February 6, 2002 - 6,451 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) COBRA Notice Sent by Certified Mail is Sufficient Even Though Returned Degruise v. Sprint Corporation (5th Cir. 2002). Excerpt: "The court found that mailing the notice by certified mail--a type of first-class mail--satisfied the plan administrator's obligation to make such a good faith effort. The return of the letter as 'undelivered' did not change the outcome because the plan administrator did not know why the letter was not delivered and was not responsible for the letter's going undelivered." (EBIA Weekly) Disability Suit Barred Because Filed Too Late After Claim Denial, Despite Subsequent Reconsideration Stafford v. E.I. DuPont De Nemours (3d Cir. 2002). Excerpt: "Characterizing the plan's practice of reopening cases as 'benevolent,' the court found that the plan had not restarted the statute of limitations (that is, the deadline for filing a lawsuit) by evaluating whether the benefit denial should be reopened.... EBIA Comment: ... we wonder whether the outcome would be the same had the case been decided under the new claims procedure regulations." (EBIA Weekly) Fourth Circuit Upholds Denial of AD&D Benefits Based on Felony Exclusion Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: Welfare benefit plans often contain felony exclusions. This case shows that courts will uphold these provisions where the exclusion is worded clearly and the felonious act contributes in some way to the loss." (EBIA Weekly) Including Employer-Paid LTD Premiums in Employees' Income Makes Later Benefit Payments Nontaxable Priv. Ltr. Rul. 200204021 (Oct. 22, 2001). Excerpt: "The employer paid 100% of the LTD insurance premiums. To ensure that disability benefit payments received by participants under the plan would be nontaxable, the employer proposed to include the amount of the premiums in each participant's taxable wages in the year the premiums were paid (in effect, the amount would show up on each participant's Form W-2)." (EBIA Weekly) Seasonal Benefits Cost Increases Outstrip Wage Hikes, BLS Reports The most recent Employment Cost Index released by the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reveals that benefits costs in private industry continue to rise faster than salaries. According to the BLS's Employment Cost Index-December 2001, benefits costs for private industry workers increased 5.1% for the year ended Dec. 31, 2001, a decrease from 5.6% as of Dec. 31, 2000. (Spencernet) Opinion: the Health Care Shipwreck Excerpt: "We can argue as much as we like about single payer, the marketplace and universal coverage or we can sit down and talk about our impending health-care shipwreck." (Kathleen O'Connor in the Seattle Times) Opinion: Deduction of Long-Term Care Insurance Would Unfairly Benefit Higher-Income Individuals Excerpt: "A more equitable tax-based approach to the difficult problem of financing long-term care could use a tax credit (rather than a deduction) to subsidize long-term care expenses incurred by low- and middle-income families." (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities) Five Common Myths About Stock Options NCEO executive director Corey Rosen dispels these common misconceptions: 'Most People Getting Options Worked for Dot-Coms'; 'OK, Well at Least They Worked for High-Technology Companies'; 'Most People Give Up Pay to Get Options'; 'Options Are Worthwhile Only If Your Company Is Publicly Traded'; and 'Options Are the Last Decade's Compensation." (National Center for Employee Ownership) Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings -
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