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September 28, 2012 Get Retirement News  |  Advertise  |  Unsubscribe  |  Past Issues  |  Search

Employee Benefits Jobs

Defined Contribution Pension Administrator
for Pension Planning Consultants, Inc. in NM

Plan Administrator/Conversions Specialist
for Jocelyn Pension Consulting, LLC in CA, CO

Relationship Manager
for Aspire Financial Services in FL

Compliance Consultant
for Vanguard in AZ

Compliance Analyst
for The Newport Group in FL, NC

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Webcasts and Conferences

"The Fundamentals of Cross-Tested Plans - A 3-part program" Web seminar
Nationwide on November 6, 2012 presented by SunGard Relius

An Employer's Roadmap of Healthcare Reform for 2014 and Beyond (NY CLE Program)
in New York on October 24, 2012 presented by WEB (Worldwide Employee Benefits Network ), New York Chapter


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Sears to Overhaul Health Insurance Benefits Using Defined Contributions and Private Insurance Exchange
"Sears Holdings Corp. and Aon P.L.C. are radically shifting the way their employees choose their health care coverage—letting employees decide their level of coverage and how much of their employer's contribution to spend.... More companies are expected to adopt the model as health care reform gets under way and as they face higher health care coverage expenses as long as they run their own medical insurance programs.... Aon Hewitt, Aon's Lincolnshire-based benefits consultancy, will administer a health care 'exchange,' or marketplace, where Sears and Aon employees will choose among five different health care plans. Nine insurers are participating[.]" (Chicago Sun-Times)


[Advert.]

Executive Forum on Creating A Culture of Health - October 8-9, Chicago

Sponsored by World Congress

Shifting organizational norms and behaviors to embody a true Culture of Health results in an exponential rise in employee health, engagement and performance. Gain perspectives to restructure resources and chart next steps in transforming your workforce.


Online Wellness Promotion Can Improve Health, Curb Costs
"Smartphones and other mobile devices, along with destination websites, can help encourage employees to keep fit, better manage chronic conditions and make savvier health care decisions, thereby reducing the cost burden that unhealthy lifestyles and poor decision-making can pose for employers." (Society for Human Resource Management)

Large Employers Shifting Health Coverage to Defined Contribution Model
"Sears Holdings Corp. and Darden Restaurants Inc. are planning a radical change in the way they provide health benefits to their workers, giving employees a fixed sum of money and allowing them to choose their medical coverage and insurer from an online marketplace ... The approach will be closely watched by firms around the United States. If it eventually takes hold widely, it might parallel the transition from company-provided pensions to 401(k) retirement savings plans controlled by workers and funded partly by employer contributions[.]" (National Center for Policy Analysis)

Hospital 'Observation Units' Could Save Billions in Health Costs
"An observation unit is a space near or within the emergency department that provides an alternative to inpatient admission.... [T]he average amount saved per patient could be $1,572 per visit when using an observation unit instead of inpatient admission. A hospital would save $4.6 million a year by avoiding 3,600 inpatient admissions. The U.S. health care system would save $3.1 billion a year by avoiding 2.4 million inpatient admissions." (USNews)

Choosing Health Insurance Tougher Than Parenting Decisions
"Why are people so intimidated? ... 88 percent of those interviewed said the available information is confusing and complicated. 84 percent complained that health plans provide conflicting details. 83 percent said that, in the end, it can be too hard determining which plan is best for them." (FoxBusiness.com)

Americans Are Forgetting What Obamacare Does
"[A recent AP poll] probes what Americans think the health-care law will—and won't—change. The big takeaway seems to be this: Fewer Americans know how Obamacare works than did two years ago.... Americans tend to be significantly more aware of [one] specific health law provision: The requirement to purchase health insurance or pay a penalty." (The Washington Post; free registration required)

Comments on Move by Large Self-Insured Employers to Defined Contribution Health Plans
"Sears Holdings Corp. and Darden Restaurants Inc. say the change isn't designed to make workers pay a higher share of health-coverage costs. Instead they say it is supposed to put more control over health benefits in the hands of employees.... It is likely that the initial defined contributions will be fairly close to the amounts that employers are currently paying for the health benefit programs, so the immediate impact will not be transparent. Only after many employees face bankrupting medical debt—a phenomenon that will increase as the employer contribution buys ever less insurance—will the implications be clear. It is tragic ..." (Physicians for a National Health Program)

The Business Case for Wellness Programs in Public Employee Health Plans
"Few governments or agencies have conducted systematic assessments of plans. Retirees can benefit from wellness programs, but may require additional considerations. Wellness programs likely will yield higher dividends to public employers [than] to private employers due to the longer career pattern of public employees." (Center for State & Local Government Excellence)

2013 Segal Health Plan Cost Trend Survey
"Almost all medical plan types are expected to experience trend increases under 10 percent ... managed care cost trends are forecast to be in the single digits.... The prescription drug trend for active participants and early retirees is projected to be 6.4 percent, a drop of more than 13 percentage points from 10 years ago." (The Segal Group, Inc.)

Benefits in General; Executive Compensation

NYSE and NASDAQ Propose Rules on Independence of Compensation Committee Advisers
"NASDAQ is proposing to require listed companies to establish and maintain a formal independent compensation committee, and review and reassess the adequacy of the charter on an annual basis. Currently, NASDAQ listing requirements do not even require NASDAQ-listed companies to maintain a compensation committee, let alone a written charter." (Winston & Strawn LLP)

Benefits Costs Were 30.7 Percent of Total Compensation In June 2012
"Employer-provided benefits costs for civilian workers in private industry and state and local governments in June 2012 averaged $9.39 per hour worked, accounting for 30.7 percent of total compensation costs, which averaged $30.61 per hour worked. The cost of benefits as a percentage of compensation has risen in the past three years from 27.4 percent of total compensation[.]" (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)

Work 'Til You Drop: Short- and Longer-Term Health Effects of Retirement in Europe
"While the short-term health impact of retirement in Europe remains uncertain, the medium- to long-term effects appear to be negative and economically large." (Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA); Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN))

Retention of Records for Employee Benefit Plans: How Long Is Long Enough?
"[T]he First Circuit found that the evidence that some work had been done combined with the lack of sufficient records justified shifting the burden to the employer to prove that it was NOT obligated to make contributions for all hours that potentially constituted work covered by the plan." [Central Pension Fund of Int'l Union of Operating Engineers v. Ray Haluch Gravel Co. (1st Cir., No. 11-1944, 9/12/12)] (Verrill Dana LLP)

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