|
The BenefitsLink Newsletter -
Welfare Plans Edition |
|
December 19, 2001 - 6,656 subscribers
Today's sponsor: In Plain English
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
ERISA requires new SPDs by January 22, 2003. Will you be ready? Let In Plain English(R) write and produce your SPDs for print and the Web. Compliant, Correct, Easy-to-Read... Guaranteed! For more information on how we can help you, visit http://www.InPlainEnglish.com or email Ron Wohl at rwohl@InPlainEnglish.Com. To receive our FREE SPD ALERT Newsletter, subscribe at http://www.InPlainEnglish.com/welcome.htm
(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)
Drive for More Mental Health Coverage Fails in Congress
Excerpt: "A bid to give millions of Americans greater access to mental health care died in Congress tonight as Housemembers rejected a Senate proposal to eliminate disparities in insurance coverage for mental and physical illnesses." (New York Times; free registration required)
Stimulus Bill Compromise Falls Short Over Health Care
Excerpt: "Efforts by White House and congressional negotiators to reach a final agreement on legislation to stimulate the economy stalled Tuesday over an issue that has split lawmakers repeatedly in recent years: health care policy." (Los Angeles Times)
No Statutory Penalties for Late COBRA Election Notice
Gigliotti v. Sprint Spectrum, L.P. (N.D.N.Y. 2001). Excerpt: "An employee covered by a group health plan of her employer was sent a COBRA election notice 86 days after her employment terminated. She timely elected COBRA coverage retroactive to the first day of the month following her termination.... The court held that the employee was not entitled to a penalty award because she had been able to elect COBRA coverage retroactive to the first day of the month following her termination." (EBIA Weekly)
Claim for Benefits Does Not Bar Related Claim for Breach of Fiduciary Duty
Kunkel v. Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield (2d Cir. 2001). Excerpt: "The plaintiffs in this case retired with what they thought were lifetime life insurance benefits equal to their final annual salary. when the employer later reduced the life insurance coverage, the retirees sued, claiming among other things that the benefits were vested and that the employer had breached its fiduciary duty by providing false and misleading plan information." (EBIA Weekly)
Reservation of Rights Language in Health SPD May Not Be Clear Enough to Prevent Lifetime Vesting
Abbruscato v. Empire Blue Cross (2d Cir. 2001). Excerpt: "[T]he reservation of rights language in the program materials was ambiguous: it could be interpreted to reserve only the employer's right to amend or eliminate the early retirement program for future retirees, not the right to amend or terminate benefits already promised to existing program retirees." (EBIA Weekly)
DOL Publishes 2001 Form M-1 for Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements; Same as 2000 Form
Excerpt: "The Labor Department has authority under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act to require reporting of information about MEWAs. Administrators generally must file the one-page Form M-1 once a year." (U.S. Department of Labor, Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration)
IRS Announces Cost-of-Living Adjustments for Archer MSA Amounts and Transportation Benefit Limits
Rev. Proc. 2001-59 (Dec. 7, 2001). Excerpt: "For tax years beginning in 2002, a plan will be considered a high deductible health plan if: for self-only coverage, it has an annual deductible of not less than $1,650 ($50 increase) and not more than $2,500 ($100 increase), and the annual out-of-pocket expense required to be paid does not exceed $3,300 ($100 increase) ..." (EBIA Weekly)
HMO Profits Rise By 8%, While Other Insurers Suffer Losses of 42%
During the first six months of 2001, profits for the nation's life and health insurers declined 42% to $6 billion, while the earnings for the nation's HMOs recorded a net profit of $323 million, or 8%, during the first quarter of 2001, according to Weiss Ratings. Weiss Ratings issues safety ratings on more than 15,000 financial institutions, including HMOs, life and health insurers, Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans, property and casualty insurers, banks, and brokers. (Spencernet)
Rising Costs, Economic Slump Prompts Smaller Firms To Cut Employees' Health Benefits
Excerpt: "The recession and increasing medical costs will likely force some small businesses to reduce health care benefits for their employees after years of expansion, the Wall Street Journal reports." (KaiserNetwork.org)
Washington Business Group on Health Forms Institute to Study Rise in Employers' Health Costs
Excerpt: "The Washington Business Group on Health, an employer health policy group, has founded a new institute to develop proposals to address the increased cost of health benefits for employees, the Wall Street Journal reports." (KaiserNetwork.org)
Long-term Care Contractor Picked for New Federal Employees' LTC Program
Excerpt: "Metropolitan Life and John Hancock insurance companies teamed up to win the contract, which will provide discounted long-term care insurance to up to 20 million federal employees and retirees, military personnel and retirees and their families." (GovExec.com)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings -
| Plan Consultant/Administrator |
for Central Florida TPA
in FL |
| PENSION LAW SPECIALIST |
for U.S. Department of Labor, Pension And Welfare Benefits Administration
in DC |
| DEPUTY REGIONAL DIRECTOR |
for U.S. Department of Labor, Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration
in CA, IL, KY, MD, PA, TX |
| Director of TPA Services |
for Transamerica - the Winning Organization
in CA, GA |
| Executive Director |
for West Virginia Consolidated Public Retirement Board
in WV |
| SERVICE CONSULTANT -Plan Sponsor Desk (Los Angeles) |
for Transamerica
in CA |
Newly Posted Press Releases ( Post Yours!)
| Deferral.com, Inc. names new CEO, COO and Vice President of Marketing (Deferral.com, Inc.) |
| Labor Department Publishes Year 2001 Form M-1 For Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements (United States Department of Labor, Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration) |
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.
- How to Sponsor an Issue: reach 6,656 benefits professionals!
- How to Subscribe
- Privacy Policy
- Archive of Prior Issues