| The BenefitsLink Newsletter - Welfare Plans Edition |  |
May 15, 2001
Today's sponsor: The COBRA Administrator Handbook (click)
The first and only compliance manual designed specifically for COBRA self-administration. Simple step-by-step format ensures accurate COBRA documentation, efficient record keeping and complete COBRA compliance protection. The only manual written by expert third-party administrators for COBRA nonprofessionals.
Frist, Breaux and Jeffords to Introduce New Patients' Rights Bill Today with Bush's Backing
Excerpt: "Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), with support from Sens. John Breaux (D-La.) and James Jeffords (R-Vt.,) on May 15 will introduce a new bipartisan patients' rights bill endorsed by President Bush that would 'safeguard patients without unleashing excessive lawsuits or undermining states that have adopted similar protections,' the Washington Post reports." (KaiserNetwork.org)
Bush To Back Frist-Breaux Patient Rights Bill
Excerpt: "President Bush plans to endorse a managed care 'bill of rights' in the Senate that includes lower limits on verdicts against insurers, aides said Monday." (CNN.com)
Battle Brews in Senate Over Patients' Rights
Excerpt: "A key Senate ally of President Bush will propose a patients' bill of rights on Tuesday that would give new protections to patients while setting strict limits on court awards against health plans accused of misconduct. The bill's long-awaited introduction by Tennessee Republican Sen. Bill Frist could trigger a major health care fight on the Senate floor ..." (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
Bush Backs New Patients' Rights Bill
Excerpt: "The White House has thrown its support behind new legislation to protect Americans in HMOs, attempting to break the longstanding political stalemate over patients' rights by offering people a restricted right to sue their health plans in federal court." (Washington Post)
Bipartisan Group of Senators Drafts a Patients' Rights Bill
Excerpt: "In a new effort to break the deadlock over patients' rights legislation, a bipartisan group of senators plans on Tuesday to introduce a bill drafted in consultation with the White House. The bill would define a wide range of patients' rights and would give patients a limited right to sue health maintenance organizations in federal court." (New York Times; free registration required)
Managed Care Matters: Physicians Catching Up With Technology
Excerpt: "NASDAQ notwithstanding, the Internet and wireless communications companies are here to stay. And health care is coming under increasing pressure to get with the program. For too long, too many surveys have been snarkily pointing out how retrograde health care is, technologically speaking." (Medscape; free registration required)
HIPAA Privacy Rules Update
Excerpt: "The first portion of this topic paper will present an overview of the [privacy rules] and the principal aspects of its privacy provisions. The second portion will address some specific provisions and principal concerns." (Richard Kirschner, Esq., published by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)
Ninth Circuit Creates "Local Interests" Exception
Excerpt: "In a case with potentially far-reaching ramifications, the U.S. Ninth Circuit in Dishman v UNUM Life Insurance ... (9th Cir. May 8, 2001) held ERISA does not preempt a state tort invasion of privacy claim that was based on a plan administrator's investigation of a LTD claimant. Accordingly, the claimant could sue and hold UNUM vicariously liable under state tort law for the acts of its agents in investigating that LTD claim." (McCalla Thompson LLP)
District Court Improperly Ruled For Plaintiff Who Had Failed To Prove That He Was Disabled
A federal district court improperly granted summary judgment in favor of a plaintiff who had sued an insurance company seeking long term disability benefits because there was no clear evidence that the plaintiff was totally disabled during the relevant time period. This was the ruling of the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Riedl v. General American Life Insurance Company . (SpencerNet)
DOL Addresses ERISA Status of Association Welfare Benefit Plan
In Advisory Opinion 2001-04A, the Department of Labor's Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration (PWBA) holds that an insurance trust maintained by an automobile dealers association is a welfare benefit plan maintained by a 'group or association of employers' within the meaning of ERISA. (SpencerNet)
Census: Unmarried Couples Increase
Excerpt: "... the figures should place new pressure on lawmakers to deal with the issues of changing family structures, said Thomas Coleman, executive director of the American Association of Single People. Those issues include expanding employee benefits for domestic partners and recognizing same-sex partnerships." (Associated Press, via Yahoo! News)
Ford Expands Employee PC Offer
Excerpt: "Ford's program calls for employees to pay only $5 per month for the PC and Internet access through PeoplePC.... Employees see a customized Ford page when they log on, and PeoplePC customizes front ends for client companies as small as 500 users." (ZDNet.com)
Wage Differentials Associated With Flextime
Excerpt: "Analysis of the Current Population Survey indicates positive wage differentials overall for women on flextime in 1989 and for both men and women in 1997; significant differentials emerge for selected motivations, industries, and occupations." (U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Flexible Work Schedules: What Are We Trading Off To Get Them?
Excerpt: "Flexible work schedules are spreading, but workers sometimes must be willing to increase their hours markedly, work evening shifts, or switch to part-time status, self-employment, or certain occupations to get flexibility in their schedules; this may entail a sacrifice of leisure time, compensation, or a predictable workweek." (U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Characteristics of, and Preference for, Alternative Work Arrangements, 1999
Excerpt: "Characteristics of individuals employed in alternative work arrangements were similar to those of the 1995 and 1997 surveys; however, the proportion of these workers who prefer these arrangements has increased since the mid-1990s." (U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics)
AICPA Expansion of SOP 92-6 More Modest Than Proposed (PDF)
Excerpt: "The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) has published Statement of Position 01-2 (SOP 01-2), which modifies the disclosure requirements of its Statement of Position 92-6 (SOP 92-6), on health plan accounting. All of the changes in SOP 01-2 apply to fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2000 (i.e., the 2001 plan year), but the AICPA encourages plans to comply as soon as possible." (The Segal Company)
Contingent Work In the Late-1990s
Excerpt: "Despite the strong labor market, the incidence of contingent work changed little between 1997 and 1999; characteristics of contingent workers are similar to those of earlier surveys." (U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics)
IRS Revises Form 8851, Summary of Archer MSAs
Originally published March 2001. Excerpt: "The IRS has issued an announcement reminding trustees and custodians of medical savings accounts-- now known as 'Archer MSAs'-- of the requirement to file Form 8851, Summary of Archer MSAs, by August 1, 2001. The announcement also discusses changes for magnetic and electronic filing." (KPMG)
Andersen's Human Capital Alert (PDF)
May 1, 2001. Articles include: 'IRS will not approve compensation arrangements that violate HHS policy; DOL to participate in benefits outreach program; Supreme Court holds back wages subject to FICA and FUTA in year paid; Pension contributions may be excluded from debtor's bankruptcy proceeding; Entitlement to ERISA benefit governed by plan terms and procedures; Senate and House pass bankruptcy reform bills; White House on health insurance tax credit" (Andersen)
Pitfalls In Compensating Corporate Executives With Partnership Interests
May 2001. Excerpt: "Corporations seeking to provide incentive compensation to individuals based directly on an individual's efforts with respect to a particular project or projects sometimes drop the project or projects into a partnership and provide the executives employed with the corporation with an interest in that business." (Judy Alden of PricewaterhouseCoopers)
Options Exchange Plan Gets Thumbs-Up from Institutional Investors
Excerpt: "While stock option repricing plans do not typically get a warm reception from the institutional investor community, Polycom Inc. management's proposal for a six-month-and-one-day (6&1) option exchange has become an exception to the rule.... [Polycom] has the backing of Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), a global provider of proxy-vote recommendations, for its options exchange plan." (CFO.com)
Up From the Deep: Companies Use Option Plays to Rescue Underwater Stock Options
Excerpt: "Plenty of companies have simply repriced the options lower, but shareholders have become increasingly critical of the move. And then there's the hit to earnings that can be triggered by the accounting for the repricing to consider. Now an alternative to repricing is quickly gaining popularity. The method, called a '6&1,' offers employees the chance to exchange underwater options with new grants six months and one day later." (CFO.com)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
| Pension Administrator | for Pension Investors Corporation in FL |
Newly Posted Conferences (Post Yours!)
| FMLA; Coordinating FMLA, ADA, and Workers' Comp; COBRA; HIPAA; and Section 125 - Allentown | in PA on August 14, 2001 presented by A.E. Roberts Company |
Newly Posted Press Releases
| PSCA provides Spanish-language education materials (Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America) |
| Portman-Cardin Legislation Will Benefit Workers At All Income Levels (Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America (PSCA)) |
| PSCA Releases Automatic Enrollment 2001 Study (Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America (PSCA)) |
| PSCA Commends Chairman Manzullo for Attention to Small Business Retirement Issues (Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America (PSCA)) |
| PSCA Applauds H.R.10 -- The Comprehensive Retirement Security and Pension Reform Act of 2001 (Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America (PSCA)) |
| ICMA Retirement Corporation Launches i457 Internet-Based Retirement Program (ICMA Retirement Corporation) |
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