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March 29, 2004 - 8,783 subscribers
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(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Survey Confirms Growing Interest in Captive Insurers
Excerpt: "The report, drawing on a survey of 60 companies in North America and Europe, suggests that more employers in the future will be using captives to finance insurance, disability, retiree medical and other employee benefits in the ongoing drive to manage cost and stay competitive in a global marketplace." (Towers Perrin)

Overview: COBRA Coverage by State or Local Government May Be Subject to COBRA, HIPAA, and State Law
Excerpt: "The memorandum clarifies that those parties involved with non-federal governmental plans--(1) insurers issuing group health policies to state or local government plans, (2) the state or local government plans, and (3) the state or local governments themselves as employers--all may be subject to more than one statute simultaneously. Furthermore, unless one federal statute overrides another or preempts a state statute, all applicable statutes apply concurrently." (Employee Benefits Institute of America (EBIA))

Overview: CMS Clears Up Confusion Over COBRA's Public-Sector Rules
Excerpt: "A common misperception is incorrect that COBRA applies to the exclusion of HIPAA and other state laws for COBRA coverage provided by state and local government employers under the Public Health Service Act (PHSA), according to the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS). Rather, COBRA coverage has no bearing on the states' or CMS' HIPAA enforcement authority unless there is a direct conflict between the two federal laws, the agency clarified." (Thompson Publishing Group)

Commissioner Has Strategy to Improve Social Security Disability Claims Process, But Faces Challenges
16 pages; testimony presented before the Subcommittee on the Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce and the District of Columbia, Committee on Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate. (U.S General Accounting Office)

IRS Prepares To Issue Additional Guidance For Health Savings Accounts
The Internal Revenue Service intends to issue additional guidance on health savings accounts (HSAs) as early as this week. According to William F. Sweetnam, Department of Treasury benefits tax counsel, the guidance will address 'what it means to be a high deductible health plan (HDHP).' Earlier HSA guidance appeared in December 2003. (Spencer Benefits Reports)

Court Orders Patient Records Disclosed Under HIPAA's Litigation Exception, Despite State Privacy Law
National Abortion Federation v. Ashcroft (S.D.N.Y. 2004). Excerpt: "In resisting the subpoena, the hospital relied on the HIPAA provision that protects state privacy laws from preemption if they are 'more stringent' than HIPAA's requirements. The hospital argued that, under this provision, the case was controlled by a more stringent New York law, which would permit disclosure of records only after patient consent." (Employee Benefits Institute of America (EBIA))

Reconstructive Surgery Not Required Under WHCRA Where Participant Received No Mastectomy Benefits
Davidson v. Wal-Mart Associates Health and Welfare Plan (S.D. Iowa 2004). Excerpt: "We focused on the case because the participant argued ... that coverage was required under the SPD description of the Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act (WHCRA).... [T]he SPD said that reconstructive surgery related to a mastectomy performed before WHCRA's January 1, 1999 effective date would not be covered 'unless the participant was actively being treated for the mastectomy after December 31, 1998.'" (Employee Benefits Institute of America (EBIA))

Where's the Boss Gone? Off on a Sabbatical
Excerpt: "In the past decade, business has become a lot more frenetic, and the career span of the average chief executive a lot shorter. For the period they are in the job, the pressure to perform becomes ever more intense. If you don't deliver quickly, you can't expect to survive long." (Matthew Lynn on Bloomberg.com)

Funding Dispute Over Veterans' Benefits Not a Simple Matter
Excerpt: "John F. Kerry has accused President Bush of shortchanging veterans by cutting the Department of Veterans Affairs budget, increasing many veterans' health care costs and excluding thousands more from the system altogether." (Boston.com)

New Medicare Legislation: New Opportunities for Employers (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "[E]mployers have good reason to revisit their benefit strategies for current and future retirees. Many employers that offer medical benefits to current retirees will continue to provide drug coverage and opt for the federal subsidy; others will redesign their retiree medical programs to supplement the Medicare drug benefit, and yet others will reduce or drop current retiree and/or future retiree drug coverage altogether." (Towers Perrin)

Overview: FASB Proposes Guidance on Accounting for Postretirement Medical Benefits (PDF)
6 pages. Excerpt: "The new Medicare pres.cription drug benefit and tax-free subsidy for employers pose important accounting issues for companies offering health care benefits to Medicare-eligible retirees, as well as new plan design opportunities for many employers ... The accounting issues hold significant implications for many companies' income statements and balance sheets." (Towers Perrin)

Opinion: Assault on Retiree Benefits
Excerpt: "Congress approved an incredible loophole: An employer can qualify for a subsidy even if the healthcare benefits in question are largely or entirely financed by retirees' private contributions. That's the wrong pres.cription for a country in which healthcare is increasingly out of reach even for working Americans." (Los Angeles Times; one-time registration required)

Opinion: Bush Has Gotten Over Healthcare Fever
Excerpt: "Some of you may recall when President Bush was stricken with what seemed to be a case of health-care fever. He was still Gov. Bush then, a presidential wannabe touring the country, claiming to be a champion for the patients, the little people on the balance sheets of hospitals and insurance companies." (Clay Robinson in the Houston Chronicle)

Opinion: Medicare Drug Law Becomes Bitter Pill
Excerpt: "President Bush had hoped that the passage of the Medicare pres.cription-drug bill would be one of the crowning achievements of his administration, but so far it has turned out to be one of the messiest policies, being attacked on several fronts." (Amy Fagan in the Washington Times)

The New Math of Long-Term Care Insurance
Excerpt: "Long-term care insurance is one of those financial products you know you should have but can't imagine being able to afford. If you don't have it and eventually need it, you'll be kicking yourself. If you buy a policy and don't use it, you may still be kicking yourself. Then there are your parents." (New York Times; one-time registration required)

Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

New EU Prospectus Directive Affects Option Grants to Employees in Europe (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "The Prospectus Directive applies to all companies offering or listing securities in the EU, including non-EU companies, such as US issuers, effective from December 31, 2003." (Pillsbury Winthrop LLP)

Overview: Pentagon Revises Retiree Rehire Policy
Excerpt: "Managers at the Defense Department now can rehire civil service retirees for critical positions without reducing the retirees' salary by the amount of their annuity." (GovExec.com)

Grocery Contract Talks in D.C. Near Deadline
Excerpt: "Giant and Safeway, arguing that they must trim labor costs to compete with the growing ranks of nonunion stores in the region, have targeted three items in this year's negotiations: wages, pension plans and health care payments." (Washington Post; one-time registration required)

How Lucent's Retiree Programs Cost It Zero
Excerpt: "[T]hanks to three benefit and pension funds that Lucent was born with when spun off from AT&T Corp. eight years ago, the big provider of telecom gear never had to dig into its own pocket to pay benefits for U.S. retirees. The funds paid every cent, both of pensions and of retirees' health care." (Wall Street Journal via SFGate.com)

Newly Posted Events

Florida West Coast Employee Benefits Council - Annual Educational Workshop
in Florida on April 22, 2004
presented by Florida West Coast Employee Benefits Council

3rd Annual Stars and Stripes Summit - The 2004 National Public Employees Retirement Funds Summit
in Florida on July 18, 2004
presented by Financial Research Associates

The Ins & Outs of Qualified Retirement Plans
in Georgia on May 11, 2004
presented by SOAR - Seminar Opportunities Achieving Results
Newly Posted Press Releases

Recent Cash Balance Conversions Have Actually Increased Company Costs, Watson Wyatt Study Finds
(Watson Wyatt)

Press Briefing on Consumer Benefits of Optional Federal Charter
(American Council of Life Insurers)

America's Health Insurance Plans Hails Announcement of Prescription Drug Card Sponsors
(America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP))

Bush Flip-Flop on Patients’ Bill of Rights May Have Been Driven by Campaign Donors
(Common Dreams)

Officials Announce Program for Retiree Employment
(U.S. Air Force)

Retired Educators Across Nation Call On Congress To Repeal Social Security Penalties That Harm Education
(Retired Educators Coalition for Social Security Fairness)

Treasury and IRS Caution Taxpayers About Frivolous Tax Refund Claims on Stock Options
(U.S. Department of Treasury)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
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Defined Benefit Pension Administrator
for The National Advisory Group, Inc./Pension Consulting Services, Inc.
in PA

Retirement Consultant
for Lincoln Financial Group
in AZ, KS, OR, WA

Pension Consultants/Administrators
for Northern NJ Mid-Size Pension Consulting Firm
in NJ

Fund Administrator
for small Taft-Hartley Funds located in Howard Beach, New York
in NY

Marketing Associate
for The Nolan Financial Group
in DC, MD, VA

Assistant Plan Administrator
for Patriot Bank
in PA

Financial Services Specialist
for Nationwide Insurance
in OH

Vice President, Business Development
for ExpertPlan
in CA

Internal Retirement Product Wholesalers
for Retirement Plan Provider
in NJ

Implementation Coordinator
for Craford Benefit Consultants
in CA

401(k) Enrollers/Independent Contractors – Part Time
for Diversified Investment Advisors
in AZ, CA, DC, FL, IL, KS, MO, NV, TX

Retirement Plans Analyst
for U.S. Foodservice
in MD

Employee Benefits Specialist
for Bank Group in scenic western Colorado resort areas
in CO

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