If the headlines in this newsletter aren't clickable for you,
please use the online, clickable version at:
https://benefitslink.com/2003/2003_11_25_welfare.html
(click or copy-and-paste the above address into your web browser)


BenefitsLink
Welfare Plans
Newsletter
To BenefitsLink home page Fill your job openings fast by advertising on BenefitsLink

November 25, 2003 - 8,712 subscribers
Today's sponsor: Thompson Publishing Group, Inc.

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

Payroll Tax Developments & Year-End Issues for Benefits Managers

An Interactive Audio Conference, December 11, 2003, 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. ET

The end of the year is approaching which means that soon it will be time
to report on 2003!  During this audio conference, attorneys Jerry Holmes,
Janine Cook, and David Fuller of the international law firm of McDermott,
Will & Emery will address the issues, new trends and end-of-year strategies
payroll managers, controllers, and corporate financial department personnel
should be aware of in the weeks to come.

(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Senate Approves Medicare Bill
Excerpt: "The Senate gave final congressional approval Tuesday to the most sweeping changes to Medicare since its creation in 1965, including a new prescription drug benefit for 40 million older and disabled Americans. The 54-44 vote sends the bill to President Bush, who is eager to sign it into law." (AP via Washington Post)

Full Text of Medicare Conference Report (PDF)
403 pages. Excerpt: "Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003." (Via ERISA Industry Committee)

Medicare Bill Boosts Retiree Medical and Health Savings Accounts; Form 1099 Not Required
Excerpt: "The bill would permit individuals enrolled in high deductible plans or their employers to establish 'health savings accounts' (HSAs) funded up to an annual maximum of the lower of (1) the health plan's annual deductible or (2) $2,250 for those with individual coverage or $4,500 for those with family coverage.... H.R. 1 would also exempt payments from HSAs, HRAs, and other flexible spending accounts from the need to issue Form 1099s to health care providers paid from these accounts." (Deloitte's Human Capital Advisory Services)

New Bill Provides Encouragement For Pre-Medicare Retiree Benefits In Light of Erie County Ruling
The conference report on the Medicare Bill (H.R.1) includes a statement that suggests that employers should be able to provide better health care benefits to retirees before they are eligible for Medicare than after Medicare entitlement. According to ERIC, this statement concerning the intent of Congress was added at the request of ERIC after conferees decided to drop a Senate provision, which effectively reversed a 2003 ruling by the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. (Spencer Benefits Reports)

Medicare Bill Is Big Victory for Drug Makers
Excerpt: "Drug makers have pressed hard for the legislation, because most executives believe that a Medicare drug benefit will forestall efforts to legalize drug imports or control drug prices." (New York Times; one-time registration required)

Medicare Reform Subsidizes Employer Plans, Inaugurates Health Savings Accounts
Congress today passed the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (H.R. 1) with the Senate agreeing by a margin of 54 to 44. On Saturday, the House of Representatives passed the bill 220-215. This is the first major Medicare revision since the Medicare Catastrophic Act was enacted in 1988 and repealed the following year in response to senior uproar. President George W. Bush supports the 2003 legislation and is expected to sign it before the end of the year. (Spencer Benefits Reports)

Opinion: the Medicine Conservatives Can't Swallow
Excerpt: "I've never seen anything quite like it. One party -- the Republicans -- pushing through a bill that its core constituency can't stand." (Howard Kurtz in the Washington Post)

ERISA Penalty for COBRA Notice Violation Upheld
Excerpt: "In this lawsuit, failure to provide an employee with timely notice of the right to elect COBRA continuation coverage resulted in an ERISA penalty of $2,237 and attorney's fees of $9,257. Nevertheless, the employee appealed the trial court's decision, arguing that the amount of the penalty and attorney's fee award was too low." (OnQue Technologies, Inc.)

They've Got the Gold Watch Blues
Excerpt: "Companies are cutting back or eliminating formal recognition for retiring employees, and risking goodwill in the process." (Workforce Management)

'Pay or Play' in California: the Health Insurance Act of 2003 (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "This Bulletin summarizes the key provisions of the new law, which is popularly known as Senate Bill 2 (SB 2), and mentions some of the implications for plan sponsors." (The Segal Company)

2004 Cost-of-Living Adjustments for Transportation Benefits, Adoption Assistance, Archer MSAs, More
Excerpt: "The IRS has ... released the cost-of-living adjustments to the applicable limits for qualified transportation fringe benefits, adoption assistance programs and Archer MSAs, among other benefits." (EBIA)


Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Overview: IRS Announces Executive Compensation Compliance Initiative (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "The IRS Large and Mid-Size Business Division is leading this initiative, and will focus on such items as nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements, split-dollar life insurance, corporate loans to executives and other valuable executive perks (e.g., corporate housing and air travel)." (Dechert LLP)

December 31st Deadline Approaching for Old Split-Dollar Life Insurance Arrangements
Excerpt: "This is a reminder that December 31, 2003 is a deadline for two safe-harbor grandfather options under IRS Notice 2002-8 for split-dollar arrangements entered into before January 28, 2002." (Faegre & Benson LLP)

Expensing Stock Options in 2005: the FASB's Project Takes Shape
6 pages. Excerpt: "The fair value of stock options will be expensed in companies' 2005 financial statements, according to tentative FASB decisions that also suggest how equity-based awards will be valued, expensed, and classified. The decisions may affect whether companies voluntarily adopt the fair value method recognition provisions of Statement 123 prior to being required to do so in 2005." (KPMG via Financial Executives International)


Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

401(k) Account Manager
for CNA
in CA

401(k) Enroller/Contractor
for Transamerica
in ALL STATES

401(k) Enroller/Contractor-Bilingual
for Transamerica
in ALL STATES

Regional Sales Consultant - Retirement Plans
for Thrivent Financial for Lutherans
in MN

Pension Administrators
for Associated Pension Consultants
in CA

Retirement Plan Consultant
for Invesmart, Inc.
in TX

Extraordinary & Fun Retirement Plan Job Opportunities in So. Calif.
for Kravitz
in CA

Institutional Client Service Officer
for Fleet Boston Financial / Columbia Management Group
in NJ, NY
Newly Posted Events

ERISA's Fiduciary Requirements in Today's Investment Turmoil: The Enron Decision and Mutual Fund Misconduct
Nationwide on December 12, 2003
presented by Thompson Publishing Group, Inc.

Health Savings Accounts: What Employers Need to Know
Nationwide on December 11, 2003
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America LLC (EBIA)

National Medicare Prescription Drug Congress
in District of Columbia on February 25, 2004
presented by Medicare Congress
Newly Posted Press Releases

Labor Department Obtains Settlement with Ford Motor Company for Federal Benefit Plan Reporting Violations
(U.S. Department of Labor)

Medicare Bill Eliminates 1099 Reporting for Debit Cards; Removal of Barriers Will Speed Card Adoption, Evolution Benefits Predicts
(Evolution Benefits)

Hayworth-Sponsored Legislation Will Help Tribal Government Employee Achieve Retirement Security
(Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America)

Federal and State Agencies Announce Actions Against Security Trust Company; Phoenix Bank will Undergo Orderly Dissolution and Close by March 31, 2004
(U.S. Department of Labor)

National Medicare Prescription Drug Congress Features Nation's Leading Regulators and Experts on the New Legislation
(Medicare Congress)


Handy Links:

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: