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February 14, 2003 - 8,053 subscribers
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HHS Adopts Final Rules for Protecting Privacy in Electronic Health Claims and Records
Excerpt: "Under the security standards announced [February 13, 2003], health insurers, certain health care providers and health care clearinghouses must establish procedures and mechanisms to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of electronic protected health information. The rule requires covered entities to implement administrative, physical and technical safeguards to protect electronic protected health information in their care." (HIPAAdvisory.com)
Provider Comparison Tool Now Available to Employers
Excerpt: "Driven by the efforts of The Leapfrog Group, an employer and provider coalition to improve patient safety and increase consumer access to provider quality information, HR consultant Towers Perrin and HealthShare Technology Inc. have announced they will expand the reach of HealthShare's hospital comparison tool to employers." (BenefitNews.com)
Tax Court: Present Value of Employee's Projected Benefit Allocable to Year Reserve Created in VEBA
February 14, 2003 news item. Wells Fargo v. Commr. (120 T.C. No. 5, Feb. 13, 2003). Excerpt: "Contributions to a postretirement medical trust in one tax year by a multi-bank holding company did not cause the qualified asset account to exceed the account limit under Code Sec. 419A(b) with respect to the reserve for postretirement medical benefits provided in Code Sec. 419A(c)(2)." (Tax.CCHGroup.com)
Small Employers Underestimate Disability Risk
Excerpt: "Research says small employers (5 to 100 employees) severely miscalculate the chances an employee age 35 to 65 will become disabled, and thus need to be educated on the importance of sponsoring group coverage." (BenefitNews.com)
Los Angeles to Require Contractors to Provide Domestic Partner Benefits
Excerpt: "[T]he L.A. City Council voted unanimously on Wednesday to strengthen the guidelines that require private firms doing business with the city to provide domestic partner benefits to all their employees." (Gay.com via Yahoo! News)
New 529 Plan Has Private College Participation
Excerpt: "The IRS has given final approval of a new pre-paid tuition plan that applies to private colleges." (BenefitNews.com)
Mandatory Employer-Provided Health Coverage Proposed in California
Excerpt: "State Senate leader John Burton proposed a sweeping measure Thursday requiring that all California employers offer their workers health insurance or contribute to a fund that would cover the state's approximately 5 million working poor.... The plan, which Burton said he will introduce as a bill soon, drew immediate opposition from the California Chamber of Commerce, which represents 16,000 employers, two-thirds of which consider themselves small businesses." (Los Angeles Times; one-time registration required)
Opinion: Universal Health Care-- Why We Shouldn't Reject It as a Dream
Excerpt: "Now that managed care has proven unable to contain medical inflation, some business groups have made patients the abusive users. The Wye River Group, named after a Maryland resort for corporate retreats, claims that 'overinsured' patients are the culprits. Their solution is to expose Americans to health insurance with huge deductibles-- $3,000 to $4,000 annually per family." (Yale Daily News)
Head of American Scientists' Organization Urges New Health Care Effort
Excerpt: "Floyd E. Bloom, president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, said he would seek such a commission to solve the country's worsening health care crisis, which involves soaring costs, critical staff shortages, massive paperwork burdens and what he termed archaic methods of information management." (UPI via NewsAlert.com)
Employer Plans Face Uphill Climb In Meeting Privacy Compliance Deadline
Most employers say they will be compliant with the HIPAA privacy requirements by the compliance deadline. However, with just two months to go until that April 14, 2003, date, only half have completed a draft notice of privacy practices and fewer than 20% had scheduled training dates, developed internal policies and practices, or negotiated contracts with all business associates. (SpencerNet)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Analysis: Welfare, Executive Compensation and Pension Proposals in Bush 2004 Budget Proposal
Excerpt: "There appears to be substantial bipartisan support for repealing section 132. If Congress repeals section 132, Treasury likely will issue regulations that would severely limit the ability of executives to delay taxation of nonqualified deferred compensation amounts." (Deloitte & Touche Human Capital Advisory Services)
Designing Benefit Packages for Globally Mobile Employees
Excerpt: "This article describes how companies can overcome the challenges of designing appropriate benefit packages for globally mobile employees and includes examples of employees in various types of overseas assignments. Different types of globally mobile employees are identified and solutions for their particular circumstances are offered." (Mercer Human Resource Consulting)
Audio Excerpt: Personal, Corporate Tax Schemes Attract Scrutiny
Excerpt: "Congressional investigators looking into the Enron scandal say the company aggressively manipulated U.S. tax code and used tax shelters to avoid paying federal income tax from 1996 to 1999. A report by the Joint Committee on Taxation says Enron's top 200 executives were paid $1.4 billion in 2000. NPR's Jim Zarroli reports.' (Feb. 13, 2003) (National Public Radio)
40 Federal Lawmakers Express Opposition to Forcing Companies to Account for Stock Options as Costs
Excerpt: "Proving that history has a way of repeating itself, 40 members of the House of Representatives are trying to pressure an accounting standards board to back away from a tough new proposal that would force companies to deduct the value of stock option compensation from their earnings statements." (USA Today via Yahoo! News)
Ernst & Young Changes Mind on Stock Options
Excerpt: "Ernst & Young, the accounting firm that is under fire for advising executives at Sprint to set up tax shelters related to their stock option transactions, has reversed its opinion on how companies should account for such options." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Fun & Challenging DC Compliance Position
for Louis Kravitz & Associates, Inc.
in CA
Plan Implementation Manager
for The Nolan Financial Group
in DC, MD
Defined Contribution Plan Administrator
for Thomas, Beck, Zurcher & White, P.A.
in FL
Director of Implementations
for Northern Trust Retirement Consulting, L.L.C.
in GA
Customer Service Representative/Health Insurance/Employee Benefits
for Great West Life & Annuity
in GA
Sr. Plan Administrator
for American National Insurance Company
in TX
Individual Consultant
for TIAA-CREF
in MA
Coordinator - Compensation and Benefit Operations (Benefits Analyst 3)
for Kulicke & Soffa
in PA
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)
A Discussion About Ethics in the Profession
in KY
February 26, 2003
The Greater Cincinnati Compensation & Benefits Association
Health & Benefits Expo
in NY
October 17, 2003
Teamster Center Services
Newly Posted Press Releases
(Post Yours!)
CobraGuard Partners With Abberation! Ventures, LLC
(CobraGuard, Inc)
New Survey Reveals Retiree Health Benefit Trends in the Multiemployer Sector: Rare Data Shows Multiemployer Funds Face Challenges in Maintaining Benefits
(International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)
PAY GAP WIDENS BETWEEN BENEFITS AND COMPENSATION PROFESSIONALS: New Survey Analysis Examines Trends in Salaries
(International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)
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