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The BenefitsLink Newsletter -
Welfare Plans Edition
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October 23, 2001 - 6,463 subscribers
Today's sponsor: EBIA's ERISA Compliance for Health & Welfare Plans

(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)

   ERISA Compliance for Health & Welfare Plans is an authoritative
   resource for employers, administrators and advisors. Written by
   leading employee benefits attorneys, this manual has all the
   information you need to bring your welfare benefit plans into
   compliance with ERISA.

   Click on the link to learn more about this valuable treatise,
   which is always kept current through periodic updates.

(Help BenefitsLink to provide this newsletter at no charge to you -- our sponsors pay our way. Remember to visit them periodically; we try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)

Analysis: Final Regs Issued on How FMLA Leaves Impact Cafeteria Plan Elections
Excerpt: "The proposed regulations did not contain this blanket rule that permits a plan to require reinstatement (the rule is particularly useful for health FSAs, to help minimize an employer's risk of loss under the uniform coverage rule). Indeed, the proposed regulations specifically prohibited an employer from requiring an employee whose coverage terminated while on FMLA leave to reinstate coverage under a health FSA upon return from FMLA leave." (EBIA Weekly)

In Vermont, Six-Year Statute of Limitations for COBRA Notice Claim
Mattson v. Farrell Distributing Corp. (D. Vt. 2001). Excerpt: "An employee whose employment terminated in 1996 sued his former employer in federal court in 2000, claiming that he never received the election notice required by COBRA informing him of his right to continue health insurance benefits." (EBIA Weekly)

Consumers Union Recommends COBRA Subsidy for Laid-Off Workers
Press release. Excerpt: "The CU report ... recommends that Congress offer short-term health subsidies for displaced workers through the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA). COBRA gives laid-off workers the option to continue their employer-provided health insurance coverage, but at the workers' own expense. Without employer subsidies, most people cannot afford the coverage." (Consumers Union)

Disability Dispute Illustrates Claims Procedures That Will Soon Be Inadequate
Dutton v. UNUM Provident Corp. (W.D. Mich. 2001). Excerpt: "Her procedural challenge related to the adequacy of the plan's denial notice. She argued that the notice failed to provide the 'specific reasons' for the denial, as required by ERISA, because it did not describe what information the plan relied on, what information it rejected, or what rules it applied." (EBIA Weekly)

Survey: Healthcare Doubts Remain in Minds of Many
Excerpt: "Americans appear to be growing more satisfied with the healthcare they are receiving, the costs, and the managed-care plans they use. But many still have doubts about the future of the nation's healthcare system. In particular, they are concerned about their future ability to afford prescription drugs and to choose the doctors they want." (Christian Science Monitor)

California HMOs Have New Plan to Shift Cost to Workers
Excerpt: "HMOs are coming out with a new type of health plan that will make people pay a lot more money unless they go to hospitals that make the health plan's 'A' list. The new sort of hybrid health plan appearing on the market is nicknamed a 'network within a network.'" (Sacramento Business Journal)

Ford Offers $5,000 Incentive to Accept Buyouts
Excerpt: "The bonuses, meant to make up for the loss of other benefits workers would get if they stayed with Ford through the end of the year, were outlined in the buyout packages given last week to up to 5,000 white-collar workers." (Auto.com)

Tax Court: Grandmother's Travel Expenses Do Not Qualify for Dependent Care Tax Credit
Singh v. Commissioner, 2001 TNT 197-8 (T.C. 2001). Excerpt: "Although this case deals with the child care tax credit, its principles are applicable to a plan administrator reimbursing dependent care expenses under a DCAP. Administrators must use due diligence to ascertain whether such expenses are employment-related, and there must be adequate paperwork to support any reimbursement." (EBIA Weekly)

(Following items are in both editions of the BenefitsLink Newsletter)


Welcome to new BenefitsLink advertiser Consulting Resource Group, Inc.
Excerpt: "Consulting Resource Group is a leading national executive search and recruiting services firm. We focus exclusively on the recruitment of management consulting professionals nationwide. Within the Management Consulting Industry, we recruit and place Human Capital Consulting professionals who specialize in one or more of the following areas: compensation consulting, executive benefits consulting, actuarial consulting, retirement benefits consulting and health & welfare benefits"

When Executive Parachutes Billow
Excerpt: "A study by Russell Reynolds Associates indicates that 89 percent of U.S. investors polled think severance packages for top officers are too high, and 91 percent want limits on severance packages for terminated CEOs." (CFO.com)

New Issue of Andersen's Alert: U.S. Compensation and Benefits News Briefs
October 16, 2001. Articles include: Form 5500 penalty waived for reporting of certain late plan contributions; victims of September 11 attacks may claim losses on their 2000 tax returns; Department of Labor issues September 11 FAQs. (Andersen)

IRS Publishes 2002 Work Plan for Employee Plans Division (PDF)
Excerpt: "An Executive Summary has been included to provide employees with a brief overview of the program priorities for Customer Education & Outreach, Rulings & Agreements and Examinations." (Internal Revenue Service)

All About the Controversial Rules for Stock Option Accounting
Excerpt: "The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) recently decided to devise an international standard for stock option accounting that would utilize the expensing method, not the disclosure method currently used in the U.S. This page will help you understand IASB's actions, FEI's position as well as provide information about what position other groups are taking on this important accounting issue." (Financial Executives International)




Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
ERISA Attorney for Edward Jones
in
MO
Pension Administrator for Ed Ferguson & Associates, Inc.
in
IN
Pension Administrator for Pension Investors Corp of Orlando, Inc.
in
FL



Newly Posted Conferences (Post Yours!)
EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATIONS: LATEST BUZZ ON REQUIREMENTS, RISKS, AND OPPORTUNITIES in NY on November 15, 2001
presented by NEW YORK CHAPTER OF WEB

Subscribe to the Retirement Plans Edition, too (click)


Copyright 2001 BenefitsLink.com, Inc., but you may freely distribute this email newsletter in whole. This newsletter is edited by David Rhett Baker, J.D.