| BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter |   |
February 7, 2007
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Wal-Mart and a Union Unite, at Least on Health Policy
Excerpt: "[T]his morning, in an extraordinary meeting in Washington, the chiefs of Wal-Mart Stores and the Service Employees International Union will stand together and agree on a series of goals for achieving universal health coverage, according to people briefed on the matter." (The New York Times; free registration required)
Ford Workers Meet to Keep Child Care Centers Open
Excerpt: "On Jan. 26, Ford said it will close the child-care centers in June because the automaker can't afford to subsidize them. . . . As a result, parents are holding meetings this week in Michigan, Kentucky and Missouri to organize an effort to protest the decision or find an agreeable resolution, such as letting a child-care company assume control of the facilities." (Freep.com)
Employer Ordered to Retroactively Enroll Employee After Failing to Follow Up on Incomplete Forms
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: This case illustrates the potential exposure for enrollment mistakes, especially under insured plans where insurance contracts typically make the employer responsible for enrollment and limit the insurer's liability for benefits if the employer fails to act properly. While the court did not decide the issue (the insurer was not a party to the case), other reported cases have found the employer liable for benefits in similar circumstances." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.)
Standard Industry Fare Level Rates Issued for First Half of 2007
Excerpt: "The Department of Transportation has released the applicable terminal charge and standard industry fare level (SIFL) mileage rates for the first six months of 2007. These rates will be used by the IRS to determine the value of noncommercial flights on employer-provided aircraft." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)
Employers Offering More Robust ID Protection Services
Excerpt: "A growing number of employers are arming themselves with identity theft protection benefits to ease employee anxiety. Having supporters available gives victimized employees peace of mind and reduces time workers spend neglecting work as they try to regain their good name." (Employee Benefit News)
Administration Seeks to Trim Federal Retiree Health Subsidies
Excerpt: "President Bush's fiscal 2008 budget includes a proposal to scale back the government's contribution to health care premiums for new federal retirees with less than a decade of government service." (GovExec.com)
HIPAA Violations As an Element of a Distinct Legal Claim
Excerpt: "Though HIPAA does not authorize a private cause of action, may a violation of HIPAA nonetheless supply an element of cause of action? Consider the case of Acosta v. Byrum, 638 S.E.2d 246 (N.C.App.)(December 19, 2006)." (Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)
Health Care Broker Warns Against Using Price As Deciding Factor in Selecting an Adviser
Excerpt: "When it comes to choosing a health care broker for your company, it's tempting to jump at the lowest financial number." (Employee Benefit News)
The Move Toward Transparency in Health Care: Public Reporting and Transparency
Excerpt: "Interest in collecting and publicly reporting information about the cost and quality of health care has been growing. Yet questions remain about the accuracy of reported price, process, and outcome information; the comparability of results across different populations; and whether and how patients and others use the information to make decisions." (The Commonwealth Fund)
Bush Proposal Would Shift ESRD Costs to Employers
Excerpt: "More than $1 billion in health care bills incurred by individuals with kidney disease would be shifted to employer-sponsored health care plans from Medicare if Congress passes a cost-shifting provision in the Bush administration's proposed 2008 budget package." (Business Insurance)
Snapshot on Health Care Costs: Insurance Premium Cost-Sharing and Coverage Take-up
Excerpt: "One of the many reasons an individual may be uninsured is that she or he decides an employer's offer of health insurance is too expensive. Several studies have noted the likelihood that a worker will decline an employer's offer of health insurance increases with the amount he or she is required to contribute." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Opinion: Bush's Health Plan Would Do More Harm Than Good
Excerpt: "Instead of thinking about how to help the 47 million Americans -- 16 percent of the population -- without health insurance obtain it, Bush offered a complex plan in his State of the Union speech on Jan. 23 to make people more conscious of the cost of health care. Predictably it centered on a tax cut, though a small group would pay more." (Bloomberg)
Opinion: Did Bush Set Employee Health Benefit Ceiling?
Excerpt: "Employers might find the Bush tax plan provides a useful benchmark for capping health-benefit spending." (CFO.com)
Issues in Brief: What Happens to Health Benefits after Retirement?
Excerpt: "This brief examines the availability and cost of health insurance coverage at ages 55 to 64 and changes in coverage after retirement." (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)
Podcast: Health Insurance or Cost Insulation?
The discussion features Arnold King. (Cato Institute)
Progressive Companies Finding Better Ways to Finance Benefits
Excerpt: "Despite concerns about the increasing costs, most companies remain committed to offering a competitive benefits package. What's more, a growing number are determined to find ways to finance those benefits beyond cost sharing." (Employee Benefit News)
Workforce Screenings Reveal Unhealthy Trends
Excerpt: "An analysis of workplace health screenings indicates high levels of risk for both men and women, which can affect quality of life and workplace efficiency as well as increase employer health-care costs." (Human Resource Executive Online; free registration required)
Opinion: A Potential Downside to Insurance Company Wellness Programs
Excerpt: "At issue is an insurance carrier's ability to use information gathered during a wellness program as justification for increasing an employer's rates at renewal. Since no laws prevent an insurance company from using voluntarily provided information for rating purposes, employers should be cautious about the information they provide." (Wellness Proposals)
Senate HELP Committee Likely To Pass Mental Health Parity Bill
Excerpt: "The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee likely will pass legislation that would require health insurance companies to cover mental illnesses at the same level as they cover physical illnesses, committee Chair Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) said, CQ HealthBeat reports." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Opinion: Beyond Health Care Band-Aids
Excerpt: "[The recent] profusion of proposals means that health care is getting more attention, and this makes reform more likely. But these proposals are like band-aids and fall far short of what our sick health-care system needs." (The Washington Post; free registration required)
Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide Updated February 6, 2007, for Health and Welfare Plans (PDF)
6 pages. This 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. (Hewitt Associates)
Text of General Explanations of the Administration's Fiscal Year 2008 Revenue Proposals (PDF)
124 pages. Excerpt: "This report summarizes the revenue proposals in the Administration's Fiscal Year 2008 Budget. These proposals include making permanent the tax relief enacted in 2001 and 2003 . . . . The other proposals . . . affect a wide range of areas, including simplifying and encouraging saving, encouraging entrepreneurship and investment, investing in health care, providing incentives for charitable giving, strengthening education, and protecting the environment." (U.S. Department of the Treasury via American Benefits Council)
Answering Your Questions About Health Savings Accounts, Updated January 2007 (PDF)
Excerpt: "Specifically, Health Savings Accounts for tax year 2007: Must be coupled with a health insurance policy with a minimum deductible of $1,100 for an individual, with total annual out-of-pocket expenses of no more than $5,500, or $2,200 for a family deductible, with total annual out-of-pocket expenses of no more than $11,000 . . . ." (The Council for Affordable Health Insurance)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
ACLU Sues New Mexico Over Same-Sex Retiree Benefits
Excerpt: "The American Civil Liberties Union is suing New Mexico on behalf of three les.bian couples who are seeking retirement health benefits for the domestic partners of all les.bian and g.ay state employees." (Business Insurance)
Overview: Senate Votes to Increase Taxes on Executive Compensation (PDF)
Excerpt: "Late last week the Senate approved amendments to the House's proposed Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 (Minimum Wage Act) which could dramatically increase taxes on nonqualified deferred compensation and limit corporate tax deductions for many forms of executive compensation." (Seyfarth Shaw LLP)
Milliman's Monthly Benefit News and Developments, February 2007 (PDF)
2 pages. The newsletter provides a summary of the previous month's legislative, regulatory, and judicial information on employee Benefits. (Milliman)
Senate Minimum Wage Bill Has Additional Provisions on NQDC and Federal Contractor Compliance (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "The House had passed a 'clean' minimum wage bill (without certain tax and other provisions included in the Senate-passed version) by a vote of 315 to 116 on January 10, 2007. In addition to the minimum wage increase, the Senate-passed bill includes small business tax relief and provisions on nonqualified deferred compensation and federal contractor compliance with employment verification requirements." (Hewitt Associates)
'Say on Pay' Highlighted in the Upcoming 2007 Proxy Season
Excerpt: "Two groups have recently asked US companies and the SEC to reconsider their closed stance on investor involvement with executive review and compensation. A network of 41 US institutional investors recently announced the filing of shareholder resolutions at 44 major US companies asking companies to grant shareholders an advisory vote on executive compensation packages." (SocialFunds.com)
Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide for February 6, 2007, on Human Resources & Employment Law (PDF)
5 pages. This 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 human resources and employment law. (Hewitt Associates)
Googling Equity-based Compensation: Employee Stock Options Become Transferable
Excerpt: "[Nontransferability] has been an almost universal feature of nonqualified employee stock option plans. However, recent developments suggest that it is possible to make nonqualified stock options transferable, at least for public companies, and that there may be good reasons to do so." (Faegre & Benson LLP)
Newly Posted Events
2007 Mid-Winter Tour: Advanced IRAs: A seminar for serious IRA professionals
in Massachusetts on March 16, 2007
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
2007 Mid-Winter Tour: Advanced IRAs: A seminar for serious IRA professionals
in Louisiana on March 21, 2007
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
2007 Mid-Winter Tour: Advanced IRAs: A seminar for serious IRA professionals
in Maryland on March 21, 2007
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
2007 Mid-Winter Tour: Advanced IRAs: A seminar for serious IRA professionals
in Pennsylvania on March 23, 2007
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
2007 Mid-Winter Tour: IRA Essentials
in Massachusetts on March 15, 2007
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
2007 Mid-Winter Tour: IRA Essentials
in Maryland on March 20, 2007
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
2007 Mid-Winter Tour: IRA Essentials
in Louisiana on March 20, 2007
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
2007 Mid-Winter Tour: IRA Essentials
in Pennsylvania on March 22, 2007
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
COBRA for Rookies -- The Basics, With Play-by-Play Commentary
Nationwide on March 8, 2007
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
Savings & Retirement Symposium
in District of Columbia on March 1, 2007
presented by Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA)
Webcast: Keeping the Fiduciary from the Judiciary: Fiduciary Issues under PPA
Nationwide on February 21, 2007
presented by ASPPA (American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries)
Newly Posted Press Releases
Success in Alternative Investments Requires Focus on Governance
Watson Wyatt
Institutional Investor & Retirement Organizations Partner to Form New National Non-Profit
NASRA (National Association of State Retirement Administrators)
Finally, A Reason to Feel Good About Healthcare
Principal Financial Group
Assist America Global Emergency Services Become Available in China through China Assist; Landmark Approval Allows U.S.-Based Assistance Services to be Sold in the People’s Republic of China for the First Time Ever
Assist America, Inc.
Treasury Releases FY 2008 Blue Book
U.S. Department of Treasury
Ftwilliam.com announces the release of the 2007 PBGC Premium Forms
ftwilliam.com
ICMA-RC Adds Long-term Care Insurance to its Financial Planning Services Lineup
ICMA-RC
Personal Health Records As An Employee Benefit
MediKeeper
Retirement Advisors and Plan Sponsors Invited to Participate in First-of-its-Kind "Retirement Credential Survey"
Financial Service Standards, LLC.
Statement by William G. Gale, Director, The Retirement Security Project
Retirement Security Project
S4 Launches 'Count Us In! Campaign' to Keep Personal Retirement Accounts in the Budget
Students Saving for Social Security (S4)
Institutional Shareholder Services Launches Options Expensing Alert
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS)
Citibank(R) Helps Customers Save for Retirement Through New IRS Split Tax Refund Offering
Citibank
PBMI Drug Benefit Conference Fosters Better Benefit Decision-Making
Pharmacy Benefit Management Institute (PBMI)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Plan Document Specialist
for Louis Kravitz & Associates
in CA
Sr Employee Benefits Admin
for Raytheon
in VA
Account Manager for Retirement Plans
for Standard Insurance Company
in OR
Pension Administrator
for Truog-Ryding Company
in CA
Flex Claims Administrator
for Stanley Benefit Services, Inc.
in NC
Employee Services Call Center Representative
for Oasis Outsourcing, Inc.
in FL
Manager, Retirement Plan Servicing
for BOK Financial
in OK
Benefit Plan Administrator
for J. D. BENEFITS, INC
in NC
Operations Consultant
for ING Americas
in CT
Client Relationship Manager for TPA Firm in Oakland County, MI
for Freedom One Financial Group
in MI
Regional Director, Retirement Services
for Great-West Retirement Services
in IL
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
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