently won a judgment that would return over $8 million in forfeited wages held in the company's Capital Appreciation Plan (CAP). Meanwhile, a former rep from the former Prudential Securities is challenging that firm's deferred-comp vehicle, MasterShare, on the grounds that it violates his rights under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)." (Registered Rep)
Opinion: Promised Employee Benefits Disappear When Rival Companies Merge
Excerpt: "The sale of one company to another often can be brutal on employees. It's not just that jobs are lost. It's also the jarring effect on longtime employees who survive the sale but are ready to retire. Case in point is Wood Dale-based Rockwell FirstPoint Contact which was sold to its rival, Westford, Mass.-based Concerto Software, earlier this month." (Chicago Tribune; one-time registration required)
Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation: a Simple Proposal
Excerpt: "On March 31, 2004, FASB issued its long-awaited exposure draft, Share-Based Payment, an amendment of SFAS 123 and 95. As expected, this controversial draft sparked proposed legislation and campaigns by various groups to prevent, or at least limit, the effects of the proposed rules. By mid-June, FASB had received more than 4,000 comment letters on this matter." (Robert A. Dyson in The CPA Journal Online)
Newly Posted Events
Consumer Driven Health Care – Demystifying The Alternatives
Nationwide on October 21, 2004
presented by HRTrainingCenter.com
HIPAA’s Security Rule: Organizing Efforts, Meeting Compliance
Nationwide on September 30, 2004
presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
Passing Participant-Driven Expenses Through To Plan Participants
Nationwide on October 20, 2004
presented by HRTrainingCenter.com
Untangling The FMLA, ADA, & Workers’ Comp Overlap
Nationwide on September 20, 2004
presented by HRTrainingCenter.com
Newly Posted Press Releases
PSCA Applauds Representatives' Letter To IRS On Behalf Of Tribal Government Retirement Plans
(Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America (PSCA))
Health Insurance Plans Extend Efforts to End Tobacco Use
(Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)
Schwarzenegger Should Heed National Survey – 1/3 of Americans Plan to Purchase Rx From Other Countries
(Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights)
Survey Shows Consumer-Driven Healthcare Plan Prompts Healthier Lifestyles and Wiser Spending Habits.
(Destiny Health)
Boxer and Eshoo Urge President Bush to Push Stock Options Bill Towards Final Passage
(U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer)
Movers and Shakers: Newly Posted Announcements of Promotions and New Personnel
(Post Yours!)
Bill Rizer (Unified Trust Company, NA)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Associate
for Thompson Hine LLP
in OH
Retirement Services District Manager Sales (Minneapolis)
for ADP Retirement Services
in MN
401k Plan Administration Manager
for Boston Financial Data Services
in MA
HR Benefits Process/Data Analyst (JP17938-FF)
for Southern California Edison
in CA
Benefits Support Services Consultant
for AECOM Technology Corporation
in CA
Special Markets Coordinator
for Transamerica
in CA
Institutional Trust Consultant
for BB&T
in VA
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Search BenefitsLink
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research
- Employee Benefits Library
Copyright 2004 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.; except that you can reprint this newsletter in full (if you also include this boilerplate part) without obtaining our permission.
Published by:
BenefitsLink.com, Inc.
https://benefitslink.com/about.html
1298 Minnesota Avenue, Suite H
Winter Park FL 32789
(407) 644-4146
Fax: (407) 644-2151
Editor and Publisher: David Rhett Baker, J.D.
Housekeeping: