| BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter |   |
December 21, 2005
Today's sponsor: BeneCom Associates, LLC
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| BeneCom Associates, LLC, for one-stop benefit communications |
| If you're looking for a low-cost approach to communicating the value of your benefits, BeneCom Associates, LLC can help. Our "generic," customized and online benefit statement formats are attractive, very reasonably priced and used by employers across the country who thought benefits statements were financially out of reach.
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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) |
Kitzhaber's Rx for the Health Care System in the State of Oregon
Excerpt: "The last time John Kitzhaber put Oregon on the map as a health care pioneer, it was by working within the decades-old system that delivers medical care. This time, the former doctor and governor wants to bulldoze what he sees as an antiquated system and replace it with a 21st-century model that would deliver universal health care to every Oregonian." (The Register-Guard via Physicians for a National Health Program)
Patients Can Get Credit Cards Specifically for Medical Care with Rates Reaching 23%
Excerpt: "With many Americans struggling to pay their medical bills -- and more of those bills going unpaid -- hospitals and medical providers are scrambling for solutions. They may have found at least a partial one: credit cards that can be used only for healthcare expenses. (Originally published December 12, 2005.)" (Los Angeles Times; one-time registration required)
Lowering Financial Burdens & Increasing Health Insurance Coverage for Those with High Medical Costs (PDF)
8 pages. Excerpt: "As the costs of medical care are spread less broadly, financial burdens for seriously ill individuals with high medical costs can increase dramatically. .... This brief identifies evidence of the severity of these problems and presents policy options designed to address them. This work includes numerous ideas and insights contributed by experts at a meeting convened to discuss these issues." (Urban Institute)
A Company's Threat: Quit Smoking or Leave
Excerpt: "Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. is taking its campaign to stamp out smoking among its workers to an unusual length: It's threatening to fire smokers beginning next fall. The threat represents the latest attempt by an employer to try to reduce health-care costs by targeting smokers." (The Wall Street Journal via Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Health Benefit Cuts Loom for Retirees
Excerpt: "U.S. companies have promised workers hundreds of billions of dollars worth of retiree health care while setting aside little money to pay the costs. The hole is far deeper than for pension funding, just as the government's Medicare deficit dwarfs the predicted shortfall in Social Security." (Newhouse News Service via The Plain Dealer)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Highlights of Final USERRA Regulations (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "Makes clear that USERRA covers multiemployer plans maintained pursuant to one or more collectively bargained agreements, group health plans that are subject to ERISA and group health plans, such as plans maintained by state or local governments, that are not covered by ERISA." (Benefits Group of Davis & Harman LLP via American Benefits Council)
Overview: DOL Final Regulations Interpreting USERRA (PDF)
6 pages. Excerpt: "On December 19, 2005, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published final regulations interpreting the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), 38 U.S.C. §§ 4301 et seq. At the same time, DOL also issued final regulations requiring employers to provide employees with notice of their rights and obligations under USERRA and published a final version of the poster employers may use to comply with the notice requirement." (Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP)
Welcome to new BenefitsLink advertiser CalSurance
Excerpt: "Errors & Omissions Liability program specifically designed for the Benefit Administrators and Consultants underwritten by A rated admitted carrier. Dedicated, experienced staff providing superior service standards." (BenefitsLink.com)
Newly Posted Events
Web/Telephone Seminar: Advanced Distribution Issues and Plan Loans
Nationwide on January 26, 2006
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Web/Telephone Seminar: Advanced HSAs
Nationwide on January 26, 2005
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Web/Telephone Seminar: Advanced HSAs
Nationwide on January 26, 2006
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Web/Telephone Seminar: Basic IRAs
Nationwide on January 24, 2006
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Web/Telephone Seminar: Introduction to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs)
Nationwide on January 19, 2006
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Web/Telephone Seminar: Introduction to Qualified Retirement Plan Distributions
Nationwide on January 19, 2006
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Web/Telephone Seminar: IRA Reporting
Nationwide on January 11, 2006
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Newly Posted Press Releases
9.4 Percent Of Pension Plans Frozen, PBGC Study Says
(Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC))
The Principal Financial Group Receives SAS 70 Industry Certification for Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plan Administrative Services
(Principal Financial Group)
CPI Adds AIG VALIC Guaranteed Fixed-Interest Option To Retirement Plan Platform
(CPI Qualified Plan Consultants, Inc.)
Board of Trustees of the FELRA & UFCW Health and Welfare Fund Selects Health Dialog to Provide Care Management Services
(Health Dialog)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Manager, Retirement Plans
for AutoNation, Inc
in FL
Senior Health And Welfare Specialist
for Stanford Hospital and Clinics/Lucile Packard Children's Hospital
in CA
Compliance Associate
for RSM McGladrey
in MN
Account Manager
for CitiStreet
in NJ
Account Executive
for Transamerica
in CA
Non Executive Benefits Consultant II
for Buck Consultants
in GA
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Search BenefitsLink
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
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.
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Editor and Publisher: David Rhett Baker, J.D.
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