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January 30, 2007


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Audio and Transcript of Discussion on the President's Health Care Proposal
Excerpt: "President Bush outlined new health care initiatives in his State of the Union address . . ., including creating new tax deductions on health insurance and giving states more flexibility in using federal funds. Two health care experts discuss the president's plan." (MacNeil/Lehrer Productions via PBS.org)

Opinion: What Bush Didn't Say About Social Security in the State of the Union Address
Excerpt: "Consider, if you will, President Bush's State of the Union address. Social Security, the focus of his speech two years ago, got only a few fleeting mentions. But if you delve into the details of Bush's health-care proposals, you discover a plan embedded in them that would effectively trim future Social Security retirement benefits for some people, while reducing their current Social Security tax payments to help pay for health insurance." (The Washington Post; free registration required)

Opinion: The Bush Health Plan
Excerpt: "Conclusion. President Bush's health care proposals would help remove some of the distortions that have plagued the health insurance market for nearly 60 years. As a result, more people would be insured, the insurance they have would better suit their needs, and fewer people would rely on the social safety net." (National Center for Policy Analysis)

Opinion: Answering the Critics of the Bush Health Plan
Excerpt: "President Bush made bold health policy proposals in his State of the Union message. First, he would level the playing field between individual and employer purchase of health insurance. Second, he would eliminate provisions in the tax law that reward waste and penalize economy in the purchase of health insurance. Third, he would allow the states to redirect federal funds used for charity care and use them to subsidize private insurance instead." (National Center for Policy Analysis)

Opinion: PETernity Leave--A Sign of the Times
Excerpt: "It's only a matter of time before peternity leave and compassionate leave for pets will be standard practice for much of the Canadian workforce. The mind boggles at what could possibly be next. What about sick plants?" (Can.ada Free Press)

Absence Abuse and Medical Leave - Background and U.S. Chamber Position
Excerpt: "In spite of the persistent problems that employers have administering medical leave today, numerous proposals have been introduced in Congress to expand the Family and Medical Leave Act. Examples of expansion proposals include expanding the Act to cover the smallest employers (it currently exempts employers with fewer than 50 employees) and expanding the permissible uses for leave (such as to attend parent-teacher conferences)." (U.S. Chamber of Commerce)

Value-Based Insurance Design and the Next Generation of Consumer-Driven Health Care
4 pages. Excerpt: "The next generation of consumer-driven care will require more attention to value-based insurance design so as to ensure that patients have access to appropriate and high-quality care. This can be accomplished so long as insurers carefully integrate financial incentives into benefit design, build advice about evidence-based medicine into their plans, and thoroughly use the increased facility of information technology in their efforts." (Health Affairs)

Value-Based Insurance Design -- Payment Based on Value Received
Excerpt: "This paper makes the case for VBID and outlines current VBID initiatives in the private sector as well as barriers to further adoption." (Health Affairs)

Big Three Sign on to HHS Health Initiative
Excerpt: "By signing on to the [U.S. Health and Human Services Value-Driven Health Care initiative], automakers pledged to provide quality and price information about doctors, hospitals and other medical providers for all employees in their health care insurance programs. The plan also calls on them to encourage the use of electronic medical records and develop incentives for those who buy or provide high-quality, competitively priced care." (Houston Chronicle)

Health Premium Hikes Have Labor and Business Interests Working Together
Excerpt: "The need for teamwork was supported by a survey on health insurance costs in Central Ohio released this month by the Labor-Management Committee, which works with employers to increase employee involvement and worker-management cooperation." (Business First of Columbus via bizjournals.com; free registration required)

Slowing the Growth of U.S. Health Care Expenditures: What Are the Options?
Excerpt: "This report reviews trends in U.S. health care expenditures in the last 25 years, examines variations in costs, and considers explanations for high costs and fast growth in spending. It then examines strategies that could achieve savings and slow spending growth and discusses their potential for improving overall health system performance." (The Commonwealth Fund)

Prescription Drug Plan Sponsors' Compliance Plans - A Report
32 pages. Excerpt: "(1) To determine whether prescription drug plan sponsors have developed compliance plans as required by the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003; and (2) To determine whether prescription drug plan (PDP) sponsors' compliance plans, as of January 2006, addressed all of the requirements and selected recommendations regarding the eight compliance elements presented in Federal regulations." (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services via American Health Lawyers Association)

U.K. Health Service Can Recover Insurance Charges
Excerpt: "The U.K. government has introduced new regulations which will allow the country's National Health Service to recover the costs of medical treatment from insurers in cases where compensation is paid for personal injury." (Business Insurance)

Wall Street Journal Examines Trust Fund for Retiree Health Benefits Operated by Steelworkers Union
Excerpt: "The Wall Street Journal on Monday examined how a 'special trust' operated by the United Steelworkers of America since 2002 'offers a glimpse of what to expect' in the event that General Motors or other companies establish similar agreements to reduce retiree health care liabilities (Maher, Wall Street Journal, 1/29)." (Kaiser Family Foundation)

Future Retirees Face Increased Prospect of Being Uninsured If Employers Drop Retiree Health Benefits
Excerpt: "A recent Employee Benefits Research Institute (EBRI) study noted that adults ages 55 to 64 were in 2005 one of two groups most likely to have health-insurance coverage: just 13.6% or some 4.2 million presently were uninsured. But future retirees may not be so lucky, according to EBRI. That group faces an increased likelihood of being uninsured if employer cutbacks to retiree health benefits affect them and they have no other means of getting health insurance." (MarketWatch via NewsEdge Corporation via Human Resource Executive Online)


Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

The Mounting Cost of Deferred Responsibility in Government - The Future Impact in Wisconsin (PDF)
22 pages. Excerpt: "State and local governments . . . have made promises that they cannot afford and have financed their decisions by passing IOUs along to future generations. . . . . Now those IOUs are coming due and the amount is staggering. The IOUs discussed in this paper are the ones related to benefits promised to public employees when they retire. This paper will detail the price tag of the promises of pension and health care payments made to retired state and local government workers." (Wisconsin Policy Research Institute)

Overview: SEC's Interpretive Guidance on New Executive Compensation Disclosure Rules (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "The staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission on January 24, 2007 issued interpretive guidance on the new executive and director compensation proxy disclosure rules. The guidance is in the form of 28 questions and answers of general applicability to the new rules, as well as 18 interpretive responses regarding particular situations." (Frederic W. Cook & Co., Inc.)

Unions Take Stance on Executive Pensions at AmEx
Excerpt: "In response to a request from the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, American Express Co. is slicing retirement benefits for top executives by more than ten percent." (Pension Risk Matters)

Opinion: There Is No General 'Entitlement Crisis'
Excerpt: "Many pundits and policymakers . . . have mistakenly described the projected rise in federal expenditures as an 'entitlement crisis.' That phrase is problematic, as it can mislead policymakers and the public into thinking that the source of expenditure growth is most or all entitlement programs, rather than just the 'big three.'" (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)

Role of In-House Legal Counsel in Claim Investigation Proper Delegation of Authority
Excerpt: "[N]othing set forth in ERISA prohibits plan administrators from relying on information provided by and following the recommendations of either in-house or outside attorneys for the employer who sponsors the plan. Ford v. Motorola Inc. Involuntary Severance Plan, Slip Copy, 2007 WL 162680 (D. Ariz. 2007)(January 18, 2007)" (Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)

EBSA Achieves Over $1.4 Billion in Monetary Recoveries for FY 2006
Excerpt: "The Labor Department's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has announced over $1.4 billion in monetary recoveries for fiscal year 2006. This figure includes $829 million in assets restored to plans and benefits recovered by individual workers." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)


Newly Posted Events

A Company of Entrepreneurs: Getting Employees Involved
Nationwide on April 11, 2007
presented by National Center for Employee Ownership

Communicating the Valuation Process to Employees
Nationwide on March 1, 2007
presented by National Center for Employee Ownership

Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Indiana on February 13, 2007
presented by Women for a Social Security Choice (WSSC)

Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Nebraska on February 13, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services

Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Iowa on February 14, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services

Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Michigan on February 14, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services

Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Michigan on February 15, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services

Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Iowa on February 15, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services

Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Wyoming on February 20, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services

Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Texas on February 20, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services

Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Texas on February 20, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services

Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Colorado on February 21, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services

Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Texas on February 21, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services

Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Arkansas on February 21, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services

Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Tennessee on February 22, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services

Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Missouri on February 22, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services

Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Texas on February 22, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services

Wellness Programs After the Final HIPAA Nondiscrimination Regs -- What’s Allowed, What Isn’t, and What Designs Work Best?
Nationwide on January 25, 2007
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)


Newly Posted Press Releases

Pension Act Regulations Could Mean Significant Changes For 401(k) Sponsors
Watson Wyatt

National Penn Insurance Agency Selects Benefit Software's Fringe Facts® Communicator to Produce Employee Benefits Statements for its Corporate Clients
Benefit Software Inc.

New Twist on 350-Year Old Investment Instrument Could Help Secure Retirements of Those Without Pension Plans
Mellon Financial Corporation

Work & Family Benefits, Inc. Launches The Workplace Resource Center to Provide Online Tools for Addressing Behavioral Workplace Issues
Work & Family Benefits Inc.

FMLA Survey Data Submitted to the DOL
International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans

Making Health Insurance Affordable for More Americans
U.S. Department of Treasury

Dorsa Consulting Launches Asset/Liability Modeling to Pension Plan Sponsors
Dorsa Consulting


Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

Consultant
for Kravitz - Louis Kravitz & Associates
in CA

Retirement Plan Administrator
for FM International
in NY

Defined Benefit Retirement Plan Administrator
for Loren D. Stark Company, Inc.
in TX

401(k) Administrator
for TSP Associates, Inc.
in CA

Compliance Testing Consultant
for Diversified Investment Advisors
in NY

Actuary
for Pension Administrator
in NJ

Benefits Consultant
for The Scotts Company
in OH

Director of Pension Operations
for Taft-Hartley Benefit Fund - New York City
in NY

Retirement Sales Executive
for Benefitstreet, Inc.
in IL, MA

Benefits Leave Coordinator
for Chugach Alaska Corporation
in VA

Benefits Analyst
for Chugach Alaska Corporation
in VA

401k Administrator
for McGregor & Associates, Inc.
in IN, KY, OH

Regional Sales Director
for DailyAccess Corporation
in AZ, CA, CO, DC, DE, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MD, MI, MN, MO, NC, ND, NE, NJ, OH, OK, SD, VA, WI, WV




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