BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter February 17, 2006 Today's sponsor: The BenefitsLink Jobs Board (Click on company name or banner to learn more.) Where the best benefits employers find the best candidates Fill your employee benefits job openings fast by advertising on BenefitsLink. What better place to find qualified candidates? Your help wanted ad will be listed in the BenefitsLink Newsletter, will be seen by thousands of candidates who view our listings online, and will be emailed to over 2,800 job-seekers. Click here to see how easy it is to place an ad! For FLSA Purposes, Firefighters' Sick Leave Buy-Back Program Included in Regular Rate of Pay Excerpt: "The authority of the federal regulations promulgated under FLSA, coupled with the statutory presumption favoring inclusion of all monies in regular rate of pay, mandates that lump sum payments awarded under the city's sick leave buy-back program be included in firefighters' regular rate of pay. Acton v. City of Columbia, Missouri, Case No. 04-3985 (U.S. 8th Cir., February 8, 2006)." (Cypen & Cypen) Pentagon Budget Proposes Higher Premiums for Military Retirees Excerpt: "To slow its rising medical expenses, the Pentagon wants to triple the health insurance premiums for its 3 million military retirees and families. Veterans and their advocates said the plan would create a financial hardship and violate the military's pledge to volunteers who wear a uniform for 20 years or more." (The Kansas City Star; one-time registration required) Proposed Health Insurance Mandate Changes Reduce Fees for Small Businesses Excerpt: "San Francisco Supervisor Tom Ammiano on Wednesday proposed changes to his employer health insurance mandate legislation that would charge businesses with fewer than 100 workers less than larger businesses, ...." (California HealthCare Foundation) Text of the Final Rule on HIPAA Enforcement Published February 16, 2006 (PDF) 45 pages. Excerpt: "The final rule amends the existing rules relating to the investigation of noncompliance to make them apply to all of the HIPAA Administrative Simplification rules, rather than exclusively to the privacy standards. It also amends the existing rules relating to the process for imposition of civil money penalties." (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services via The Federal Register) HealthCast Highlighting the Recently Published Book, 'Can We Say No?' Excerpt: "Brookings Institution has published a new book about the debate over health care rationing. The Kaiser Family Foundation's Jackie Judd interviews Henry Aaron, one of the authors of 'Can We Say No?'" (Kaiser Family Foundation) More Transparency on Cost of Medical Procedures Would Benefit Patients, Opinion Piece States Excerpt: "'Instead of allowing government' to set medical prices, 'which is essentially the case for the great majority of medical procedures, the role of the government should be to make transparent the pricing of these procedures,' Scott Atlas, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, and Stanford University School of Medicine professor, writes in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece." (Kaiser Family Foundation) Wal-Mart Faults Connecticut's Health Insurance Proposal Excerpt: "Called 'fair share' health care, Connecticut's measure would require employers with more than 5,000 employees to spend a minimum amount on employee health coverage or pay into a state fund to help defray the costs borne by taxpayers to support the uninsured. Wal-Mart's two-page memo criticized the proposal, in part, for its narrow reach." (The Hartford Courant via BlueCross BlueShield Association) Bush Urges More Direct Health Care Choices Excerpt: "President Bush argued [yesterday] that the United States needs a health care system in which patients pay more directly for their care, because that will turn them into comparison shoppers whose interest in a good deal will drive costs down." (AP via The New York Times; one-time registration required) Employers that Charge Smokers More for Health Insurance Excerpt: "[A list of s]ome private and public employers that require tobacco-using employees to pay more than non-smokers for their health insurance ...." (AP via The New York Times; one-time registration required) Target Adds CDHP to Benefits Package Offered to Employees Excerpt: "Another large national employer has enlisted in the consumer-driven health care movement. Mega-retailer Target Corp., based in Minneapolis, will add a CDHP to its slate of health care plans for employees." (BenefitNews Connect) Towers Perrin U.S. Legislative Tracking Charts — Health and Welfare -- Updated February 14, 2006 (PDF) 28 pages. Excerpt: "These charts summarize selected federal legislation that would affect employee benefit programs. The bills included on the charts are based on judgments regarding the prominence of the issue, the likelihood of enactment, and the influence of the sponsors." (Towers Perrin) Overview: DOL's Final USERRA Rules (PDF) 5 pages. Excerpt: "These rules apply to qualified defined benefit and defined contribution plans that are subject to ERISA, including multiemployer plans and to ERISA 403(b) plans. They also apply to plans that are not subject to ERISA, such as governmental plans, nonelecting church plans, non-ERISA 403(b) programs, and section 457(b) plans. In addition, these rules apply to all types of nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements." (Prudential Retirement) Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General The Fuzzy Math on Executive Pay Excerpt: "The SEC's 370-page proposal for executive compensation disclosure could create more questions than answers. Companies point to difficulties placing a value on perks and future benefits while claiming that competitive information could be compromised." (Workforce Management; one-time registration required) FASB Response to SEC Study on Arrangements with Off-Balance Sheet Implications, Special Purpose .... (PDF) 10 pages. Excerpt: "[The Report and Recommendations Pursuant to Section 401(c) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 on Arrangements with Off-Balance Sheet Implications, Special Purpose Entities, and Transparency of Filings by Issuers] identifies several key initiatives aimed at improving the transparency of financial reports and makes several recommendations to accounting standard setters." (Financial Accounting Standards Board) Dissenter Say High Court Shouldn't Have Decided Issue NYC Mayor Posed vs. Equal Benefits Excerpt: "Presenting a reverse Valentine to g.ay and les.bian New Yorkers on February 14, a bare majority of the state's highest court ruled that the Equal Benefits Law (EBL) passed by the New York City Council in 2004 over the veto of Republican Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is invalid." (G.ay City News) Overview: SEC to Revamp Disclosure of Executive Compensation Excerpt: "It's not too early to begin planning for the 2007 proxy season. Consider who will be best able to determine all the elements of executive compensation. Consider how you will determine the Named Executives and other disclosed employees. While collection of data related to cash compensation is relatively easy, some of the new tabular disclosures related to retirement benefits, change-in-control provisions, and equity offerings require more lead time and unique skill sets." (CCA Strategies, LLC) Towers Perrin U.S. Legislative Tracking Charts — Human Resources -- Updated February 14, 2006 (PDF) 9 pages. Excerpt: "These charts summarize selected federal legislation that would affect employee benefit programs. The bills included on the charts are based on judgments regarding the prominence of the issue, the likelihood of enactment, and the influence of the sponsors." (Towers Perrin) How Finance Executives Are Confronting Rising Benefit Costs, the Aging Workforce, Recruiting, ... Excerpt: "[CFO Magazine] asked 249 senior finance executives from a diverse range of companies to share their views on these challenges and tell us how they are responding. As our second annual human-capital survey shows, CFOs are taking the challenges seriously -- in particular, they are showing new willingness to experiment with remedies for their human-capital ills." (CFO Magazine) Newly Posted Events Coverage - Basics and Beyond Nationwide on March 9, 2006 presented by SunGard Corbel Nondiscrimination Testing - Basics and Beyond Nationwide on March 16, 2006 presented by SunGard Corbel Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings Group Benefits Sales Position for Alliance Benefit Group-MidAtlantic,, LLC in MD Healthcare Underwriter for Alliance Benefit Group-MidAtlantic, LLC in MD ERISA Compliance & Consulting Analyst for Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. in OH Client Participant Services Manager for Mercer HR Services in Senior Due Diligence Analyst for Vanguard in PA Health Benefits Consultant / Underwriter - Washington, DC for Watson Wyatt Worldwide in DC Actuary (Enrolled Actuary -- Part-time position) for Pacific Coast Actuaries, Inc. in ANY STATE Non-Qualified Benefit Plan Administration Specialist for McCamish Systems, LLC 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 2006 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.; except that you may reprint this newsletter in full (including this sentence) without obtaining our permission. 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