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October 21, 2005
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(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)

Qualcomm Praised for Taking the Work and Cost Out of Getting to Work
Excerpt: "Qualcomm, which offers commuter benefits to 87 percent of its workers, won for its program that tries to reduce the number of cars on the road. 'The program that I've run here at Qualcomm is all about work-life balance,' said Dave Beadle, the company's manager of human resources." (The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Union Offers Details of Health Benefits Deal with General Motors
Excerpt: "The United Automobile Workers on Thursday announced the details of its tentative agreement with General Motors to impose health benefit cuts on union retirees. For the first time, G.M. retirees will have to pay deductibles, monthly premiums and co-payments for services like X-rays." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)

Opinion: The Wal-Mart Way on Health Care
Excerpt: "Wal-Mart, the largest and most profitable retailer in the United States, enjoyed record profits of $10 billion dollars last year. At the same time, according to a recent report by Good Jobs First, in sixteen states Wal-Mart ranked near or at the top in the number of its employees and their family members who enrolled in state health insurance programs -- such as Medicaid and S-CHIP. In order for Wal-Mart's business model to succeed, it must keep down labor costs." (The Century Foundation)

Workers May Be in for Health Plan Sticker Shock during Open Enrollment Season
Excerpt: "Button up your overcoat. It's health insurance enrollment season, and many workers are facing higher premiums and larger out-of-pocket costs. In today's Managing Your Money, we look at what to expect when you get your annual enrollment package." (USA TODAY)

Overview: Deadline Looms for Medicare Part D Notices of Creditable Coverage
Excerpt: "Any employer providing pres.cription drug coverage to Medicare-eligible beneficiaries ... must provide such beneficiaries 'Notices of Creditable Coverage' before November 15, 2005, regardless of whether the employer seeks the 28% subsidy from the government. Employers seeking subsidies must hire actuaries to assist in preparation of Notices of Creditable Coverage, and all employers providing pres.cription drug coverage to Medicare-eligible individuals must gear up now in order ...." (BNA's Tax Management Inc.)

Fourth Consecutive Year of Decline in Employer-Provided Insurance Coverage
Excerpt: "Nearly 46 million Americans were uninsured in 2004 -- up six million since 2000. The rate of those without insurance for the whole year has grown 1.5 percentage points during this period, from 14.2% in 2000 to 15.7% in 2004. What the overall uninsured numbers mask, however, is a distinct shift from insurance coverage through the private sector to insurance coverage through the public sector, particularly for children." (The Economic Policy Institute)

Survey Finds Retirement Health Care Benefits Knowledge Gap
Excerpt: "Many surveys have shown that Americans aren't generally as well prepared for retirement as they should be, but a new poll illustrates how far behind in the learning curve they are about their health care needs during retirement. .... Aetna teamed with the Financial Planning Association (FPA) and Women's Policy to survey Americans aged 45 to 75 about health care and retirement." (PLANSPONSOR.com: one-time registration required)

State of South Carolina Finds HSAs Popular with Highly Paid Parents
Excerpt: "South Carolina's experience with state employees may provide helpful guidance for employers deciding whether to offer a health savings account. The state's HSA enrollees had an average age of 41.1 years and tended to be high-income parents. This example seems to debunk the notion that HSAs will attract primarily young, healthy workers." (BenefitNews Connect)

As More Parents Find Themselves Coaching Little League from Work, Does the Work Suffer?
Excerpt: "Working parents say integrating extracurricular pursuits with office life is the only way to get everything done; also, growth in communications technology enables them to do either work or personal tasks both at home and the office. Still, the trend can cause problems for co-workers and employers, calling in some cases for more thoughtful time management." (CareerJournal.com via The Wall Street Journal Online)

United Kingdom Work and Families: Choice and Flexibility for Maternity and Paternity Leaves
Excerpt: "The Government has consulted widely on proposals set out in the Ten Year Childcare Strategy and as a result, in addition to extending maternity and adoption pay from six to nine months from April 2007, towards the goal of a year's paid leave by the end of the Parliament, ...." (United Kingdom Department of Trade & Industry)

Overview: The Changing Disability System in the Netherlands
Excerpt: "From January 1, 2006, the state provision of disability benefits in the Netherlands will change. [T]he primary legislation relating to disability, the Wet op de Arbeidsongeschiktheidsverzekering (WAO), will be replaced by the WIA, the Wet Werk en Inkomen naar Arbeidsvermogen." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)


Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

White-Collar Retirees See Need to Organize
Excerpt: "Auto industry retiree clubs are joining white-collar retirees from other downsized American industries. The NRLN, which was founded in 1999, coordinates the lobbying of 25 worker associations that together have 2 million members. It includes groups of workers from old telephone companies including U.S. West, former aerospace engineers from Boeing, and retirees from life insurance companies such as Aetna and Prudential." (The Washington Post; one-time registration required)

Summary of Presidential Tax Panel's Suggested Reforms
Excerpt: "From a CNN article--'Tax reform panel offers two proposals'----a summary of some of the Tax Reform Panel's key recommendations for reforming the tax code (benefits-related recommendations are bolded): ...." (Attorney B. Janell Grenier via BenefitsBlog.com)

IRS Disaster Relief Information Listing
Excerpt: "The Service has provided a variety of disaster relief measures for retirement plan sponsors including early distributions, leave donations, filing and funding relief and help from the IRS and Department of Labor." (U.S. Internal Revenue Service)

Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide Updated as of October 18, 2005
Excerpt: "Hewitt's Federal Legislation Quick Guide provides short updates on federal legislation that is currently under active consideration by Congress or has recently been enacted into law regarding health and welfare benefit plans, retirement plans, and human resources and employment law." (Hewitt Associates)


Newly Posted Events

Benefits Chicago
in Illinois on November 15, 2005
presented by Employee Benefit News


Newly Posted Press Releases

Vanguard Introduces Statement for 401(k) Plan Participants Featuring Interactive Retirement Income Estimating Tool
(Vanguard Group, The)

Nine Software Vendors Seek Certification For HEDIS 2006
(National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA))


Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

Conversion Specialist
for New York Life Investment Management LLC
in NJ

Training Consultant - Retirement Services
for MassMutual
in MA

Marketing Product Manager
for SunGard Relius
in FL

Defined Contribution Administrator
for Third Party Administration Firm
in IL

Benefits Specialist
for Virginia Tech
in VA

Benefits Manager
for Source Interlink Companies, Inc
in FL

Relationship Manager
for MassMutual
in GA

Health Consultant/Public Sector
for SEGAL, an employee benefits, compensation and human resources consulting firm
in CT




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