| BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter |   |
December 21, 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)
Workers Forfeit Millions Left in Flexible Spending Accounts After End of the Year
Excerpt: "Employees forfeit millions of dollars a year because they don't use all the money they contribute to health care flexible spending accounts by year's end -- giving up cash even as they face rising health care costs. An estimated $210 million in unspent money is forfeited each year. About 7 million Americans are enrolled in flexible spending accounts, according to the Employers Council on Flexible Compensation." (USA TODAY)
Insurer Properly Terminated Beneficiary's LTD Benefits, According To Fifth Circuit
Excerpt: "An insurance company properly interpreted the terms of a long term disability plan defining 'disability' when it terminated a beneficiary's LTD benefits. This was the ruling of the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Ellis v. Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston (No. 03-20623)." (Spencer Benefits Reports)
Employee Benefits Security Administration Releases 2004 Form M-1 Annual Report for MEWAs
Excerpt: "The US Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has released the 2004 Form M-1 annual report for multiple employer welfare arrangements (MEWAs). MEWAs are arrangements that offer medical benefits to employees of more than one employer or to beneficiaries. Instructions for the updated form are published in the December 21 Federal Register. The agency has also announced that an online filing system is now available on its Web site." (PLANSPONSOR.com; one-time registration required)
Automated Systems for Drugs Examined in Report: Computers Can Add to Medication Errors
Excerpt: "Computer systems designed to prevent medication errors in hospitals can actually contribute to mistakes, according to a new report. As more hospitals have implemented automated systems for administering drugs, the number of errors associated with them has risen, according to an annual report on medication errors released yesterday by the U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP), a nonprofit group that sets standards for the drug industry." (The Washington Post; one-time registration required)
Battling Health Insurers Over Autism Treatment
Excerpt: "It took Beverly Chase 14 months of fighting with her health plan, Cigna Behavioral Health, to get payment for autism treatments for her 4-year-old son, Jake. This, despite considerable leverage on her side: a state law in Indiana, where she lives, requires insurers to pay for the behavioral therapies that parents say can produce striking improvement in autistic children. Cigna did not respond to her request for months, and later argued that her son's therapist was not properly ...." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)
First Tier Gets Rising Share of Pres.cription Drug Utilization, as Copay Incentives Work
Excerpt: "Continuing a trend first spotted by DBN in January, the percentage of pres.cription drug claims processed at the first tier is increasing, while the percentage of claims processed at the second and third-tier copay levels is decreasing. Ironically, this validation of the tiered-copay strategy comes at a time when many payers are experimenting with consumer-directed plans and other benefit designs that do not rely on tiered-copay incentives." (DRUG BENEFIT NEWS via AISHealth.com)
Opinion: Overdosed and Oversold on Pres.cription Medicine for Medical Treatments
Excerpt: "[R]eform at the F.D.A. needs to go much further if it is to once again become the gold standard of medical oversight not just for consumers but for providers and insurers. Only an updated regulatory system can provide them with the information they need to come up with the right answers. People confront dizzying choices in health care every day: are brand-name drugs better than generic versions? What are the real costs and benefits of a medical intervention? How serious are the ...." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)
Text: Sources of Health Insurance & Characteristics of the Uninsured: Analysis of the March 2004 CPS (PDF)
32 pages. Excerpt: "This Issue Brief examines the status of health insurance coverage in the United States. The data are based primarily on the March 2004 Current Population Survey (CPS), with some analysis based on other CPS surveys. The report focuses on the nonelderly population (under age 65) because this group can receive health insurance coverage from a number of different sources. By contrast, Medicare covers nearly all of the elderly population." (Employee Benefit Research Institute)
Ruling Leaves Retiree Benefits Intact for Former Employees of Firm That Merged Into Halliburton
Excerpt: "A judge has ruled that Halliburton Co. cannot cancel or make major changes to the health care coverage for 4,000 retirees of a company it merged with in 1998 without making similar changes for other employees." (Houston Chronicle)
Medicare Program Could Run Out of Funds Two Decades Before Social Security
Excerpt: "As restructuring Social Security moves to the top of his agenda, President Bush is sidestepping a troublesome problem: Medicare, which provides health insurance for 41 million elderly and disabled people, is fast going broke. Medicare is projected to exhaust its hospital-care trust fund by 2019, more than 20 years before Social Security is forecast to slide into the red. The day of reckoning could come even sooner, because Medicare's condition has been going from bad to worse." (Los Angeles Times; one-time registration required)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Text of December 21, 2004 Update to IRS Priority Guidance Plan for 2004-2005 (PDF)
34 pages. (Internal Revenue Service)
Text of Final Reg on Practice Before the IRS (Circular 230) (PDF)
27 pages. Excerpt: "These final regulations set forth best practices for tax advisors providing advice to taxpayers relating to Federal tax issues or submissions to the IRS. These final regulations also provide standards for covered opinions and other written advice." (Internal Revenue Service)
Overview: FASB Issues Final Statement on Accounting for Share-Based Payment (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) on December 16, 2004 approved unanimously and issued on schedule its final statement on accounting for equity compensation, referred to as 'Statement 123(R), Share-Based Payment.'" (Frederic W. Cook)
Overview: FASB Requires Expensing of Stock-Based Compensation (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued a revised Statement 123, implementing the controversial requirement to recognize the value of share-based compensation (e.g., stock options) as an expense in a company's financial statements. Milliman's Client Action Bulletin 04-24R examines the implications of the FASB's new rule for publicly traded companies that sponsor stock-based compensation programs." (Milliman)
Amendment to IAS 19 Employee Benefits — Actuarial Gains and Losses, Group Plans and Disclosures (PDF)
47 pages. Excerpt: "This amendment to IAS 19 Employee Benefits introduces an additional recognition option for actuarial gains and losses arising in post-employment defined benefit plans." (International Accounting Standards Board via Mercer Human Resource Consulting)
Buying a Benefits Service Business: 7 Steps to Success
Excerpt: "While acquisitions appear to be done for a variety of reasons, they are all basically strategic or financial in nature. Strategic acquisitions are designed to help an organization meet its long-term business objectives. These typically arise out of planning sessions in which the company looks at its business and concludes that it cannot reach certain business goals without doing x or y." (The McHenry Group)
Executive Pay Rules in Transition: Treasury, IRS to Issue Guidance Through '05
Excerpt: "The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service yesterday gave some breathing room to companies that will be forced to restructure their executive pay plans to comply with new restrictions on deferred compensation that Congress enacted this fall. The agencies, in the first of what they said will be a series of 'guidance' notices, designated all of 2005 as a transition period during which companies and executives will not be penalized if their pay plans follow a good-faith ...." (The Washington Post; one-time registration required)
Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide Updated December 7, 2004
Excerpt: "Hewitt's Federal Legislation Quick Guide provides short updates on federal legislation that is currently under active consideration by Congress or has recently been enacted into law regarding health and welfare benefit plans, retirement plans, and human resources and employment law." (Hewitt Associates)
USERRA Did Not Entitle Employees To Benefits While On Weekend Duty
Excerpt: "The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) did not entitle a group of firefighters and paramedics to compensation for lost wages and benefits during the period when they were on duty with the Reserves and the National Guard. This was the decision of the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Rogers, et al. v. City of San Antonio (No. 03-50588)." (Spencer Benefits Reports)
Newly Posted Events
Advanced IRAs 2005
in California on February 2, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Advanced IRAs 2005
in Alabama on February 2, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Advanced IRAs 2005
in Louisiana on February 4, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Advanced IRAs 2005
in California on February 4, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Advanced IRAs 2005
in Maryland on February 9, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Advanced IRAs 2005
in District of Columbia on February 11, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Advanced IRAs 2005
in Hawaii on February 16, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Advanced IRAs 2005
in Massachusetts on February 16, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Advanced IRAs 2005
in California on February 18, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Basic IRAs 2005
in California on February 1, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Basic IRAs 2005
in Alabama on February 1, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Basic IRAs 2005
in Louisiana on February 3, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Basic IRAs 2005
in California on February 3, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Basic IRAs 2005
in Maryland on February 8, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Basic IRAs 2005
in District of Columbia on February 10, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Basic IRAs 2005
in Massachusetts on February 15, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Basic IRAs 2005
in Hawaii on February 15, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Basic IRAs 2005
in California on February 17, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Medicare Modernization in a Polarized Environment: Facing the Challenges
in District of Columbia on January 27, 2005
presented by National Academy of Social Insurance
Update on Same-Sex Marriages in Massachusetts and the Impact on Employee Benefit Plans
in Massachusetts on January 19, 2005
presented by Worldwide Employee Benefits Network (WEB)
Newly Posted Press Releases
Statement Of PBGC Executive Director Bradley Belt On Agreement Between UAL And ALPA
(Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC))
IRS and the Treasury Department Amend Circular 230 to Promote Ethical Practice by Tax Professionals
(Internal Revenue Service (IRS))
Labor Department Publishes 2004 Form M-1 For Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements -- Online Filing Is Available
(U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Public Affairs, Washington, D.C.)
Treasury and IRS Issue Guidance on Deferred Compensation
(U.S. Department of Treasury)
First and Second Combined Quarterly Update of the 2004 - 2005 Priority Guidance Plan
(U.S. Department of Treasury)
Holiday Season? Try Fraudulent Season. Legal insurance from ARAG provides identity theft and fraud resolution
(ARAG)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Pension Administrator
for Benetech, Inc.
in AZ, CA
Regional Director
for U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration
in NY
Relationship Manager
for MassMutual Financial Group
in CA
Relationship Associate
for Reliance Trust Company
in GA
DB Benefits Operations Manager
for Hewitt Associates
in IL
DB Benefits Service Manager
for Hewitt Associates
in IL
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Search BenefitsLink
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
Copyright 2004 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.; except that you may reprint this newsletter in full (including this sentence) 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: