| BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter |   |
August 26, 2003 - 8,445 subscribers
Today's sponsor: BenefitsLink.com
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
New! Downloadable Software Wouldn't it be cool if you could buy employee benefits software on the Internet quickly and securely, through a web site you know and trust? And wouldn't it be cool if you could come back to that web site later, and buy other software just by clicking a link and entering a password, without having to go through all the credit card info and other online forms all over again? It's here: the Downloadable Software page on BenefitsLink! Click above for details!
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Health Care Tax Credit Advance Payment Program Goes Into Effect (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "The IRS recently posted guidance on its website explaining how the advance payment feature works. The guidance confirms that the responsibility for remitting the premium to the health plan lies with the government and not with the employer/COBRA administrator. It also appears that employer-sponsored health plans are not obligated to participate in the advance payment feature of the program." (Buck Consultants)
Understanding Consumer-Directed Health Care in California
Excerpt: "Despite a shared interest among insurers and employers in exploring the potential of consumer-directed health plans, such coverage remains a rarity in California - a state that typically leads the nation in innovative health care models." (California HealthCare Foundation)
Open: Reality Check on Medical Savings Agreements
Excerpt: "They're back. Every few years, medical spending accounts (MSAs) are rolled out as an answer to problems in the health-care system.... After all the hype is stripped away, it's clear medical spending accounts don't render people 'insured.' They simply disguise another tax shelter for the affluent while peddling it as something for the average person." (The Des Moines [Iowa] Register)
Welcome to new BenefitsLink advertiser COBRA Solutions, Inc.
Excerpt: "COBRA Solutions, Inc. is a leader in employee benefits software. With thousands of satisfied customers, COBRA Solutions, Inc. offers two outstanding products. Our flagship product, COBRA Administration Manager, is a low-cost easy-to-use software product to maintain your COBRA compliance. Cafeteria Plan Manager is a low-cost, easy-to-use tool that allows your employees to pay for certain benefits on a pre-tax basis. FREE demos can be downloaded at www.cobra-solutions.com"
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Shipping in October: Tape of ABA Program on Benefits Issues in Mergers and Acquisitions
$150, sold by the ABA. Excerpt: "Employee benefit plans can be a trap for the unwary in corporate transactions yielding hidden liabilities and risks. This audiotape program is a primer for the non-employee benefits practitioner focusing on the basic issues to watch for in a corporate transaction in retirement plans, executive compensation, and welfare benefit plans." (American Bar Association)
Overview: Employer's Section 83(h) Deduction Is Independent of Amount Employee Includes in Income
Excerpt: "Rejecting language in the preamble to the regulations under section 83 and decisions rendered by the Tax Court, the Sixth Circuit, and the Federal Claims Court, the Federal Circuit has ruled that an employer is entitled to a deduction under section 83(h) for amounts that are required to be included in an employee's income, even if such amounts are not actually reported on the employee's tax return or included in the employee's income on audit." (Deloitte & Touche's Human Capital Advisory Services)
Corporate Fiduciary Liability Claims In the Post-Enron Era
Excerpt: "[E]mployees have begun filing a new breed of ERISA class action lawsuits. Based on the same factual allegations generally contained in securities fraud cases, these lawsuits assert that the company and its directors and officers breached their fiduciary duties under ERISA by knowingly issuing false and misleading public statements about the company's financial condition, which induced employees to invest and maintain their plan assets in company stock at artificially high prices." (FindLaw.com)
Enron Backs Return of Money Paid to Former Executives
Excerpt: "Former employees of Enron Corp. have won the company's support in their quest to recover $53 million paid to a select group of executives a month before the energy firm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection." (AP via Washington Post)
WorldCom to Scrap Employee Stock Options
Excerpt: "WorldCom Inc. plans to scrap stock-option grants for employees to reduce the potential for conflicts of interest after it emerges from the largest U.S. bankruptcy case, people familiar with the matter said." (Bloomberg News via Los Angeles Times; one-time registration required)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Pension Sales Design Specialist
for American National Insurance Company
in TX
ERISA Attorney
for Ward, Rovell & Van Eepoel, P.A.
in FL
US HR Benefit Manager
for Celestica
in CO, NH
MANAGER, Long-Term Care Compliance
for MetLife
in CT
Newly Posted Webcasts
(Post Yours!)
Catch-Up Contributions Under the New Regulations
on September 16, 2003
presented by SunGard Corbel Inc.
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Search BenefitsLink
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research
- Employee Benefits Library
Copyright 2003 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.; except that you can forward this email in full (including this boilerplate part) or otherwise reprint this email in full (including this boilerplate part) without obtaining our permission.
Published by:
BenefitsLink.com, Inc.
https://benefitslink.com/about.html
1298 Minnesota Avenue, Suite H
Winter Park FL 32789
(407) 644-4146
Fax: (407) 644-2151
Editor and Publisher: David Rhett Baker, J.D.
Housekeeping: