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October 15, 2003 - 8,548 subscribers
Today's sponsor: Thompson Publishing Group, Inc.
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“Complying With the Wage-Hour Requirements of the Service Contract Act” A 90-Minute Interactive Audio Conference – Thursday, October 23, 2003 * 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time During this 90-minute interactive presentation, employment law attorneys Dan Abrahams and Shlomo Katz will address the basic requirements of the SCA, to include: prevailing wages, fringe benefits, conformances, the Successor Contractor rule and price adjustments. They will also discuss how the SCA can/should affect contractors’ proposals to the government, and more. Register today!
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Lawmakers Won't Make Medicare Prescription Drug Bill Deadline
Excerpt: "Key lawmakers working on Medicare prescription drug legislation conceded Tuesday they will miss an Oct. 17 target date for agreement, but reported progress on a plan to discourage companies from abandoning coverage they now provide retirees." (Washington Post)
Senate Backs 'Safeguards' for Genetic Data; Employers, Insurers Targeted
Excerpt: "The Senate, breaking an eight-year impasse with a rare display of bipartisan unity, voted 95 to 0 yesterday to approve legislation that would ban employers and insurers from discriminating on the basis of a person's genetic profile or family history." (Washington Post)
IRS Releases Standard Mileage Rates for Use in 2004 (PDF)
Rev. Proc. 2003-76. Excerpt: "This revenue procedure updates Rev. Proc. 2002-61, 2002-39 I.R.B. 1, by providing optional standard mileage rates for employees, self-employed individuals, or other taxpayers to use in computing the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical, or moving expense purposes.... Standard mileage ... [rate for] Business [for 2004 is] ... 37.5 cents per mile." (Internal Revenue Service)
BP Proposes to Limit Health Benefits for Retirees
Excerpt: "A dwindling health benefit package for retired BP workers and a company plan to stop funding retirement health benefits for new hires breaks a long-standing tradition and violates an agreement BP signed when it purchased Amoco, union leaders said." (Texas City Sun)
Rising Health-Care Costs at Heart of Labor Strife in Southern California
Excerpt: "When Southland supermarket workers went on strike Saturday, their main beef was an employer proposal to cut back their health plan. Mechanics with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority are upset over the same thing. And health benefits are key to the contract fight that has prompted a sickout by Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies." (Los Angeles Times; one-time registration required)
Audio Report: Health Care Costs Spur Grocery Strikes
Excerpt: "Striking supermarket workers in California are joined by their colleagues around the country. More than 3,000 employees of Kroger stores went on strike Monday in West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky. A common thread in all the disputes is the cost of employees' health insurance. NPR's Scott Horsley reports. Oct. 14, 2003" (National Public Radio)
OCR, DHHS Maintains Helpful Privacy Web Site
Excerpt: "The Office of Civil Rights (OCR), the Department of Health and Human Services, is the agency responsible for enforcing the HIPAA Privacy provisions. OCR has stated that it sees its role in compliance as initially being educational rather than punitive. To that end, OCR maintains a HIPAA Privacy Web site that is dedicated to educating the public and covered entities in the intricacies of the regulations." (SunGard Corbel)
Calif. Law Boosts Benefits of Domestic Partners
Excerpt: "The governor signed the measure, which applies to contracts worth more than $100,000, on Sunday as he faced a midnight deadline to take action on dozens of bills on his desk. It does not take effect until 2007." (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
IRS PLR Confirms Employer Can Rely on Employee's Certification that Domestic Partner Is a Dependent
Excerpt: "A recent IRS private letter ruling outlines a certification process employers can use to determine whether health benefits they provide to employees' domestic partners are subject to federal income and employment taxes. PLR 200339001 (June 13, 2003)." (Deloitte's Human Capital Advisory Services)
Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Rounds Up Recent Developments, Coverage on Drug Reimportation
Excerpt: "The Chicago Tribune on Tuesday examined the 'daring end run around high U.S. prices' on prescription drugs by Springfield Mayor Michael Albano, who in July launched the city's reimportation program." (KaiserNetwork.org)
New HIPAA Privacy and ERISA Claims Review Rules: 10 Reasons To Comply
Excerpt: "Failure to comply with the HIPAA Privacy Rules is a road map for a successful participant law suit citing invasion of privacy under a state invasion of privacy law.... Without a strict compliance plan in place, a participant may be able to bypass the medical plan's claim review process entirely and litigate a claim for benefits in federal court – resulting in higher plan costs." (Brown Rudnick Berlack Israels L.L.P.)
Group Health Plan Compliance with ERISA and HIPAA: Navigating the Legal and Administrative Maze (PDF)
72 pages. A 'Question and Answer Resource Guide." (Brown Rudnick Berlack Israels L.L.P.)
Opinion: Guardianship-Assisted 'Right to Die' Sets Precedent for Lowering Disability Plan Costs
Excerpt: "This seems to set an awful precedent for any disabled person who can no longer feed himself or herself-- any such person arguably has become dependent on 'artificial life support' and is a candidate for a guardianship-assisted 'right to die.'" (Dave Baker of BenefitsLink.com)
Position Paper: Consumer Choice Options for Prescription Drugs (PDF)
Excerpt: "Lack of prescription drug coverage [under Medicare] is the direct consequence of a top-down system where decisions are made by politicians rather than by consumers.... We call our idea the Prescription Drug Security (PDS) plan: Seniors would select a private plan to administer their drug benefit.... Seniors would receive a fixed amount of cash that they can use to purchase the medications of their choice." (The Galen Institute, the American Enterprise Institute)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
The Breeden Report: What Its Recommendations Mean for Other Companies' Executive Comp Programs
At pp. 4-5 of 10-page Executive Edition newsletter for 4th quarter 2003. Excerpt: "[I]n totality, the Breeden proposals would unnecessarily burden the corporate compensation process by lessening the ability of a company to tailor its compensation approach to its own particular circumstances; the process would have an unnecessary rigidity. We suggest that each company examine the Report and consider the extent to which any recommendations make sense for its specific business environment." (HayGroup; one-time registration required)
The Reemergence of Restricted Stock
At pp. 1-3 of 10-page Executive Edition newsletter for 4th quarter 2003. Excerpt: "Regardless of what the business press may proclaim, restricted stock is not a panacea that will cure corporate abuse and drive good governance. Nevertheless, it is an effective and powerful tool to drive ownership, performance, and retention." (HayGroup; one-time registration required)
Present-Law Federal Tax Treatment, Proposals, and Issues Relating to Company-Owned Life Insurance (PDF)
27 pages. Excerpt: "The Senate Committee on Finance has scheduled a public hearing for October 15, 2003, on Federal tax issues relating to company-owned life insurance." (U.S. Congress, Joint Committee on Taxation)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
New Business Installation Lead Project Manager
for Transamerica
in CA
Plan Administrator
for Alliance Pension Consultants
in IL
Director, Sales - Employee Benefit Channel
for ShareBuilder Corporation
in WA
Self-Funded Health Plan Consultant
for SunGard Corbel
in FL
International Pension Director
for Global Financial Service Firm
in NY
Newly Posted Webcasts
(Post Yours!)
Health FSAs and Over-the-Counter Drugs
on October 23, 2003
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America, LLC (EBIA)
Health FSAs and Over-the-Counter Drugs
on October 24, 2003
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America, LLC (EBIA)
Compensation Consternation - Making Sense of the Choices
on November 13, 2003
presented by SunGard Corbel Inc.
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)
Exploring The Controversy Over Prescription Drug Imports From Canada
in DC
October 18, 2003
Galen Institute
Provider Network Management
in FL
November 10, 2003
Institute for International Research
Medicare Financing and Product Development Congress
in DC
December 8, 2003
Institute for International Research
Innovative Strategies for Predictive Modeling for Health Plans and Employers
in FL
January 28, 2004
Institute for International Research
Innovative Strategies for Managing Specialty Pharmaceuticals
in TX
October 27, 2003
Institute for International Research
Newly Posted Press Releases
(Post Yours!)
Strategic Advisor Acquires & Expands 401(k) Risk Management Platform
(The McHenry Group)
NAGDCA Elects 2003 - 2004 Executive Board
(National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators, Inc.)
The U.S. Administration On Aging Awards $3.6 Million To Support Consumer Protection And Assistance Projects For Older Americans
(Administration on Aging)
Vanguard Launches Lifetime Income Program; Income Annuity Helps Mitigate Risks of Outliving Retirement Assets
(Vanguard Group)
Financial Engines Introduces Personal Asset Manager for 401k Investors
(Financial Engines, Inc.)
Nevada Court Enters $7.3 Million Judgment Against Principals of Employers Mutual
(U. S. Department of Labor)
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Search BenefitsLink
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research
- Employee Benefits Library
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