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August 12, 2003 - 8,429 subscribers
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Healthcare Becoming a 'Bet the Country'-Sized Problem
Excerpt: "The unfunded liabilities of Medicare, according to the latest generational accounting figures from economists Jagadeesh Gokhale and Kent Smetters, now amount to $35.5 trillion. That's about five times the $7.2 trillion unfunded liability of Social Security.... As a nation, our greatest need is to innovate in the methods, delivery and pricing of health care." (Scott Burns in the Houston Chronicle)
Recall Election Could Spur Universal Health Care Reform Debate in California
Press release. Excerpt: "As gubernatorial recall candidates refine their positions on health care reform, the state legislature is preparing to convene an historic conference committee to consider a proposal requiring all California employers to provide health care benefits, a reform model know as 'pay or play.'" (The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights)
Beware "Family Friendly" Backlash
Excerpt: "[I]nstead of receiving notes of thanks for flextime, day-care centers, telecommuting opportunities, child-care reimbursement accounts and the like, human resources executives often face angry backlash from employees who don't have children and believe they aren't getting their fair share of benefits." (Workforce.com)
HIPAA Privacy Rules Affecting Ability of Journalists to Report News
Excerpt: "Revised federal privacy laws are meant to protect confidential medical information. But some journalists say the law is getting in the way of the public's right to know by discouraging the spread of public safety information. NPR's Larry Abramson reports." (National Public Radio)
Public Policy Beginning to Target Obesity
Excerpt: "As obesity-related health costs soar, policymakers nationwide are pursuing legislative solutions modeled after the anti-smoking campaigns of the 1990s to attack what many in the medical community say is one of the gravest threats to the nation's long-term health." (Washington Post)
HIPAA Preventing Some Clergy from Helping Hospital Patients
Excerpt: "Nearly four months after the health-care privacy regulations went into effect, clergy members said they have received complaints from people wondering why they were not visited in the hospital. Hospitals say they are following the law and trying to restrict the previously indiscriminate dissemination of patient information." (Chicago Tribune; one-time registration required)
Overview: Health Plan May Pursue ERISA Reimbursement If Participant Still Has Control of Funds
Administrative Comm. of the Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Associates' Health and Welfare Plan v. Varco (7th Cir. 2003). Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: This is the second circuit court case we have seen that approved a constructive trust or equitable lien approach to enforcing subrogation/reimbursement rights under ERISA." (EBIA Weekly)
Overview: DOL Answers About Qualified Medical Child Support Orders
Excerpt: "The DOL has issued a compliance guide to help employers, plan service providers, and state officials understand ERISA's requirements regarding qualified medical child support orders (QMCSOs). By way of background, QMCSOs are judgments, decrees, or orders (issued by a court or through a state administrative process) that require a group health plan to provide coverage to a participant's child ('alternate recipient') and meet other specific requirements." (EBIA Weekly)
Overview: IRS Explains COBRA Early Payment Process for the Health Coverage Tax Credit
On July 29, the Internal Revenue Service issued The COBRA Early Payment Procedural Guide for the health coverage tax credit to communicate the process to third party administrators administering COBRA continuation of coverage. Beginning Aug. 1, 2003, the federal health coverage tax credit program is offering the 'early payment' process to individuals currently enrolled in COBRA. Candidates for the health coverage tax credit were to begin receiving program kits in July. (Spencer Benefits Reports)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Overview: Employee's Wrongful Discharge Claim Did Not Implicate ERISA Section 510
Excerpt: "The employee in this case sued her former employer for wrongful discharge under state law, claiming she had been fired for complaining about alleged violations of ERISA. (The employee, who had significant responsibilities in the corporate benefits department, alleged that she was fired for complaining on two occasions about a transfer of assets from the corporation's medical plan to its general corporate account.) The employer removed the case to federal court ..." (EBIA Weekly)
Delta to Stop Funding Executives' Trusts
Excerpt: "Delta Air Lines will stop contributing to a pension plan aimed at retaining its executives during the industry downturn, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday." (Reuters)
CEOs Still Sitting on Piles of Pay
Excerpt: "Big pay increases, bonuses and stock-option grants -- awarded under what corporate governance critics say are often thin rationales -- are surfacing at many companies completing their 2003 fiscal year." (USA Today)
Tech Companies Can't Kick Stock Options
Excerpt: "In recent months, Apple Computer Corp., Adobe Systems Inc., Electronic Data Systems Corp., ADC Telecommunications Inc., Ciena Corp. and Sanmina-SCI Corp. all have enabled employees to trade in old 'underwater' options, exercisable at levels much higher than current share prices. In exchange, the companies are giving employees new options that can be turned into shares at prices likely to be closer to today's lower levels." (Wall Street Journal via SFGate.com)
Canadian Recognition of Same-Sex Marriages Might Require Review of Your Employee Benefit Plans
Excerpt: "[I]t may be prudent for you to review the terms of your employee benefits plans now to make certain that your eligibility rules will continue to produce the desired result, whatever that may be, and to assure that your plans define with precision terms like 'Spouse' and 'Domestic Partner.'" (Faegre & Benson LLP)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Defined Benefit/Defined Contribution Account Manager
for National Retirement Services, Inc.
in CA, NC
Team Leader, Participant Communication Team
for Standard Insurance Company
in OR
401(k) Product Developer
for Transamerica-The Winning Organization
in CA
Trust Allocation Specialist II
for Regions Financial Corporation
in AL
Benefits Administrator
for Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation
in NJ
DC/401k Administrator
for B & B Benefits Administration, Inc.
in CA
Benefits Administrator
for DecisionPEO
in FL
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)
Healthcare Round Table
in MD
September 18, 2003
Baltimore Chapter of ISCEBS
Fundamentals of 401(k) Plans
in TX
October 9, 2003
SunGard Corbel
Fundamentals of 401(k) Plans
in WA
October 9, 2003
SunGard Corbel
Fundamentals of 401(k) Plans
in MO
October 23, 2003
SunGard Corbel
Fundamentals of 401(k) Plans
in CA
November 6, 2003
SunGard Corbel
Fundamentals of 401(k) Plans
in GA
November 13, 2003
SunGard Corbel
Fundamentals of 401(k) Plans
in CA
November 6, 2003
SunGard Corbel
Fundamentals of 401(k) Plans
in PA
November 13, 2003
SunGard Corbel
Fundamentals of 401(k) Plans
in OH
November 19, 2003
SunGard Corbel
Will Legislative and Accounting Pension Reforms Threaten Your Company?
in ALL STATES
August 20, 2003
Hewitt Associates
Newly Posted Press Releases
(Post Yours!)
Release of 457 Regulations Focus of October 7 NAGDCAST
(National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators, Inc. (NAGDCA))
401(k) Plans Alive and Well Despite Rumors of Decline
(RG Wuelfing & Assoc.)
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