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    September 13, 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
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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)
    Final Health Savings Custodial Account Form (PDF)
    2 pages. Excerpt: "The Internal Revenue Service has released the final version of the model health savings account (HSA) form, IRS Form 5305-C ('Health Savings Custodial Account. The form can be used to establish HSAs." (Internal Revenue Service)

    Final Health Savings Trust Account Form (PDF)
    2 pages. Excerpt: "The Internal Revenue Service has released the final version of the model health savings account (HSA) form, IRS Form 5305-B, Health Savings Trust Account. The form can be used to establish HSAs." (Internal Revenue Service)

    Bush, Kerry Focusing on Health Care Issues While Campaigning in Battleground States
    Excerpt: "Kerry last week at campaign appearances 'worked ... to turn the campaign focus to health care issues' such as the reimportation of lower-cost, U.S.-made pres.cription drugs, an issue that 'plays well in the northern battleground states,' including Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, the AP/Newsday reports ..." (KaiserNetwork.org)

    Presidential Pres.criptions for Our Ailing Healthcare System (PDF)
    8 pages. Excerpt: "Because making health insurance available and affordable is a challenge many actuaries face, Contingencies [Magazine] asked the candidates what they plan to do about reforming the health care system, reducing its exorbitant cost, and covering the uninsured. We also asked two actuaries active on the [American Academy of Actuaries'] Health Practice Council to provide nonpartisan comments on the competing proposals." (Contingencies Magazine)

    Issue Brief: The Case Against John Kerry's Health Plan
    Excerpt: "Senator John Kerry has proposed a plan to radically reform the U.S. health care system. If he is successful, millions of middle-income families will be enrolled in Medicaid ... Millions more will get their insurance through a system of managed competition modeled after the federal employee's health system and similar to what Hillary Clinton proposed more than a decade ago. Most people would be forced from the private health plans they have today." (National Center for Policy Analysis)

    Medicare Costs Are New Focus for Presidential Candidates
    Excerpt: "Medicare has suddenly emerged as a volatile issue in this year's elections, as Democrats are vowing to roll back a sharp increase in premiums announced this month and the Bush campaign is seeking to blame lawmakers, including Senator John Kerry, for the rise." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)

    HIPAA Privacy White Papers from the SNIP Security and Privacy Workgroup (PDF)
    7 pages. Excerpt: "The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange has posted new white papers to assist in meeting HIPAA requirements." (Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange)

    Based On Supreme Court Ruling, Eleventh Circuit Dismisses Malpractice Claims Against HMO
    Excerpt: "On remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, the Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that a plaintiff's state law malpractice claims against an HMO were preempted by ERISA. The case is Land v. CIGNA Healthcare of Florida (No. 02-15549)." (Spencer Benefits Reports)

    Canada Looks for Ways to Fix Its Health Care System
    Excerpt: "The publicly financed health insurance system remains a prideful jewel for most Canadians, who see it as an expression of communal caring for the less fortunate and a striking contrast to an American health care system that leaves 45 million people uninsured. But polls indicate that public confidence in the system is eroding, although politicians remain reticent to urge increasing privatization of services." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)

    No More Gatekeepers: Days of HMOs' Referral Restrictions Coming to an End
    Excerpt: "Dr. Ronald Darling would like to forget the days when health maintenance organizations strictly required referrals from primary care physicians before patients could even get through his door." (The Business Journal of Milwaukee via bizjournals.com; one-time registration required)

    Health Insurers Use Predictive Modeling to Predict and Prevent High Costs
    Excerpt: "Common in industries such as transportation and environmental management, predictive modeling has come to health care in the past few years, and its power to transform the way health care is delivered is beginning to emerge." (The Business Journal of Kansas City via bizjournals.com; one-time registration required)

    Tests and Threats: Employers Forced to Take Employee Word on Earning Wellness Incentives
    Excerpt: "'Cutesy bottles and T-shirts never worked,' says Roslyn Stone, chief operating officer of Corporate Wellness, a company that administers wellness programs. 'Employees are looking for real incentives, and money talks.' Now, wellness programs are offering incentives thought to be of real value to participants, including discounts on health premiums and cold, hard cash. The question is, are employees really earning these rewards?" (Employee Benefit News)

    Surveys Show Broad Interest in Health Savings Accounts
    Excerpt: "Consumers are intrigued by the concept of health savings accounts, findings of a recent poll conducted for Cigna HealthCare show. And it's not just the healthy and wealthy applying for them, according to data from Assurant Health, a nationwide carrier of individual and small-group health insurance." (Employee Benefit News)

    Issue Brief: Assessing the HSA Coalition's Coverage Estimates for the Proposed HSA Deduction
    Excerpt: "[T]he HSA Coalition analysis is severely flawed. Because of fundamental errors of analysis and misuse of data, its conclusions must be regarded as invalid." (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)

    Issue Brief: Data Fails to Dispel Concerns About Health Savings Accounts
    Excerpt: "[C]areful examination of the new data shows that they do not support the claims of HSA proponents and shed little light on the issues being debated. The use of these data to claim that concerns and criticisms about HSAs are unfounded does not withstand scrutiny." (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)

    Pfizer Official Expresses Support for Pres.cription Drug Reimportation
    Excerpt: "Peter Rost, vice president of marketing for endocrine care at Pfizer, on Friday advocated the reimportation of lower-cost pres.cription drugs from abroad, the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Rost, who spoke as a private citizen and not as a Pfizer official ..." (KaiserNetwork.org)

    Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

    Stealth Compensation via Retirement Benefits
    Working paper. Excerpt: "This paper analyzes an important form of 'stealth compensation' provided to managers of public companies. We show how boards have been able to camouflage large amount of executive compensation through the use of retirement benefits and payments. Our study highlights the significant role that camouflage and stealth compensation play in the design of compensation arrangements." (Lucian Arye Bebchuk and Jesse M. Fried, via National Bureau of Economic Research)

    Louisiana Vote Won't End G.ay Marriage Debate: Amendment May Face Legal Challenges
    Excerpt: "Voters across the state will decide ... whether to add a ban on same-sex marriage to the Louisiana Constitution, but almost no one believes that the emotional debate will end there." (The Times-Picayune)

    Lobbyists Line Up on Overtime Pay: Business, Labor Groups Both Vow to Keep Up Pressure
    Excerpt: "Intensive lobbying in the fight to stop the Bush administration's eligibility rules for overtime pay will continue unabated, despite doubt on both sides that legislation on the issue can pass this year." (The Washington Post; one-time registration required)

    VEBAs-- Little-Known Tax-Deferred Plan Offers Asset Protection and Big Deductions
    Excerpt: "Would you like to set aside a large amount of tax-deferred income every year -- in addition to your current retirement plan? Provide financial security without paying estate or income taxes? Protect your assets from the claims of creditors? If the answer is 'yes' to one of these questions, you should consider participating in a voluntary employee's beneficiary association (VEBA)." (Matthew J. Dicken in Business First via bizjournals.com; one-time registration required)

    Financial Accounting Standards Board Adds Employee Stock Purchase Plans ‘Safe Harbor' Treatment
    Excerpt: "Employee Stock Purchase Plans (ESPP) will not be charged as a corporate compensation cost under a new 'safe harbor' provision approved by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). .... A copy of FASB's pre-hearing handout, which includes the proposals for the tax treatment of ESPPs to be considered, is available at http://www.fasb.org/board_handouts/09-08-04.pdf" (PLANSPONSOR.com; one-time registration required)

    Newly Posted Events

    ASPA Examination Weekend Review Classes
    in Pennsylvania on October 16, 2004
    presented by Transamerica Retirement Services

    ERISA Workshop
    Nationwide on November 17, 2004
    presented by SunGard Corbel
    Newly Posted Press Releases

    Will the Presidential Candidates Ever Talk About Insurance Company Profits?
    (Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights)
    Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
    Post a Help Wanted Ad

    Actuarial Associate- Retirement
    for Towers Perrin
    in CT, DC, GA, MA, NJ, NY, PA

    Sr. Benefits Specialist
    for APL, Ltd.
    in CA

    ERISA Compliance Officer
    for City National Bank
    in CA

    Assistant Plan Administrator
    for Susquehanna Wealth Management
    in PA

    Internal Sales Consultant
    for New York Life Investment Management LLC
    in MA

    Pension Consultant/Administrator
    for Third Party Administrators, Inc.
    in NH

    Marketing Representative
    for PENSCO Trust Company
    in NH

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