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May 30, 2003 - 8,264 subscribers
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Battle on Child Tax Credit Intensifies in the Capital
Excerpt: "The White House today defended the decision of Congressional negotiators to deny millions of minimum-wage families the increased child tax credit, saying the new tax law was intended to help people who pay taxes, not those who are too poor to pay." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Chairman of Senate Finance Committee Issues Statement on Child Credit Flap (PDF)
1 page. Excerpt: "The change reported in today's New York Times was not a last minute revision. The accelerated refundable child tax credit was not in the President's original proposal, and it was not in the bill passed by the House of Representatives." (U.S. Senate Committee on Finance)
Opinion: Was There Enough Room In the Tax Bill for the Low-Income Child Tax Credit Provision?
Excerpt: "In explaining why this provision was dropped, a spokeswoman for the House Ways and Means Committee told the New York Times that the provision was in the bill when the cost of the package was tentatively set at $380 billion but was one of the provisions that had to be dropped to reduce the bill's cost to $350 billion. Since the cost of the dropped provision was only $3.5 billion, it appears this decision was not necessary." (Center on Budget Policies and Priorities)
Opinion: Denial of Child Credit to Low-Income Taxpayers is the Tax Bill's Final Indignity
Excerpt: "The tax bill that President Bush triumphantly signed into law on Wednesday is not just unfair, dishonest and economically unsound. It is also cruel to low-income families. In a last-minute revision, Senate and House negotiators dropped a provision that would have extended child tax credits to millions of these families." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Actuaries Comment on Proposed GASB Postretirement Benefit Accounting and Reporting Rules (PDF)
10 pages. Letter dated May 16, 2003. Excerpt: "We agree with the overall approach of moving from pay-as-you-go accounting to accrual accounting. All benefit obligations should be measured and disclosed. We believe, because of the significant impact of the proposed standard on employer expense, that consideration could be given to a phase-in of expensing while requiring full disclosure as of the effective date." (American Academy of Actuaries)
Actuaries Comment on Genetic Discrimination Legislation in General (PDF)
2 pages. May 22, 2003 letter to U.S. senators. Excerpt: "The American Academy of Actuaries' Health Practice Council has developed a series of documents to provide education on the actuarial aspects of the complex issues related to genetic information. The following documents are available on the Academy's website at ..." (American Academy of Actuaries)
Exxon Mobil Shareholders Rejects Sexual Orientation Resolution
Excerpt: "Exxon Mobil Corp. shareholders voted Wednesday and rejected, among other issues, a shareholder resolution to amend the company's written equal employment opportunity policy to include the category of sexual orientation. It was the fifth year the Exxon Mobil resolution has been voted on by stockholders." (Gay Financial Network)
State Insurance Commissioners Seeking Comments on Proposed Change to Coordination-of-Benefits Rules
Excerpt: "Public comments are being sought on revised coordination-of-benefits (COB) rules that would, for example, make changes to the order of benefits determination (OBD) rule for dependent children and allow coordination between individual and group plans." (Thompson Publishing Group)
Many Doctors Beginning To Bill Patients for Routinely Free Services
Excerpt: "The Washington Post on May 27 examined how a small but increasing number of medical practices are starting to charge patients for services that other providers give free of charge.... Many health plans are declining to cover the fees and beginning to prohibit physicians from passing such costs on to patients, according to the Post." (KaiserNetwork.org)
Actuaries Provide Further Comment on Association Health Plan Bills (PDF)
6 pages. Letter dated April 28, 2003. Excerpt: "This letter presents the comments of the American Academy of Actuaries' Association Health Plan Work Group regarding the Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2003 (H.R. 660 and S. 545). As you know, these bills would amend ERISA to establish a new 'Part 8-- Rules Governing Association Health Plans.'" (American Academy of Actuaries)
Aon Health Care Survey 2003
2 pages. Excerpt: "Each Spring and Fall, Aon Consulting provides you with updated health care trend data. We have completed the Spring 2003 survey and the results are reported below. We hope this information will assist you as you evaluate health insurance premium renewals and develop self-funded health plan claim projections." (Aon Consulting)
Opinion: Four Flaws in Gephardt's Health Plan
Excerpt: "Rep. Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.) recently unveiled the centerpiece of his presidential campaign: a plan to encourage near-universal health coverage. The plan calls for replacing the existing system of federal income tax subsidies for health insurance with a much more expensive system. Employers would receive refundable tax credits for 60 percent of the cost of employee health insurance, leaving employees to pay, at most, the remaining 40 percent." (National Center for Policy Analysis)
Unions Confront Democratic Presidential Candidates on Healthcare Reform
Excerpt: "Everybody is for health care. So Andrew Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, wanted to raise the bar for Democrats. His challenge: Any presidential contender seeking to win the endorsement of his 1.5 million-member union, the largest in the AFL-CIO, must devise a plan to provide health insurance for all Americans and identify funds to pay for it." (AP via Yahoo! News)
U.S. Outpaces Other Nations In Health Care Costs But Not In Health Care Outcomes
The United States spent more on health care than did other industrialized nations in 2000, but Americans are apparently not getting more for their money, according to a recent study. Although the data shows that the United States spends more on health care than any other country, on most measures of the use of health services, the U.S. ranks below the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) median. (Spencer Benefits Reports)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Early Release Copies of New Income Tax Withholding Tables (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "Attached are early release copies of the new Percentage Method of Withholding tables that will appear in Publication 15-T, New Withholding Tables. This publication is scheduled to be mailed to employers by June 18, 2003. The new tables are the result of the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003. Effective immediately, employers should begin using the revised tables for wages paid through 2004." (Internal Revenue Service)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Employee Benefits Specialist
for Goodman & Company
in VA
Benefits Assistant
for BFP Associates
in MA
ESOP Administrator
for Pentegra Group
in NY
Project Consultant
for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida
in FL
Trust Attorney
for M&I
in MO
401K Client Service Rep
for ADP
in NJ
Compliance/Plan Document Analyst
for Mayo Clinic
in MN
Daily Administrator Opportunity
for Benefit Consultants, LLC
in AL
Group Insurance Coordinator
for United Business Media, Inc.
in NY
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)
Retirement Plan Design, and Legislation, Litigation and Regulation in Employee Benefits
in MA
June 16, 2003
Sentinel Benefits
Retirement Plan Design, and Legislation, Litigation and Regulation in Employee Benefits
in MA
June 18, 2003
Sentinel Benefits
Retirement Plan Design, and Legislation, Litigation and Regulation in Employee Benefits
in MA
June 20, 2003
Sentinel Benefits
Employment Practices Liability Insurance
in ALL STATES
June 18, 2003
Thompson Publishing Group
Green Light for Debit Cards?
in VA
June 24, 2003
Employers Council on Flexible Compensation
Newly Posted Press Releases
(Post Yours!)
BREAKING THE LANGUAGE BARRIER: GE Financial Employer Services Group Helps Hispanic Employees Better Understand Their Benefits In the Language Of Their Choice
(GE Financial Employer Services Group)
Humana and Evolution Benefits Introduce the First-of-its-Kind Combined ID and Prepaid MasterCard® Card for Health Plan Members
(Evolution Benefits)
ASPA Releases RFP for Pension Course Textbooks
(American Society of Pension Actuaries)
Alliance Benefit Group Selects Public Relations Firm
(Alliance Benefit Group)
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