October 25, 2005 Today's sponsor: World Congress (Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
EEOC Posts Q&As about the Association Provision of the ADA The answers are current as of October 17, 2005, when the provision was last modified. (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.) Compliance Investigations Are More Complex, Focusing on Systems and Incidents Excerpt: "Compliance investigations are increasingly focused on systems within health care organizations, not just specific alleged violations, requiring almost an internal auditor's proficiency at detecting and responding to trends." (REPORT ON MEDICARE COMPLIANCE via AISHealth.com) Generic Drugs Could Have Saved Us $20B Excerpt: "Consumers, their employers and health plans in the commercial market could have saved more than $20 billion last year through increased use of generic drugs, according to a new report by Express Scripts Inc., a pharmacy benefit manager." (AP via The New York Times; one-time registration required) Wall Street Journal Examines Employee Health Programs at Dow Chemical Excerpt: "The Wall Street Journal on Monday examined efforts at Dow Chemical to reduce health care costs by encouraging healthy habits among employees. .... Dow has launched several initiatives to improve the health of its employees and dependents in an effort to reduce health care costs by as much as $100 million over the next 10 years." (Kaiser Family Foundation) Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General ERISA Standards of Review and the Administrator's Conflict of Interest (PDF) Pages 20-23 of 64. Excerpt: "The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals recently provided helpful guidance for district courts evaluating claims of wrongful denial of employee benefits under ERISA. In particular, the court clarified the standard of review to be applied where the plan administrator of the employee benefit plan had a potential conflict of interest at the time the benefits were denied." (Utah Bar Journal) A Continued Discussion of Section 409A Regulations Excerpt: "There are six permitted section 409A distribution events ...: Separation from service (a 'specified employee' of a public company may not receive distributions until at least six months after separation); A fixed time, or pursuant to a fixed schedule, specified under the plan; Death; Disability; Change in control of a corporation (change in control of a partnership is subject to analogous rules); and, Unforeseeable emergency." (Deloitte's Washington Bulletin via BenefitsLink.com) Overview: Deferred Compensation Proposed Regulation under Internal Revenue Code #167;409A Excerpt: "The American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 substantially overhauled many of the rules governing deferred compensation arrangements by establishing #167;409A of the Internal Revenue Code ('#167;409A'). In addition to regulating more traditional deferred compensation plans, the new rules cover many arrangements that were not previously thought of as deferred compensation (e.g., severance arrangements, discounted stock options and stock appreciation rights)." (Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.) Proposed Section 409A Regulation: What is Nonqualified Deferred Compensation under Section 409A? (PDF) 10 pages. Excerpt: "This Alert focuses on the provisions of the ProposedRegulations that relate to the definition of 'nonqualified deferred compensation plan' and the determination of which arrangements are subject to Section 409A." (Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham LLP) Newly Posted Events Code Section 409A Workshop in Massachusetts on November 30, 2005 presented by SunGard Corbel Code Section 409A Workshop in Washington on November 30, 2005 presented by SunGard Corbel Code Section 409A Workshop in New York on December 1, 2005 presented by SunGard Corbel Code Section 409A Workshop in California on December 1, 2005 presented by SunGard Corbel Legislative Overview and Update in District of Columbia on November 3, 2005 presented by Capital Chapter ISCEBS Ready for Roth? in Georgia on December 6, 2005 presented by SunGard Corbel Retirement Plans: What Every Employer Must Know in Minnesota on November 30, 2005 presented by SunGard Corbel Retirement Plans: What Every Employer Must Know in Texas on December 1, 2005 presented by SunGard Corbel Women Alone: Managing the Risks of Retirement in District of Columbia on October 27, 2005 presented by Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER) Newly Posted Press Releases IRS Seeks Applications for TE/GE Advisory Committee (Internal Revenue Service (IRS)) Saving in America: Three Key Sets of Figures (Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI)) Council Urges Focus On Shared Pension Funding Goals, Questions Assumptions Used By PBGC And CBO (American Benefits Council) Survey Shows Nearly All Employers Make an Effort to Accommodate Seriously Ill Employees (International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans) Pittsburgh Business Group on Health Tackles Diabetes Care (Pittsburgh Business Group on Health) Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings 401(k) Client Relationship Manager for The Douglas Group in CA, CO, NJ, NY, PA Pension Administrator for R.J.L. Pension Services, Inc. in FL Life & Health Sales Representative for Great-West Healthcare in MI, OH Benefits Consultant for Carilion Health System in VA Compliance Testing Consultant for Diversified Investment Advisors in NY Defined Contribution Administrative Assistant for BFP Associates in MA Senior Plan Administrator for The Allocation Company, Inc. in TX Retirement Services District Manager for ADP Retirement Services - Automatic Data Processing in AZ, CA, CT, FL, IN, MI, NC, NJ, NV, NY, SC, TN, TX Handy Links:
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: |