| BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter |   |
September 28, 2005
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Overview: Extended Deadline for Completing Retiree Drug Subsidy Application Online
Excerpt: "Beginning in January 2006, plan sponsors that provide a benefit that is actuarially equivalent to Medicare Part D pres.cription drug coverage can receive a tax-free Retiree Drug Subsidy (RDS) equal to 28 percent of allowable retiree drug costs between $250 and $5,000 in 2006 (indexed annually). The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has decided to push back the September 30, 2005 deadline for submitting applications and retiree lists for plan years ending in 2006." (The Segal Company)
Brief Overview of Two Upcoming Group Health Plan Notices
Excerpt: "[G]roup health plans have a new notice obligation this year! In addition, group health plans must change the content of their existing HIPAA certificates by next year." (O'Melveny & Myers LLP)
New York's Suffolk County Requires Big Stores to Help with Health Insurance
Excerpt: "Responding to pressure from unions and their supporters, the Suffolk County Legislature voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to require retailers like Wal-Mart, BJ's Wholesale Club, Target and Kmart to contribute to their nonunionized employees' health insurance. The law is one of the few efforts in the country to impose such workplace rules on the warehouse-style stores." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)
2006 Towers Perrin Health Care Cost Survey Shows Rising Gross Health Care Expenditures
Excerpt: "According to Towers Perrin, over the past five years employees' portion of health care costs has risen 64%, while employers' costs have risen 78%." (PLANSPONSOR.com: one-time registration required)
KatrinaHealth.org to Provide Evacuees' Electronic Drug Data
Excerpt: "A broad group of private companies, public agencies and national organizations compiled and made accessible the medical data through the Web site. The group includes medical software companies, pharmacy benefits managers and pharmacy chains, as well as local, state and federal agencies and a national foundation." (Government Computer News)
Free Online Tool Helps Families Compute Projected Health Care Expenses
Excerpt: "Benefit managers may wish to inform their employees about a new online tool (http://www.familyhealthbudget.com/) that can help workers budget correctly for their family's health care expenses. The Family Health Budget was unveiled today by the consumer-driven health plan Humana and Consumer Action, a consumer advocacy group. It is available to everyone, whether one is a Humana customer or not." (BenefitNews Connect)
Small Business Owners Can Reduce Health Benefits Costs
Excerpt: "Those costs can be reduced significantly, says Todd McCracken, president of the National Small Business Association, if business owners shop around from carrier to carrier, share some of the costs with their employees, and pool with other small businesses to purchase insurance according to SmartMoney.com. Employers can ask employees to cover some of the rate increases, or cover part of their premiums." (AccountingWeb)
Employers Worry As Much about Health Care Costs As They Do about Labor Expenses
Excerpt: "A news release from Buck Consultants about its National Health Care Strategy Survey said the poll found that 60% of respondents ranked health care as their first or second greatest business cost concern - more than any other cost." (PLANSPONSOR.com: one-time registration required)
Companies Struggle for Pharmacy Cost Reprieve
Excerpt: "Benefit managers favor cost-shifting, mail-order drugs and patient education as remedies for soaring drug bills, according to a recent survey of 100 HR professionals by Arxcel, a pharmacy benefit manager." (BenefitNews Connect)
Opinion: Frog-Marching America to a Saner Health Care System
Excerpt: "If you're convinced that Washington's tinkering-as-usual will never drive the change we need, John Kitzhaber may be your man. Kitzhaber, 58, is the doctor-turned-politician who was Oregon's Democratic governor from 1995 to 2003. He was the force behind Oregon's innovative Medicaid reform in the early 1990s, when the state expanded coverage to poor folks and paid for it by limiting the procedures Medicaid would cover. Critics cried 'rationing'; Kitzhaber replied, 'You bet.'" (Fortune)
Editorial: Separate Health Insurance from Employment
Excerpt: "[W]hy in the world is your employer expected to provide your health insurance? Alone among the industrialized countries, the United States drifted into a cockamamie arrangement in which health insurance is job-based. The glaring flaws with such a system include complexity, confusion and gaps that leave 40 million Americans without insurance." (The Des Moines Register)
Towers Perrin U.S. Legislative Tracking Charts: Health and Welfare (Updated September 26, 2005) (PDF)
24 pages. Excerpt: "These charts summarize selected federal legislation that would affect employee benefit programs. The bills included on the charts are based on judgments regarding the prominence of the issue, the likelihood of enactment, and the influence of the sponsors." (Towers Perrin)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Advanced Bankrup.tcy Proceedings -- Plan Contribution Collection Litigation (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "Trustees responsible for collection of delinquent contributions often will deal with bankrup.tcy. Some of the important terms and issues that arise under Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 of the Bankrup.tcy Code are the automatic stay, the bankrup.tcy estate, liquidation and the plan of reorganization. Trustees must know their rights. Valuable information can be obtained from government Web sites." (International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)
The Auditor's Written Communication to Trustees (PDF)
8 pages. Excerpt: "An auditor of an employee benefit plan is required to communicate in a management letter to the board of trustees any reportable conditions or material weaknesses found during the audit. Auditors can often make useful suggestions for operational improvements." (International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)
Overview: Provision of Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief Affecting Employee Benefit Plans
Excerpt: "Congress, the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Labor have moved quickly during the last several weeks to provide disaster relief to both participants and sponsors of employee benefit plans affected by Hurricane Katrina. This Alert summarizes the relief that has been provided to date. It is quite possible that more relief will be granted in the next few weeks." (Faegre & Benson LLP)
Overview: Federal Agencies and Congress Provide Benefit Plan Relief for Victims of Hurricane Katrina
Excerpt: "In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the federal agencies regulating employee benefit plans under the Internal Revenue Code (the 'Code') and ERISA, and most recently Congress, have provided a number of relief measures to persons in the areas devastated by Katrina. A general summary of these relief measures is provided [on the target page]." (McGuire Woods LLP via Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America)
NetWorth Newsletter -- Solutions for Executives and Directors -- Third Quarter 2005 (PDF)
pages. The newsletter includes articles titled: It's Third Quarter of 2005 -- Do You Know Where Your Plans Are? Why All the Hoopla Over Pension Funding Reform; and, Proven Techniques to Enhance Your Nonqualified Benefit Plan. (The Cochlan Group)
Michigan Circuit Court Judge Says G.ay Couples Can Get Domestic Partner Benefits
Excerpt: "Public universities and governments can provide health insurance to the partners of g.ay employees without violating the Michigan Constitution, a judge ruled Tuesday. The ruling sets aside a legal opinion issued this year by Republican Attorney General Mike Cox saying that the city of Kalamazoo could not provide benefits to g.ay partners." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)
Towers Perrin U.S. Legislative Tracking Charts: Human Resources (Updated September 26, 2005) (PDF)
8 pages. Excerpt: "These charts summarize selected federal legislation that would affect employee benefit programs. The bills included on the charts are based on judgments regarding the prominence of the issue, the likelihood of enactment, and the influence of the sponsors." (Towers Perrin)
Human Resources Hurricane Recovery Guide (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "The [target page] is a list of the top ten issues that are likely to present themselves in the near future as employers adapt their policies and operations to circumstances that were never foreseen and certainly not planned for in employee manuals or benefit plans." (Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.)
Newly Posted Events
ERISA Litigation Forum
in California on October 11, 2005
presented by Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP
First Blush: A Review of Proposed Regulations under Code Section 409A for Deferred Compensation Arrangements
Nationwide on October 14, 2005
presented by West LegalEdcenter
Newly Posted Press Releases
Study Tracks Shifts in 401(k) Balances Over Five-Year Period
(Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI))
Employers Applaud Court Ruling Supporting EEOC Authority
(ERIC (ERISA Industry Committee))
Director Pay Nears $200,000 at Top U.S. Companies According to Pearl Meyer & Partners Study; Fewer Stock Options, More Ownership Requirements; Premium Pay for Major Committee Heads
(Pearl Meyer & Partners)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
401(k) Account Manager
for BISYS Retirement Services
in PA
Consultant
for Louis Kravitz & Associates
in CA
Sales Vice President Insurance And Specialty Markets
for ING US Financial Services
in TX
Document Design Specialist
for Kidder Benefits Consultants, Inc.
in IA
Trust Officer/401K Plan Administrator
for City National Bank
in CA
Account Manager
for SunTrust Bank
in VA
Trust Transition Coordinator
for Marshall and Ilsley Wealth Management
in WI
Plan Administration Specialist
for Boston Financial Data Services
in MA
Registered Representative I
for Charles Schwab
in AZ
Experienced Regional Sales Managers
for Virgin Life Care
in FL
Experienced Regional Sales Managers
for Virgin Life Care
in TX
Handy Links:
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- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
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