| BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter |   |
November 4, 2005
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New Medicare Plan Presents a Drug Benefit Conundrum
Excerpt: From a letter sent to Boeing retirees: ''Your Boeing pres.cription drug coverage is part of your Boeing retiree medical plan. If you cancel your Boeing pres.cription drug coverage, your Boeing medical coverage also will be canceled.'" (The New York Times; one-time registration required)
The (R)evolution of Steve Case -- Now He's Going to Save the Health Care System.
Excerpt: "[T]he heart of the company -- and Case's next big, society-transforming, reputation-rescuing play -- is health care. Inspired by his older brother's brave struggle with brain cancer (Dan Case died in 2002), the country's worsening health-care crisis, and the tantalizing chance to build another company from scratch, Case launched Revolution Health Group, a collection of small firms designed to give patients control over their medical decisions -- ...." (Fortune)
Answering Your Questions about Health Savings Accounts -- Updated November 2005 (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs), but without the restrictions that governed the expired federal Archer MSA demonstration project." (Council for Affordable Health Insurance.)
Study Finds 45% of Employers Plan to Offer Consumer-Driven Health Plan Option in 2006
Excerpt: "In a news release, Marc Hallee, senior vice president of health and welfare consulting for Fidelity Human Resources Services Company, said the increasing commitment of employers to CDHPs as a way to control costs should also increase employee participation rates for 2006. Nearly all of the employers who plan to offer a CDHP in 2006 will position it as a choice instead of a replacement for traditional health plans." (PLANSPONSOR.com: one-time registration required)
UAW President Calls for Implementation of Single-Payer Health Care System in U.S.
Excerpt: "According to Gettelfinger, although critics have said that such a system is 'not politically possible' in the U.S. today, 'it's not possible to ignore our current health care crisis any longer.' He concludes, 'American workers -- and American employers -- can't afford it' (Gettelfinger, Detroit News, 11/4)." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Judge Affirms EEOC's Proposed Regulation on Retiree Health and ADEA, but AARP Appeals
Excerpt: "The district court judge who prohibited the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) from issuing its final rule on coordinating retiree medical benefits with Medicare reversed her decision, upholding the EEOC's authority to issue an exemption from the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). However, AARP has appealed the ruling, which sends the case back to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)
Insurers Invited to Bid on New Federal Employee Dental and Vision Benefits Program
Excerpt: "Last year, Congress approved the creation of the benefit program but required that enrollees pay all premium costs. Even though the government will not subsidize the program, members of Congress hope that OPM will obtain affordable and favorable group rates for employees and retirees." (The Washington Post; one-time registration required)
Massachusetts House Approves Health Care Overhaul
Excerpt: "The Massachusetts House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved last night a sweeping healthcare bill that promises to cover nearly all the state's 500,000 uninsured residents within three years." (The Boston Globe)
Survey: Experiences of Patients with Health Problems in Six Countries
Excerpt: "The 2005 study examines issues of safety, health care coordination, chronic disease care, and access to care." (The Commonwealth Fund)
Survey Says U.S. Patients Pay More and Get Less than Those in Other Western Nations
Excerpt: "Americans were also much more likely to report forgoing needed treatment because of cost, with about half saying they had decided not to fill a pres.cription, to see a doctor when they were sick or opted against getting recommended follow-up tests. About 38 percent of patients in New Zealand reported going without care; the numbers were 34 percent in Australia, 28 percent in Germany, 26 percent in Can.ada and 13 percent in Britain." (The Washington Post; one-time registration required)
University of Iowa Waives Co-Pay to Spur Generic Drug Use
Excerpt: "The University of Iowa will transform into a 'free drug school zone' next year, eliminating co-payments for generic drugs purchased by 7,000 full-time employees on its self-insured health care plan. As of Jan. 1, 2006, the university will offer free generic drugs to faculty members and professional workers to encourage them to switch from more expensive brand-name pres.cription drugs." (BenefitNews Connect)
Overview: 2006 Medicare Premiums, Deductibles and Coinsurance
Excerpt: "Plan sponsors should prepare for continued changes in Medicare premiums and deductibles, .... The Part B deductible, which had been $100 for several years prior to 2005, is now indexed just like the Part B premium. Plan sponsors that pay the Medicare Part B premium or deductible should carefully review their plan documents and communications to assure that they are accurately stating the amount that the plan intends to pay." (The Segal Company)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Monthly Benefit News and Development, November 2005 (PDF)
2pages. The November edition contains short items covering the following issues: Public Plan Funding; Regulatory Roundup; SEC's 403(b) Site; Preretirement Distributions; Upcoming Key Dates; Legislative Activity on the Benefits Front; and, Cash Balance Plans. (Milliman)
Presidential Advisory Panel's Proposal Would Abolish ESOPs, Repeal AMT
In his Employee Ownership Update for November 3, NCEO Executive Director Corey Rosen discusses the effect of the proposals in the final report of the Presidential Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform. Most importantly, the Panel's proposals would replace existing defined contribution plans (which include ESOPs) with a new Save at Work plan. Also of interest is the proposed repeal of the alternative minimum tax (AMT), which is of interest to those involved with incentive stock options. (National Center for Employee Ownership)
Action Items by Dec. 31, 2005, in Response to Latest IRS Guidance on Deferred Comp 409A Provisions (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "This alert letter discusses the actions that must betaken by the end of 2005 to comply with the deferred compensation provisions of Section 409A for those aspects of the transition relief which have not been extended." (Frederic W. Cook & Co., Inc.)
Benefits Briefs: Legal Developments Affecting Employee Benefits -- September 2005 (PDF)
6 pages. In this issue: Fiduciary Minefields; Protected Activity of a Fiduciary; Rev. Rul. 2005-55: Forfeiture of Accounts for Incidental Medical Benefits Violates Vesting Requirements for Profit Sharing Plans; COBRA Strikes Again; Surprise -- Plan Document Controls Over SPD. (Nixon Peabody LLP)
Can Plaintiff Get Relief for Fiduciary Breach?
Excerpt: "A Seventh Circuit panel that included Judge Easterbrook recently invited an ERISA plaintiff to seek 'make-whole' relief against a fiduciary in McDonald v. Household International, Inc. This has been a vexing issue for plan participants since the Supreme Court's decision in Great-West, which many courts have interpreted to limit severely the kind of relief a participant may obtain from fiduciaries and others." (Michael H. Rosenthal via foryourbenefit.blogspot.com)
Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief: Employers Can Lend a Helping Hand
Excerpt: "Altruistic employers can match employees' charitable donations, or allow employees to contribute their leave to a charity or an employee leave bank. They can grant paid or unpaid leaves of absence, so employees can do relief work themselves. However employers decide to help, they must carefully consider plan design and administration issues, tax and ERISA consequences, and applicable state laws." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)
The State of the TPA Industry and Forecast for 2006
Excerpt: "This report & forecast for 2006 is being written in November 2005, at a time when many of the concerns about which we've warned before are starting to show. Many of the largest employers are saying that they cannot support & continue the level of ever-increasing cost of health coverage for retirees and employees." (Society of Professional Benefit Administrators)
Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide Updated as of November 1, 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)
Opinion Piece from Tom DeLay -- A Swing and a Miss on Tax Reform
Excerpt: "This was a chance to scrap the Internal Revenue Code -- the 5-million-word monstrosity that costs American businesses and families billions of dollars and billions of hours to comply with -- once and for all. The president gave the panel a golden opportunity to bring about vital, comprehensive reforms. Instead, it proposed an array of incremental policy tweaks of the kind that one might expect to be presented in the president's annual budget." (The Washington Post; one-time registration required)
Editorial: Reshaping the Tax Code
Excerpt: "[T]he panel offered a number of suggestions to make the system simpler and fairer. The three most revolutionary would limit deductions for home mortgages and health insurance and eliminate the deduction for state and local taxes." (The Washington Post; one-time registration required)
Newly Posted Events
409A: Overview of New Proposed Regulations and Immediate Employer Response
Nationwide on November 7, 2005
presented by West LegalEdcenter
Defined Benefit Plan - Year-End Roundup
Nationwide on November 15, 2005
presented by Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP
Defined Benefit Plan - Year-End Roundup
Nationwide on November 22, 2005
presented by Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP
Newly Posted Press Releases
Tax Reform Panel Proposals Will Reduce Retirement Savings
(Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America (PSCA))
Trustmark Mutual Holding Co., Charles Schwab and Alliance Benefit Group Unite To Bring Consumers More HSA Investment Options
(TrustMark)
Thomas E. Plumb Named President Of Stanton Group
(Stanton Group)
Charles Russella Named Retirement Practice Leader Of Stanton Group
(Stanton Group)
How Rising Health Care Costs Affect Household Finances
(Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI))
Aetna Selects CitiStreet; Benefits Firm's First HR Contact Center
(CitiStreet)
Apex Pension Strategies, Inc, and Paragon Pension Services, Inc. Announce Merger
(Pyrastar Pension Group)
Movers and Shakers: Newly Posted Announcements of Promotions and New Personnel
(Post Yours!)
Gerianne DeRosa
(Preferred Pension Planning Corporation)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Conversion (Implementation) Specialist
for RSM McGladrey Retirement Resources
in IL, MN
Pension Account Execs
for Graham Forbes, Inc.
in NY
Director, Institutional Relationship Management
for BISYS Retirement Services
in PA
Health Benefits Analyst
for SEGAL an employee benefits, human resources, and compensation consulting firm
in CA
Accountants
for The Retirement Plan Company, LLC
in TN
Compliance Officer/Consultant
for Ameriprise Financial
in MN
Analyst, Benefits
for Ball Corporation
in CO
Administrator, Retirement and Savings
for Ball Corporation
in CO
Financial Transactions Specialist
for ExpertPlan. Inc.
in NJ
Client Service Project Manager
for BrokerSuite
in MA
Account Executive Director
for The Principal Financial Group
in WA
Retirement Plan Administrator
for Virchow Krause & Co., LLP
in WI
Training Instructional Designer
for BISYS Retirement Services
in PA
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