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January 3, 2005
Today's sponsor: Financial Research Associates, LLC
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The 2005 National Public Employees’ Retirement Funds Summit 4th Annual STARS & STRIPES ’05 The 2005 National Public Employees’ Retirement Funds Summit April 3-5, 2005 Casa Marina, Key West, Florida To register call 800-280-8440 or visit www.frallc.com Trustees and Administrators receive $1000 off the registration fee! This year Stars & Stripes has added industry debates, case studies, panel discussions, keynote addresses, closed-door discussions, "work-along" sessions, a series of roundtable discussions, mock situations and other interactive presentations. This is just a sample of what you can expect this year at the Stars & Stripes(sm) 2005 Summit. This year’s summit is skillfully designed with concurrent tracks, one for investment professionals and the other for public fund administrators and staff.
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Health Care Costs Are Obstacle to Domestic Partner Benefits
Excerpt: "Human resources professionals and legal experts agree that rising health care costs may be the primary reason why many companies are not able to provide domestic partner benefits." (Pittsburgh Business Times via bizjournals.com; one-time registration required)
Montana Universities Must Offer Health Insurance to G.ay Employees' Partners
Excerpt: "Montana's public universities must provide their g.ay employees with insurance coverage for their domestic partners, the state's Supreme Court ruled yesterday. The majority in the 4-to-3 decision said the decision had nothing to do with the rights of g.ay couples to marry. But a dissenting judge criticized his colleagues as 'radically altering common law marriage in Montana.'" (The New York Times; one-time registration required)
Low Prices Drag Employee Assistance Program Quality Down, According to White Paper
Excerpt: "A number of employee assistance plan vendors agree that the quality of employee assistance program services has deteriorated over the years. The question with which they still are wrestling, however, is why. Executives at the EAP consortium Claremont Partners believe they know the answer. A recently released white paper claims that the common capitated pricing model and what analysts call 'utilization inflation' have led to a significant drop in the ability of EAPs to deal with ...." (Employee Benefit News)
Overview: Medical Expenses Must Be Covered Despite Plan's Source of Injury Exclusion
Rafine v. Steel Dynamics, Inc., 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25568 (N.D. Ind. 2004). Excerpt: "A plan participant attempted suicide and incurred medical expenses for treatment of self-inflicted injuries. A treating physician stated that the participant suffered from depression and that the self-inflicted injury would 'most likely' have been prevented if the participant had been treated sooner." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.)
When the Best Health Care Turns Out to Be a Bargain: Get Patients to the Best Doctors Quickly
Excerpt: "In rural Wyoming, a small experiment in corralling stampeding health care costs may dispel a lot of the prevailing wisdom about quality health care. It's a natural assumption that top-flight care costs the most money. But David Crowder, a doctor who trained at the Mayo Clinic, has compelling evidence that in many cases, the best costs less--in both the long and short run." (Workforce Management)
Employers Pay High Deductibles to Save on Health Premiums
Excerpt: "Some small and mid-sized businesses .... are purchasing high-deductible, fully insured health plans and using the premium savings to pay their employees' health care costs - up to the deductible limit, if needed.' (Employee Benefit News)
Class Action Against Large Health Plans Delayed -- Again
Excerpt: "The long-awaited court trial in the class-action lawsuit filed by physicians who claim they were shortchanged by the nation's largest health insurers has been delayed another six months. U.S. District Court Judge Federico Moreno in Miami postponed the start of the trial to Sept. 6, 2005, from March 6 after the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta upheld class-action status for the lawsuit in September and then upheld a ruling in November that HMOs cannot force arbitration...." (modernhealthcare.com)
Drugstores Fret as Insurers Require Pres.cription Purchases to be Made by Mail
Excerpt: "Employer health plans across the country are forcing millions of consumers to change their drug-buying habits. And one side effect could be the decline of the neighborhood drugstore. Instead of picking up their medicines at a local pharmacy, growing numbers of consumers will be required - starting this month when new health plans take effect - to buy dozens of widely used drugs, like insulin for diabetes or Lipitor to lower cholesterol, by mail order." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)
Risk and Cost Affect Coverage Determination of Gastric Bypass Procedures
Excerpt: "Simpson said the reason some insurers cover obesity procedures, including the risky bariatric gastric bypass surgery, is that the costs and risks of leaving a morbidly obese person untreated might easily exceed the expenses and risks of the surgery." (St. Louis Business Journal via bizjournals.com; one-time registration required)
Report on Designing Maine's DirigoChoice Benefit Plan
Excerpt: "A main feature of Maine's new Dirigo Health initiative is the DirigoChoice health plan, designed to provide an affordable, high-quality option for health coverage to Maine businesses that have 50 or fewer eligible employees, the self-employed, and individuals." (The Commonwealth Fund)
New Rule Effective July 1 May Let Workers Keep Health Coverage
Excerpt: "For U.S. workers who change or lose their jobs, a new rule issued by the Bush administration just before the end of 2004 could provide better access to group health plan coverage -- in keeping with changes Congress agreed to eight years ago. The new rule, which becomes effective for health care plans starting July 1, is meant to implement more of the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act by making it easier to obtain group health coverage." (AP via The New York Times; one-time registration required)
Overview: HSA Contribution Offered by Trustee/Custodian as Incentive Is Not a Prohibited Transaction
Excerpt: "In [DOL Advisory Opinion 2004-09A (Dec. 22, 2004)], the DOL determines that certain cash contributions offered by an HSA trustee/custodian as an incentive to establish an HSA are not prohibited transactions under the Code or ERISA. …. The opinion was requested by an insurer that offers various health benefit plans--including high deductible health plans (HDHPs)--in the individual and group markets. Two scenarios are addressed." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.)
Work/Life Issues: Cancer Center Supports Pressured Employees
Excerpt: "Managing work/life issues for 8,255 employees is no small task, but Nancy Montgomery, manager of Work/Life Initiatives at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, certainly has her work cut out for her. [M]ontgomery needs to ensure that she retains valuable employees by helping them manage their personal and work lives in what can be a high-stress environment." (Employee Benefit News)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Valuing Employee Stock Options Using a Lattice Model
Excerpt: "The authors' objective is to provide an overview of how lattice models work and to provide insights into how lattice models can help ascertain the costs and benefits of various option-granting strategies." (The CPA Journal)
New Accounting Rules for Stock Options Worry Tech Sector
Excerpt: "A new accounting rule requiring public companies to treat as an expense the cost of the stock options they give to employees has some companies groaning about the hit they will take to their bottom lines. The Financial Accounting Standards Board announced last week that most companies will have to comply with the new rule in their accounting periods that begin after June 15, 2005." (The Business Journal of Portland via bizjournals.com; one-time registration required)
Opinion: SEC Should Follow FASB Ruling on Stock Options Expensing and Clean Up Its Own Act
Excerpt: "Now that the Financial Accounting Standards Board has finally ruled that a company's earnings must be charged for the present value of stock option grants, it's time for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Act to clean up its act." (Graef Crystal via Bloomberg News)
Overview: 409A Guidance -- Deferred Compensation Under IRS Notice 2005-1
This Alert provides a very brief summary of the topic. (Thomas C. Walker, Esq.)
Overview: Code §409A Guidance
Excerpt: "In enacting Code §409A, Congress instructed the IRS to issue guidance on the new law within 60 days. The IRS complied with this requirement by issuing Notice 2005-1. Although the guidance addresses many important questions, Notice 2005-1 leaves to subsequent guidance issues such as distributions, plan documentation and consequences of noncompliance with Code §409A. The following summary explains Notice 2005-1." (SunGard Corbel)
Overview: IRS Rings in the New Year With Transition Guidance on 409A Deferred Compensation Rules
Excerpt: "On December 20, the IRS issued Notice 2005-1, which provides guidance on the nonqualified deferred compensation legislation enacted earlier this year. New Code Section 409A significantly changes the operation and taxation of nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements for amounts that are deferred or become vested on or after January 1, 2005." (Faegre & Benson LLP)
Overview: Department of Labor Proposes New Regulations Under USERRA for Military Leave Rights
Excerpt: "On September 20, 2004, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued proposed regulations under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA). Comments on the proposed regulations were due to be submitted to the DOL by November 19, 2004. Thereafter, the DOL will analyze the comments, make necessary revisions to the regulations, and issue final regulations." (Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP)
Overview: Bush Signs Veterans Law –- New Employer Responsibilities (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "President Bush signed the Veterans Benefits Improvement Act of 2004 into law on December 10, 2004. Among the many provisions that expand the rights and benefits of veterans are a few that impact employers. The new law requires employers to post a notice of affected employees' rights and obligations under the Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994. It also expands the period for which employers must offer employees called to active military ...." (Mellon Financial Corporation)
Buckle Up for Bush's Second Round: Administration Initiatives Affecting Employee Benefits
Excerpt: "If President Bush gets what he wants, companies will find themselves scrambling to keep up with an array of administration initiatives, including the partial privatization of Social Security and the expansion of consumer-driven health care plans. Executives should also expect political solutions for imperiled private pension guarantees, as well as medical malpractice insurance reform and stepped-up enforcement efforts by the Labor Department's wage-discrimination cops." (Workforce Management)
Newly Posted Events
ERISA Fiduciary Governance Video Training Course
Nationwide on January 5, 2005
presented by Financial Executives International and Denali Fiduciary Management Corporation
Newly Posted Press Releases
Fact Sheet: A "Qualifying Child"
(Internal Revenue Service (IRS))
EBS Benefit Solutions, an Excellus Company, Enhances Web Offering to Plan Sponsors - Envisage Information Systems, LLC. Provides the Advantage
(Metrics Partners)
Mortgage Benefits Corp. Signs Global Mortgage, Inc. as a Preferred Provider in The Mortgage PPO™
(Mortgage Benefits Corporation)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Pensions/401(k) ERISA Compliance Specialists
for Parker White Consultants, Inc. in Northern New Jersey
in NJ
Pension Administrator
for DC Pension Consultants, LLC
in NJ
401(k) Client Relationship Manager
for Financial Service Leader
in CT
Actuary
for The Mayer Benefits Advisory, LLC
in CT
Client Services (CST) Quality Analyst
for ICMA Retirement Corporation
in DC
Senior Compliance Analyst
for Leggette Actuaries, Inc.
in TX
Conversion Coordinator
for First Mercantile/subsidiary of SunTrust Banks, Inc
in TN
Senior Manager
for Zenith Administrators, Inc.
in CA, WA
Installation Administrator - NBI
for Transamerica
in CA
Pension Administrators
for The Pension Service, LLC
in MA
Account Executive - Client Services
for Diversified Investment Advisors
in CA
Plan Administrator
for PAi
in WI
Account Executive - Client Services
for Diversified Investment Advisors
in TX
Pension Administrator
for Alliance Pension Consultants, LLC
in IL
Retirement Plan Administrator
for Padgett, Stratemann & Co., LLP
in TX
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