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January 12, 2005
Today's sponsor: BeneCom Associates, LLC

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

BeneCom Associates, LLC, for one-stop benefit communications

Since 1992, BeneCom has produced benefit communications,
including enrollment materials, SPDs, benefit statements,
newsletters and more, for companies large and small,
nationwide. So if you've been looking for an independent
benefit communications specialist, look no further. Click
above for more information, or give us a call
at (860) 674-2626, Ext. 11.  We're here to help.

(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Text of Notice 2005-8: Guidance on Partnership or S Corporation Contributions to HSAs (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "This notice provides guidance on a partnership's contributions to a partner's Health Savings Account (HSA) and an S corporation's contributions to a 2-percent shareholder-employee's HSA." (Internal Revenue Service)

Is The Revolution Now? Health Savings Account Survey Will Track Market Trends
Excerpt: "Spencer Benefits Reports, Aspen Publishers, and CCH, Inc., have launched the 2005 Survey Of Consumer-Driven Health, which will take the pulse of employers' responses toward consumer-driven health products such as Health Savings Accounts and Health Reimbursement Arrangements. This survey, which takes less than five minutes to complete, requests information concerning the availability of consumer-driven health care plans to employees at companies nationwide." (Spencer Benefits Reports)

HSA Marketplace
Excerpt: "Periodically, Spencer Benefits Reports summarizes recent activity in the health savings account (HSA) marketplace. Click ere is the most recent news." (Spencer Benefits Reports)

Overview: Treasury Confirms That Use-It-or-Lose-It Rule Will Stay
Excerpt: "Under the longstanding 'use-it-or-lose-it' rule, health FSA amounts not used in a plan year are forfeited by participants. In response to a request by Senator Grassley that Treasury modify the use-it-or-lose-it rule, Treasury responded that it does not have sufficient legal authority to change the rule." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.)

Overview: Executive Comp and COBRA Law Changes Complicate an Already Hectic Time of Year (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "Hospitality industry companies that use 'non-qualified' deferred compensation programs for their executives have to very quickly evaluate changes that may be needed to those programs to ensure they comply with new tax legislation. And nearly all industry companies (at least those with more than 20 employees) that offer health insurance are revising the notices used to inform employees and their families about COBRA continuation coverage to comply with Department of ...." (The Bottom Line via Gardner Carton & Douglas, LLP)

A Good Benefit Package and Paying Well Pays Off for Small Company
Excerpt: "As Marc Choyt and Helen Chantler see it, giving employees good benefits isn't just a nice thing to do: It's good business. .... As their small firm has grown over the last nine years, they have gradually added more benefits for their employees. The formula has proven successful in attracting committed and talented people who have a stake in seeing the company succeed. This, in turn, has helped the company maintain nine straight years of double-digit growth, including 25 percent ...." (New Mexico Business Weekly via bizjournals.com; one-time registration required)

Consolidation: Health Care's Empty Promise Does Not Deliver on Costs, Efficiency, or Quality
Excerpt: "One of the hollow promises of the health care industry is that consolidation would benefit consumers. Bigger insurance companies would have more clout to negotiate lower prices from hospitals, doctors and drug companies. And bigger hospital groups would realize administrative and operating efficiencies while having the scale to invest in cost-saving new technology. Alas, it hasn't happened. Prices for just about everything medical are continuing to rise faster than everything ...." (The Washington Post; one-time registration required)

Health Insurance Mandates in the States: 2005 Edition with State-by-State Breakdown and Their Costs (PDF)
8 pages. Excerpt: "[T]he Council for Affordable Health Insurance ... released an updated version of its Health Insurance Mandates in the States. This 2005 edition, by CAHI Research and Policy Director Victoria C. Bunce and State Affairs Director J.P. Wieske, builds upon last year's report which identified the health insurance mandates in each state. This edition also estimates how much each mandate adds to the cost of a health insurance policy. Currently there are 1,825 mandates across America." (Council for Affordable Health Insurance)

Summary of Latest Hewitt Survey on Health Care Expectations: Future Strategy and Direction
Excerpt: "As the cost of workplace health-care continues spiraling, employers are increasingly relying on more direct cost-cutting methods than the traditional step of shifting health expenses to workers, a Hewitt Associates survey found. That has resulted in continued emphasis on consumer-driven health plans and other direct steps to get workers to make the most cost-effective health buying decisions possible in an effort to further close the gap between an expected 12% expected increase ...." (PLANSPONSOR.com; one-time registration required)

Pharmaceutical Companies Set Program to Cut Prices of 275 Pres.cription Drugs for the Uninsured
Excerpt: "Ten major pharmaceutical companies said on Tuesday that they were joining in a new program to cut 25 percent to 40 percent from the retail prices of pres.cription drugs sold to uninsured people of modest means younger than 65." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)

Health Care Agenda for New Congress: Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health Survey
Excerpt: "This survey captures the public's attitudes regarding the health care agenda for Bush's second term and the new Congress in 2005. It assesses the relative priority placed on health-care concerns by the American public and also provides insight into public opinion on key issues likely to face the new Congress, such as implementing the Medicare drug law, controlling health care costs, reducing the nation's uninsured population and reforming the malpractice litigation system." (Kaiser Family Foundation)

Overview: IRS Private Letter Ruling on HRAs Providing Post-Employment Benefits
[Priv. Ltr. Rul. 200452013 (September 14, 2004)] Excerpt: "In this private letter ruling, the IRS concluded that a medical reimbursement plan providing benefits only for expenses incurred after retirement or other termination of employment met the requirements of prior guidance with respect to health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs)." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.)


Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

(Corrected URL) Nearly Half of Fortune 500 Companies Offer Domestic Partner Benefits
Excerpt: "As the number of same-sex couples with children reaches records, more are confronting challenges about how to balance work and family. G.ay dads are quitting work to stay home with kids, les.bian mothers are going part time -- and employers are responding by offering work-life programs and benefits to g.ay employees." (USA TODAY)

Regulatory Update Published in the November 2004 Edition of the Employee Benefit Plan Review (PDF)
3 pages. The update includes, 'IRS Proposes Staggered Remedial Amendment and Determination Letter Cycles' and 'House Approves Bill Barring Treasury Department Action on Cash Balance Ruling." (Employee Benefit Plan Review via Gardner, Carton & Douglas)


Newly Posted Events

72(t) Payments - Telephone Seminar
Nationwide on May 24, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services

Cafeteria Plans
in Ohio on April 20, 2005
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)

COBRA Compliance for Group Health Plans
in Ohio on April 22, 2005
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)

Direct Rollovers and Other Portability Issues - Telephone Seminar
Nationwide on May 26, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services

ERISA Compliance for Health & Welfare Plans
in Ohio on April 21, 2005
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)

General Traditional IRA Distributions - Telephone Seminar
Nationwide on May 19, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services

Handling IRA Legal Issues - Telephone Seminar
Nationwide on May 17, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services

HIPAA Portability, Privacy & Security
in Ohio on April 22, 2005
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)

IRA Update - Telephone Seminar
Nationwide on May 4, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services

Roth IRA Distributions - Telephone Seminar
Nationwide on May 10, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services

The Final 401(k) Regulations
Nationwide on January 28, 2005
presented by McKay Hochman Co., Inc.

The Final 401(k) Regulations
Nationwide on February 2, 2005
presented by McKay Hochman Co., Inc.

The New Definition of "Dependent"
in Georgia on January 20, 2005
presented by Worldwide Employee Benefits Network (WEB) - Atlanta Chapter

The Proposed 403(b) Regulations
Nationwide on January 31, 2005
presented by McKay Hochman Co., Inc.


Newly Posted Press Releases

Online Health Information Poised to Become Important Resource For Seniors, But Not There Yet
(Kaiser Family Foundation)

Treasury and IRS Release Guidance Clarifying the Tax Treatment of HSA Contributions by Partnerships and S Corporations
(U.S. Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service)

New Salary.com Survey Finds Growing Number of Workers Value Personal Time over Money
(Salary.com)

Thirty-Nine Health Plans Pledge Early Participation In NCQA’S New “Quality Plus” Program
(National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA))


Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

Defined Benefit Plan Administrator
for Retirement Plan Specialists, Inc.
in FL

DC Plan Administrator
for Columbus Retirement Administrators, Inc.
in OH

IRA Product Specialist
for Legg Mason, Inc.
in MD

Sr. Employee Benefits Consultant
for Marsh
in NV

Compliance Analyst
for Wausau Benefits, Inc.
in WI

Trust Accounting Administrator
for Towers Perrin
in CA, MA, NJ, NY

Jr Pension Administrator
for Maryland-Based TPA
in MD

Connections Health Plan Consultant
for Hewitt Associates
in IL

Stock/Retirement Plan Administrator
for SPARTA, INC.
in CA




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