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BenefitsLink Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter
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[Guidance Overview]
IRS Proposes Rules on Comparative Effectiveness Research Fees on Health Plans
"With respect to fee calculation, the fee imposed on an issuer of a specified health insur.ance policy and that imposed on a plan sponsor of an applicable self-insured health plan is to be based on the average number of lives covered under the policy or plan. The proposed regulations direct an issuer to apply a single method in determining the average number of lives covered under the policy or plan for the year. The proposed rule contains various examples as to how this calculation would work under differing circumstances."
(Littler)
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The industry’s best 5500 Solution - ftwilliam.com [Advert.]
Wolters Kluwer Law & Business - ftwilliam.com has a solution no matter the size or needs of your firm. Our innovative productivity and automation tools make the tedious task of administering 5500s a breeze. Sign up for our webinar and learn more.
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[Guidance Overview]
Individually-Owned Health Insur.ance Policy Did Not Preclude Employee from Receiving COBRA Coverage
"As this [Pennsylvania District] court explained, early termination of COBRA coverage is permissible when a qualified beneficiary becomes covered under another group health plan (and other conditions are met). By the terms of the rule, the other coverage must be group health plan coverage — coverage under an individual policy typically (unless there is certain employer involvement) will not permit termination of COBRA coverage."
(Thomson Reuters/EBIA)
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[Guidance Overview]
Health Plans Must Pay Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Fee
"The PCOR fee applies to both health insur.ance and self-insured group health plans. Responsibility for the fee depends on funding. The insurer has to pay the fee for insured group health plans and individual health insur.ance policies (but not stop-loss policies issued in connection with self-insured health plans). The plan sponsor (generally, the employer) has to pay the PCOR fee for self-insured group health plans. The focus of this alert is how employers — as health plan sponsors — must calculate and pay the PCOR fee."
(Vorys)
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[Guidance Overview]
Arizona Surgical Practice to Pay $100,000 in HIPAA Settlement
"A heart surgery group practice agreed to pay $100,000 to settle federal allegations that it chronically neglected standard HIPAA requirements such as risk assessment, training and business associate contracts, [HHS] announced April 17."
(Thompson)
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Obesity Surpasses Smoking in Employee Health Care Costs
"The study ... provides new insights into the long-term costs of obesity and smoking, showing that both risk factors lead to persistently higher health costs throughout a 7-year follow-up period."
(insurancenewsnet.com)
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Creating a Culture of Wellness & Well-Being Congress [Advert.]
Achieve preventive health management, personal health accountability, measurable productivity enhancements and cost-savings by integrating wellness into the fabric of your organizational culture and environment. May 7-8, 2012 - Chicago, IL
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CO-OPs Gaining Traction in Seven States
"Consumer Operated and Oriented Plans (CO-OPs), the not-for-profit health plans envisioned in the PPACA, have been gaining traction, with CMS announcing hundreds of millions of dollars in loans to help establish such plans in seven states, including organizations in Maryland and Oregon and the Freelancer's Union."
(Healthcare Town Hall)
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Chrysler Keeping Health Care Costs in Check by Emphasizing Preventive Care and Wellness
"After a 9 percent increase in health care spending in 2010, the ... automaker in 2011 kept health care spending flat for most of its 13,000 salaried U.S. workers.... Chrysler is emphasizing a 'culture of health' by giving out 10,000 free flu shots at facilities annually.... It also has healthy offerings at employee cafeterias, fitness centers, and a health care clinic and pharmacy."
(The Detroit News)
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[Opinion]
Obama's Former OMB Director Blasts Report of Higher Costs Arising from Health Care Reform
"Charles Blahous, a senior research fellow at George Mason University ... claims to have shown that the 2010 health-care reform act will substantially increase the budget deficit, despite official estimates to the contrary.... What Blahous actually did was play a trick.... Another study receiving some recent attention is a much more serious one — which is why it didn't get a whole lot of attention."
(Bloomberg)
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Benefits in General; Executive Compensation
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[Guidance Overview]
Basics of QDROs and QMCSOs for Plan Sponsors (PDF)
Materials prepared for use in a webinar. Topics included: QDRO basics, including types of benefit divisions (segregated benefits, shared payments, and plan design alternatives); processes and procedures for QDRO administration; QDROs and nonqualified retirement plans; QDROs and equity compensation and other executive programs; and QMCSO basics.
(Morgan Lewis)
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Identifying Opportunities in Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Considerations in Private Equity Transactions
"In both asset and equity transactions, the treatment of equity plans, change in control agreements and other non-qualified deferred compensation arrangements can be the subject of significant negotiation. In addition to compliance with Section 409A, if the transaction triggers a change in control or a separation from service for the executive, executives can find themselves in possession of substantial payments earlier than desired. Often non-qualified deferred compensation arrangements and some equity plans are unfunded (with no associated 'rabbi trusts'), which results in significant payments made from the target's general assets."
(McDermott Will & Emery)
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Actuaries Report Extremely High Job Satisfaction
"According to US research by website Careercast.com, reported in the Wall Street Journal, actuaries have the second best job in 2012. They are eclipsed only by software planners.... According to the survey, newspaper reporters are down in 196th place - soundly beaten by sewage plant operators, sheet metal workers and janitors."
(Financial News)
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Press Releases
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