| BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter |   |
January 18, 2005
Today's sponsor: Financial Research Associates, LLC
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
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)
Obesity: A Big Problem Getting Bigger -- A March 2004 Research Report on the Issue (PDF)
32 pages. Excerpt: "This report summarizes currently available information on prevalence, medical cost, and medical treatment of obesity, with a focus on the impact on employers and insurers for the commercial population (insured, non-Medicare, non-Medicaid). Disability, absenteeism, wellness, and life insurance costs are certainly increased by obesity, but these issues fall outside the scope of this report." (Milliman)
Watch for Two Health Regulations: Two Federal Agencies Will Wrap Up Health Care Regulations in 2005
Excerpt: "Much has been made about the Republicans keeping control of the White House and widening their margin in Congress. What has received less attention is what this means to federal agencies. For example, President Bush's re-election will enable two key agencies -- the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission -- to more easily wrap up some important health care regulations in 2005." (Workforce Management Online)
U.S. Comptroller Warns on Health Care and Social Security Benefit Costs
Excerpt: "Major changes need to be made to the national healthcare and social security systems to ensure that future needs are met, the head of the Government Accountability Office says. Speaking at a symposium sponsored by MetLife and the American Benefits Council on the future of retirement benefits, U.S. Comptroller General David Walker said that the U.S. must change how it spends money for the social security and healthcare systems or else face severe problems in the future." (National Underwriter)
Full Court Press by Employers and Policymakers on Health Care Quality Issues
Excerpt: "From key lawmakers to business leaders, there is widespread, bi-partisan agreement that improvements in health care quality and information technology are long overdue. The following [news items on target page] highlight the strong interest in moving beyond the status quo." (HR Policy Association)
Newt Gingrich Spokesman on Health Care Reform Gaining Support in the Administration and in Business
Excerpt: "Part of his blueprint is fairly uncontroversial: for example, he wants to modernize the nation's health care system with information technology, bringing patient records and pres.criptions out of the realm of ink and paper documents and into the age of computers and instant access. The goal is to reduce medical errors and improve efficiency, saving lives and dollars, and the policy challenge is mainly how to find the right financial and other incentives to encourage doctors, ...." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)
Surrogate Mom & Unborn Child Medical Expenses Generally Don't Qualify for Medical Care Exception
Excerpt: "[IRS Information Letter 2004-0187 (Sept. 13, 2004)] The IRS' position that surrogate-related expenses generally would not constitute medical care is consistent with other guidance." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.)
Overview: IRS Posts Fact Sheet Describing Who Is a Qualifying Child After WFTRA
Excerpt: "The Fact Sheet, which is directed primarily to taxpayers, is a brief summary of one type of dependent under WFTRA. Cafeteria and health plan administrators and participants may find it useful as a big picture view of who is a qualifying child. However, it is no substitute for comprehensive analysis of who is a dependent under WFTRA--plan administrators and others who draft plan documents and participant disclosures will need a far deeper understanding than the Fact Sheet was ...." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.)
Companies Offer ID Theft Coverage as Employee Perk
Excerpt: "A growing number of companies are offering identity theft coverage as an employee benefit, in part to reduce lost time when a worker becomes a victim." (AP via The New York Times; one-time registration required)
State Employee Health Plans: Leading the Commercial Sector with Innovations?
Excerpt: "While innovation is not usually a hallmark of public employee benefit programs-which often involve collective bargaining, multiyear contracts and relatively rich benefits-a number of states are becoming visionaries out of sheer necessity. With double-digit healthcare cost increases exacerbated by an aging workforce, large numbers of chronically-ill workers and an ever-growing retiree population, state government health programs are turning to techniques usually associated with ...." (HealthLeaders Magazine)
'Country Doctor' Starts Practice to Avoid Insurance Hassles
Excerpt: "Like a lot of doctors, Dr. Harold Miller always has despised his dealings with insurance companies. So last September, he stopped. Miller took an enormous leap of faith by starting his own practice that doesn't deal with all the hassles -- and the benefits -- that accompany being associated to health insurance companies." (Austin Business Journal via bizjournals.com; one-time registration required)
Employers Should Investigate Disease Management Company Return-on-Investment Projections
Excerpt: "Disease management companies promise good returns on investment. Many firms deliver, but employers should be wary about how vendors calculate return, experts say. 'In many disease management programs I've audited, I've had to cut the projected return on investment in half,' observes Al Lewis, executive director of the Disease Management Purchasing Consortium. Lewis, who audits disease management programs, says that most vendors inflate return on investment." (Employee Benefit News)
Cost Savings Will Drive More Employers to Consumer Directed Health Plans, Study Predicts
Excerpt: "CDH plans cost less per employee than do traditional health coverage options, according to results of an employer study released Nov. 22 by Mercer Human Resource Consulting. And although just 1% of employers offered a CDH plan in 2004, that percentage is expected to balloon to 26% by 2006, Mercer predicts." (INSIDE CONSUMER-DIRECTED CARE via AISHealth.com)
A Health Care Cost Shift to Employees and Retirees
Excerpt: "Consumers face what many health care experts describe as two distinct tracks of care for those lucky enough to have insurance through their employer. Track one: the common, and increasingly expensive, alphabet soup of plans such as HMOs ... and PPOs ... in which millions of Americans participate today. Track two: relatively new 'consumer-driven' packages, backed by President Bush, that encourage people to enroll in high-deductible plans and then set up tax-sheltered accounts to ...." (The Washington Post; one-time registration required)
Health Insurance Cost Rears Ugly Head: Alcoa Workers Join Ranks of Those Paying More
Excerpt: "Late last year, retiree Robert Shalk got a nasty shock when his 2005 health care benefits enrollment package arrived from Alcoa. His premium skyrocketed. 'My 2004 premium for the same coverage was $34 per month,' said Mr. Shalk, 71, who lives in Roswell, Ga. 'Now it's $270.83. That's nearly 700 percent.'" (Pittsburgh Business Times via bizjournals.com; one-time registration required)
Do Incentives in 3-Tier Pharmaceutical Benefit Plans Operate As Intended? Survey Results Reported
Excerpt: "Physician leaders reported that they often do not possess the knowledge to assist patients in managing out-of-pocket costs for pres.cription drugs and they depend on pharmacists to communicate patient preferences in making prescribing decisions. As a result, price preferences are communicated indirectly, likely less efficiently, rather than intentionally when prescribing decisions are made." (The American Journal of Managed Care)
Companies in Financial Turmoil Reneging on Promises of Lifetime Retiree Health Coverage
Excerpt: "Anyone considering an offer of early retirement from a private-sector employer had better read the fine print. Whipsawed by the questionable economy and the rising cost of health care, more companies are reserving unilateral rights to terminate the health-benefit plans of retirees." (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
Overview: IRS Guidance on Tax Treatment of HSA Contributions by Partnerships and S Corporations
Excerpt: "IRS Notice 2005-8 addresses the tax treatment of HSA contributions made by (1) partnerships on behalf of partners and (2) S corporations on behalf of two percent shareholder/employees. (Note: Code Section 1372(b) defines 'two percent shareholder' to mean, generally, someone who owns more than two percent of the stock of an S corporation, and that is how we use the term here.)" (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.)
Cut in Medicare Payments to Hospitals Is Advised by Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
Excerpt: "An influential federal advisory panel has voted to recommend a cut in Medicare payments promised to hospitals and a freeze in payments to nursing homes and home care agencies in 2006." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Accounting Roundup: 4th Quarter 2004 in Review (PDF)
25 pages. Excerpt: "During the fourth quarter of 2004, accounting standard setters and accounting regulators issued a number of final and proposed FASB Statements, FSPs,* EITF consensuses, GASB Statements, AcSEC SOPs, SEC rules, PCAOB rules, IFRSs, etc. (collectively, pronouncements) affecting accounting, financial reporting, and corporate governance. This publication, , presents brief descriptions of those pronouncements, as well as certain ...." (Deloitte Development LLC)
Life After Disney: The Evolving Role of Directorial Good Faith in Executive Compensation
Excerpt: "Disney served notice to directors of Delaware corporations that the Court of Chancery will not permit directors to ignore their fiduciary responsibilities in deference to management when faced with a decision concerning executive compensation. In doing so, the Court made clear that, while Section 102(b)(7) and the business judgment rule allow independent directors to make reasoned decisions free from the threat of personal liability based on judicial hindsight, the complete ...." (Tax Management Compensation Planning Journal via Buchanan Ingersoll PC)
Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide Updated January 11, 2005
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)
Fraud Suit Filed Against Garden State Union by Two Trustees
Excerpt: "A lawsuit filed in US District Court in New Jersey is alleging that several employees of Local 734 of the Laborers' International Union of North America defrauded the pension and welfare funds of over $1 million. The lawsuit, filed by Patrick Byrne and Paul Drazen - trustees of the local's funds - alleges that the employees swindled its members by providing jobs and overpaid positions to relatives and close associates, according to New Jersey's Bergen Record." (PLANSPONSOR.com; one-time registration required)
Changing World of Employee Benefits -- Paper with Final Edits Approved 4/6/04 (PDF)
29 pages. Excerpt: "When I graduated from law school in 1985, there were no courses offered in employee benefits law. Nor, as near as I can recall, was ERISA ever discussed in any of the labor and employment classes I took. There was no mention in the introductory labor law course or in other classes about employment discrimination, union organizing, and employment arbitration. Now, in contrast, many law schools include a course on employee benefits and ERISA, and students hoping to work ...." (Maria O'Brien Hylton)
National Compensation Survey: Employee Benefits in Private Industry in the United States, 2002-2003 (PDF)
135 pages. Excerpt: "This bulletin presents findings of the 2002–2003 Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) survey of the incidence and provisions of selected benefit plans and detailed provisions of health care and retirement plans in private industry establishments. The tables with a 2003 reference date contain data on the incidence and key provisions of selected benefit plans. The tables with a 2002 reference date contain detailed provisions of health care and retirement benefits." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Newly Posted Events
403(b) Plan Workshop
in Minnesota on March 17, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel
403(b) Plan Workshop
in Pennsylvania on March 17, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel
403(b) Plan Workshop
in Indiana on March 17, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel
403(b) Plan Workshop
in District of Columbia on March 18, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel
403(b) Plan Workshop
in Iowa on March 22, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel
403(b) Plan Workshop
in Michigan on March 22, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel
403(b) Plan Workshop
in Kansas on March 23, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel
403(b) Plan Workshop
in Georgia on March 23, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel
403(b) Plan Workshop
in Illinois on March 23, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel
403(b) Plan Workshop
in Texas on March 30, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel
403(b) Plan Workshop
in New York on March 30, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel
403(b) Plan Workshop
in Texas on March 31, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel
403(b) Plan Workshop
in California on March 31, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel
403(b) Plan Workshop
in New York on March 31, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel
403(b) Plan Workshop
in Massachusetts on April 7, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel
403(b) Plans Workshop
in North Carolina on March 22, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel
HIPAA Security Rule Basics (Online course)
Nationwide on January 14, 2005
presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
Public Policy Fly-In
in District of Columbia on March 2, 2005
presented by Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America (PSCA)
The Legality of Kickbacks: How 401(k) Vendors Are Paid on the Eve of SEC and DOL Investigations
Nationwide on January 28, 2005
presented by Revere Coalition
There’s Money On the Table: How to Qualify For the Employer Subsidy Under the New Medicare Prescription Drug Law
Nationwide on February 3, 2005
presented by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
Understanding the New Tax Rules of Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plans
in Georgia on February 1, 2004
presented by Swerdlin & Company
Newly Posted Press Releases
Benefit Advisors Network Welcomes Clark & Lavey
(Benefit Advisors Network)
Pennsylvania First to Receive National Grant; `Investor Education PA' Will Benefit 44,000 Students Each Year
(Pennsylvania Securities Commission (PSC))
Movers and Shakers: Newly Posted Announcements of Promotions and New Personnel
(Post Yours!)
Mark S. Ruddick
(PERFORMAX)
Joshua B Tait, LTCP -515-314-5433
(Joshua B Tait, LTCP)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Plan Administrator
for New York Life Investment Management LLC
in MA
Health Insurance & Group Insurance Sales Executive
for Alliance Benefit Group of Kansas City, Inc.
in IA, KS, MN, MO
Senior Consultant - Retirement Plan Services
for Tofias PC
in MA
ERISA Consultant
for New York Life Investment Management LLC
in MA
Retirement Services District Manager (SALES)
for ADP Retirement Services
in FL
Client Manager Assistant
for Pentec, Inc.
in CT
Pension Administrators
for Primary Consulting, Inc.
in ANY STATE
Small Plan Actuarial Consultant
for Pension Planning Consultants, Inc.
in NM
Institutional Services Communication Specialist I
for BB&T
in NC
Salaried Benefit Counselor
for iComm Benefit Solutions, Inc
in MN
DBP Project Manager - Entry
for Hewitt Associates
in IL
Quality Assurance and Financial Analyst
for Hewitt Associates
in IL
Benefits Administrator
for Ralcorp Holding, Inc.
in MO
ERISA Sales Consultant
for American Pensions, Inc.
in FL, SC
Benefits Service Manager
for Hewitt Associates
in IL
Participant Education Consultant
for The Vanguard Group
in PA
401K Internal Wholesaler
for ADP Retirement Services
in NJ
401(k) Client Service Representative
for ADP Retirement Services
in NJ
Retirement Services Implementation Specialist
for ADP Retirement Services
in GA, OH
Daily Valuation Manager
for IPA Northeast, LLC
in NJ
Qualified Plan Administrator
for Merlino Employee Benefits Group, LLC
in RI
Manager - Employee Benefits
for Telephone and Data Systems, Inc.
in WI
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Search BenefitsLink
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
Copyright 2005 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: