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January 30, 2003 - 7,947 subscribers
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(Help BenefitsLink to provide this newsletter at no charge to you -- our sponsors pay your way. Remember to visit them periodically; we try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Jury Rules UnumProvident Acted With Fraud, Malice
Excerpt: "A California jury awarded $31.7 million to a California eye surgeon and said that UnumProvident Corp. had acted with fraud and malice when it denied his disability payments, Monday's Wall Street Journal reported." (Dow Jones Business News via Yahoo! Finance)

Why Some Companies Retrain Workers, and Others Lay Them Off
Excerpt: "Until the 1990s, retraining ruled at companies like IBM. Big Blue, which promised lifetime employment to its workforce, moved its employees every few years and when it did, taught them new jobs.... [Management professor Peter Cappelli] wanted to know why a few companies have remained committed to retraining, even as the ethos of American business has changed." (The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania)

Opinion: Let Free Market Determine Cost of Cars, Not the Health of Senior Citizens
Excerpt: "[T]he new right seems to think that free market solutions-- or solutions dressed up that way-- will always produce greater efficiency. Preachers of the new doctrine believe as a matter of faith that private companies are bound to do better than government. Bear that in mind as you ponder President Bush's proposals designed, over the long run, to privatize Medicare." (The [Philadelphia] Inquirer)

Commentary: SBA Report Reinforces Concerns About Association Health Plans
Excerpt: "The Small Business Administration's (SBA) Office of Advocacy report on the administrative costs associated with small health plans reaffirms many of the concerns the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) has regarding a preemption from state laws for Association Health Plans (AHPs).... [E]xempting AHPs from state laws and regulations [may] allow them to cherry-pick younger, healthier beneficiaries and circumvent important consumer safeguards." (BlueCross BlueShield Association)


Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

January 2003 Special Edition of IRS' Employee Plans News (PDF)
2 pages. Brief summaries of recently issued revenue rulings, procedures and notices. (Internal Revenue Service)

New Law in North Carolina Encourages Part-Time Teachers to Work by Providing Full Benefits
Excerpt: "Passed unanimously by both houses of the legislature, it offers school districts the option of giving part-time K-12 instructors full health-care and retirement benefits as an incentive to work. Such educators received partial health benefits previously, but could not participate in the retirement system." (Education Week)


Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

ERISA Attorney
for Retirement Administration / Consulting Firm
in IL

Communications Executive
for Major Financial Institution In NYC
in NY

DB Administrator, Benefits Specialist
for Winklevoss Technologies, Inc. (WinTech)
in CT

Account Executive/Client Services
for Diversified Investment Advisors
in NC
Newly Posted Webcasts
(Post Yours!)

Proposed GASB Statements on Financial Reporting of Other Postemployment Benefits by Employers and Plans
on February 24, 2003
presented by Society of Actuaries, Retirement Practice Area and Pension Section
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)

Form 5500 Update Program (1/2 day only)
in IL, MI, MN, OH
May 15, 2003
SunGard Corbel

Form 5500 Update Program (1/2 day only)
in IL, IN, NY
May 21, 2003
SunGard Corbel

Form 5500 Update Program (1/2 day only)
in OK
May 29, 2003
SunGard Corbel

Plan Disqualification and Correction Program (half-day workshop)
in CO, MS, TN
March 20, 2003
SunGard Corbel

Plan Disqualification and Correction Program (half-day workshop)
in AZ, CA, LA, NC
March 27, 2003
SunGard Corbel

Plan Disqualification and Correction Program (half-day workshop)
in CA, WA
April 3, 2003
SunGard Corbel

Plan Disqualification and Correction Program (half-day workshop)
in DC, GA, MO, OH
April 24, 2003
SunGard Corbel

Plan Disqualification and Correction Program (half-day workshop)
in PA
April 30, 2003
SunGard Corbel

Plan Disqualification and Correction Program (half-day workshop)
in MA, NE, TX
May 1, 2003
SunGard Corbel

Plan Disqualification and Correction Program (half-day workshop)
in IA, NY
May 7, 2003
SunGard Corbel

Plan Disqualification and Correction Program (half-day workshop)
in MO, TX, WI
May 8, 2003
SunGard Corbel

Plan Disqualification and Correction Program (half-day workshop)
in IL, MI, MN, OH
May 15, 2003
SunGard Corbel

Plan Disqualification and Correction Program (half-day workshop)
in IL, IN, NY
May 21, 2003
SunGard Corbel

Plan Disqualification and Correction Program (half-day workshop)
in OK
May 29, 2003
SunGard Corbel

401(k) Update Program (8:30 am - 4 p.m.)
in CO, MS, TN
March 21, 2003
SunGard Corbel

401(k) Update Program (8:30 am - 4 p.m.)
in AZ, CA, LA, NC
March 28, 2003
SunGard Corbel

401(k) Update Program (8:30 am - 4 p.m.)
in CA, WA
April 4, 2003
SunGard Corbel

401(k) Update Program (8:30 am - 4 p.m.)
in DC, GA, MO, OH
April 25, 2003
SunGard Corbel

401(k) Update Program (8:30 am - 4 p.m.)
in PA
May 1, 2003
SunGard Corbel

401(k) Update Program (8:30 am - 4 p.m.)
in MA, NE, TX
May 2, 2003
SunGard Corbel

401(k) Update Program (8:30 am - 4 p.m.)
in IA, NY
May 8, 2003
SunGard Corbel

401(k) Update Program (8:30 am - 4 p.m.)
in MO, TX, WI
May 9, 2003
SunGard Corbel

401(k) Update Program (8:30 am - 4 p.m.)
in IL, MI, MN, OH
May 16, 2003
SunGard Corbel

401(k) Update Program (8:30 am - 4 p.m.)
in IL, IN, NY
May 22, 2003
SunGard Corbel

401(k) Update Program (8:30 am - 4 p.m.)
in OK
May 30, 2003
SunGard Corbel

Plan Disqualification and Correction Program (1/2 day only)--offered throughout the country, various dates and locations beginning 3/20/03 thru 5/29/03
in AZ, CA, CO, DC, GA, IA, IL, IN, LA, MA, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NE, NY, OH, OK, PA, TN, TX, WA, WI
March 20, 2003
SunGard Corbel

401(k) Update Program--offered throughout the country, various dates and locations beginning 3/21/03 thru 5/30/03
in AZ, CA, CO, DC, GA, IA, IL, IN, LA, MA, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NE, NY, OH, OK, PA, TN, TX, WA, WI
March 21, 2003
SunGard Corbel

Form 5500 Update Program (1/2 day only))--offered throughout the country, various dates and locations beginning 3/20/03 thru 5/29/03
in AZ, CA, CO, DC, GA, IA, IL, IN, LA, MA, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NE, NY, OH, OK, PA, TN, TX, WA, WI
May 29, 2003
SunGard Corbel


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