| BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter |   |
October 15, 2004
Today's sponsor: The John Marshall Law School Center for Tax Law and Employee Benefits
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
Spring 2005 Information Sessions The John Marshall Law School in Chicago offers the nation's only graduate employee benefits law programs, with 18 classes taught by leading ERISA attorneys and professionals, and opportunities to intern with the IRS and the DOL. Information sessions for January 2005 classes will be held on October 19 (12:45 to 1:15 p.m. and 5:15 to 5:45 p.m.) and on November 9 (5:00 to 7:00 p.m.). See www.jmls.edu/employee.html for more information about the LL.M. program and about the new Master of Science degree for non-attorneys available in August 2005 (you will also find information about a call for research papers in employee benefits law for a symposium edition of The John Marshall Law Review). Email 7kennedy@jmls.edu with any questions.
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Text of CBO Report Finding Insufficient Evidence That Disease Management Saves Health Costs (PDF)
34 pages. Excerpt: "According to CBO's analysis, there is insufficient evidence to conclude that disease management programs can generally reduce overall health spending. It is important to note that such programs could be worthwhile even if they did not reduce costs, but CBO's analysis focused on the question of whether those programs could pay for themselves." (Congressional Budget Office)
Obesity Surgery Can Lead to Nerve Damage - Study
Excerpt: "Operations to treat obesity such as stomach-stapling may work a little too well, causing some patients to develop nerve damage-- a symptom of malnutrition, doctors warned Thursday." (Reuters)
More Retirees from Large Companies May See Health Benefit Cuts; a Result of the Corporate Tax Bill
Excerpt: "Some large employers will have greater flexibility in how they cut retiree health-care costs starting Jan. 1, thanks to a provision in the new corporate-tax bill. And the change could affect health benefits for more retirees. .... The law applies to large companies that withdraw surplus pension assets to cover medical costs for retirees. That has been allowed since 1990." (Wall Street Journal via SFGate.com)
Medical Bar Code Implant May Not Be Worth the Trouble
Excerpt: "Opinion: Aside from the discomfort (aka pain), cost and the concerns over privacy, there are many other implementation snafus with the medical RFID chip just approved by the FDA." (eWEEK)
Based On Supreme Court Ruling, Second Circuit Dismisses State Malpractice Claim Against HMO
Excerpt: "On remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, the Second 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 Cicio v. Vytra Healthcare, et al. (No. 01-9248)." (Spencer Benefits Reports)
State of Hawaii Issues Guidance for Self-Insuring Health Benefits by Employers
Excerpt: "Hawaii regulators have issued their first written guidelines for determining whether employers meet the solvency and 'ability to pay' standards for self-insuring health benefits required by the Hawaii Prepaid Health Care Act. The Act requires all private employers in the state to provide health coverage for their workers." (Mercer Human Resource Consulting)
Overview: Working Families Tax Relief Act of 2004 (PDF)
Excerpt: "The Act's primary focus is on the extension of certain expiring tax benefits for individuals and businesses (e.g., $1,000-per-child tax credit, 10 percent tax bracket, alternative minimum tax exemptions, research and development tax credit, and welfare-to-work tax credits). However, as briefly described below, the Act also contains a number of 'technical corrections' that substantively affect pension and welfare benefit plans." (Dechert LLP)
Canadians Pay More Than Many in Industrialized Nations for Generic Medications, Study Says
Excerpt: "Generic pres.cription drug prices in Canada are 30% higher [than] prices are in eight other industrialized countries, including the United States, according to a Fraser Institute report released in August .... Brett Skinner, the ... lead author, examined data from public studies conducted by FDA and Canada's Patented Medicine Prices Review Board and found that patients in Britain, Germany, Italy, Sweden, France, New Zealand and Australia also paid less for generic drugs than Canadians." (kaisernetwork.org)
Lucent Technologies Cuts Health Benefits for More Retirees
Excerpt: "For the second time in a year, telecommunications equipment maker Lucent Technologies Inc. is cutting benefits promised to thousands of its retirees. The Murray Hill-based company, which reported billions of dollars in losses during the telecommunications industry slump, notified employees by letter it will no longer pay for health insurance for dependents of management workers who retired on or after March 1, 1990, at a salary of $65,000 or more." (AP via The Miami Herald; one-time registration required)
Bush and Kerry Divided Over Malpractice Reform's Effect on Rising Health Costs
Excerpt: "Skyrocketing malpractice premiums have forced physicians to perform additional tests and procedures they might not need to, driving up federal costs by $28 billion a year, .... Enacting tort reform with a $250,000 limit on payment for noneconomic damages would put a needed brake on rising premiums and lower health costs, according to Bush. A malpractice reform bill passed the U.S. House last year but has been blocked in the Senate." (Medscape Medical News)
Canada's Way: What a Universal Health Care System Delivers, Good and Bad
Excerpt: "When you're sick like that and off work, the last thing you want to worry about is how to pay the bill,' said Kioussis, 55. 'I had excellent care and one of the top specialists in the country, the same doctor who would treat the prime minister.' That's the side of Canadian health care familiar to many Americans -- a system that provides free cradle-to-grave treatment to all, regardless of income or employment status." (Wall Street Journal via SFGate.com)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Text of Retroactive Corrections to August 2004 Final Regulations on Statutory Options (PDF)
7 pages. Excerpt: "The document contains final regulations relating to statutory options. These final regulations affect certain taxpayers who participate in the transfer of stock pursuant to the exercise of incentive stock options and the exercise of options granted pursuant to an employee stock purchase plan (statutory options)." (Internal Revenue Service)
Overview: Significant Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Legislation Headed for President's Desk (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "It is unclear how pre-2005 participant elections made under the old rules will be treated under the new rules. It is also unclear whether the AJCA applies to benefits earned but not vested prior to January 1, 2005; although, at this time it appears benefits that have not vested by January 1, 2005, will be subject to the new rules. Regulations dealing with these issues are expected to be issued within 60 days of the AJCA's enactment." (Lane Powell Spears Lubersky LLP)
Overview: New Tax Law's Implications for Traditional Deferral Plans and SERPs
Excerpt: "This article analyzes the Act's implications for traditional NQDC plans maintained by taxable employers -- including elective salary and bonus deferral plans, 'mirror' 401(k) plans, and SERPs.' (Subscription is required to read GRIST article.) Links to Full text of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 (HR 4520), final NQDC provisions in HR 4520, Conference report discussion of NQDC provisions in HR 4520, and Conference report on HR 4520 are provided. (Mercer Human Resource Consulting)
PGA Tour Golfers Hit It on the Green in Regulation(s) -- Tax Bill Exempts Tour from New DC Rules
Excerpt: "In a hole-in-one for 300 professional golfers, including multimillionaires Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh, a few sentences at the end of the tax bill Congress sent the president this week exempts members of the PGA Tour from new rules that apply to most other high-end retirement plans. While the tax bill is named the 'American Jobs Creation Act of 2004,' it was larded by Congress with goodies for all sorts of industries, ...." (Wall Street Journal via SFGate.com)
D.C. Council Bill Might Expand Domestic Partner Benefits
Excerpt: "D.C. Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) said his staff is conducting research to determine whether a bill he introduced last week would require private employers in the city to provide benefits to their employees' domestic partners equal to those given to married spouses." (The Washington Blade)
Experts Commissioned by British Gas Have Discovered How to Calculate "Murphy's Law" Impact
Excerpt: "If you feel that you are constantly thwarted by 'Murphy's Law,' take heart. Researchers have figured out a formula to predict the impact of the law – before it takes hold. The so-called Murphy's Law holds that if something can go wrong, it will go wrong, and generally at the most critical time. Now, a panel of experts has provided the statistical rule for predicting the law of 'anything that can go wrong, will go wrong' - and it is ((U+C+I) x (10-S))/20 x A x 1/(1-sin(F/10))." (PLANSPONSOR.com; one-time registration required)
Newly Posted Events
Financial and Retirement Planning Education: For Plan Participants (Part Two of a two-part series)
Nationwide on November 11, 2004
presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
Financial and Retirement Planning Education: For Plan Sponsors (Part one of a two-part series)
Nationwide on October 28, 2004
presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
Newly Posted Press Releases
PSCA Announces winners of the annual Signature Awards Competition
(Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America (PSCA))
TRI-AD’s Online Survey Shows the Majority of Flexible Spending Account Participants Oppose Health Savings Accounts
(TRI-AD)
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