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April 9, 2003 - 8,085 subscribers
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Steel Workers Union Applauds Maryland Assembly's Bill to Bring Beth Steel Retirees into State Plan
Excerpt: "The United Steelworkers of America (USWA) applauded emergency approval of the Health Insurance Coverage Availability Act ... to extend a safety net for 19,000 retired steelworkers whose healthcare benefits were terminated by Bethlehem Steel on Mar. 31. The bill now goes to the Governor for signature. H.B. 1100 will provide the first state-based option for Bethlehem Steel retirees to make use of the tax credit for a qualifying plan." (PRNewswire via NewsAlert.com)
Supreme Court Says Doctors Must Honor Arbitration Clause in Dispute with HMOs
Excerpt: "The UnitedHealth Group and PacifiCare Health Systems, the managed care companies, have won a Supreme Court decision allowing them to send a dispute with doctors to arbitration, at least initially. An arbitrator, not a court, should first consider whether agreements between the companies and doctors bar remedies that would be available if a claim were decided in federal court, the justices ruled 8 to 0." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Speakers State Cases For, Against Domestic Partner Benefits for Durham County, N.C. Employees
Excerpt: "After hearing from a dozen speakers on the issue Monday, the commissioners took no action on the proposal to change the county's insurance policy. Commissioners Chairwoman Ellen Reckhow has said she would abide by the opinion of County Attorney Chuck Kitchen that offering benefits to partners of unmarried county workers would violate an obscure 1805 law against fornication and adultery." (The [Raleigh, N.C.] News & Observer)
Port of Seattle Declines to Require Contractors to Provide Health Coverage to Domestic Partners
Excerpt: "Port of Seattle commissioners [on April 8, 2003] voted 3-1 against developing rules requiring dozens of companies contracting with the agency to provide domestic partners with the same employee benefits offered to the spouses of married workers. The vote came just one month after Lawrence Molloy surprised his fellow commissioners by asking the Port to consider adopting the same policy as the city of Seattle, which has required equal benefits from contractors since 1999." (The Seattle Times)
DOL Finalizes MEWA Reporting Rules
Excerpt: "The final rule does not significantly modify the reporting requirement established in the interim rule. Instead, several clarifications were added to make clearer the application of the reporting requirement to different types of arrangements. Some of these clarifications were initially issued in the form of question-and-answer guidance during the period of interim effectiveness of this rule and were included in the instructions to the Form M-1 in Years 2000, 2001, and 2002." (U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)
DOL Finalizes Regs on Penalties for Failure to File Required MEWA Report
Excerpt: "This regulation finalizes the interim final regulations published February 20, 2000, as amended by the interim final amendments published October 21, 2002. Only one modification was made, involving applicability dates.... The Department remains committed to working with administrators to help them comply with the Form M-1 filing requirement. Filers who have questions or who need assistance in completing a filing may call the EBSA Help Desk, at 202-693-8360." (U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)
DOL Finalizes Regs on Hearing Procedures for Penalties for Failure to File Required MEWA Report
Excerpt: "This document contains a final rule that provides guidance relating to the procedures for administrative hearings and appeals regarding the assessment of civil penalties under section 502(c)(5) of ERISA for the failure or refusal to file a completed report pursuant to section 101(g) of ERISA. This regulation is designed to parallel the procedures set forth in Sec. 2570.502c-2 regarding civil penalties under section 502(c)(2) of ERISA." (U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)
Nonprofit Organization Honors Employers for Efforts Among Staff, Community
Excerpt: "The Center for Companies that Care, a Chicago-based nonprofit organization dedicated to encouraging, celebrating and sustaining businesses that prize employees and are committed to community service, recently recognized employers for exemplary efforts in those areas." (BenefitNews.com)
Small Employers Boosting Use of Vision Plans
Excerpt: "[T]he percentage of employers offering vision insurance has increased from 60% in 1998 to 73% last year. The biggest jump came between 2000 and 2001, when the number leapt from 63% to 72%. The difference is even more pronounced with small employers." (BenefitNews.com)
DOL Finalizes Rules for Collectively Bargained Plans Not Considered MEWAs
Excerpt: "This document contains a regulation under [ERISA] setting forth specific criteria that, if met and if certain other factors set forth in the regulation are not present, constitute a finding by the Secretary of Labor ... that a plan is established or maintained under or pursuant to one or more collective bargaining agreements for purposes of section 3(40) of ERISA. [Such plans] are not subject to state regulation of multiple employer welfare arrangements as provided for by [ERISA]." (U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)
DOL Finalizes Rules for Determining Status as Collectively Bargained Plan Not Considered a MEWA
Excerpt: "The procedural rules provide for administrative hearings to obtain a determination by the Secretary ... An administrative hearing is available under these rules only to an entity that contends it meets the exception provided in section 3(40)(A)(i) for plans established or maintained under or pursuant to collective bargaining agreements and only if the jurisdiction or law of a state has been asserted against that entity." (U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)
Insured Consumers Likely to Pay More for Prescription Allergy Meds Due to Claritin Going OTC
Excerpt: "[T]hose with insurance are shelling out their own money for [over-the-counter Claritin], which can run $30 a month. Before, the insured might have gotten a month's worth of prescription Claritin for co-payments as low as $10 a month. And there's more. Most health insurers have also pushed the other allergy drugs in that same class -- Allegra, Clarinex and Zyrtec -- into the most expensive 'tiers' of their drug plans. That means you'll likely pay more." (USA Today)
Overview: Subcommittee Examines FDA Enforcement of Rules Against Importing Drugs from Canada
Excerpt: "After taking offensive steps to crack down on businesses facilitating the purchase of Canadian prescription drugs in the United States, the Food and Drug Administration was on the defensive last week as it explained its enforcement efforts before a newly formed House subcommittee on the issue." (BenefitNews.com)
A First In Health Care: Quality Award Goes to Healthcare Firm
Excerpt: "For the first time, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award-- the most prestigious honor in business for outstanding performance-- was given to a firm in the medical world. The award, named for the late commerce secretary in the Reagan Cabinet, went to SSM Health Care, a huge ($1.8 billion in revenues) nonprofit Catholic organization headquartered in St. Louis ..." (David Broder of the Washington Post, in The [Canton, Oh.] Repository)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Commentary: You're Fired. Here's Your $16 Million.
Excerpt: "While many Americans are cashing their final unemployment checks and wondering how they'll pay next month's bills, the top brass at our nation's biggest companies could hardly pick a better time to be laid off." (Michael Brush on MSN Money)
Many Severance Packages for CEOs Still Huge
Excerpt: "Despite a rash of new corporate-governance guidelines, failed chief executives are still reaping huge severance deals when they are forced out." (The Wall Street Journal via the San Francisco Chronicle)
Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plans Fuel Job, Corporate Growth Says Council Paper
Press release; includes a link to the full text of the paper. Excerpt: "[T]he American Benefits Council submitted its newly released paper, Nonqualified Deferred Compensation: An Important Source of Retirement Income, to help explain these plans' important role as a source of retirement income and capital funding and as a critical workforce recruitment tool. The document was prepared for the Council by Brigen Winters of the Groom Law Group." (American Benefits Council)
Senators Fault Consultants for Providing Deferred Comp Advice to Enron
Excerpt: "A recent report by the House-Senate Joint Committee on Taxation detailed evidence of Enron's use of complex transactions to lop millions of dollars off its federal tax bill, inflate its earnings and pay top executives lavishly. The revelations also threw a new spotlight on the big accounting firms, investment banks and law firms that advised the energy-trading company on the schemes that pushed the legal envelope." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Working for Uncle Sam: Overview of Pay and Benefits
Excerpt: "In many cases the total value of this compensation may substantially exceed the value of a private sector employer's offering, even if the basic government salary is lower." (Washington Post)
Computer Chipmaker to Allow Employees to Swap Options for Stock
Excerpt: "The company said it will award as much as $162 million in stock to employees. They'll get the shares in exchange for old stock options that are nearly worthless because Broadcom's stock has plunged 94 percent over three years." (The Orange County [Calif.] Register)
Mammoth Pension Fund Shareholder Pushes GE to Use Performance-Based Stock Options
Excerpt: "California Public Employees' Retirement System, the nation's largest public pension fund, asked General Electric Co. shareholders on Tuesday to vote for a resolution demanding the company use performance-based stock options, rather than regular options, as a form of compensation." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Retirement Plan Services Representative
for American Funds
in IN
Account Executive
for Transamerica-The Winning Organization
in CA
Communication Specialist
for Principal Financial Group
in CA
Newly Posted Webcasts
(Post Yours!)
The Future of Executive Compensation & Benefits
on April 17, 2003
presented by Clark/Bardes Consulting
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)
Certificate in Compensation
in NY
May 15, 2003
International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
Certificate in Workplace Learning and Environment
in NY
May 15, 2003
International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
Newly Posted Press Releases
(Post Yours!)
ICMA Retirement Corporation's Vantagepoint Memorial Scholarship Program Aids Children of Fallen Firefighters
(ICMA Retirement Corporation)
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