| The BenefitsLink Newsletter - Welfare Plans Edition |  |
June 5, 2001
Today's sponsor: DATAIR (click)
PC-based BENEFIT ADMINISTRATION SOFTWARE for Pensions, Profit-Sharing, 401(k), and Cafeteria plans used by TPAs and Plan Sponsors for proposals, enrollment, documents, administration, trust accounting, voice response, task management, government and participant reporting. Modules operate independently or fully integrated for data sharing, speed, accuracy, efficiency & savings. Visit www.datair.com
Should Insurers Be Permitted To Use DNA Tests?
Excerpt: "John Edwards, recent Professor of Genetics at Oxford University and Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, puts forward the case in favor of genetic testing." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)
Can PricewaterhouseCoopers Cure the High Cost of Drugs?
Excerpt: "PricewaterhouseCoopers' consulting arm has taken a look at the tens--if not hundreds--of millions of dollars pharmaceutical companies spend every year on research and development, manufacturing, and regulatory compliance, and says it may be able to carve a huge chunk out of those costs. The company is in the midst of a major, global roll-out of a Web- based publishing system called GxPharma ..." (CFO.com)
Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 Affects Cafeteria Plans
Excerpt: "The Act contains several provisions affecting cafeteria plans, summarized below. All provisions are effective for years beginning after December 31, 2001, unless stated otherwise." (EBIA Weekly)
Time Off Without Pay For Salaried May Violate California Law
Excerpt: "... according to an opinion letter issued this week by the state Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, employers can't apply such policies to workers who don't get paid overtime. The opinion said California law requires these workers to be paid a set salary each month, and the salary cannot be reduced for part of the month because the employer didn't need the workers." (SiliconValley.com)
Americans Give Over $19.3 Billion Back To Employers In Unused Vacation Time
Excerpt: "Despite leaving vacation days unused each year, Expedia's survey indicates that more than 71 percent of workers wish their employer gave an additional week of paid vacation each year. Yet even with one more week of vacation, American workers would still be at least a week behind their counterparts in European countries ..." (Expedia via Hotel News Resource)
How to Evaluate a Job Offer
Excerpt: "Compensation isn't just the cash, it's also the benefits. The most important benefits are health and dental insurance. You should find out the name of the provider and the types of coverage you will receive. You should also be aware how much your insurance will cost each week, and how much your employer will cover." (StarTribune.com)
Commuter Care Is Smart Route to Job Satisfaction
Excerpt: "... businesses concerned about recruitment and retention 'would be wise to look at the transportation problems employees may have.' Being able to get to work has long been a serious employment problem, one that is underscored every time an employer decides to relocate from a city location to a suburban one." (Chicago Tribune)
Blues Plans, AMA Develop New Guidelines For Physicians To Improve Communications
The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association and the American Medical Association (AMA) have jointly developed and released 'Guidelines for the Role of Participating Physicians in Health Plans' to improve communications between physicians participating in Blues health care plans and the plans themselves. (SpencerNet)
HMO Regulation Moves to Front Burner in Senate
Excerpt: "Vermont Sen. Jim Jeffords' abandonment of the Republican Party has put Democrats in the driver's seat on the hot-button issue of patients' rights in dealing with managed-care health plans. By ushering in Democratic control, Jeffords effectively pulled the rug out from under his own proposal to regulate the health plans that cover 170 million Americans." (New York Times Syndicate)
Democrats to Push Patients' Rights
Excerpt: "Patients' rights will surge past President Bush's energy plan to the top of the agenda when Democrats grab control of the Senate on Wednesday." (Associated Press)
Battle Heats Up Over Patients' Bill of Rights
Excerpt: "Joining consumer organizations and even trial lawyers, the [Minnesota] medical society and other physician groups are supporting legislation that would respond to complaints over alleged HMO abuses by creating a 'patient's bill of rights.' ... Health insurers assail the bill, warning that it would drive up premium costs and threaten the ability of working families to keep their coverage." (StarTribune.com)
California Senate Passes Bill to Require Coverage for Substance Abuse Treatment
Excerpt: "California health care plans would have to cover treatment for drug and alcohol abuse under a bill approved Monday by the state Senate. The measure, by Sen. Wesley Chesbro, D-Arcata, was sent to the Assembly by a 23-14 vote, despite a complaint by one Republican that it would boost health care costs and result in fewer employers paying for coverage." (Contra Costa Times)
Can Substance Abuse Testing Be Provided as a Benefit by a Health and Welfare Fund?
Guest article. Excerpt: "A multiemployer health and welfare fund can provide substance abuse testing provided the trustees have authorized it, the plan documents provide for it and the collective bargaining agreement is either silent or is structured such that it does not prohibit drug testing through the health and welfare fund." (William K. Ecklund of Felhaber, Larson, Fenlon and Vogt, P.A.)
California Legislature Considers Allowing Patients To Sue HMOs
Excerpt: "The California state Senate has passed a bill that would give patients a choice of suing health maintenance organizations in court or through arbitration--under specific circumstances." (BestWire via The Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights)
Group LTC Plans Cover 1.2 Million
Excerpt: "Employer-sponsored long-term care insurance programs and association LTC programs now cover 1.2 million U.S. residents. Twenty-eight major carriers that participated in a recent group LTC insurance survey reported placing only 810 employer-sponsored group programs in 2000, 6% fewer than they placed in 1999, but the total number of participants enrolled in their insured programs increased 19%, to 928,770, according to LIMRA International, Windsor, Conn." (The National Underwriter Company)
More Older Workers on the Job
Excerpt: "More older Americans are staying in the work force longer, reversing the decades-long trend toward early retirement. Last year, 12.8 percent of people age 65 and older were in the work force - the most since 1979, according to the Labor Department. The percentage has been increasing since the mid-1990s after decades of declines." (Associated Press via Excite News)
Opinion: Ex-CFO Hopkins' Unlucky Hop to Lucent Has Solace
Excerpt: "Deborah Hopkins ... in 1995 hopped from Unisys Corp. to General Motors Corp., then left in three years for Boeing Co. before jumping to Lucent Technologies ... [where she] stayed a scant year at the No. 1 U.S. telephone equipment maker.... [I]t's worth looking at Lucent's pay extravagance in luring Hopkins from her West Coast perks at Boeing, considering the Murray Hill, New Jersey, company now says it needs to slash costs by $2 billion and to cut 16,000 jobs." (Graef Crystal, on Bloomberg.com)
Bills Would Establish Safe Harbor For Determining Independent Contractor Status
Sen. Christopher Bond (Mo.) has introduced the Independent Contractor Determination Act of 2001 (S. 837), which would amend the Internal Revenue Code to establish a safe harbor for distinguishing between independent contractors and employees. Rep. Donald A. Manzullo (Ill.) introduced a companion bill (H.R. 1783) in the House. (SpencerNet)
Tax Provisions Turn Back Into a Pumpkin At 12/31/10?
Excerpt: "The tax cuts that Congress sent to the White House on Monday carry an expiration date of December 2010, setting the stage for political fights on Capitol Hill and during the 2008 presidential campaign about whether to make them permanent." (Associated Press via Excite News)
Accounting for Stock Options: the Controversy Continues
Excerpt: "Instead of replacing APB 25's intrinsic value based method of accounting for stock-based employee compensation plans, SFAS 123 allows a choice between the intrinsic value method and the fair value method. The intrinsic value method, however, triggers footnote disclosure of the effect on earnings ... [hence] the grant of options does not dilute reported earnings. Thus, stock options continue to be 'stealth compensation' ..." (CPA Journal)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
| Associate Pension Consultant | for Pentec, Inc. in CT |
| Manager, Employee Benefits Tax Consulting | for Deloitte & Touche, LLP in NC |
| 401(k) Administrator | for R-Tech Consultants, Inc. in CA |
| Senior Investment Advisor Representative | for Ceridian in VA |
| Defined Benefit Administrator | for MGKS, Inc. in AZ |
| Senior Plan Compliance Coordinator | for Ceridian in FL |
| Pensions/401(k) ERISA Compliance Specialist | for Pensioncareers Ltd. in NJ, NY |
| Manager of Retirement Plan Services/Operations (JO#240) | for An Accounting Firm in WI |
| Business Systems Support Analyst | for American Century Investments in MO |
| Client Management Administrator | for Ceridian in FL |
| Regional Manager (Midwest) | for Transamerica in IL, OH |
| Enrolled Actuary | for Pension Administration Firm in Southfield Area in MI |
| Pension Researcher | for LIMRA International in CT |
| Retirement Plans Administrator | for The Benefit National Companies in TX |
| Employee Benefits Specialist | for Cherry, Bekaert & Holland, LLP in VA |
| Benefits Analyst | for Universal Studios, Inc. in CA |
Newly Posted Press Releases
| New "Sales Drivers" plan marketing letters (Benefit Services) |
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