BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter June 21, 2005 Today's sponsor: ASPPA-- Working for America's Retirement (tm) (Click on company name or banner to learn more.) Meeting Midway Conference July 24-27, 2005 * San Diego, CA Health and welfare issues * 401(k) plans Employee compensation * Actuarial pension issues Health Savings Accounts * Legal & fiduciary issues You don't want to miss this one! Register online today. Brought to you by WP&BC and ASPPA. (Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor) Bill of Health? New Legislation May Cure Small Business Health Insurance Pains Excerpt: "As has happened in Congresses since 1996, the House will undoubtedly pass legislation allowing small businesses to join trade associations called Association Health Plans. AHPs would purchase the kinds of group health plans only big businesses can buy now. The House Education and Workforce Committee took the first step in March when it passed the Small Business Health Fairness Act ...." (Entrepreneur Magazine) Report on Health Lawyers' Public Interest 2005 Colloquium Topic: Medical Necessity (PDF) 84 pages. Excerpt: "Health Lawyers' eighth public interest colloquium, Medical Necessity: Current Concerns and Future Challenges was held in Washington, DC, on March 31-April 1, 2005. A Colloquium Report (available at no charge) summarizes deliberations of a 12-member panel and areas of consensus that emerged from the discussion." (American Health Lawyers Association) Steve Case's Revolution in Health Care Excerpt: "Mr. Case, 46, started Revolution, a private holding company, in April, two years after quitting as chairman of AOL Time Warner (now simply Time Warner). With at least $500 million of his own money committed to this venture, he is determined to shake up a lucrative sliver of the health care industry by buying and building companies that help people take care of themselves." (The New York Times; one-time registration required) Data Bulletin: Tracking Health Care Costs -- Spending Growth Stabilizes at High Rate in 2004 Excerpt: "The recent slowdown in health care spending growth leveled off in 2004 as health care costs per privately insured American increased 8.2 percent in 2004 -- virtually the same rate of increase as in 2003. Nonetheless, health spending growth continued to outpace overall economic growth by a wide margin -- 2.6 percentage points -- in 2004, despite a robust 5.6 percent increase in the overall U.S. economy as measured by per capita gross domestic product ...." (Center for Studying Health System Change) Tracking Health Care Costs: Declining Growth Trend Pauses in 2004 Excerpt: "Health care spending increased 8.2 percent in 2004. This was virtually unchanged from 2003, which suggests that health care cost trends have stabilized." (Health Affairs) Health Care Costs, Spending Up -- More in Middle Class Could Join Ranks of the Uninsured Excerpt: "After hints that the rapid growth in health care spending was slowing, a report being released today suggests the brief reprieve has stalled and the soaring costs are likely to force more people out of the market. Health spending by privately insured Americans rose 8.2 percent in 2004, virtually the same increase as the previous year, according to analysts at the Center for Studying Health System Change, a nonpartisan research group." (The Washington Post; one-time registration required) Health Savings Accounts as a Tool for Market Change -- A Discussion (PDF) 6 pages. Excerpt: "Future impact: How will the market respond to this new health care financing and delivery tool? To the extent that currently non-covered services can be paid for with HSA money, how will utilization/system-wide savings increase? Do HSAs induce demand?" (Academy Health) Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General HR Involvement Critical to M&A Success, Due Diligence Practice Excerpt: "In mergers and acquisitions, due diligence forms the base upon which virtually all key decisions -- both strategic and operational -- are made. Those involved in such transactions understand the importance of due diligence in identifying potential 'deal breakers' and any items that may have a material impact on the negotiations or price." (WorldatWork Journal via Mercer Human Resource Consulting; one-time registration required) Baby Boomers Will Invent New Life Stage Between Middle Years and Old Age, and New Stage of Work Excerpt: "The MetLife Foundation, New York, and Civic Ventures, San Francisco, have published figures describing older workers in a report on a new survey of 1,000 Americans in their 50s and 60s. For the purposes of this survey, researchers classified individuals in their 50s as boomers and individuals in their 60s as 'pre-boomers.'" (National Underwriter Life & Health; free one-time registration or paid subscription required) Text of Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code: Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Rules Attorney B. Janell Grenier supplies an online version of section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code (as added by section 885 of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004). (Attorney B. Janell Grenier via BenefitsBlog.com) Overview: IRC Section 409A Imposes New Requirements on Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Excerpt: "The section broadly defines a 'deferral of compensation' to include all amounts employees defer under such plans. These amounts are included in gross income unless they are subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture or were previously included in income. To avoid this draconian tax treatment, section 409A significantly restricts when plan participants may make deferral and distribution elections, and narrowly defines when they can take distributions." (Journal of Accountancy) Fewer Stock Options for CEOs in 2005, According to Watson Wyatt Analysis Excerpt: "Performance-based incentives and restricted stock awards are replacing stock options as motivators for CEOs of the nation's largest companies, according to a new analysis by Watson Wyatt. In what the consulting firm described as the industry's first analysis using 2005 data, the survey showed a 16% decline in the number of stock options awarded to CEOs, on top of a 7% decline in 2004." (PLANSPONSOR.com; one-time registration required) Newly Posted Events 2005 PenServ Academy in Nevada on August 2, 2005 presented by PenServ, Inc. HIPAA and Other Health Laws: Arkansas Compliance Assistance Seminar in Arkansas on June 22, 2005 presented by U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) The Top 10 HIPAA Compliance Problems Still Facing Employers Today Nationwide on July 21, 2005 presented by Alexander Hamilton Institute Newly Posted Press Releases PSCA's Signature Awards Deadline Extended to July 5, 2005 (Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America (PSCA)) Choose To Save® Programs Win Regional Emmy Awards (Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI)) Vertafore Benefits Adds Work/Life Resources to BenefitsCenter Employee Portal (Vertafore Benefits) Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings Pension Administration Specialist for Miami Valley Pension, a Brady Ware Company in OH Implementation and Conversion Consultant for PAi in WI Operations Project Manager for Transamerica in CA 401(k) Plan Benefits Administrator for Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation in NJ Defined Benefit Calculations Specialists for Constantin Control Associates in NJ Pension Reconciliation Supervisor for Growing Major Midtown Union Health Plan in NY 401(k) Analyst for 401(k) Advisors in CA Daily Valuation Specialist for The Weiss Group, Inc. in IL 401(k) Plan Administrator for Kaufmann and Goble Associates in CA Client Services Manager for ClearBenefits in CA Defined Contribution Plan Administrator for Benefit Consulting Group, LLC in NY 401(k) RFP Consultant for 401(k) Advisors in CA 401(k) Product Specialist for 401(k) Advisors in CA 401(k) Enroller (Bi-Lingual) for 401(k) Advisors in CA 401(k) Employee Communications Specialist (Bi-Lingual) for 401(k) Advisors in CA 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: How to Sponsor an Issue Subscribe to a Daily Email Announcing Publication of Each Day's Newsletter Privacy Policy Archive of Previous Newsletters If you'd like to STOP this newsletter, just click on this link: STOP sending this newsletter to me