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November 23, 2005
Today's sponsor: APSCREEN, Employee Locator

(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
Banner ad for APSCREEN, Employee Locator

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In business since 1980, APSCREEN is a full-service, highly respected Consumer Reporting Agency. We quickly locate current addresses, name changes, and living/deceased status for your lost plan participants and/or past employees.

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"APSCREEN's employee locator service makes our lives so much easier. Our industry desperately needs this service!" --Judy Simons, TRI-AD, Escondido, CA


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

Text of IRS Notice 2005-86 Allowing Health FSA (Cafeteria Plan) Amendments to Liberalize Coverage (PDF)
7 pages. An individual participating in a health FSA who is covered by the grace period generally is not eligible to contribute to an HSA until the first day of the first month following the end of the grace period. The notice allows an employer to amend the cafeteria plan document to enable the participant to become HSA-eligible during the grace period. (Internal Revenue Service)

FSA Grace Periods May Clash with HSA Rules
Excerpt: "The Internal Revenue Service says some employers may face a collision between health savings account rules and flexible spending arrangement rules in early 2006. Shoshanna Tanner, an IRS tax-exempt entities official, describes the conflict and offers transition relief in IRS Notice 2005-86." (National Underwriter Life & Health; free one-time registration or paid subscription required)

WSJ Examines Rule Requiring State & Local Governments to Report Future Retiree Health Benefits Cost
Excerpt: "Under the rule, which will take effect in fiscal year 2008, governments for the first time will have to report the estimated annual cost of health benefits for future retirees. Governments currently only budget for the cost of health benefits for active employees and current retirees and do not have to report future liabilities." (Kaiser Family Foundation)

Visa and BCBS Join Forces to Offer Health Debit Cards for Use with HSAs and FSAs
Excerpt: "Visa USA and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association said [November 21] that they are teaming up to offer a co-branded debit card to pay for health-related expenses." (San Francisco Chronicle)

Benefit Plan Administrator Cleared in Bee Sting Death Case
Excerpt: "A federal judge in Virginia has cleared an accidental death benefit plan administrator of wrongdoing in ruling that the death of plan participant who was allergic to bee stings wasn't covered under the policy." (PLANSPONSOR.com; one-time registration required)

San Francisco Plan to Insure Health of Workers -- Most Businesses Would Have to Pay
Excerpt: "City legislation introduced Tuesday would require San Francisco businesses with 20 or more workers to pay for health care insurance, a move critics called illegal and unworkable." (San Francisco Chronicle via BlueCross BlueShield Association)

Wall Street Journal Examines UnitedHealth Group's Voluntary Pill Splitting Program
Excerpt: The Wall Street Journal on [November 22] examined UnitedHealth Group's new voluntary program that encourages patients to cut their pills in half and save money on copayments. According to the Journal, the program can offer patients up to $300 in annual pres.cription copayment savings if they buy pills at twice the prescribed dose and cut them in half." (Kaiser Family Foundation)

Maryland Cuts Small Firms' Required Pres.cription Coverage
Excerpt: "Looking to make health insurance more affordable for small employers, the Maryland Health Care Commission approved a plan yesterday to remove most pres.cription coverage from the required-benefits package for small companies - with the expectation that most employers will buy extra pharmacy benefits." (The Baltimore Sun; one-time registration required)

Even If Young and Healthy, Insurance Covering Long-Term Health-Care Costs Might Make Tax Sense Now
Excerpt: "Until recently this relatively new type of policy -- which covers nursing-home care, assisted living, or home health care -- was one that many small-business owners dismissed as an unnecessary luxury. But as more sophisticated products enter the market, entrepreneurs are using them to augment basic disability insurance." (Fortune)


Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Perspective: FAS 123(R) -- Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation -- A Year Later
Excerpt: "Contrary to the hopes of some, neither Congress nor the SEC has stepped in to provide broad relief from the major change wrought by FAS 123(R): that stock options must be expensed. Instead, during 2005, there's been a piecemeal approach to relief and clarification." (Mercer Human Resource Consulting LLC and Mercer Investment Consulting, Inc.; one-time registration required)

Overview: FASB's November 10th Meeting -- Fair Value Accounting for Pension and OPRB Plans
Excerpt: "In this article [the authors] review the balance sheet issues related to pensions and OPRBs as well as the income statement issues under this new FASB project." (CCA Strategies)

Comments on Use of Electronic Media to Provide Employee Benefit Notices, Elections, and Consents (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "Hewitt recommends that the option to print the applicable notice or confirmation of election satisfies the requirement to provide a paper copy upon request at no charge." (Hewitt Associates)

Mercer County, New Jersey Public Employees' Domestic Partners Can Now Share Benefits
Excerpt: "In a move toward extending rights to g.ays, the Mercer County freeholders unanimously adopted a resolution last night that allows domestic partners of county employees to share benefits. The resolution -- given to the freeholder board with a strong recommendation of approval from county executive Brian Hughes -- passed 6-0 and will take effect immediately." (The Trentonian)


Newly Posted Press Releases

New Great-West Healthcare Consultative Tools Aid Brokers and Employers in Making Benefits Choices
(Great-West Retirement Services)


Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

Consultant, Health and Productivity Management
for Kindred Healthcare
in KY

Sr. Community Health Care Advisor
for NRECA
in VA

Defined Benefit Plan Administrator
for Tegra Financial Partners
in GA

Call Center Manager
for The Newport Group
in NC

Pension Administrator
for CAI Benefits, Inc.
in NY

Assistant to Senior Account Managers
for Corporate Plans & Services
in NC

Relationship Manager
for Fidelity Investments
in TX

Administrator
for Creative Plan Designs, Ltd.
in FL, NY




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Copyright 2005 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.; except that you may reprint this newsletter in full (including this sentence) without obtaining our permission.

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