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December 11, 2001 - 6,712 subscribers
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New Issue of Andersen's Alert: U.S. Compensation and Benefits News Briefs
November 16, 2001/December 3, 2001 double issue includes these topics: Optional standard mileage rates for 2002 announced; IRS announces additional September 11 disaster relief; IRS rejects retirement and cafeteria plan hybrids; drunk driver's death held accidental under life plan; employee-paid insurance plan held an insurance plan; compensatory reimbursement of health plan cost is not an ERISA-protected benefit. (Andersen)
Second Circuit Addresses Recurring Issues in ERISA Long-Term Disability Plan Denials
Connors v. Connecticut General Life Ins. Co. (2d Cir. 2001). Excerpt: "[T]he trial court refused to consider evidence of the amount of pain caused by the employee's back condition because this evidence was merely subjective. The Second Circuit, citing other cases, held that evidence of pain, if credible, is sufficient to establish that an individual is disabled." (EBIA Weekly)
No Health Coverage for Minor Who Drinks and Drives
Jones v. Channel Shipyard and Co., Inc. (E.D. La. 2001). Excerpt: "Assuming that a plan's alcohol exclusion is written broadly enough, the reported cases have been quite unsympathetic to drunken plan participants. And since many states are less tolerant of underage drinkers who drive, this group of plan participants and beneficiaries is even more likely to forfeit health coverage by taking even one drink." (EBIA Weekly)
Attorneys May Be Liable if They Knowingly Participated in an Insurer's Fiduciary Duty Breach
Excerpt: "In a case of first impression, a federal district court ruled that the attorneys for an insolvent health fund that breached its fiduciary duty could be held liable for that breach if they knew that their legal fees came out of the fund's unspent reserve fund." (Thompson Publishing Group)
Federal Employees Don't Need Paid Parental Leave, OPM Says
Excerpt: "The OPM study said that employees can use a combination of paid annual leave, paid sick leave and unpaid leave under the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for childbirth and adoption. But Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., wants the government to offer an additional category of paid leave to employees: six weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth or adoption of a child." (GovExec.com)
Lack of Catastrophic Reinsurance for Group Life Insurance Could Present Problems for Plan Sponsors (PDF)
December 6, 2001 letter by American Benefits Council to Senators Daschle and Lott. (American Benefits Council)
Companies to Offer Alternative Health Insurance Product to Oregon Employers
Excerpt: "The product won't be an HMO, PPO, or POS health insurance plan. Its progenitors are calling it a 'consumer-driven health care delivery model' that contains elements of a defined contribution health insurance plan: While the employers will pre-select the plans' basic benefit design, their employers will be able to shop around for the providers that best suit their individual health care needs." (insure.com)
Webcast of Presentations at Third National HIPAA Summit
Recorded presentations include HIPAA Transactions and Code Sets; HIPAA's Privacy Regulations; Enforcing HIPAA; Gramm-Leach-Bliley and Healthcare; more. (www.HIPAASummit.com)
Using Carve-Outs to Shave Health Costs
Excerpt: " When a company 'carves out' a portion of its health-care benefit plan, the employer is purchasing that portion of benefits from a specialty vendor. Rather than having, say, United Health Care handle every aspect of benefits, an organization might use United for everything except mental health." (Workforce.com)
Opinion: Mike Wallace on the Need for Mental Health Parity
Excerpt: "And so when I hear tales about how difficult and dispiriting it is for many families to keep a depressive breadwinner on the job and supporting his kids, because he just can't afford the treatment that someone with a damaged liver or a damaged heart can get, I find it infuriating." (New York Times; free registration required)
Polaroid Retirees Object To Bonus Pay for Executives
Excerpt: "A group of Polaroid Corp.'s retirees, who saw their benefits slashed before the company sought bankruptcy protection, filed a motion on Monday opposing millions of dollars in bonus pay for the instant film and camera maker's top executives." (Reuters via Yahoo! Finance)
Opinion: Big Steel Is An Invalid That Can Roar
Excerpt: "The steel makers want ... billions of dollars in taxpayer money to help pay health and pension benefits." (New York Times; free registration required)
Ten Ideas For Year-End Stock Option Financial Planning
Excerpt: "You are doing some year-end tax planning with your stock options and company stock. While investment objectives, not tax considerations, should generally drive your decisions, here are ten ideas to review before year-end to make sure you aren't paying more taxes than necessary." (myStockOptions.com; free registration required)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings -
| Human Resources Representative | for Kaiser Permanente IT in CA |
Newly Posted Press Releases
| H&R Block to Acquire Interest in MyBenefitSource (MyBenefitSource) |
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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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