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February 4, 2003 - 7,947 subscribers
Today's sponsor: NCEO
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
Our Bookstore now carries books published by the NCEO! The National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO), a nonprofit membership and research organization that provides information on broad-based employee stock plans, now has over a dozen of its most popular publications available for purchase in the BenefitsLink bookstore. Topics range from employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) to stock options to employee stock purchase plans (ESPPs).
(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)
Health Insurance Association Applauds Tax Credits in Bush Budget, Urges Extension to Employer Plans
Excerpt: "Donald Young, MD, president of the Health Insurance Association of America, said 'Health insurers are encouraged that President Bush has again included in his budget a proposal to give tax credits to low- and middle-income Americans to help them purchase health insurance.... We encourage the Congress also to extend this same kind of tax credit to those who already have access to employer-sponsored insurance to assist low-income workers in paying their share of the premium.'" (Health Insurance Association of America)
Can Your Health Plan Bankrupt Your Company? (PDF)
Begins on page 8 of the linked document. Excerpt: "To ensure that health plans do not cause a company's financial ruin, benefit plan managers should assess the adequacy of the funds set aside for their health plans and determine the proportion of the company's capital the plans could possibly need. This article describes how a model developed by Milliman USA can evaluate the capital needs for an employer's self-funded medical benefits plan." (Milliman USA)
Managing the Intricate Web of Prescription Drugs
Excerpt: "In the attached article, author Bridget Eber of Hewitt Associates explains the factors affecting the current financial pressure of prescription drugs, solutions and tactics that employers can immediately act on, and the variables that employers need to be aware of in order to take appropriate action." (Hewitt Associates)
Commentary: Is $246 Billion Tobacco Settlement a Massive Government Fraud?
Excerpt: "A recent study from Yale University, published in the October 3, 2002 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, reveals the big lie: Almost none of the tobacco settlement money has been spent for health care or prevention-cessation programs." (Insure.com)
Company Improperly Terminated Beneficiary's LTD Benefits Based On One Physician's Opinion
A plan administrator's decision to terminate a beneficiary's long term disability benefits based solely on the contrary opinion of one physician was arbitrary and capricious. This was the ruling of the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Hackett v. Xerox Corporation Long-Term Disability Income Plan, et al. (No. 01-4132). (SpencerNet)
Ombuds: Someone to Listen
Excerpt: "[O]rganizational ombuds-- also known as ombudspeople and ombudsmen-- ... can help HR professionals by handling many employee-relations concerns, including potentially unethical or illegal behavior, before they get out of hand." (HR Magazine)
Physicians and Care Management Guidelines: More Acceptance than You Think
Excerpt: "Physicians' acceptance of care management tools-- practice guidelines, patient satisfaction surveys and practice profiling-- is an important indication of whether these efforts to improve quality and control health costs will succeed." (Center for Studying Health System Change)
American Benefits Council Members Call On Congress To Address Health Care Costs
According to the American Benefits Council's 2003 Membership Survey, Council members unanimously believe that if health care costs continue to increase at their current rate, employers will have difficulty providing quality health care coverage. Eighty-six percent of the survey respondents reported that they were 'very concerned' about health care cost increases, up 15 percentage points from a similar survey conducted in 2000. (SpencerNet)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Treasury Department Provides General Explanation of Administration's 2004 Budget Proposal (PDF)
156 pages. Excerpt: "As announced in last year's Budget, the Administration is pursuing a tax simplification project which is focusing on immediately achievable reforms of the current tax system ... [including] proposals relating to: ... consolidating IRAs into Lifetime Savings Accounts and Retirement Savings Accounts (LSAs/RSAs), consolidating defined contribution retirement plans into Employer Retirement Savings Accounts (ERSAs) ..." (U.S. Treasury Department)
Benefits Briefs: January 2003 (PDF)
6 pages. [Who'd-uh thunk that articles about employee benefits compliance could be this entertaining? -- Editor] (Nixon Peabody LLP)
Commentary: Tom Siebel Gives Up Options on 26 Million Shares
Excerpt: "However complex his motives Tom Siebel, founder and CEO of software maker Siebel Systems Inc., performed a heroic deed in giving up options on 26 million shares. What's more, Siebel wasn't granted any options during 2002." (Graef Crystal on Bloomberg.com)
Overview: New SEC Rules Restrict Director and Officer Trading During Retirement Plan Blackouts
Excerpt: "Under Regulation BTR, a blackout period occurs when at least 50% of the participants or beneficiaries located in the United States (and its territories and possessions) under all individual account plans of a company in which company equity securities may be held are temporarily precluded for more than three consecutive business days ... from being able to purchase, sell or otherwise acquire or transfer any equity security of the company held in such ... plan." (Faegre & Benson)
Financial Executives Respond to FASB Request for Comments on Stock Option Accounting Rules (PDF)
Excerpt: "We understand that accounting for stock options creates unique problems under the deferred tax model because the option expense recognized does not true up to the value at exercise date. While we acknowledge that exercise date accounting for stock options would solve those problems, the Board is familiar with the issues that arise under that model, which are even more difficult to solve than those addressed in this letter." (Financial Executives International)
Nasdaq President: Companies Shouldn't Be Required to Expense Stock Options
Excerpt: "Proponents of expensing stock options, who include investor Warren Buffett and Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, say that options are compensation and therefore should be viewed the same as salaries and other employee related costs. Opponents argue that options are tough to value and expensing them could confuse investors." (AP via New York Times; one-time registration required)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Junior Accountant
for The Senex Group
in CA
Benefits Coordinator
for Twentieth Century Fox
in CA
Senior Benefit Systems Analyst
for Towers Perrin
in NJ, PA
401k Client Service Representative
for ADP
in NJ
Newly Posted Press Releases
(Post Yours!)
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Launches SmartSpend
(Evolution Benefits)
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