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September 2, 2005
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Complete Benefits Law Guidance from Law Journal Press

The nation's workforce and health care system are constantly evolving and so are the legal issues. Law Journal Press helps you handle any benefits law question with up-to-date, authoritative books on all aspects of the field. Get legal and practical advice from leading experts on everything from COBRA to ERISA, "contingent" employees to family and medical leave, and more. Browse our product listings for detailed information and special offers.

(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)

FSA Extension Could Hinder HSA Participation, Experts Predict
Excerpt: "If you plan to offer a flexible spending account and a health savings account to your workers in 2006, beware of potential pitfalls with extending the deadline for FSA claims. Workers may become ineligible to make HSA contributions if an FSA extension causes an overlap with their HSA coverage. Michael Thrasher, a lawyer with Groom Law Group in Washington, D.C., says, 'The carry-over part of it might mess you up with the HSA.'" (Employee Benefit News)

Benefits Communications: Using PR Strategies to Increase Awareness and Promote Employee Action
Excerpt: "The role of HR today parallels that of a public relations professional. Yet while today's HR professionals are well versed on compliance issues, they are not likely to have a background in public relations or marketing. This is problematic, since developing and distributing communications that rise above the din, get read, and prompt action is integral to the success of all benefit offerings - medical, retirement, supplemental, and voluntary." (Employee Benefit News)

District Court Judge Says Oral COBRA Notice Legally Sufficient
Excerpt: "A Michigan man suing his former employer over his health coverage won a mixed legal victory when a federal judge cleared the engineering firm of wrongdoing on one issue but paved the way for more proceedings on another. US District Judge Robert Holmes Bell of the US District Court for the Western District of Michigan ruled that Dreisenga & Associates had satisfied the notice requirements of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act's (COBRA)." (PLANSPONSOR.com: one-time registration required)

Opinion: Better Electronic Prescribing Systems Could Improve Care
Excerpt: "Medical patients today are at serious risk of injury from medication errors. Typical errors include dispensing the correct medication in the wrong dosage or frequency, as described above, or dispensing an incorrect medication whose name sounds similar to the correct one. Fortunately, the use of a new technology, called electronic prescribing, has the potential to reduce medication errors substantially and to improve the efficiency of health care." (RAND)

Don't Take It Lying Down If Your Health Insurer Refuses to Pay
Excerpt: "A serious illness is hard on the body and the mind. If your health plan refuses to pay some of the bills, you may feel too weary to fight. But you have a right to appeal those decisions, and the odds of success are better than you may think." (USA TODAY via BlueCross BlueShield Association)

Overview: The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "[In July 2005] President Bush signed the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005, Public Law No. 109-41 (the 'Act'), which creates a voluntary system for health care providers to confidentially report medical errors and other patient safety information to patient safety organizations ('PSOs'). The PSOs then aggregate and analyze the information (referred to in the Act as 'Patient SafetyWork Product' or 'PSWP') to develop strategies to improve patient safety." (Gardner Carton & Douglas LLP)

Few Solutions on Horizon As Health Costs Rise: Some Experts Pushing Putting Focus on Consumers
Excerpt: "As Americans face growing health care expenses, Congress and state lawmakers say they're working to close the gap between prices and pocketbooks. Despite the activity, skeptics say government's impact will be limited." (USA TODAY)

Notice of Creditable Coverage to All Part D-Eligible Individuals: Employer Deadline Coming Soon
Excerpt: "On May 26, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued guidance on the requirement under the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) to provide a Notice of Creditable Coverage .... Under this requirement, group health plans, in addition to other entities, must provide a Notice to all Part D-eligible individuals covered by the plan indicating whether the pres.cription drug coverage that the plan provides has at least the same payout for drug coverage as that ...." (Employee Benefit News)

CMS Pub: FAQ on Retiree Pres.cription Drug Coverage & the New Medicare Pres.cription Drug Coverage (PDF)
8 pages. Excerpt: "This document will help you decide if you should do anything other than keep your current retiree pres.cription drug coverage. It answers common questions about retiree pres.cription drug coverage and the new Medicare pres.cription drug coverage, and tells you what information you should consider -- and where to get this information -- so you know your specific options." (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services)

The Retiree Drug Subsidy: Why Employers and Union Plan Sponsors Should Consider It
Excerpt: "Employers and unions have a number of options under the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA). The retiree drug subsidy is one of the options designed to encourage employers and unions to continue providing high quality pres.cription drug coverage. [The target page links to the full 5-page document.]" (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services)

Being Healthy May Be its Own Reward, But a Little Cash Can Also Help Keep Workers Fit
Excerpt: "Facing escalating medical costs, firms use incentives to target employees who normally do not participate in wellness programs: the ones who need them most." (Workforce Management; one-time registration required)

Smart Shopping: Maximizing Employee Health Dollars
Excerpt: "Consumerism assumes that employees will shop more based on cost and quality. Often, however, employees are left in the dark as to how to find the most cost-effective doctors and pres.cription drugs." (Workforce Management; one-time registration required)

Employers Move to Help Workers in Katrina-Stricken Areas
Excerpt: "Employers with workers in cities affected by Hurricane Katrina are scrambling to provide assistance. Company managers are renting U-Hauls to deliver generators to employees, and workers are making home-cooked meals for colleagues who were forced from their homes by the storm. The outreach is coming from employees taking their own initiative, as well as company support." (USA TODAY)


Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Overview: IRS Focus on Exempt Organization Compensation and How to Prepare for an Audit (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "Corporate scandals, excessive compensation packages and questionable accounting standards have made headlines over the past several years. While much of the focus has been on public companies, Section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations (EOs) have received their share of attention as well. In response to widespread media reports of excessive compensation and conflicts of interest, the IRS has increased its audit presence in the EO sector and will exact penalties against ...." (Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP)

ADEA Legal Update: School Corp. Offering Early Retirement Incentives and Retiree Medical Benefits
Excerpt: "The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) has been an uncertain hurdle for school corporations in designing early retirement incentive programs that reduce benefits on account of age in order to encourage retirement, as well as retiree benefits simply intended to provide transitional retirement benefits, such as retiree medical benefits that terminate at Medicare eligibility." (Ice Miller)

Trucker Huss Benefits Report, August 2005 (PDF)
8 pages. Articles include the following titles: (1) Recent Proposed Treasury Regulations on Electronic Benefit Communications Reflect Influence of E-SIGN and (2) Recent Disney Decision Emphasizes that Norms for Corporate Governance Change with the Times. (Trucker Huss)

Indian Tribes Urge Ways and Means Committee Chairman to Clarify Status as Governmental Plans
Excerpt: "A broad coalition of Indian tribes and tribal organizations, including the National Congress of American Indians, has signed a letter urging Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas to include a provision clarifying that tribal governments have the same ability as federal, state, and local governments to self-regulate their employee benefit plans when he crafts a broad retirement security bill in September." (Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America)


Newly Posted Events

EGTRRA and Interim Amendments - When, Why, and How
Nationwide on September 28, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel


Newly Posted Press Releases

Federal Pension Insurance Agency Pledges Swift Replacement Of Lost Checks To Katrina Victims
(Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC))

IRS Names New Head of Employee Plans Rulings and Agreements
(Internal Revenue Service (IRS))

CPI Introduces New Enrollment Kit Solution
(Metrics Partners)

CPI Opens Kansas City Consulting Office
(CPI Qualified Plan Consultants, Inc.)

U. S. Labor Department Extends Annual Reports Deadline After Hurricane Katrina Hits Alabama
(U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)

U. S. Labor Department Extends Annual Reports Deadline After Hurricane Katrina Hits Louisiana
(U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)

Hurricane Relief Approved for 10,000 Gulf Coast Participants of Teamster Benefit Funds
(Central States Southeast and Southwest Areas Health and Welfare Fund)


Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

AVP, Health Management & Insurance Programs
for UnumProvident Corporation
in ME

Retirement Plan Administration Specialist
for Consulting Actuaries Incorporated
in NJ

Licensing/Registration Supervisor
for ING US Financial Services
in CA

Implementation Consultant
for Administaff
in TX

Employee Benefits Analyst
for County of Sacramento, CA
in CA

Benefits Manager
for Montgomery County Government
in ANY STATE

Training Manager
for ING US Financial Services
in CA

Director, Retirement Services Support Services
for Administaff
in TX

Paralegal - Retirement Plans
for MidAmerica Administrative & Retirement Solutions, Inc.
in FL




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