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September 24, 2003 - 8,548 subscribers
Today's sponsor: Thompson Publishing Group, Inc.

(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)

Audio Conference on Wage and Hour Investigations

Tuesday, September 30, 2003 * 2:00-3:30 p.m. ET

This interactive audio conference, hosted by Thompson Publishing
Group, Inc., will feature two leading employment law/FLSA experts
who will help you understand and avoid wage and hour investigations,
as well as provide helpful tips to those in the midst of those
investigations.  Register today and get the chance to receive expert
answers to your important questions during the Q&A session following
the presentation!

(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
New Web Site Helps Small Business Owners in California Make Health Benefits Decisions
Press release. Excerpt: "The California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF) today launched a new Web site to help California business owners with 50 or fewer employees make informed decisions about offering health benefits. HealthCoverageGuide.org is a comprehensive source for unbiased health coverage information." (California HealthCare Foundation)

Businesses Move To Medical Debit Cards
Excerpt: "If you love earning airline 'miles' for plunking down your credit card, make room in your wallet for the latest thing in money-saving plastic. It's a debit card that allows workers to cut their federal taxes every time they pay to visit a doctor, buy prescription drugs or pay medical bills." (Myrtle Beach [S.C.] Sun News via International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)

Survey: Employer-Sponsored Single, Employee-Plus-One and Family Health Coverage in 2001
Excerpt: "This Statistical Brief presents information on the frequency and cost of single, employee-plus-one, and family employer-sponsored health insurance coverage in the private sector as a whole, and for small and large employers. The data for this brief are derived from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey- Insurance Component (MEPS-IC), an annual survey of employers which collects information about employer-sponsored health insurance." (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality)

Opinion: Healthcare 'Solutions' in California Are Also Problems
Excerpt: "Every Californian -- rich or poor, healthy or sick, employed by a big firm or small -- should have health insurance. Instead of stepping up to the big challenge of universal coverage, however, California keeps dealing with the problem in small bites." (The Sacramento Bee)

Trends and Variability In Individual Health Insurance Products In California
Excerpt: "Despite changes in insurance products available between 1997 and 2002, the actuarial value of coverage has remained nearly constant." (Health Affairs)

Senate Wins Support of Administration on One Medicare Drug Issue
Excerpt: "The Bush administration has quietly told Congress that it should not provide Medicare drug benefits to six million poor elderly and disabled people because they are already eligible for similar help through state Medicaid programs. Administration officials said they were siding with the Senate, against the House and all 50 governors, on one of the most divisive issues in the Medicare legislation." (New York Times; one-time registration required)

CMS to Deploy EDI Contingency Plan for Medicare
Excerpt: "Anticipating that many Medicare providers will be unable to submit HIPAA-compliant claims by the Oct. 16 compliance deadline for HIPAA's electronic data interchange (EDI) rules, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will implement a contingency plan for handling these claims, the agency announced Sept. 23." (Thompson Publishing Group)


Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

The Convergence of International Accounting Standards for Employee Benefits (PDF)
At pp. 8-11 of 12-page document. Excerpt: "In many ways, the US Statement of Financial Accounting Standard 87 (SFAS 87) and its related statements (numbers 88, 106, 112, 132) are no longer the trendsetters for employers' accounting for employee benefits.... This article explores the convergence of international accounting standards for employee benefits, including the history, recent developments, and what the future may hold." (Milliman USA)

DOL, IRS and PBGC Extend Form 5500 Deadlines After Hurricane Isabel
Press release. Excerpt: "The extension applies to plan administrators, employers and other entities located in areas directly affected as identified in IRS's Tax Relief ... The extension also applies to filers located outside the affected areas who were unable to obtain the necessary information from service providers, banks or insurance companies whose operations were directly affected by the hurricane." (U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)

MCI Report Suggests New Standards In Executive Compensation Governance (PDF)
11 pages. Excerpt: "While the report and recommendations are directed specifically at WorldCom (MCI), they are expected to have broad applicability to the U.S. business community at large. Several recommendations are highly controversial and are not likely to find general favor – namely 10-year term limits for directors, separating the Chairman and CEO positions, changing accounting firms every 10 years, and a prohibition against stock options." (Frederick W. Cook & Co., Inc.)


Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

Retirement Plan Specialist
for Diversified Investment Advisors
in MI

Retirement Plan Specialist
for Diversified Investment Advisors
in MD

Disbursement Services Associate II
for ICMA Retirement Corporation
in DC

Vice President Business Development
for Corporate Benefit Services of America, Inc. - www.cbsainc.com
in MN

Actuarial Benefit Consultant
for Fidelity Employer Service Company
in MA

Pension Administrator
for Pension Consulting Firm
in CA

401(k) Administrator
for Continental Benefits Group, Inc.
in NJ
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)

Employee Benefits Communications With Emphasis on 401(k) Plans
in MA
October 15, 2003
WorldWide Employee Benefits Network
Newly Posted Press Releases
(Post Yours!)

DOL, IRS and PBGC Extend Form 5500 Deadlines After Hurricane Isabel
(U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)


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