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August 10, 2004
Today's sponsor: IQPC

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

Conference on Healthcare Cost Containment Strategies for Employers
Proven Strategies for Reducing your Healthcare Costs, Maintaining
Healthy Employees and Sustaining a Competitive Benefits Package
October 25 - 27th, 2004 * Chateau Sonesta Hotel * New Orleans, LA
This must-attend event will provide you with real-time strategies
and solutions in lowering your healthcare costs.  Hear first-hand
case studies on how to implement innovative techniques to ensure
healthy employees while maintaining a competitive benefits package,
and walk away with practical knowledge enabling your company to
become a market leader in healthcare cost containment.

(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Miners, Retirees to Lose Health Coverage Due to Bankruptcy
Excerpt: "Thousands of coal miners, some sick from black lung disease, will lose their medical coverage under an order filed yesterday by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge William Howard. The judge ruled that Horizon Natural Resources, the nation's fourth-largest coal company, does not have to honor union contracts that guaranteed benefits for 1,000 active miners and 2,300 retirees." (Kentucky.com)

COBRA's Bite
Excerpt: "[T]he consequences for a company that makes a mistake in following the new [notice] rules can be significant. In May, for example, a Nebraska federal judge fined a human resources company $307,000 for failing to provide an ex-employee with the proper COBRA notice. The court assessed the maximum statutory penalty of $110 per day for each beneficiary ... as well as their actual medical expenses. Attorneys' fees and costs may be awarded later." (Forbes.com)

Benefit Interests Shift, Early EBN-Hay Survey Results Suggest
Excerpt: "Preliminary results from annual survey of benefits management indicate that voluntary benefits, HR/benefit technology and retirement education are getting more top-level attention as health cost increases slow. Consequently, just over half (58%) of the HR/benefit managers responding believe that health care cost containment will demand the greatest share of their attention in the next year." (BenefitNews.com)

Overview: Recent HSA Guidance Provides Helpful Information For Employers
Excerpt: "Many employers have been reluctant to adopt HSAs due to uncertainty regarding health plan design and the viability of HSAs compared to other account-based health plans such as health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs). Under the new guidance, the IRS clarified the following issues for employers:" (McDermott Will & Emery)

Views of the New Medicare Drug Law: a Survey of People On Medicare
Excerpt: "A national Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health survey of people on Medicare finds nearly twice as many people on Medicare have an unfavorable view of the law as have a favorable view." (Kaiser Family Foundation)

Text of HSA Insider, 8/17/04 Issue (PDF)
4 pages. Includes 'The Ten Reasons the White House Made the Right Call Not to Allow Employers to Restrict the Employee's Use of HSA Funds." (HSA Insider)

Consumer-Driven Health Insurance Catching On Slowly In South Florida
Excerpt: "Encouraging people to make more cost-efficient health care decisions has prompted most health insurance providers to introduce consumer-driven health plans over the past two years. Finding participants hasn't been easy." (South Florida Business Journal via bizjournals.com; one-time registration required)

Should You Switch Medicare Plans?
Excerpt: "It's decision time for the millions of Americans enrolled in Medicare. The question: Should you stay or should you go? The alternative to traditional Medicare--154 private health plans collectively called 'Medicare Advantage'--just became a lot more attractive." (ConsumerReports.org)

Proposed Tax Deduction Plan Would Lower Health Insurance Premiums, Opinion Piece Says
Excerpt: "A plan developed by three economists to reform the health insurance system by extending tax deductions to individuals for out-of-pocket expenses and the purchase of individual insurance plans 'makes perfect sense,' Susan Lee, a member of the Wall Street Journal editorial board, writes in a column." (KaiserNetwork.org)

Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Rabbi Trusts – the Basics and Beyond
Excerpt: "While rabbi trusts have been around for over 20 years, they only recently have generated significant interest outside the employee benefits and executive compensation community. In this article, we review the basics of rabbi trusts, address some of the unique issues that can arise in connection with their use, and explain the heightened interest in rabbi trusts on Capitol Hill and elsewhere." (Groom Law Group)

Global Aging: Issues, Answers, More Questions (PDF)
55 pages; working paper. Excerpt: "Global aging will be a major determinant of long run economic development in industrial and developing countries.... The purpose of this paper is to review the most important economic chances and challenges due to global aging. It summarizes what we know and identifies research areas where it is important to know more." (Axel Börsch-Supan published by the University of Michigan Retirement Research Center)

Hewlett Packard Lawsuit Is Reminder to Review Contracts on Employee Benefits and Worker Arrangements (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "A class action lawsuit recently filed against the Hewlett Packard Co. is a reminder that litigation alleging misclassification of employees is alive and well." (Journal of Pension Benefits via Kilpatrick Stockton LLP)

Outsourcing: Traps for the Unwary
Excerpt: "[I]t is important to remember the possible exposure to liability that can occur as employers consider the option of outsourcing in its many forms. While time will not permit going into all of the legal exposure that can arise, two such areas of vulnerability that come to mind are ..." (Attorney B. Janell Grenier on BenefitsBlog.com)

Newly Posted Press Releases

Revision to Notice 2004-50
(Internal Revenue Service (IRS))

IRS Initiative Will Scrutinize EO Compensation Practices
(Internal Revenue Service (IRS))

Buoyed by Equity Market Performance and Ongoing Contributions, Average 401(k) Account Balances Grew in 2003
(Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI))

ERIC Calls on Congress to Allow 401(k) Participation for Workers Called to Active Military Duty
(ERIC (ERISA Industry Committee))

SecurAssist® Launches Dynamic Website - Focuses on Helping Clients Respond to Security Threats
(Assist America, Inc.)

American Express Retirement Services’ 2004 Client Forum Features Prominent Benefits And Policy Leaders: Event Invites Benefits Professionals To “Break Through” To New Possibilities In The Changing World Of Benefits And The Growing Demands Of Their Workforce.
(American Express Retirement Services)

Information Casts Doubts on UC Berkeley Labor Center's Study on Wal-Mart
(Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

Tax Manager-Employee Benefits Tax Services
for Deloitte-Cleveland
in OH

Marketing Associate, Request For Proposals
for CitiStreet
in NJ

401(k) Compliance Specialist
for TPA Firm in Southeastern MI
in MI

401(k) Service & Sales Associate
for A Financial Services Company- A Metrowest Family Business
in MA

Daily Valuation Plan Administrator
for ALCOS
in MI

Sales Director-Major Markets
for Wachovia Bank
in NC

ERISA Attorney/ Consultant
for Towers Perrin
in NY

Sales Representative
for MBM Advisors Inc. in Houston, TX
in GA

Employee Benefits Specialist/Benefits Consultant
for Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP
in CO

Defined Contribution Administrative Assistant
for BFP Associates
in MA

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Editor and Publisher: David Rhett Baker, J.D.

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