| The BenefitsLink Newsletter - Welfare Plans Edition |  |
April 25, 2001
Today's sponsor: Reish Luftman McDaniel & Reicher (click)
Have questions about ... qualification failures, when and how to correct, a plan's right to participate in EPCRS? You'll want The Plan Correction Answer Book. It's a comprehensive guide to the IRS remedial programs, written by attorneys Fred Reish and Bruce Ashton, of Reish Luftman McDaniel & Reicher. Click on the link to order!
HHS Fact Sheet on HIPAA Privacy Rules
Issued April 23, 2001. Excerpt: "The final rule took effect on April 14, 2001. As required by the HIPAA law, most covered entities have two full years - until April 14, 2003 - to comply with the final rule's provisions. The law gives HHS the authority to make appropriate changes to the rule prior to the compliance date." (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)
Britain to Ban Use of Genetic Information by Insurance Companies
Excerpt: "The minister also said the government will prevent insurance companies from using genetic tests to discriminate against patients, using legislation if necessary." (The Standard)
HR-XML Consortium Produces Proof-of-Concept Demonstration of Benefits Enrollment Specification
Excerpt: "The HR-XML Consortium's Benefit Enrollment Workgroup is developing an XML DTD for use in communicating employee enrollment information between employers and insurance carriers, managed care organizations, and third party administrators. The workgroup's principal goals are: ..." (HR-XML Consortium)
ERISA Preempts State Malpractice Claim on Medical Necessity Decision Made Under Fee-For-Service Plan
Rubin-Schneiderman v. Merit Behavioral Care Corp. (S.D.N.Y. 2001). Excerpt: "At least this much seems clear about preemption and managed care: where the plan making medical necessity decisions is not also providing the medical care, then claims that challenge such decisions will be treated as governed by ERISA and any state law claims will be preempted." (EBIA Weekly)
ERISA Welfare Plans May Be Amended Even After Benefit Payments Begin
Messmer v. Xerox Corp. (W.D.N.Y. 2001). Excerpt: "... the court noted that employers under ERISA generally have the right to terminate or unilaterally amend their welfare plans, unless they assume a contractual duty not to do so. The court was careful to clarify that in exercising this right 'an employer may amend a welfare plan not only to prevent participants from beginning to collect a particular benefit in the future, but also to discontinue a benefit that is already being paid.'" (EBIA Weekly)
Entitlement to ERISA Life Insurance Proceeds Governed by Plan Terms and Procedures
Steamship Trade Ass'n-Int'l Longshoremen's Ass'n, (AFL-CIO) Benefits Trust Fund v. Bowman (4th Cir. 2001). Excerpt: "Notwithstanding the beneficiary designation of the employee's mother, the second wife made a claim to the life insurance proceeds, arguing that the employee's application under [a separate] disability pension plan effectively changed the beneficiary designation under the life insurance plan.... [T]he plan administrator filed an interpleader action ..." (EBIA Weekly)
Insurer Properly Terminated LTD Benefits After Limitation Period For Unrelated Disability
An insurance company did not abuse its discretion when it terminated a beneficiary's long term disability benefits after a 24-month limitation period for mental illnesses because the beneficiary's mental disability was unrelated to a prior physical disability. This was the decision of the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Aboul-Fetouh v. Employee Benefits Committee, et al. (SpencerNet)
Drug Coverage by Medicare Might Result in Private Plan Coverage Cutbacks, Expert Says
Excerpt: "Senior citizens could lose some of the prescription drug coverage they get from retirement or state plans if Medicare starts paying the costs of their medicines, senators were told Tuesday." (Associated Press, via Excite News)
Subcommittee Debates Caps on Managed Care Damage Suits
Excerpt: "While there may be, according to Rep. Nancy Johnson, R-Conn., 'a great deal of agreement on what a Patients' Bill of Rights should look like,' some key differences of opinion remain. That was made clear Tuesday at a hearing held by the House Ways and Means subcommittee that Johnson chairs." (Reuters via Medscape; free registration required)
Employee Health Insurance Costs to Jump
Excerpt: "Employers will pay more this year for their workers' health insurance. The cost of prescription drug coverage is expected to increase nearly 20%. Dental insurance premiums, however, will rise only moderately." (Journal of Accountancy)
Patients Can Rest Easier When It Comes to Medical Privacy Issues
Excerpt: "Among other things, the rules require that doctors and other health-care providers get written consent from patients whenever health information is shared even for routine purposes, such as claims payment; allow patients to see and propose corrections to their own files; and make an effort to tell patients how their health information could be used. Violators are subject to fines of up to $250,000." (Los Angeles Times)
Check-Up on Bush's Health Care Plans
Excerpt: "Candidate Bush promised to solve out-of-control medical costs, but almost 100 days later there is gridlock in Washington. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports." (MSNBC.com)
Long-term Care Policies Filled With Complex Details
Excerpt: "The major consideration in shopping for long-term care insurance is that the policies are complex and seemingly minor details can make a tremendous difference in the level of care you eventually receive." (CBS MarketWatch)
Having It All: How a Shift Toward Work/Life Balance Has Affected CPAs and Firms
Excerpt: "Ten years ago, many CPAs would have considered any emphasis on issues such as work/life balance and women's initiatives overly trendy. Today, these concerns are viewed as mission-critical by a profession that believes people are its primary competitive advantage. To meet the challenge of attracting and retaining enough qualified professionals to serve a growing array of client needs, CPA firms have focused on providing both opportunity and balance." (Journal of Accountancy)
Another Question is Answered in the Cafeteria Plans Q&A Column
I have just received a request for a health FSA reimbursement from one of our employees for his laser eye surgery. It's covered under our plan, but I happen to know that the employee's wife has health FSA coverage with her employer, one of the Fortune 500 companies. I'd bet that her health FSA covers her husband's expense as well. If this is true, does it mean I can't reimburse our employee for his surgery? (BenefitsLink.com)
AMA Partners With VeriSign to Launch Internet ID Service for Health Care Professionals
Excerpt: "As a result of this partnership, VeriSign is the AMA's exclusive technology provider for the AMA Internet ID service, which is the only nationwide system available to authenticate physicians to enable secure Internet communications and transactions." (PR Newswire, via Excite News)
Stop Notice and Payment Bond Statutes Are Not Preempted by ERISA
Southern California IBEW-NECA Trust Funds v. Standard Industrial Elec. Co. (9th Cir. 2001). Excerpt: "The subcontractor entered into a collective bargaining agreement that required it to make contributions to several multiemployer employee benefit plans, but then it failed to make all of the contributions. The benefit plans asserted claims in excess of $220,000 against both bonds and served a 'stop notice' on the school district." (EBIA Weekly)
United States v. Cleveland Indians Baseball Co.
Supreme Court opinion, handed down April 17, 2001. Excerpt: "Back wages are subject to FICA and FUTA taxes by reference to the year the wages are in fact paid." (FindLaw.com)
Stock Options Are Still An Option
Excerpt: "There is no let-up in the use of stock options to lure top talent, even though plunging stock prices at many technology companies have made them less appealing. A survey of 113 public technology companies found that 84 percent continue to offer employees stock options as part of their overall compensation packages, compared to 62 percent of companies in other industries." (CFO.com)
Salomon Faces Complaints Over Options at WorldCom
Excerpt: "More than a dozen current or former employees of WorldCom are accusing brokers at Salomon Smith Barney, the firm hired to oversee the company's employee stock option program, of pressing them into a risky investment strategy that left them with significant losses and onerous tax bills when WorldCom shares fell last year." (New York Times; free registration required)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
| 401(K) Administrator/Consultant | for Pension Performance, Inc. in IL |
| Pension Administrator | for The Benefits Consulting Group in IL |
| Client Service Manager/Consultant | for Aon Consulting, Inc. in MD |
| Compliance Specialist | for INVESCO Retirement, Inc. in GA |
| Sr. 401(k) Administrator | for A Non-outsourcing Environment! in NC |
| Senior Software Engineer | for Lynchval Systems Worldwide Inc. in VA |
| Pension Actuary Review or Consulting Business Development | for Play-It-Your-Way Pension Services Firm!!! in CA |
| Manager of Plan Administration | for Benetech Pension Services, Inc. in GA |
| Project Manager, Institutional Analysis (Finance) | for Financial Engines in CA |
| ERISA Attorney | for EBIA in WA |
Newly Posted Conferences (Post Yours!)
| Weathering the Economy | in GA on August 24, 2001 presented by AH Enterprises, Inc. |
Newly Posted Press Releases
| American Benefits Council hails H.R. 10 passage by Ways and Means Committee (American Benefits Council) |
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