| BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter |   |
April 8, 2005
Today's sponsor: IQPC/Healthcare IQ
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
Healthcare IQ's 3rd CHRONIC DISEASE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES - EAST Managing the Rising Costs and Surrounding Challenges of Treating Chronic Conditions June 21 - 23, 2005 * Boston, MA **CMEs Available! LEARN FROM: Continental Airlines * GlaxoSmithKline * BCBS of Mississippi * Corphealth * Delta Air Lines * Paychex * LGE Energy Services * Health Dialog * InterContinental Hotels * EMC Corporation * San Diego Navy Medical Center * The Haelan Group * Harvard School of Public Health * JD Power and Associates * Avaya * Archer Daniels Midland
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
How to Cut Your Firm's Health Care Costs Now
Excerpt: "Nine ways to slash your insurance costs, from health savings accounts to getting tough with your broker to joining purchasing pools." (Inc. Magazine)
Wall Street Journal Examines Impact of Rising Health Benefit Costs on Automaker General Motors
Excerpt: "The Wall Street Journal on [April 7, 2005] examined the difficulties that General Motors is facing in its efforts to reduce the cost of providing health care benefits for workers, retirees and dependents, including the potential for 'heated negotiations with the United Auto Workers union, which has long fought to protect the gold-plated health benefits workers enjoy.'" (Kaiser Family Foundation)
The Formulary Decision Process: What Are They Doing in There and Can Actuaries Help? (PDF)
7 pages. Article on pharmacy benefit management and the use of data. (Society of Actuaries via Milliman)
US Senator Snowe Proposes SIMPLE Cafeteria Benefits Plan Aimed at Small Businesses
Excerpt: "US Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) has introduced the SIMPLE Cafeteria Plan Act of 2005 to amend the tax code so that small businesses and their employees could buy employer-provided health insurance with pretax dollars. [T]he measure, S 723, is modeled after the Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE) pension plan enacted in 1996 and is aimed at helping small companies that typically cannot satisfy cafeteria plan rules due to testing and eligibility problems." (PLANSPONSOR.com; one-time registration required)
Understanding When COBRA Should Not Be Offered
Excerpt: "Offering COBRA continuation coverage to people who are not legally entitled to it can be a very costly mistake. If COBRA is elected, backing out of the problem can be extremely difficult, particularly when claims for medical services are involved. And it happens." (OnQue Technologies, Inc.)
Overview: HIPAA Security Standards Checklist (PDF)
12 pages. Excerpt: "HIPAA requires covered entities to meet strict security standards for both electronic data and data maintained in more conventional formats such as paper. HIPAA's security standards are contained in two separate provisions: the Security Rules and the Privacy Rules. The Security Rules are effective April 20, 2005 (April 20, 2006 for a 'small' health plan). The Privacy Rules are effective April 14, 2003 (April 14, 2004 for a 'small' health plan)." (Michael Best & Friedrich LLP)
Union Health Plans Offering Health Savings Accounts to Members
Excerpt: "Five employers participating in the Northern California General Teamsters Security Fund are believed to be the first members of any Taft-Hartley plan to offer health savings accounts to participants." (Business Insurance)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Towers Perrin Regulatory Update for April 8, 2005 (PDF)
3 pages. The edition includes articles on: Increased Scrutiny of Actuarial Assumptions by Auditors; Medicare Part D; DOL Issues Model USERRA Notice; IRS Removes 90-Day Notice Period for Eliminating Optional Forms of Benefit from DC Plans; IRS Issues Proposed Regulations on Roth Contributions to 401(k) Plans; Funded Status Notice for Multiemployer Pension Plans; ISS Updates Proxy Voting Guidelines for 2005 Annual Meetings; and, Accelerated Vesting of Underwater Stock Options. (Towers Perrin)
Ninth Circuit Defines 'Extraordinary Payments' under Sarbanes-Oxley's Pre-Litigation Freeze Rules (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court's order temporarily placing in escrow more than $37.6 million in severance payments to the former CEO and CFO of Gemstar-TV Guide International, Inc. holding that the payments were 'extraordinary' under Section 1103 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002." (Powell Goldstein LLP)
Overview: Supreme Court Expands Scope of Age Discrimination Law
Excerpt: "On March 30, 2005, in a decision that will change the landscape of age discrimination litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Smith v. City of Jackson that workers age 40 and older may prove discrimination under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) using a disparate impact theory." (Littler Mendelson, P.C.)
Overview: Court Invalidates New York City Equal Benefits Law (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "Practice Pointer. As a result of the Appellate Division's ruling, employers who contract with the City of New York do not need to comply with the Equal Benefits Law. The City Council, however, has indicated its intention to appeal the Appellate Division's ruling." (Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP)
Brief Analysis: Social Security & Medicare Forecast: 2005
Excerpt: "Every year, the Social Security and Medicare Trustees examine the short- and long-term health of these programs, and issue reports that highlight the financial burdens they will create for future generations if nothing is done to reform them. This year's reports show Social Security and Medicare will consume an ever-increasing portion of workers' incomes unless the government either breaks its promises to future retirees or makes significant changes to our elderly entitlement system." (National Center for Policy Analysis)
U.S. Justice Department Settles USERRA Case with Bridgestone Tire
Excerpt: "Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire has agreed to advance an Army National Guardsman within its pay schedule and give him back pay as part of an out-of-court settlement with the federal government. According to a BLR.com news report, the US Justice Department had sued the tire company, alleging that it failed to follow the Uniformed Services Employment and Re-employment Rights Act of 1994 ... by not advancing the guardsman during a 15-month period while he was on active duty." (PLANSPONSOR.com; one-time registration required)
Newly Posted Events
2005 Benefits Solutions Conference
in Illinois on April 14, 2020
presented by WEB
Drug Advertising and Promotion
in Pennsylvania on June 13, 2005
presented by American Conference Institute
Stress in the Workplace - A Twenty-First Century Epidemic
in Massachusetts on April 20, 2005
presented by Worldwide Employee Benefits Network (WEB)
Newly Posted Press Releases
Eisner Retirement Solutions Expands Offerings
(Eisner Retirement Solutions LLC)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
OmniPlus Senior Business Analyst
for Hand Benefits and Trust
in TX
Plan Consultant
for Hand Benefits and Trust
in TX
New Business/Conversion Technical Analyst
for Hand Benefits and Trust
in TX
Plan Specialist
for Transamerica
in CA
Senior Plan Administrator
for Valley Forge Asset Management Corp.
in PA
Retirement Plan Investment Consultant
for Plante & Moran, PLLC
in MI
Account Coordinator, employee benefits broker
for ABD Insurance and Financial Services
in CA
Conversion/New Business Project Manager
for Hand Benefits and Trust
in TX
OmniPlus Senior Technical Analyst
for Hand Benefits and Trust
in TX
Senior Benefits Administrator
for Pulte Homes Inc.
in MI
Marketing Analyst, employee benefits broker
for ABD Insurance and Financial Services
in CA
Pension Analyst
for Greenbook Pension Services, Inc.
in CA
Senior Systems Analyst
for Great-West Healthcare
in CO
Benefits Service Manager
for Hewitt Associates
in IL
Experienced Project Manager
for Hewitt Associates
in IL
Health & Welfare Consultant
for Hewitt Associates
in IL
Retirement Plan Analyst
for Charles W. Cammack Associates, Inc.
in NJ, NY
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- 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.
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