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BenefitsLink Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter
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[Guidance Overview]
So You Provide Meals for Your Employees. Is the Chef's Salary Part of the 'Direct Cost'?
"One of the keys to this determination is comparing the cost of providing the meals to the revenue the operation brings in. There are 'direct' and 'indirect' costs, the latter of which do not go toward the calculation of the cost-to-revenue ratio that determines whether you are providing a de minimis benefit (and therefore one that does not have to be included in employees' taxable wages)."
(SmartHR)
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A New Set of Best Practices for 'Other Post-Employment Benefits'
"Fortunately, the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) has stepped up to the plate with a new guidance document providing best practices to public employers seeking to establish an OPEB trust. This primer covers the basic questions that most public officials and managers will face, outlines the basic legal options and pitfalls, explains in simple terms the paths available and the pros and cons of each, and directs readers to literature in the field to help support sound decisionmaking. Any finance officer can start with this roadmap and easily chart a course to implement a trust within six months."
(Governing)
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Prospects for Boost in Mass Transit Tax Break Dim
"While the Senate Finance Committee previously approved a highway funding bill that includes a provision that would allow employees to reduce their salaries by up to $240 a month through the end of 2012 to pay for mass transit expenses, Senate Democratic leaders have been unable to muster sufficient support to bring up the broader bill for a vote by the full Senate."
(Business Insurance)
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A Decade of Declines in Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Coverage
"No demographic or socioeconomic group has been spared from the erosion of job-based insurance from 2000-10. Both genders and people of all ages, races, and education levels have suffered declines in employer-based coverage. Workers across the wage distribution, in small and large firms alike, and even those working full time and in white-collar jobs have also lost coverage."
(Economic Policy Institute)
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Regulations Limiting Incentives to Employees to Use TRICARE (PDF)
"As [requested], CBO has analyzed whether the limitation on employer incentives to TRICARE-eligible beneficiaries (section 707 of the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007, Public Law 109-364) has resulted in budgetary savings for the Department of Defense."
(U.S. Congressional Budget Office)
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AARP Health Law Guide
"This guide will help you find resources tailored to your needs, whether it's about Medicare, health insurance coverage for you or your family, or public programs that may work for you. [The guide is also available in Spanish.]"
(AARP)
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[Opinion]
Single-Payer Health Care Is Coming to America: Are We Ready?
"Speaking at a recent conference, Mark Bertolini, CEO and Chairman of Aetna Insurance, announced that the end is near for profit driven health insurance companies. 'The system doesn't work, it's broke today. The end of insurance companies, the way we've run the business in the past, is here.'"
(Forbes)
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Benefits in General; Executive Compensation
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[Official Guidance]
Notice of 160th Meeting of Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans (PDF)
"The meeting will [be held on March 13, 2012, in Washington, DC]. The purpose of the open meeting ... is to welcome the new members, introduce the Council Chair and Vice Chair, receive an update from the Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Employee Benefits Security Administration, and determine the topics to be addressed by the Council in 2012."
(U.S. Employee Benefits Security Administration)
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Use of Electronic Distribution of SPDs Continues to Grow
"Employers are realizing that not only does electronic distribution of Summary Plan Descriptions (SPDs) save money; it results in faster distribution of SPDs that better reflect current plan provisions than materials distributed as printed hard copies."
(HighRoads)
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Tax Relief and Health Care Acts Shape 2011 Returns
"Although most of its major provisions will take effect in subsequent years, the health care reform legislation passed in 2010 contained some provisions that were effective in 2011."
(Journal of Accountancy)
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Press Releases
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