I have worked as a Corrections Officer at the local Jail for the past 16 years. Last July(1999) I was cut by a razor that had been used several times by an inmate (they were disposable razors, but they were supposed to use them several times before the Officers replaced them). The inmate had no problem with releasing his medical records for me, and he can back positive for Hep B & C . I was tested by the County Dr. that same day and my test came back negative. Twice more I was tested and also Negative. Then in February of this year my tests came back positive for Hep C. Needless to say, I was very scared & sad.

About 3 months ago I started hurting all over and I'm very tired all the time. The Dr. thinks it might be CFS and I have no idea what to do. The County has accepted my claim for Hep C treatment, but I have no idea what my options are at this point. My viral load is in the normal range at this time but that is always subject to change as this virus mutates.Can anybody help? Anyone else in this line of work ever have this problem?? Thanks for any help you can give me.

I want to know if I can put life insurance inside of a defined contribution plan that has a provision for life insurance. The ben. is going to be charities. Do I need to use a subtrust or not to accomplish this. Also I think I can use a second to die policy yet am not sure. I am finding conflict on these issues yet it seems like it is possible to do. Also I would like to find out if one can convert a defined contrubution plan into a simple 401k and if the plan has a life ins. policy inside it what happens. Thank you.

I'm a little new to this. What is the "desk rule" issue with respect to terminated or successor benefit plans?

My father worked for Union Electric in St.

Louis, MO from 1948 to Oct. of 1976 when he

died of a heart attack. At that time, the

contract said that if the worker had not worked

30 years, dependents would not be entitled to

any benefits he had paid in (28 years worth).

The law has now changed - my mother is in

hard times financially and I'm hoping there is

some say she can recoup some of my father's

pension...

If a TPA receives and cashes a check for initial COBRA premiums and later finds out from the employer that the payment itself (or the election for coverge in the first place) was not timely, can the TPA just reimburse the ex-employee from its own account or does the acceptance of payment mean that coverage is effective - at least for the period covered by the payment.

I want to confirm that it is necessary for employees to re-elect 'pre-tax' or 'after-tax' under the premium conversion portion of Section 125 at the beginning of each plan year. Is this really the case or do they only need to select this when they first enroll in the insurance plan?

Does anyone know if the federal underpayment rate under Sec 6621(a)(2) is published on the web? I need this rate to determine an earnings calculation under the DOL's VFC program. Thanks for any help.

Need to terminate and distribute a DC plan yet in 2000. Since, at least to my limited knowledge, there are as yet no approved "GUST"-restated prototype plan documents available, how does one amend a plan for "GUST" in order to terminate?

Thanks for any and all repsponses.

I just quit teaching to enter the business world. I had a 403(B) plan in the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) in California. I am considering rolling approximately $15K into a Roth IRA, and have a few questions:

1. Should I roll the amount over, or leave it where it is?

I never plan to return to teaching.

2. Should I put it into a Roth or something else?

3. How do I go about making this type of transaction?

Please help.

When calculating eligibility for catch up in the 457 plan, how would one count contributions to a 401(k) plan during the 457 under deferred years?

We have both plans available to our employees - the participant has not deferred any compensation to the 457 in the last 3 years, but maxed out in the 401(k). Can I count those last three years as under-deferrals to make her eligible for the maximum 457 catchup?

If an ESOP allows Stock and Cash in the same participant account, then can a terminated participant request a direct rollover to an IRA for the cash portion?

If anyone here took the EA-2 exam today, did you understand question #45? It was the question relating to the restricted highly compensated employee's distribution. What was your take on what the question was asking?

Gateway for "super-integrated plans"? Any thoughts on how this would work in 2002 for a plan with a contribution of less than 5%? Just make sure no HCE gets more than 3 times any NHCE?

Example, employer contribution is allocated proportionate to 3% plus 10% over $50,000?

I seem to remember that when a new employee starts, COBRA information must be sent to the employees spouse and dependents. Can anyone confirm this?

A c corp owned primariliy by an ESOP wishes to convert to an S corp. The built-in gains tax triggered by the conversion, however, has proven to be a significant obstacle. Any ideas on eliminating or mitigating its impact would be appreciated.

I am looking for a dual deductible fully insured health product. Anyone have any suggestions?

I have a client who is interested in enacting the Section 132 benefit program on a pre-tax basis- both transit and parking.

Can someone who handles this internally e-mail me their phone number so I can be educated as to how this works procedurally within the organization.

Thank you.

I have a PS plan and a MP plan both merging into a DB plan. Is a 5310-A required to be filed??? Thanks.

My Question:

An employer offers only fully-insured medical coverage in its cafeteria plan. Does the medical plan have to prepare a Summary Plan Description and issue it to employees ?

Before you think about this question .... I found conflicting answers in the Benefits Link Q & A Section as follows:

Q&A Section: CAFETERIA PLANS (question # 94 of 12/28/98) answered by R.C. Morris Incorporated. He says NO !

Q&A Section: ERISA (question # 60 of 07/21/99) answered by Royce Charney ...who is some kind of world famous TPA guru. He says YES !

(Does anyone know which of these professionals is correct or am I simply not understanding something ?)

I'm somewhat confused about the premium for a former spouse of a former employee. The spouse elected COBRA when he and his wife (the employee) got divorced. At the time, the wife was still enrolled as an active employee. The insurance company continued to bill us for the two of them as Employee plus Spouse. (FYI - plan bundles rates for active employees, i.e. Emplpoyee only = $170.40, Employee & Spouse = $378.90). Recently, however, the employee terminated and did not elect COBRA for herself. The plan is now charging us individually for the husband at the $208.50. My question is, since he is a QB and no-longer "bundled" with the employee, shouldn't his rate be the same as a similarly situated "unbundled" QB ($170.40)?