| BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter |   |
April 30, 2003 - 8,177 subscribers
Today's sponsor: NCEO
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Our Bookstore now carries books published by the NCEO! The National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO), a nonprofit membership and research organization that provides information on broad-based employee stock plans, now has over a dozen of its most popular publications available for purchase in the BenefitsLink bookstore. Topics range from employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) to stock options to employee stock purchase plans (ESPPs).
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Workers See More Cost-Sharing as Unfair, Study Says
Excerpt: "While employees see rising healthcare costs as a problem, they don't believe it's their problem to fix, according to a new survey by Towers Perrin ..." (Modern Healthcare)
Wall Street Journal Looks at Small Business Owners' Difficulty
Excerpt: "The Wall Street Journal on April 29 looks at how small businesses are dealing with recent double-digit increases in the cost of health insurance. According to the Journal, small businesses are managing the increasing costs by looking for new carriers, cutting benefits, shifting more costs to employees or a combination of the three." (KaiserNetwork.org)
Online Wellness Programs Might Be Cost-Effective
Excerpt: "[O]nline weight management programs are emerging as a potential solution for cost-conscious employers looking for effective, quality wellness options that aren't as heavy-hitting on the bottom line." (BenefitNews.com)
Fourth Circuit Upholds HIPAA
Excerpt: "A federal appeals court has upheld the constitutionality of a new federal information privacy law in a South Carolina case-- one of a series of similar legal challenges." (PLANSPONSOR.com; one-time registration required)
Company Could Not Recover Medical Expenses From Attorney Who Represented Plan Beneficiary
In a lawsuit that it characterized as a 'travesty,' the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that a company could not recover medical expenses from an attorney who had represented a welfare plan beneficiary in a third-party suit. The case is Primax Recoveries, Inc. v. Sevilla (Nos. 02-1229 and 02-1435). (SpencerNet)
Employees Want Stress Management, Health Screenings
Excerpt: "New survey results show that a healthy employee really is a happy employee. According to the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses ... more than half of surveyed employees indicate an employer-sponsored wellness program would encourage them to remain at their current job." (BenefitNews.com)
How Many Health Plans Does An Employer Have?
Q: My company sponsors several health care plans, including two PPOs and an HMO, for all employees, and employees can choose which plan suits their needs. For purposes of the HIPAA privacy rules, how many health care plans does the employer have and how many notices must be provided? A: Typically, large employers might sponsor four or five separate plans that are 'covered entities." (SpencerNet)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
IBM Shareholders Narrowly Reject Stock Options Expensing
Excerpt: "IBM ... said 47 percent of votes cast were in favor of the options expensing proposal, narrowly defeating the plan." (Reuters via the Washington Post)
Expensing Options Could Lead to Job Loss, Cisco CEO Says
Excerpt: "U.S. technology companies might shift jobs overseas if they are forced to account for stock options as a business expense, the chief executive of Cisco Systems Inc. warned on Tuesday." (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
eBay's Scary Stock-Option Specter
Excerpt: "Stock-option grants can be a key part of a company's financial obligations. Their value ultimately costs investors, since those shares are often issued in lieu of wages and represent real value being handed over to employees. And with regulators pondering new rules requiring all companies-- Old Economy and New Economy-- to expense their options, eBay's options accounting could receive more interest, particularly going forward." (BusinessWeek Online)
Benefits Drive Latest Surge In Compensation Costs
Excerpt: "Benefit costs soared at a 6.1% annual rate in the first quarter for civilian workers, the largest jump in the benefits portion of the Employment Cost Index ... in 10 years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics." (BenefitNews.com)
Revolution Over Executive Pay Brewing In Britain
Excerpt: "Annual meetings of corporations have taken on a whole new tone here as a result of a recent British law that requires corporate boards to report all the details of executive compensation and perks along with a shareholder vote on such compensation packages at corporate annual meetings." (Toronto Star)
Opinion: CEO Welfare
Excerpt: "[Corporate executives] condemn many corporate practices (accounting standards, auditing procedures) that now seem suspect. But on their own pay, there's a widespread and self-serving silence." (Washington Post)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Associate - Insurance Services - Los Angeles, CA and Deerfield, IL
for Mullin Consulting, Inc.
in CA, IL
Financial Analyst - Executive Benefits - Deerfield, IL
for Mullin Consulting, Inc.
in IL
Pension Administrator
for DeSantiago Pension Consulting, L.L.C.
in AZ
TPA Plan Administrator
for Thesco Retirement Planning Services, LLC
in NJ, NY
Defined Contribution Plan Administrator
for Berlin, Ramos & Co., CPA's, Rockville, Maryland
in DC, MD, VA
Employee Benefits Associate
for Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC - Charlotte, NC office
in NC
Benefits Administrator
for Independent Benefit Services
in MD
Enrollment Specialist - Philadelphia
for Minnesota Life
in PA
Qualified Plan Administrator
for High End Small Plan TPA
in FL
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)
Declining Productivity in the Workplace: The Economic Impact of Employees Caring for Aging Family and Friends; Best Practices to Boost the Bottom Line
in NY
May 22, 2003
New York Business Group on Health & the American Federation for Aging Research
Employers Focus on Provider Quality: Rationale, Results & Resources
in NY
June 4, 2003
New York Business Group on Health, Health Benefits Advisory Group
Saving Private Pensions
in DC
May 6, 2003
The Brookings Institution
New Developments in ESOPs: Beyond Enron
in ALL STATES
May 20, 2003
ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits; Other Organizations
The 17th Annual National Institute on Employee Benefits In Mergers and Acquisitions
in NY
May 22, 2003
ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits
Newly Posted Press Releases
(Post Yours!)
Health Care Costs Top List of People's Personal Worries
(Kaiser Family Foundation)
Watson Wyatt Introduces PensionPath(tm)
(Watson Wyatt & Company)
ICMA Retirement Corporation Partners With CashEdge to Offer Online Account Aggregation
(ICMA Retirement Corporation)
Movers and Shakers: Newly Posted Announcements of Promotions and New Personnel
(Post Yours!)
Troy J. Richardson, PHR (MK Recruiting)
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