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July 8, 2005
Today's sponsor: World Congress

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The World Congress 1st Annual Human Capital Management Congress

The World Congress is proud to present the 1st Annual Human Capital Management Congress taking place this October 31 - November 2, 2005 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC.

The HCMC will bring together the most innovative and knowledgeable industry experts addressing the most pertinent issues relating to health and human capital management. The event is uniquely designed to discuss the impact of benefits on employee productivity, healthcare costs and overall company competitiveness.

(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Practitioner's Forum Discussion on Grace Period Extension for Flexible Spending Accounts
Excerpt: "The [target page] is the transcript of an informal discussion of employee benefit practitioners held in Washington, DC on June 20, 2005. The topic focuses on what steps (if any) employee benefit practitioners are taking with respect to implementing the recently announced 21/2-month grace period extension for flexible spending accounts under cafeteria plans established and maintained under §125." (BNA Tax Management)

Steve Case Bets on Business to Heal Health Care System with Revolution Health Group
Excerpt: "[AOL] co-founder Steve Case is gambling that the current buzz on how to fix the nation's health system -- more consumer choice and responsibility -- is not a passing fad, but a long-term business opportunity. Joining him today in launching a private firm aimed at buying up promising companies that offer a range of consumer-focused health services are several investors, including former secretary of State Colin Powell." (USA TODAY)

Overview: Individual Sickness Coverage an ERISA Plan; State-Law Claims Were Preempted
Excerpt: "Two employees who had purchased sickness coverage under a program offered at their workplace sued the insurer under state law when it denied their claims. The insurer contended that the sickness coverage was an employee welfare benefit plan under ERISA and that the employees' state-law claims were preempted by ERISA." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.)

Chart: Formal Flexitime Programs Not Common
Excerpt: "Although more than 1 in 4 full-time wage and salary workers can work a flexible schedule, only about 1 in 10 are enrolled in a formal, employer-sponsored flexitime program." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Advisory Commission Mulls Overrides of State Medical Privacy Laws
Excerpt: "An advisory commission working to increase interoperability among the nation's health information systems may ask Congress to override state and local medical privacy laws when those laws are at variance with federal law." (Government Health IT)

Overview: Health Plan's Application of Tobacco-Use Exclusion Rejected by Court
Excerpt: "[W]e note that the court did not address whether HIPAA's nondiscrimination rules would have any impact on this type of exclusion; under those rules, plans may not discriminate on the basis of a health factor." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.)

Deadline Approaches For The 2005 Spencer Third Party Administrator Survey
Excerpt: "July 15, 2005, is the deadline for submission of completed Spencer's Benefits Reports' surveys of third party administrators of health and welfare plans. TPAs that administer claims for health care plans and related benefits, including dental, vision, pres.cription drugs, flexible benefits, disability, and workers' compensation, are invited to submit calendar-year 2004 claims administration data." (Spencer Benefits Reports)

New Jersey's Largest Health Insurer Sues State Over New Tax in Budget
Excerpt: "New Jersey's largest health insurer is taking the state to court, challenging a new tax in the state budget on health care premiums. The insurer claims the levy is unfair and would increase its tax burden by $31 million. Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, a nonprofit company that insures more than 3 million residents, filed its lawsuit Wednesday in Newark, seeking an injunction to block the levy from taking effect." (AP via Council for Affordable Health Insurance)

Health Insurance Premiums Vary Widely for Single Adults, Survey Says
Excerpt: "Monthly private health insurance premiums for healthy young people 'vary by hundreds of dollars' in US cities, according to a study released last week by ... eHealthInsurance.com, the Wall Street Journal reports." (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report via Medical News Today)

Overview: New Employer Group Health Plan Notice Requirements for Medicare-Eligible Individuals (PDF)
8 pages. Excerpt: "[E]mployers that provide pres.cription drug coverage to active employees or retirees and their dependents who are covered by either Medicare Part A or Part B must provide them with a 'creditable coverage' disclosure notice before November 15, 2005. Only employers that contract with a pres.cription drug plan ('PDP') through Medicare, or that contract with Medicare to become a PDP, are exempt from this notice requirement." (Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham LLP)

Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Benefits for G.ay Partners More Common, According to Survey
Excerpt: "State legislatures passed more than a dozen anti-g.ay laws last year, but U.S. businesses continued to expand policies that create workplace equity for g.ay and les.bian employees, according to a new report. More employers are extending the same benefits to workers in same-sex relationships that they provide to married heterose.xual employees, according to a report by the Human Rights Campaign, a g.ay rights group." (Workforce Management; one-time registration required)

IRS Withdraws FICA, FUTA, and Federal Income Tax Collection at Source to Statutory Stock Options (PDF)
Excerpt: "ACTION: Withdrawal of notice of proposed rulemaking. SUMMARY: This document withdraws the notice of proposed rulemaking relating to the application of the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA), Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA), and Collection of Income Tax at Source to incentive stock options and options granted under employee stock purchase plans (collectively referred to as ''statutory stock options'') that was published on November 14, 2001." (Federal Register)

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