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November 4, 2003 - 8,649 subscribers
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IRS Official Reveals Penalty-Free Ways to Fix Your Pension Plan Problems An Interactive Audio Conference, November 13, 2003, 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. ET During this audio conference, you'll learn about the recent changes to the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS), the benefits of complying, as well as the penalties associated with non-compliance from an IRS official who will also answer your specific questions.
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Supreme Court to Hear HMO Coverage Case
Excerpt: "The Supreme Court announced yesterday that it will decide whether patients may sue health insurance companies that refuse to pay for health care recommended by doctors, in a contest between efficiency and treatment that could affect the rights of more than 130 million people covered by employer- or union-provided group health plans." (Washington Post)
Analysis: 2d and 5th Circuit Courts of Appeal Allow Suits Against Insurer for 'Substandard' Care
Excerpt: "The Patient's Bill of Rights may have died in Congress, but the patient's right to sue a health-care network for substandard medical care is alive again, thanks to a pair of recent federal court rulings. In one ruling, the widow of a New York man who died of cancer won the right to sue her late husband's health-care plan for having refused to pay for a stem cell transfusion that his doctor said might have saved his life." (Los Angeles Times; one-time registration required)
GAO Report: Information Technology Benefits Realized for Selected Health Care Functions
Excerpt: "[C]ost savings resulting from the use of IT [included] reduction of costs associated with medication errors, communication and documentation of clinical care and test results, staffing and paper storage, ... processing of information ... improved quality of care, more accurate and complete medical documentation, more accurate capture of codes and charges, and improved communications among providers that enabled them to respond more quickly to patients' needs.' GAO-04-224 (10/31/03). (U.S. General Accounting Office)
The Next Phase of HIPAA: the Security Rule
Excerpt: "Many health plans, providers and health plan sponsors just recently managed compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act's (HIPAA) privacy requirements, which became effective in April of this year. Now, these same plans and covered entities (CEs) must begin planning for the next phase of HIPAA-- the Security Rule-- which becomes effective in April 2005 (April 2006 for small plans)." (Watson Wyatt)
Court: Loss of Coverage Four Years After Termination Not a COBRA Event
Excerpt: "A labor union did not have to offer COBRA coverage to a former member who became the owner of the business in which he had been formerly employed. The union member's termination as an employee was a qualifying event, but it was not accompanied by a loss of group health coverage until four years later. The federal district court in Illinois [said the regulations] require that an employee lose coverage before the end of what would have been the maximum COBRA coverage period." (OnQue Technologies, Inc.)
Terminating Employees on Long-Term Disability Poses Legal Risks
Excerpt: "With respect to the interplay between medical insurance and long-term disability insurance, a recent and somewhat shocking legal development under [ERISA] should prompt employers to take extra care when developing benefits policies and administering benefit plans, say experts.... [Employers] should adopt an express policy stating that employment and employee benefits will end if an employee remains on inactive status for a stated period of time." (HR Magazine)
Men Who Take Family Leave Viewed Negatively In Workplace by College Students
Excerpt: "Julie Holliday Wayne, adjunct assistant professor of business, examined perceptions of male and female employees who took leave to care for a newborn, a sick child or a sick parent.... The 242 study participants, all undergraduate students, were given mock personnel files ... Based on that information, the students were asked to assume the role of manager and rate each employee on a range of attributes associated with being a 'good corporate citizen.'" (Wake Forest University)
Opinion: Grandparents, Just Say No to Prescription Drug Subsidies
Excerpt: "The President and GOP Congress are on the verge of the largest government intervention in the economy in nearly 40 years-- a leap toward socialized medicine that will seriously restrict choice in medicine for everyone-- and seniors, who are emphatically not being forced to choose between their medications and their meals, are the only ones with the power to stop it." (Scott Holleran, published by the Americans for Free Choice in Medicine)
The Role of Private Plans in Medicare: Lessons From the Past, Looking to the Future (PDF)
28 pages; Executive Summary, dated November 2003. Excerpt: "The panel found a number of shortcomings in Medicare, with some more pronounced in original Medicare and others in M+C. Neither original Medicare nor M+C is ideally structured, or has performed optimally, to remedy the following weaknesses in the program: ..." (National Academy of Social Insurance)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Involve Your Employees in Cost-Cutting
Excerpt: "By involving employees correctly in the cost-cutting process, employers can gain workers' buy-in and reduce or even eliminate backlash to such decisions. And, perhaps more importantly, managers may gain valuable cost-saving tips they might never have developed on their own." (HR Magazine)
Domestic Partner Benefit Issues Arising in Benefits Administration (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "One of the issues that often comes up in the context of domestic partner health benefits is determining the value of benefits to be included in an employee's income. For example, an area that has not been addressed is how to value a domestic partner's coverage when the partner is added to existing family coverage and there is no incremental cost for an additional family member. Opinions of experts differ on the proper treatment in this case." (Mellon’s Human Resources & Investor Solutions)
Microsoft's Plan for Stock Grants to Replace Options Runs Into Shareholder Opposition
Excerpt: "The group voted against the plan because it wanted the company to disclose more information about the plan, specifically what percentage of the stock grants will carry performance criteria, and because those criteria aren't strong enough." (The Seattle Times)
Ohio Employers Strain to Understand, Comply with USERRA
Excerpt: "When veterans return, their civilian employers are required to reinstate corporate health insurance immediately, with limited exceptions for injuries incurred during the military service ... Employers also have several responsibilities when it comes to pensions and 401(k) plans. The USERRA requires employers to count an employee's military duty as years of service with the company in terms of eligibility, vesting and benefit accrual for a retirement plan." ([Akron] Beacon Journal via NewsAlert.com)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Manager, Compliance
for Means & Associates, LLC
in CA
Client Service Manager - Defined Benefit
for Fidelity Employer Service Company
in NH
ERISA Consultant
for BISYS Retirement Services
in MN
401K Client Service Rep
for ADP
in NJ
Benefits Specialist
for The College Board
in NY
Qualified Retirement Plan Administrator
for Tyler, Simms & St. Sauveur, CPAs, P.C.
in NH
Director of Employee Benefits
for O'Connell Insurance Group, Inc.
in MA
Account Manager
for Hand Benefit & Trust Company
in TX
Retirement Plan Specialist
for Diversified Investment Advisors
in FL
401K Pension Plan Administrator (50K-60K)
for Praxis Search representing Manufacturing Company (outskirts of Pittsburgh)
in PA
Newly Posted Webcasts
(Post Yours!)
401(a)(9) -- What's Really Required
on December 2, 2003
presented by SunGard Corbel Inc.
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)
Health Care Forum: Employer- Sponsored Health Care-Can It Be Sustained?
in NJ
November 19, 2003
The Northern Hew Jersey Chapter of the International Society of CEBS
Primer on Labor and Employment Law For Benefit Professionals
in OH
November 20, 2003
Presented by WEB (Worldwide Employee Benefits Network) Cleveland Chapter
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