| The BenefitsLink Newsletter - Welfare Plans Edition |   |
May 23, 2002 - 6,398 subscribers
Today's sponsor: BenefitsLink Yellow Pages
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
Outsource benefits tasks by selecting a vendor from our online directory Your employee benefits service or product can be advertised in an online directory sponsored by the nation's leading employee benefits web site-- BenefitsLink. Your listing can take readers directly to your web site, or to a full-page advertisement we'll create. Just $200 per year (or $400 per year for a premium listing)!
Oklahoma Governor Signs Bill Allowing Small Businesses To Form Insurance Pools
Excerpt: "Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating (R) on May 20 signed legislation (HB 2350) that will allow companies in the state with 100 or fewer employees to partner with other small businesses to purchase health insurance for employees and their families, the AP/Daily Oklahoman reports." (KaiserNetwork.org)
The Recent HIPAA "Delay": Does It Really Give Healthcare Organizations Any Breathing Room?
Excerpt: "The legislation -- known as the Administrative Simplification Compliance Act (H.R. 3323; Public Law 107-105) ... only extended the deadline for complying with one of the three components of HIPAA: the transaction and code set rule. Deadlines for the other two HIPAA components (i.e., privacy and security) still stand." (Nixon Peabody LLP)
Text of HIPAA Privacy Rule, Marked to Show Changes Proposed March 27, 2002 (PDF)
101 pages; more information about the firm's HIPAA Task Force is online at http://www.gcd.com/practice/area.asp?groupid=3&areaid=4 (Gardner Carton & Douglas)
Pennsylvania HMOs Show Prevention Works
Excerpt: "Pennsylvania HMOs that focus on preventing disease may be helping to keep their members out of the hospital for related conditions, an independent reviewer of healthcare quality announced Wednesday. =" (Reuters Health via Yahoo! News)
Amendment of Severance Plan To Require Employees To Sign a Release Did Not Violate ERISA
A company did not violate ERISA when it amended its severance pay plan to require employees to sign a release of claims prior to receiving severance benefits. This was the decision of the Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Loskill v. Barnett Banks, Inc., Severance Pay Plan, et al. (No. 01-11858). (Spencernet)
Analysis: Attachment To Employment Offer Letter Does Not Require Employer To Pay Severance
Abramowicz v. Rohm and Haas Co. (E.D. Pa., October 30, 2001). Excerpt: "[The plaintiff's] two-page attachment raised the novel question of whether an informal written document prepared by the company could also lawfully amend the company's severance plan." (Nixon Peabody LLP)
Administrator Properly Denied LTD Benefits To Beneficiary Who Was Capable of Working
The administrator of a long term disability plan did not abuse his discretion in denying a beneficiary's claim for benefits because the beneficiary was capable of performing her own occupation. This was the ruling of the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Tickle v. Long Term Disability Plan of Marathon Ashland Petroleum (No. 01-2100). (Spencernet)
Soaring Worker Health Costs Getting Little Attention in Congress
Excerpt: "Don't look to the federal government for relief from skyrocketing worker health costs, at least right away. Congress is focusing mostly on the retired, the unemployed and the uninsured. And presidential hopefuls, mindful of President Bill Clinton's failed reform effort, aren't rushing to make health care their signature issue." (Dayton Daily News via International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)
Addressing Availability of Coverage for the Chronically Ill Uninsured
Press release. Excerpt: "Coverage through guaranteed-access mechanisms such as high-risk pools ... is often omitted or incompletely reported in studies of the health insurance options for the chronically ill, which gives a skewed picture of what is actually available.... To illustrate how the same data can be interpreted in different ways, NAHU has issued a short analysis of a recent Kaiser report for which NAHU supplied the pricing and underwriting data. The report can be accessed [online]." (National Association of Health Underwriters)
Intel CEO Calls for Expensing Stock Options
Excerpt: "Craig Barrett, chief executive of No. 1 chipmaker Intel Corp., Wednesday proposed companies be required to expense stock option grants given to their top five executives, proposing a middle ground in what has become a hotly debated issue since Enron Corp.'s collapse." (SiliconValley.com)
Overview: DOL Expands Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (PDF)
Excerpt: "Plan sponsors are likely to view the modifications to the VFC Program favorably and possibly make more use of the program.... Other provisions of the VFC Program - such as the complex determination of whether a fiduciary/potential fiduciary breach has occurred, risk of other enforcement actions, and limited IRS excise tax relief - continue to discourage its use." (Milliman USA)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings -
| Implementation Specialist | for ExpertPlan, Inc. in NJ |
| Account Management/ERISA Service Specialist | for ExpertPlan, Inc. in NJ |
| Director of Service Operations | for AEGON Group/Life Investors Insurance Company of America in IA |
| Pension Administrator | for Mid-Town New York City Pension Administration Company in NY |
| Director of Defined Benefit Plan Services | for Confidential in OH |
| Retirement Plan Technical Specialist | for The K Corporation in TX |
| Lead Trainer - Qualified Plans | for AEGON Group/ Life Investors Insurance Company of America in IA |
| Senior Pension Technology Consultant | for Levi, Ray & Shoup, Inc. in CA, IL |
Newly Posted Conferences (Post Yours!)
| Evolution of Defined Contribution in Today's Market | in TN on June 12, 2002 presented by DataPath Software Solutions |
| Advanced Law of Pensions, Welfare Plans, and Deferred Compensation | in MA on July 1, 2002 presented by ALI-ABA (American Law Institute-American Bar Association Committee on Continuing Professional Education) |
| Basic Law of Pensions, Welfare Plans, and Deferred Compensation | in CA on July 8, 2002 presented by ALI-ABA (American Law Institute-American Bar Association Committee on Continuing Professional Education) |
| Flex Compliance Boot Camp | in CA on June 19, 2002 presented by MHM Business Services, Inc. |
| Flex Compliance Boot Camp | in MO on July 17, 2002 presented by MHM Business Services, Inc. |
| Flex Compliance Boot Camp | in PA on September 18, 2002 presented by MHM Business Services, Inc. |
| Flex Compliance Boot Camp | in MO on November 13, 2002 presented by MHM Business Services, Inc. |
| Section 125 Cafeteria Plan Executive Training | in CA on June 20, 2002 presented by MHM Business Services, Inc. |
| Section 125 Cafeteria Plan Executive Training | in MO on July 18, 2002 presented by MHM Business Services, Inc. |
| Section 125 Cafeteria Plan Executive Training | in PA on September 19, 2002 presented by MHM Business Services, Inc. |
| Section 125 Cafeteria Plan Executive Training | in MO on November 14, 2002 presented by MHM Business Services, Inc. |
Subscribe to the Retirement Plans Edition, too (click)
Copyright 2002 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 6,398 benefits professionals!
- How to Subscribe
- Privacy Policy
- Archive of Prior Issues