Implementation Partner
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Director, Retirement Key Account Management
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Pension Administrator
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Senior Retirement Plan Analyst and Supervisor
for Boutique NYC Administration Firm in NY

Assistant General Counsel - Retirement Plans
for Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company in OH

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ERISA for Bankruptcy Trustees and Practitioners Workshop
in Tennessee on June 13, 2012 presented by U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

Fiduciary Education, DOL & IRS Correction Programs and Apprenticeship Plans Workshop
in Tennessee on June 12, 2012 presented by U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

Health Benefits Coverage under Federal Law Workshop
in Tennessee on June 12, 2012 presented by U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

Managing your 401(k) Plan: A Day in the Life of a Healthy 401(k) in 2012
Nationwide on July 11, 2012 presented by Lorman Education Services

COBRA: A Little of Everything
Nationwide on July 19, 2012 presented by Lorman Education Services

"ERPA Test Review - Part I" Web Seminar, A 3-part Program
Nationwide on June 26, 2012 presented by SunGard Relius

A Conversation About DOL Advisory Opinion 2012-04A
Nationwide on June 5, 2012 presented by Erisafile Inc.

"ERPA Test Review - Part II" Web Seminar, A 3-part Program
Nationwide on July 10, 2012 presented by SunGard Relius

CFDD

Evidence of Mailing COBRA Election Notice to Last-Known Address Overcomes Claim of Non-Receipt
"This case reminds plan administrators of the importance of following standard procedures and maintaining detailed records that enable them to prove that a COBRA election notice was timely sent. (In most cases, the employer is the plan administrator, even if it delegates some tasks to a TPA—so the employer will need to confirm that its TPA's mailing and recordkeeping procedures are adequate.) As the court noted, proof that a notice was timely sent by first-class mail to an employee's last-known address is generally sufficient to establish that the plan administrator fulfilled its responsibility." (Somers v. Cudd Energy Services, Inc., 2012 WL 1836269, W.D. Okla. 2012) (EBIA)

Do Plan Changes Confuse Your Employees?   [Advert.]

No matter how savvy your employees, today’s benefits world can confuse the most sophisticated consumer. That’s why more organizations use BeneCom for benefits communication. We know what employees need to make their benefits work for them - and you.

Texas Supreme Court Holds Sale of Stop-Loss Insur.ance Is Subject to State Regulation
"The Texas Supreme Court has ruled that an insurer's sale of stop-loss insur.ance to self-insured group health plans is subject to policy approval requirements, taxes, and other assessments under the state's insur.ance code.... But it calls to mind a broader debate about the role of stop-loss insur.ance and its implications for state and federal regulation of self-insured health plans. In that regard, the DOL, HHS, and IRS recently issued a joint request for information about the prevalence and consequences of stop-loss insur.ance purchased in connection with self-insured health plans[.]" (EBIA)

Implementing Health Reform: Essential Health Benefits and Plan Accreditation
"On June 1, 2012 HHS released a notice of proposed rulemaking addressing two issues: collection of data to support the essential health benefits (EHB) standards and accreditation of qualified health plans (QHPs). HHS also posted a paperwork reduction notice outlining in greater detail the information it intends to collect from benchmark plans regarding the essential health benefits." (HealthAffairs Blog)

The New Normal In Health Insur.ance: High Deductibles
"Seventy percent of large companies recently surveyed ... said they'll offer high-deductible insur.ance by 2013 combined with accounts that let patients buy medical services with pretax dollars, often funded by the employer. Nearly a fifth of the firms responding to the survey, conducted by Towers and the National Business Group on Health, a nonprofit alliance of large companies, said high-deductible coverage would be the only option in 2013." (Kaiser Health News)

Florida Insurer Gives County $800,000 Premium Break in Exchange for Agreement to Implement Wellness Program
"Florida Blue, previously known as Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Florida, conceded to a reduction of more than 80 percent from its original bid to be the county's insurer—mostly because the county is working to stem the rising tide of big-dollar claims." (Insur.ance News)

Outcomes-Driven Health Care & Benefit Design - July 24-26 - Chicago   [Advert.]

Health and benefit leaders need proactive, aggressive action to change employer and employee purchasing strategies, advance healthy outcomes, and achieve a data-drive ROI - join the nation's most innovative employers to develop your strategic plan.

U.S. Health Care Spending: The Big Picture (PDF)
"This data brief pulls together the most current data available from multiple sources to provide an overview of national health spending. The brief covers: trends in health spending growth and the problem of excess growth, the sectors driving increased spending, the growth in public versus private spending, and changes in consumer out-of-pocket spending." (National Institute for Health Care Management)

A New Tool To Track The Progress Of The Health Care System
"Now, thanks to a new tool launched by HHS, data about the state of the American health care system are at the fingertips of policymakers, providers and the public. The Health System Measurement Project allows people to track the progress we are making toward providing all Americans with access to affordable, high-quality health care and toward reducing health disparities." (HealthAffairs Blog)

Hearing Addresses Effect of Health Care Reform on Cost of Care
"The House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions held a hearing on Thursday to highlight some of the cost and regulatory issues affecting employer-provided health insur.ance in light of changes made by the Affordable Care Act. During the hearing ('Barriers to Lower Health Care Costs for Workers and Employers'), lawmakers and panelists debated how much and to what extent the new health care reform law contributes to rising costs." (Winston & Strawn LLP)

Deloitte Announces Tax Equalization Benefits for Domestic Partners
"Effective June 3, Deloitte will adjust salaries to offset the imputed income charged to its professionals who cover same- and opposite-se.x domestic partners on their medical and/or dental plans.... Under IRS regulations, domestic partners do not qualify as tax dependents, so healthcare premium payments made by Deloitte on behalf of domestic partners are treated as taxable income. With this new domestic partner benefit, Deloitte will pay for the tax impact by grossing up salaries for the value of the premium provided to a domestic partner. As a result, there will be no impact to net pay." (Deloitte)

Slower Health Care Cost Growth Expected in 2013
"Medical inflation has been lower than expected for the past three years, and recalibration of previous estimates shows a low range of 7 percent to 7.5 percent from 2010 through 2013, according to PwC.... A fourth year of relatively low growth suggests that the gap between health care spending and overall inflation might be narrowing to a more sustainable level.... For U.S. employers, the net impact of the 2013 increase could be as low as 5.5 percent after accounting for changes in benefit design by purchasers, PwC estimated." (Society for Human Resource Management)

Tenth Circuit to Plan Administrators: 'Get It Right the First Time' When Denying a Claim
"[The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals] will not permit Defendant to sandbag Plaintiff with its after-the-fact interpretation of an entirely different section of the Plan.... Thus, not only was the [federal district court] not required to defer to Defendant's post hoc interpretation of these newly asserted provisions, but the district court should not even have considered this interpretation in the first place.... Consistent with our precedent, [this court] will consider only the specific basis upon which the Plan administrator relied in its administrative denial of benefits." (Spradley v. Owens-Illinois Hourly Employees Welfare Benefit Plan, Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals 10-7100, June 10, 2012) (Justia.com)

[Opinion]

The Case for the Health Insur.ance Exchanges
"The Federal government will push forward to establish health insur.ance exchanges regardless of how the Supreme Court rules on the Affordable Care Act in the weeks to come ... The only sensible conclusion? The states should accept Washington's help and open up the market for insur.ance online." (The Health Care Blog)

[Opinion]

Single-Payer Health Care Would Save Billions for Massachusetts
"The [Massachusetts] House and Senate health care proposals ... theory is [apparently] that forcing health care providers to consolidate cuts costs.... Here are six alternative steps the Legislature could take that would actually save money while still preserving care." (Physicians for a National Health Program)

[Opinion]

The Supreme Court on the Affordable Care Act -- What We're Waiting For
"We await a judicial opinion that could deliver a decisive blow to all or part of a massive piece of legislation and the hard-fought battles that led to its enactment, or salvage the near-century-old quest for health care reform. At the same time we await an opinion that may reshape our fundamental understanding of the Court, the power of Congress, and long-standing principles of federalism." (HealthAffairs Blog)

Linking Executive Compensation to Sustainability Performance
"Sustainability issues are becoming increasingly common in the boardroom, particularly as the volume of shareholder proposals regarding environmental and social policies has grown in recent proxy seasons.... This [article] discusses corporate directors' increasing interest in sustainability matters, progress toward a notion of performance assessment that incorporates nonfinancial elements, and companies' efforts to explain how they link incentive awards to sustainability targets in response to shareholder proposals filed on this topic since 2009." (The Conference Board)

IRS Seeks to Narrow Definition of Substantial Risk of Forfeiture
"It appears that the proposed rule would prevent decisions such as Robinson v. Comr., which the IRS specifically cited in the preamble. In Robinson, the court held that a sell-back provision created an SRF because it served a substantial business purpose. Under the proposed rules, such a condition would likely not create an SRF, unless the recipient successfully argued that the condition was related to the purpose of the transfer." (Bloomberg BNA)

Barney Frank Introduces Bill to Prohibit Insur.ance Policies Against Compensation Clawbacks at Financial Institutions
"Importantly, this proposed Act only applies to financial institutions and only clawback or personal liability required by federal financial regulatory law or agency rule. Thus, it would apply to FDIC clawbacks under Dodd-Frank Act Section 210, but would not apply to clawbacks from executives outside the financial industry under Dodd-Frank Act Section 954." (Winston & Strawn LLP)

Is Beer In the Workplace an Employee Benefit?
"Mark Torres [is] senior vice president of people and culture at The Rubicon Project. One of his first acts was to survey employees about benefits—which resulted in a strong staff request to retain the 24/7 beer refrigerator on the premises under the category of 'the one thing we shouldn't change.' ... Employee perks are rapidly becoming as important to workers as employee benefits. Start-up companies such as The Rubicon Project are leading the way by defining the company's culture with the perks they offer." (Human Resource Executive Online)

Defense of Marriage Act Unconstitutional, First Circuit Says
"Although employers should be aware of the First Circuit's conclusion that DOMA is unconstitutional, this decision is stayed for now pending Supreme Court review of DOMA, which would seem likely. A Supreme Court decision on DOMA could have far-reaching consequences for employers that offer same-s.ex benefits, especially as to tax issues, given the number of federal laws that affect benefits (which include the Internal Revenue Code, ERISA and HIPAA)." (Practical Law Company)

Sixth Circuit Says ADA Requires 'But For' Causation (PDF)
"In reaching this holding, the Sixth Circuit: (1) abandoned its precedent that required plaintiffs to show their disabilities were the 'sole' reason for any adverse action; and (2) joined the Seventh Circuit in adopting the 'but for' standard over the 'motivating factor' test from Title VII." (Winston & Strawn LLP)

Employee Ownership Update for June 1, 2012
NCEO Executive Director Loren Rodgers discusses employee stock in Facebook and RSU taxation; job creation from private equity vs. ESOPs; a call for documents and tools for effective employee-owner communication; and a survey finding that one in three younger Americans plans to transfer investments out of stock. (National Center for Employee Ownership)

[Opinion]

Text of Comments by American Academy of Actuaries to Actuarial Standards Board on Proposed Revisions to Actuarial Standard of Practice (ASOP) No. 4, Measuring Pension Obligations and Determining Pension Plan Costs or Contributions (PDF)
"While some of the recommended practices of ASOP No. 4 may have applicability to retiree group benefit measurement, others may not. The interests of practitioners and the ASB will be served best by having separate standards for each practice area[.]" (American Academy of Actuaries Joint Committee on Retiree Health)

[Opinion]

Text of Comments by American Academy of Actuaries to Actuarial Standards Board on Proposed Revisions to Actuarial Standard of Practice (ASOP) No. 27, Selection of Economic Assumptions for Measuring Pension Obligations
"There are numerous instances in which the exclusive use of the word 'pension' makes the application of the standard to retiree group benefit practice tenuous. We encourage the ASB to clarify in this ASOP that mastery of pension practice is not the same as mastery of retiree group benefit practice (or vice versa).... In addition, Section 1.1.c. indicates that the purpose of the standard is to enhance those provisions of ASOP No. 6 that relate to the selection and use of economic assumptions.... There are a number of economic assumptions important to retiree health benefit measurement (most obviously, health care cost trend) that are not mentioned in ASOP No. 27." (American Academy of Actuaries Joint Committee on Retiree Health)

The Platinum 401k Responds to DOL Advisory Opinion 2012-04A
(The Platinum 401k, Inc.)

CFDD Launches Custom QDIA Association
(Center for Due Diligence)