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

June 25, 2004
Today's sponsor: American Lawyer Media

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

Complete Benefits Law Guidance from Law Journal Press
The nation's workforce and health care system are constantly evolving
and so are the legal issues.  Law Journal Press helps you handle any
benefits law question with up-to-date, authoritative books on all
aspects of the field.  Get legal and practical advice from leading
experts on everything from COBRA to ERISA, "contingent" employees to
family and medical leave, and more.  Browse our product listings for
detailed information and special offers.

(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
House Passes Bill Allowing More Child Care Savings
Excerpt: "Currently, employees have to give up any money that remains unspent in their flexible spending accounts at the end of the year. Under the bill, passed by voice vote, families will be able to roll over up to $500 in unused child care savings to the next year, the Associated Press reported." (AccountingWEB)

Overview: New COBRA Guidance Requires Employers To Overhaul Notices and COBRA Procedures
Excerpt: "In a new twist, if COBRA is unavailable or denied, employers must inform the employee or qualified beneficiary within 14 days of receiving notice of a qualifying event, second event, or disability determination. The employer must do so even if the notice from the employee or qualified beneficiary is non-compliant with the plan's 'reasonable procedures.'" (Littler Mendelsen)

Text of Report on the Dirigo Health Reform Act in Maine (PDF)
33 pages. Excerpt: "Maine's health care system has largely become unsustainable and our high costs are a significant drag on the economy. Dirigo Health is our solution to these obstacles. Dirigo's overarching goal is to create a sustainable health care system in Maine." (The National Academy for State Health Policy via the Commonwealth Foundation)

Overview: Medicare Act Gives Employers New Retiree Medical Options (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "Although regulations under the MMA are not expected until sometime in early 2005, employers need to reevaluate their retiree medical goals and commitments. When determining their future actions, employers should consider the following plan design and delivery options and their implications: ..." (Towers Perrin)

Leaping Health Costs Sap Pay Hikes
Excerpt: "Money that might have gone directly into workers' take-home pay is instead being sapped by employers' soaring costs for healthcare benefits, new government data show. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported yesterday that spending on benefits by private-sector employers rose 24 percent from March 2000 to March 2004, primarily because of escalating healthcare premiums." (Boston Globe)

Opinion: the 'War' Against Obesity
Excerpt: "The U.S. government's spokesperson on medical issues says obesity is every bit as threatening as terrorism. Given that the war on terror has spawned the largest federal bureaucracy in the history of the United States, questionable trespasses on civil liberties, and is costing U.S. taxpayers tens of billions of dollars, that's an awfully scary thing for a high-ranking government official to say." (Radley Balko of the Cato Institute)

Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Survey Results: Same-Gender Marriages-- Impact on Benefit Plan Design
Excerpt: "Has your organization reviewed its benefit plans to determine whether the term 'spouse' could include a same-gender spouse? ... If an employee requests that your health benefit plan recognize a same-gender spouse, does your organization intend to honor the request to the extent possible? ... Will your organization need to amend its health plan to clarify whether or not spousal coverage will be provided to same-gender spouses?" (Aon Consulting)

Companies Resist Same-Sex Spouse Benefits: One-Third Would Offer Packages, Survey Says
Excerpt: "About 40 percent of human resources officials at 216 companies nationwide said they would reject any request by employees if they requested health benefits for same-sex spouses ... 28 percent said they don't know ... But a third said their companies would extend health benefits to same-sex spouses." (Boston Herald)

Stock Option Accounting Debate Comes to Silicon Valley
Excerpt: "At a protest rally that filled a downtown plaza on Thursday, there were more khakis and clip-on cellphones than denim and flannel as hundreds of technology workers opposed a change in accounting regulations that they think threatens the lifeblood of Silicon Valley." (New York Times; one-time registration required)

Newly Posted Press Releases

Value of New Stock Option Grants for CEOs Declined Sharply Between 2001 and 2003
(Watson Wyatt)

Segal Communications Unit Receives Award
(The Segal Company)

Phoenix House Spends More Time Helping People With Help From Ceridian HR Administration
(Ceridian)

The Principal Financial Group Announces One Simple Solution: High Deductible Health Plan with Health Savings Account
(Principal Financial Group)

PensionOnline Announces Software Toolkits for Retirement Application Developers
(Metrics Partners)

Coalition Supports FASB's Open Process for Considering Proposal to Expense Stock Options
(Financial Accounting Coalition for Truthful Statements (FACTS))

Kerry: HMOs and the Three Faces of Bush
(John Kerry for President, Inc.)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

ERISA Pension Analyst / Paralegal / Plan Administrator
for Retirement Plan Administration and ERISA Specialists
in IL

Administrative Assistant
for Retirement Plan Administration and ERISA Specialists
in IL

Retirement Plan Administrator
for Valley Forge Consulting Corporation
in PA

Client Services Consultant-Boston
for American United Life Insurance Company
in MA

Client Services Coordinater-Kansas City
for American United Life Insurance Company
in MO

Pension Administrator
for The Weiss Group, Inc.
in IL

Handy Links:
Copyright 2004 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.; except that you can reprint this newsletter 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: