| BenefitsLink Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter |   |
April 19, 2007
Sponsored by: Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
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| Record Retention Requirements for Health & Welfare Plans |
| In Record Retention Requirements for Health & Welfare Plans, EBIA's experts analyze record retention requirements for ERISA health and welfare plans as well as other employer-provided health and welfare benefits not subject to ERISA. You'll find answers to your record retention questions for many benefits including cafeteria plans, DCAPs, qualified transportation plans, HSAs, group health plans (like major medical, dental, health FSAs, and HRAs), and other ERISA benefits.
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Large Companies Plan to Keep Offering Health Care Coverage to Employees, According to Survey
Excerpt: "While some companies have been trimming health benefits and raising copays, none of the large-company human resources executives surveyed said their organization would be less involved in health care benefits over the next three to five years than they are today, according to the survey by human resources consultant Hewitt Associates LLC." (The Washington Post; free registration required)
Paying Lower-Paid Employees' Health-Care Premiums Is Good for Business, Redwoods Says
Excerpt: "The company now pays the full health-insurance premiums for employees who make $35,000 a year or less, as well as for their children. Workers who make up to $40,000 a year have 90 percent of their premiums paid." (The News & Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina))
Prescription Drug Costs Cause Some High-Deductible Plan Members To Stop Treatment, Report Says
Excerpt: "Some patients enrolled in high-deductible health plans fill fewer prescriptions for medications rather than switching from brand-name drugs to generic versions, according to a report released . . . by Express Scripts, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
OPM Revises Rules on Extending Health Benefits to Certain Retirees
Excerpt: "The Office of Personnel Management is giving itself more leeway to decide whether to grant health insurance benefits to retirees who ordinarily wouldn't qualify." (FederalTimes.com)
Health Plan Sponsors Prepare for May 23, 2007, Deadline on HIPAA National Provider Identifiers
Excerpt: "Health plan sponsors that conduct HIPAA EDI standard transactions should continue their efforts to use NPIs instead of existing legacy identifiers by the deadline. The NPI will replace legacy identifiers, not the provider's Tax Identification Number (TIN), which will also be required on claims transactions." (The Segal Group, Inc.)
Official Stresses: Don't Reinvent the Wheel As National IT Network Progresses
Excerpt: "The HIPAA rules . . . 'are really going to help facilitate this endeavor' and are 'not an obstacle' to the creation of the NHIN. That's because HIPAA was so historic, in setting a national privacy 'floor' for standards to protect patient data . . . . And the rules already addressed many of the balances between access and protection that are coming to the fore now, according to [the official]." (REPORT ON PATIENT PRIVACY via AISHealth.com)
Indiana Legislation Could Force Blues Plans to End 'Most Favored Nations' Clauses
Excerpt: "A recently passed bill awaiting Indiana Gov. Mitchell Daniels Jr.'s (R) possible signature would end Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Indiana's ability to write provider contracts with 'most favored nation' (MFN) clauses. The clauses ensure a health plan receives a discount from providers equal to or greater than that received by other health plans." (The AIS Report on Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans via AISHealth.com)
Canadian Health Care Just As Good, Costs Half As Much As in U.S., Report Says
Excerpt: "Can.ada's health system is as good or better than that of the United States and is delivered at half the cost, new research suggests. A review in the inaugural issue of online medical journal Open Medicine, which was launched yesterday by a group of doctors who left the Canadian Medical Association Journal last year over an editorial dispute, examined the results of 38 major studies that compared health outcomes of patients in the two countries." (The Ottawa Citizen via California Nurses Association / National Nurses Organizing Committee)
Women and Health Coverage: The Affordability Gap
Excerpt: "Although men and women have some similar challenges with regard to health insurance, women face unique barriers to becoming insured. More significantly, women have greater difficulty affording health care services even once they are insured." (The Commonwealth Fund)
Opinion: Five Steps to Improve the Massachusetts Plan
Excerpt: "Conclusion. Mandated benefits and regulations have driven up the cost of health insurance in Massachusetts. Deregulating the market to allow competition in the design of health plans would make more affordable coverage available. Requiring people to buy additional insurance is likely to lead to a rise in the number of uninsured and an increase in the cost to taxpayers to subsidize their coverage." (National Center for Policy Analysis)
Opinion: We Are Prisoners of Health Care
Excerpt: "We all know that information is power. When it comes to health care, information is what turns 'passive users' of benefits into informed benefit 'consumers.' As in 'The Prisoner,' we may want information, but we won't get it." (Corey Sherman via BenefitNews.com)
High-Deductible Health Plan Enrollment Triples in Large Group Market, According to AHIP
Excerpt: "More than 2 million lives are covered by an health savings account (HSA)-compatible high-deductible health plan (HDHP) offered in the large-group market -- triple the enrollment a year ago, according to data released this month by the trade group America's Health Insurance Plans." (INSIDE CONSUMER-DIRECTED CARE via AISHealth.com)
Mental Health Parity Bill Back on the Table for Discussion
Excerpt: "Federal lawmakers are revisiting legislation to ensure health insurance providers offer equitable coverage to people with mental illnesses." (Employee Benefit News)
CRS Report for Congress: Regulation of Health Benefits Under ERISA: An Outline (PDF)
6 pages. Excerpt: "This report discusses certain health benefit requirements under ERISA, as well as proposed legislation in the 110th Congress that would affect the provision of health benefits." (Congressional Research Service)
Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide Updated April 17, 2007, for Health and Welfare Plans (PDF)
16 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)
Employer Promotes Work-Life Balance
Excerpt: "Among . . . innovative employers . . . is Minneapolis-based business consulting and tax firm RSM McGladrey, which asks its employees to identify a personal life goal at the start of each year through its Work-Life Goal Setting Program." (Employee Benefit News)
ROI Calculations Lacking Outside Health Programs
Excerpt: "Return-on-investment calculations are common for health plans, disease management programs and wellness programs. But what about other benefits, like dental, vision and disability insurance, employee assistance programs and retirement plans?" (Employee Benefit News)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Claims Denials: Denial Letter Must Properly State Reason
Excerpt: "The district court concluded that Sun Life's determination that Wenner was no longer disabled was arbitrary and capricious. This decision was based upon the administrative record." (Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)
Overview of Final Nonqualified Deferred Compensation (409A) Regulations with a Focus on SERPs
Excerpt: "In this article we are going to focus only on the application of these new rules to retirement plans, which from now on we're just going to call SERPs. (SERP stands for supplemental executive retirement plan, and while, technically, there are a variety of nonqualified deferred compensation plans besides SERPs that provide retirement benefits, a lot of people use the term SERP to stand for any nonqualified retirement plan.)" (CCA Strategies)
Managing Benefit Changes Effectively: Why It Matters
Excerpt: "What gets less attention is the role benefits play in influencing employee views of the organization overall and the related issue of how changes in benefits affect employee behavior. While benefits don't necessarily drive engagement directly, the way benefit change is managed can make a difference. It can enhance, or undermine, the kind of trust that leading employers depend on to engage the workforce and build a performance-oriented culture." (Towers Perrin)
Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide for April 17, 2007, on Human Resources & Employment Law (PDF)
12 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)
Overview: Final Code Section 409A Regs: What's New, What's Not Covered and What Do You Do Now? (PDF)
Excerpt: "The final regulations are generally applicable January 1, 2008, with delayed compliance dates for certain collectively bargained plans or arrangements." (Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP)
Overview: Key Changes, Surprises and Opportunities in the Final 409A Regulations
Excerpt: "Taxpayers have until December 31, 2007, to make any necessary amendments to plans to comply with the final regulations -- the IRS has stated that this deadline will not be extended." (McDermott Will & Emery)
Newly Posted Events
Employee Benefits Update
in Illinois on May 17, 2007
presented by McGladrey & Pullen, LLP
How To Cope With The Final 409A Regulations - eLunch
Nationwide on May 1, 2007
presented by Winston & Strawn
IRA Elements 2007 -- Essential Elements of Periodic Training - Advanced
in Texas on May 23, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services
IRA Elements 2007 -- Essential Elements of Periodic Training - Advanced
in Indiana on May 24, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services
IRA Elements 2007 -- Essential Elements of Periodic Training - Beginner
in Indiana on May 23, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services
IRA Elements 2007 -- Essential Elements of Periodic Training - Beginner
in Louisiana on May 24, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services
IRA Elements 2007 -- Essential Elements of Periodic Training - Beginner
in Texas on May 24, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services
IRA Elements 2007 -- Essential Elements of Periodic Training-Beginner
in Michigan on May 24, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services
Navigating Form 5500 for Health & Welfare Plans -- A Guided Tour for Employers and TPAs
Nationwide on May 17, 2007
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
Newly Posted Press Releases
ERIC Applauds Senate Holding the Line Against Drug Price Controls
ERIC (ERISA Industry Committee)
NCOA's BenefitsCheckUp Wins World Wide Web Health Award
National Council on Aging (NCOA)
Buck Consultants Survey: 2007 Health Care Costs Will Continue to Outpace Inflation
Buck Consultants, an ACS Company
CalChamber-Sponsored Flexible Workweek Bill Would Give Employers and Employees Much Needed Flexibility
California Chamber of Commerce (CalChamber)
Trion(tm) Selects Benefits Consultant Marie J. Killian to Lead its Integrated Health and Productivity Management Team
Trion
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Defined Benefit Software Customer Support
for DATAIR Employee Benefit Systems, Inc.
in IL
Defined Contribution Software Customer Support
for DATAIR Employee Benefit Systems, Inc.
in IL
Business Development Manager
for SunGard ProNvest
in GA
Compliance Analyst
for Administaff
in TX
401(k) Administrator
for Tofias PC
in MA
Defined Benefit Specialist
for Lynchval Systems Worldwide Inc.
in VA
Senior Marketing Manager
for Transamerica
in CA
Relationship Manager - Defined Contribution Plans
for Vanguard
in AZ
Director of Retirement Sales
for Leading Financial Services Firm
in MA
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
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