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March 24, 2003 - 8,072 subscribers
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Bethlehem Retirees to Fight Health Cuts
Excerpt: "Lawyers for thousands of Bethlehem Steel retirees will ask a judge Monday to block the bankrupt company's plan to cut off health benefits to former workers, despite a union's promise to let the proposal go through." (AP via New York Times; one-time registration required)
Labor Department Announces Electronic Access to Form M-1 Reports
Excerpt: "The DOL has announced that filed Form M-1 reports are now available to the public electronically through the DOL's EBSA website at http://askebsa.dol.gov/epds/. The approximately 2,700 M-1 reports filed to date can be accessed in a number of different ways ..." (EBIA Weekly)
IRS Officials Comment on Cafeteria Plans, COBRA and Qualified Transportation Fringe Benefit Plans
Excerpt: "The IRS's top experts on cafeteria plans, COBRA, and qualified transportation plans-- Harry Beker, Russ Weinheimer, and John Richards of the IRS's Associate Chief Counsel's Office-- commented on a variety of issues during the 2003 Annual Conference of the Employers Council on Flexible Compensation (ECFC) ..." (EBIA Weekly)
Utilization Review Company Not Liable for Claimed Negligence in Monitoring ERISA Plan
Marks v. Watters (4th Cir. 2003). Excerpt: "In this opinion, the Fourth Circuit rejected a state-law negligence claim against the utilization review company for an ERISA insured preferred provider organization (PPO) health plan. The claim was made by the estate and surviving child of a plan participant who murdered his wife and other child and then committed suicide." (EBIA Weekly)
Employer May Be Sued for Disclosing Contents of FMLA Request
Excerpt: "An employee may sue his employer if the contents of his medical certification under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) are disclosed to his coworkers, a federal appeals court ruled Feb. 7." (Thompson Publishing Company)
Must Welfare Plans Have QDRO Procedures?
Excerpt: "The technical answer is no.... But there's a fly in the ointment. Five of the twelve federal circuit courts have concluded that because the QDRO definition in ERISA Section 206(d)(3)(B)(i) is not limited specifically to pension plans, QDROs apply equally to welfare plans." (EBIA Weekly (Question of the Week))
Employee Assistance Programs: the Business Case and Beyond
Excerpt: "If you have built a strong business case for implementing an EAP then measuring plan performance is simplified. Building a business case for Senior Management generally involves establishing the prevalence of EAPs in your business sector and providing evidence-based justification to support the financial investment. We will deal with each step in turn." (Mercer Human Resource Consulting)
Supplemental, Voluntary Benefits at Workplace Increasing
Excerpt: "The number of employers offering voluntary benefits is increasing steadily each year. While employees usually bear the full cost of these voluntary programs and utilization rates vary considerably, the access to group discounts and the convenience of payroll deduction make these benefits attractive to both consumers and plan sponsors, who are generally struggling to maintain core benefit programs." (BenefitNews.com)
Flex Time Accommodates Employer Budgets
Excerpt: "Faced with ever-tightening financial constraints, U.S. employers in growing numbers are instituting flexible time polices as a cost-efficient means to bolster attraction and retention efforts." (BenefitNews.com)
Consumer's Guide: Talking With Your Parents About Medicare and Health Coverage
Excerpt: "A consumer's guide, updated for 2003, helps seniors and their adult children sort through the basic facts about Medicare and the choices seniors make related to health coverage and paying for care. This resource is intended to assist in answering questions on a range of issues, from Medicare eligibility, enrollment and coverage (including supplemental insurance and Medicare managed care), to long-term care options available and ways of paying for prescription drugs." (The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)
Senators Propose Malpractice Legislation Compromise
Excerpt: "A proposed Senate compromise over medical liability reform legislation would limit jury awards for noneconomic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits at $500,000, double the amount specified in a bill (HR 5) passed by the House last week, the Wall Street Journal reports." (KaiserNetwork.org)
Capping Awards for Pain and Suffering Would Not Halt Increases in Malpractice Payouts, Study Says
Press release. Excerpt: "By separating malpractice payouts into their components-- economic damages (for lost income and medical care), non-economic damages (for pain and suffering) and exemplary damages (punitive)-- and charting the rise and fall of each, it is clear that the rising value of payouts has been caused by an increase in economic damages, not awards for pain and suffering." (Consumers Union)
Approaching Universal Coverage: Minnesota's Health Insurance Programs (PDF)
48 pages. Excerpt: "In 2001, Minnesota had the highest rate of health insurance coverage in the United States: 95 percent of the nonelderly population. While a high rate of private insurance coverage is an important reason for Minnesota's success relative to other states, the state also operates five public health insurance programs that collectively cover nearly all adults and children without private coverage." (The Commonwealth Fund)
Maine Using Claims Database To Track Health Spending
Excerpt: "The Portland Press Herald on March 18 examined the Maine Health Care Claims Data Bank, which has been storing health claims information since June 2001 as a way to illustrate how much the state is spending on health care. The database, a joint endeavor between the not-for-profit Maine Health Information Center and the Maine Health Data Organization, a state agency, is expected to collect between 30 million and 50 million private and third party insurance claims by the end of 2003." (KaiserNetwork.org)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Changes Afoot for Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plans
Excerpt: "The Administration's budget plan, a Senate pension reform bill, and a new Congressional staff report on Enron all include reform proposals. The target is deferred compensation plans that operate outside the qualified retirement plan rules.... Reform may not be the only concern; the IRS has announced an initiative to audit NQDC plans." (Mercer Human Resource Consulting)
Election to Contribute Unused Vacation Pay Is Not an Elective Deferral
Priv. Ltr. Rul. 200311043 (Dec. 18, 2002). Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: [C]ontributed vacation pay would be subject to the nondiscrimination rules of Code Sections 401(a) and 410(b). If it turned out that more highly compensated employees than non-highly compensated employees neglected to take vacation and therefore utilized the vacation-plan contribution program, then there might be a discrimination problem." (EBIA Weekly)
Preliminary Observations Related to Income, Benefits, and Employer Support for Reservists
GAO report no. GAO-03-549T; testimony of B. Stewart, director, defense capabilities and management. Excerpt: "[T]oday I would like to present preliminary observations based on our review in three areas: (1) income protection for reservists called to active duty, (2) family support programs, and (3) health care access.2 All three of these issues are potential areas of concern to a reservist called to active duty for a contingency operation." (U.S. General Accounting Office)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Junior Administrator
for Florida Pensions, LLC
in FL
Pensions/401(k) ERISA Compliance Specialist
for Dalton Associates, Inc.
in NJ, NY
Pension Plan Administrator
for Alliance Benefit Group
in NH
Benefits Administrator
for Coty & Bruce Benefits, Inc.
in CA
Actuary
for Vinings Mellon
in GA
Newly Posted Webcasts
(Post Yours!)
HIPAA Privacy for Multiemployer Plans
on April 3, 2003
presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)
Managing Benefit Costs Through Strategic Planning
in CA
April 15, 2003
ArlenGroup
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