November 27, 2001 - 6,612 subscribers Today's sponsor: EBIA's HIPAA & Other Federal Mandates for Group Health Plans (Click on company name or banner to learn more.) Written by two leading employee benefits attorneys, HIPAA & Other Federal Mandates for Group Health Plans is the authoritative HIPAA resource for employers, administrators and advisors. In addition to HIPAA, this 772-page manual covers a wide array of other federal mandates that group health plans must worry about. HIPAA & Other Federal Mandates has all the information you need to bring your group health plans into compliance with HIPAA and other federal mandates. Click to order! (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) AMA Gathering Reports of Physicians' Managed Care Experiences Excerpt: "While physicians long have been dealing with difficulties from health insurers, the medical community still lacks non-anecdotal data to support its claims on a national level. The AMA is working to fill the gap by creating an electronic clearinghouse for physicians to report information about administrative disputes with third-party payers." (American Medical Association) Employer's Informal Promise of Benefits, Even When Written, Did Not Amend ERISA Severance Plan Abramowicz v. Rohm and Haas Co. (E.D. Pa. 2001). Excerpt: "[R]egarding the employee's claim that the employment offer amended the plan, the court followed Sprague v. General Motors Corp., 133 F.3d 388 (6th Cir. 1998), holding that informal, non-plan documents cannot alter an ERISA welfare benefit plan, absent a showing of fraud." (EBIA Weekly) Mental Health Care Providers In Demand After Attacks Excerpt: "[A] whole new era of mental health services could be opening up for longer term care, in what could be a boon for individual counselors and the companies who act as industry middlemen.... 'Employees will be asking: why can't we turn to this on another occasion,' said Nickole Ingram of Integra Inc., a Pennsylvania-based health care management company." (Reuters Health via Excite News) Firms Salute Workers in Military with Expanded Benefits Excerpt: "Dozens of major employers are making changes to provide more generous military leave policies despite the economic downturn and cost-cutting crunch. At least 70 major employers are enhancing benefits ..." (USA Today via IFEBP) Employee Giving and Volunteerism Up Excerpt: "A 1999 survey of 248 US companies by the Points of Light Foundation found that 48% incorporated employee volunteer programs into their overall business plans, compared to only 19% in 1992." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required) IRS Reiterates Guidance on Health Benefits Provided by a Sole Proprietorship to the Owner's Spouse Excerpt: "The IRS has issued settlement guidelines addressing the use of a tax planning device to enable self-employed individuals, who cannot take a business deduction for their own medical expenses, to achieve the desired result indirectly by hiring their spouse as an employee." (EBIA Weekly) Washington Times Editorial Criticizes New Mental Health Parity Bill Excerpt: "A Senate-passed bill (S 543) that would expand the 1996 mental health parity law would 'send health costs skyrocketing' and 'slash other benefits' to employees, a Washington Times editorial says." (KaiserNetwork.org) IRS Reiterates Rejection of Cafeteria Plan/Qualified Retirement Plan Hybrid Arrangements Excerpt: "Building on guidance provided last year, the IRS has published settlement guidelines addressing cafeteria plan/qualified retirement plan hybrid arrangements, also known as pension reduction plans. These hybrid plans typically provide that distributions from a qualified retirement plan to a retiree may be used to fund benefits under the cafeteria plan of a retiree's former employer ..." (EBIA Weekly) IRS Postpones Need To Perform Specified "Time-Sensitive Acts" Under Internal Revenue Code In Rev. Proc. 2001-53, the Internal Revenue Service provides a list of 'time-sensitive acts' that may be postponed under IRC Secs. 7508 and 7508A. Sec. 7508 postpones, for the period of military service plus 180 days, specified acts that otherwise would be required to be performed by individuals serving in the Armed Forces or serving in support of the Armed Forces in a combat zone. (Spencernet) Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
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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.
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