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July 18, 2003 - 8,367 subscribers
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Practitioners React to IRS Proposed Regs on 419A(f)(6) Multiple Employer Programs
Excerpt: "[A]fter reading through the examples, bye bye any death benefit 419 plan unless it is pure term only ..." But another practitioner said: "The Treasury folks also stated an outright lie by stating in the preamble that the legislative history indicated that experience rating was supposed to be interpreted in the broadest possible fashion." (BenefitsLink.com)
Time Off Is Money
Excerpt: "Absenteeism-creep begins to worry corporations as the population ages. But companies are learning that not all the added costs are necessary." (Treasury and Risk Management magazine)
Bennies and the Jettison
Excerpt: "Eager to offset increases in the cost of healthcare benefits, employers are dumping non-essential benefits." (CFO.com)
Disease Management and Prevention: Can You Beat Healthcare at Its Own Game?
Originally published July 2002. Excerpt: "The more innovative consumer-driven fixes get into even more complex attempts to manage treatment of the most costly chronic diseases, such as heart disease and diabetes." (Treasury and Risk Management magazine)
Obesity: Employers Looking to Trim the Fat
Excerpt: "[L]ately, some employers are looking to workforce downsizing as a way to trim even more fat from the healthcare bill. No, they're not laying anyone off. Instead, they're asking workers to lose weight." (CFO.com)
AARP Coverage: Stage Set for Final Battle over Drug Benefit in Medicare
Excerpt: "Though the two bills differ in details, the broad architecture of the drug benefit itself is clear: Starting in 2006, beneficiaries will have three choices: Stay in the traditional fee-for-service Medicare program with no drug coverage. Or stay in traditional Medicare, and purchase coverage through a private drugs-only plan. Or switch to a private managed care plan under a new program called Medicare Advantage that will offer coordinated health services and drug coverage." (AARP)
Medicare Drug Bills: Key Considerations for Employers
Excerpt: "When a final package emerges, employers will want to determine which approach provides appropriate benefit levels, while seeking to maximize Medicare subsidies for retirees.... Companies will need to consider, for instance, the impact of changes to the prescription drug coverage on retiree medical coverage that supplements the other (non-drug) parts of Medicare as well as on coverage for pre-Medicare retirees." (Watson Wyatt)
Medicare Prescription Drug Bill (Medicare Part D): What Plan Sponsors Need to Know
Excerpt: "[S]ome analysts have expressed concern that increased demand for drugs and large negotiated drug discounts may trigger higher drug prices. Another concern is the potential for adverse selection into more generous employer-based retiree drug plans by individuals with more costly prescription needs." (International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Text of ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits 2003 Q&As with SEC Officials (PDF)
15 pages; dated May 2003. Excerpt: "Each year, the Joint Committee on Employee Benefits (JCEB) of the American Bar Association meets with officials of federal agencies in Washington, D.C., to discuss issues of interest to employee benefits practitioners. The question and answer transcripts listed below are based on these informal discussions between private sector representatives of the JCEB and agency officials." (American Bar Association Joint Committee on Employee Benefits)
Text of ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits 2003 Q&As with Internal Revenue Service Officials (PDF)
18 pages; dated May 2003. Excerpt: "Each year, the Joint Committee on Employee Benefits (JCEB) of the American Bar Association meets with officials of federal agencies in Washington, D.C., to discuss issues of interest to employee benefits practitioners. The question and answer transcripts listed below are based on these informal discussions between private sector representatives of the JCEB and agency officials." (American Bar Association Joint Committee on Employee Benefits)
Reader Clarifies Description of 5th Circuit Schlumberger Decision on Upcoming Plan Amendments
Excerpt: "This case presents the question whether the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ... imposes upon a company that acts as administrator of its employee benefit program a duty to truthfully disclose, upon inquiry from plan participants or beneficiaries, whether it is considering amending the benefit plan." (BenefitsLink.com)
Attorney Was An Employee of His Law Firm and Thus Was Liable For Employment Taxes: Tax Court
An attorney who was the sole shareholder of his law firm was an employee of the firm, and not an independent contractor, and thus the attorney was liable for the payment of Social Security (FICA) and unemployment (FUTA) taxes. This was the decision of the U.S. Tax Court in Western Management, Inc. v. Commissioner (Docket No. 12686-99. T.C. Memo. 2003-162). (Spencer Benefits Reports)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Retirement Services
for Administaff
in TX
Business Workflow Analyst
for Administaff
in TX
401(k) / DC Plan Administrator
for Moran & Associates, Inc.
in WA
Conversion Participant Accounting Representative
for M&I Corporation
in WI
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