BenefitsLink Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter for June 12, 2001

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The BenefitsLink Newsletter -
Welfare Plans Edition

June 12, 2001

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Labor Union or Trustees May Face Liability for Failure to Provide Timely COBRA Notice
Sagaral v. Mountainside Hospital (D.N.J. 2001). Excerpt: "Even though the employee ultimately did elect COBRA, she sued the employer and the union (but not the benefit fund) for failure to comply with the notice timelines. (The COBRA claim, presumably filed in order to obtain statutory penalties, was only one of many asserted in the case.)" (EBIA Weekly)

Surgery Delayed for Seven Years Not Covered When Plan Required Completion Within Six Months
Schluter v. Principal Life Ins. Co. (N.D. Ill. 2001). Excerpt: "[O]beying physicians' advice that surgery could not be performed until she had fully grown, the participant delayed surgery until seven years after the accident. At that time, the plan administrator, which was also the insurer, denied the claim. Under the terms of the plan, dental services resulting from an accident were covered only if the dental services were completed within six months after the accident." (EBIA Weekly)

Price is Right for Flexible Work Hours
Excerpt: "If you're thinking about working a flexible schedule, you probably wonder what price you might have to pay for the privilege. One decade after the proliferation of part-time work, flexible hours, telecommuting and job sharing, there are some answers, most of them positive." (Chicago Tribune)

Rank and Fire
Excerpt: "Attrition isn't working, so best-to-worst grading is gaining--and those on the bottom get the boot." (Time.com)

Applying State Law, Divorced Spouse Becomes Ineligible for Coverage After Employee Remarries
Discussion of L'Heureux v. L'Heureux (Sup. Ct. R.I. 2001). Excerpt: "This decision does not address COBRA, but it caught our eye because it deals with a type of state continuation coverage law that can have implications for COBRA administration. The underlying dispute involved a divorce decree requiring an employee to maintain his ex-wife and children as beneficiaries under his employment-based health insurance (apparently at the employee's expense)." (EBIA Weekly)

Welcome to new BenefitsLink advertiser Balance, Inc.
Excerpt: "Balance, Inc. provides national concierge services and errand running to companies who embrace work/life programs as a corporate initiative. Our services can benefit your company as part of a benefits package or compensation enhancement, or an employee retention tool. With the option of an errand runner, on-site concierge, virtual concierge, or all three, we make it easy for your employees to access our services. Please call 1-877-574-8882, or visit our web site for more information."

(Following items also appear in Retirement Plans Edition)

Welcome to new BenefitsLink advertiser Crowe, Chizek and Company LLP
Excerpt: "Crowe, Chizek and Company LLP (www.crowechizek.com) provides innovative business solutions for assurance, consulting, e-business, financial and human capital, outsourcing, tax and technology. Founded in 1942, Crowe Chizek is a top 10 U.S. accounting and consulting firm offering client-focused services through 1,400 professionals in 12 offices."

Opinion: Yahoo's Semel Knows Something About Risk-Taking
Excerpt: "Yahoo! Inc.'s new chief executive, Terry Semel, is a walking example of that most endangered species: the risk-taking CEO. These days, most CEOs who come in from the outside to turn around a company with a sagging stock price insist on receiving wads of totally free shares and large guaranteed bonuses. Their pay future is assured, while the shareholders' future is iffy. Not so Semel." (Graef Crystal, on Bloomberg.com)

Employee Benefit Provisions of the New Tax Law (PDF)
7 pages. Excerpt: "In this memorandum, we identify the employee benefit provisions likely to be of greatest interest to most private-sector employers." (Covington & Burling for the ERISA Industry Committee)

Opinion: the Tax Cut-- Now You See It, Now You Don't
Excerpt: "Not since the invention of the federal income tax in 1913 has there been a tax bill that promised to do so much with so little. Sure, $1.35 trillion sounds like a bucketful. But to make all these promised cuts fit into that trillion-dollar-plus box, Congress created a shooting gallery of tax breaks that appear and disappear, just like those hokey pop-up ducks in an arcade." (Business Week)

Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)

Plan Administrator

for Pacific Retirement Plans, Inc.
in CA

401(k) Administrator

for Polycomp Administrative Services, Inc. in Woodland Hills
in CA

Defined Benefit Project Manager - Lk-000717-010

for Hewitt Associates LLC
in IL

Plan Administrator

for AKT Retirement Plan Services, LLC
in OR

Strategic Planning Consultant

for Transamerica - The Winning Organization
in CA

Newly Posted Conferences (Post Yours!)