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July 8, 2003 - 8,367 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).
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
House Bill Would Improve Drug Benefits for Federal Government Retirees; To Be Better Than Medicare
Excerpt: "The House is expected this week to pass legislation ensuring that federal employees, including members of Congress, will have prescription drug benefits better than those available through Medicare when they retire." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Health Savings Account Bill Breaks New Ground
Excerpt: "American workers could be looking at a bold new way of paying for medical expenses-- and saving for retirement-- under a plan quietly passed last week by the U.S. House. New health savings plans would combine two separate concepts: the elements of existing flexible or medical spending accounts, in which some workers squirrel away pre-tax wages for medical expenses, and the benefits of individual retirement accounts." (The [Cleveland] Plain Dealer)
Opinion: Facts and Myths About Canadian Drug Importation
Excerpt: "Reimportation has been opposed by ten of the last eleven FDA commissioners dating back to 1969 .... All cited public safety concerns, including risks of mishandling, mislabeling, improper storage, ineffective product recalls, and expiration-date violations. Some also expressed concern about the potential for opportunists to manufacture and sell counterfeit drugs." (The National Review)
Opinion: Medicare Prescription Drug Bill is Well-Financed Victory for Industry
Excerpt: "Pharmaceutical companies have averted what they feared most: a single new bloc of 40 million consumers with the market power to dramatically drive down prescription prices -- and industry profits. Both the House and Senate versions of the bill bar the government from getting involved in price negotiations." (USA TODAY)
Opinion: Behind the Prescription Drug Coverage Stand-Off
Excerpt: "Senator Kennedy is point-man in the Democratic strategy of making voters dependent on the government. You tax middle-class Paul to pay middle-class Paul; you tell him the money comes from a beneficent Washington, and, by the way, he'd better remember this when he votes. Whether this is the kind of society we want to build has always been the deepest issue in the drive for 'universal health care.'" (Wall Street Journal)
HMO Rate Increases Averaging 17.7% For 2004
Early data show that HMO rate increases are averaging 17.7% for 2004, prolonging the double-digit health care cost trend, according to Hewitt Associates. The rate increases may be stabilizing, however, since at the same time last year, Hewitt was predicting a 21% increase in HMO rates. The average HMO premium increased by 17% in 2003, after companies made plan changes, negotiated, and made terminations. (Spencer Benefits Reports)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
All Equity Plans Now Need Shareholder Approval
Excerpt: "On 30 June 2003, the Securities and Exchange Commission approved new listing standards for the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market, requiring that shareholders approve equity compensation plans and material amendments to them. The new standards took effect immediately." (Mercer Human Resource Consulting)
Overview: NYSE Releases Final Shareholder Approval Requirements for Equity Compensation Plans (PDF)
6 pages. Excerpt: "The final rules shift the balance of power regarding share dilution away from the Board of Directors in favor of shareholders by confirming several expected changes to existing provisions, including elimination of historic exemptions from the shareholder-approval rules applicable to 'broadly-based' plans and the use of Treasury shares, as well as requiring shareholder-approval of all repricings." (Frederic W. Cook & Co., Inc.)
Executive Compensation Aspects of the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "This letter focuses on the centerpiece of the legislation that reduces taxes on long-term capital gains and dividend income, and its potential implications on compensation design." (Frederic W. Cook & Co., Inc.)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Manager, Compliance
for Means & Associates, LLC
in CA
Plan Administrator
for Third Party Administration Firm
in IL
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)
Get the Most Out of your ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan)
in MO
October 7, 2003
National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO)
IRS Audit Chief Reveals How to Survive a Pension Plan Audit
in ALL STATES
July 29, 2003
Thompson Publishing Group
Fundamentals of Employee Benefits Law
in CA
October 30, 2003
ALI-ABA (American Law Institute-American Bar Association)
Newly Posted Press Releases
(Post Yours!)
Medisys Signs On With Ceridian For Multiple Retirement Plan Services
(Ceridian)
Fiduciary Group Purchases Fiduciary Counselors from Aon
(Fiduciary Counselors Inc.)
Is Economic Growth On The Horizon?
(eePulse, Inc.)
Handy Links:
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- Search BenefitsLink
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research
- Employee Benefits Library
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