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| April 24, 2007 |
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Study Shows Overweight Workers Cost Employers More
Excerpt: "Overweight workers cost their bosses more in injury claims than their lean colleagues, suggests a study that found the heaviest employees had twice the rate of workers' compensation claims as their fit co-workers." (AP via The New York Times; free registration required)
Survey Shows Demand for Back-Up Dependent Care Rising
Excerpt: "Nearly 60% of employees or their spouses miss three to 10 days of work in the last year because they didn't have sufficient back-up child or elder care, according to a survey by Workplace Options (WPO)." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Editorial: NY Gov. Eliot Spitzer Will Soon Introduce a Bill to Legalize Same-Sex Marriage
Excerpt: "Mr. Spitzer would be the first governor in the nation to introduce a g.ay marriage bill." (The New York Times; free registration required)
Could Less Rigid Privacy Laws Have Prevented the Virginia Tragedy?
Excerpt: "One of these laws -- FERPA, otherwise known as the Buckley Amendment -- is unique to students and universities. But perhaps equally far-reaching in its implications is HIPAA, the four-year-old health-privacy law, which covers the medical records not just of students but of Americans generally." (Times Newspapers Ltd)
Web Site: HIPAA Privacy Compliance and Enforcement
Excerpt: "The Health Information Privacy Web site provides comprehensive information about the Privacy Rule, which creates important federal rights and requirements to protect the privacy of personal health information." (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services)
A Comparative Analysis of Claims-Based Tools for Health Risk Assessment
Excerpt: "[This report] evaluates the predictive accuracy of commercially available claims-based risk assessment tools. The report builds on the findings from previous related SOA studies completed in 1996 and 2002. The study was motivated by the continued growth and advancement in the use of health care predictive modeling since the 2002 study was completed. The report . . . provides a resource for organizations desiring to evaluate the appropriateness of the software tools for their needs." (Society of Actuaries)
Court Finds No Proof that Firing was Discriminatory
Excerpt: "The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) lawsuit by a former hotel manager with multiple sclerosis, who claimed she was fired because the company's health premium went up, not because of her poor performance." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Value Based Cost Sharing and Moral Hazard Theory: Medical Effectiveness in Insurance Benefits Design
Excerpt: "The conventional theory of optimal coinsurance rates in health insurance in the presence of moral hazard indicates that, in situations of equal risk characteristics, coinsurance should vary if the price-responsiveness or price-elasticity of demand for different medical services varies, and should be larger for the more price responsive services. An alternative theory called 'value-based cost sharing' indicates that coinsurance should be lower for services . . . ." (National Bureau of Economic Research; paid subscription or individual purchase required to retrieve full-text)
Video, Podcast, Transcript: Elements of State Health Reform: Individual and Employer Requirements
Excerpt: "The Kaiser Family Foundation and the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices [presented] a live, interactive webcast exploring approaches for expanding health coverage, including requirements on employers or individuals. An expert panel [discussed] state initiatives and legal considerations such as the federal ERISA law governing employer-provided benefits . . . ." (Kaiser Family Foundation and the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices)
Single Mothers in Singapore Now Entitled to Maternity Leave
Excerpt: "A prohibition against government-paid maternity leave for single mothers was lifted on January 22, 2007, when the state minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports announced the changes." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Executive Pay Limit Plan Dropped from Wage Bill
Excerpt: "A proposal to cap the amount of pay that executives can defer tax-free each year has been dropped from legislation that would raise the minimum wage, but the idea may resurface in future tax bills." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
Congressional Negotiators Drop NQDC Limit Provision from Bill
Excerpt: "U.S. House and Senate negotiators hammering out a small business relief compromise tax bill have dropped a provision that would have limited the amounts that can be shielded from tax under nonqualified deferred compensation plans . . . ." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Trustees' Projections Show Troubles Still Loom for Benefit Plans
Excerpt: "The new estimates, prepared by the trustees of the federal government's main entitlement programs for the elderly and the disabled, are broadly similar to projections from last year, but have become significantly more ominous over the last six years." (The New York Times; free registration required)
Status of the Social Security and Medicare Programs
This is a summary of the 2007 Annual Reports from the Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees. (U.S. Social Security Administration)
2007 Medicare Trustees Report
The 234 page 2007 Annual Report of the Boards of Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance and Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Funds was issued on April 23, 2007. (U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services)
Issue in Brief: Social Security's Financial Outlook: The 2007 Report in Perspective
Excerpt: "The bottom line is that the long-run outlook has remained virtually unchanged for the last thirteen years -- the system has a 75-year deficit equal to about 2 percent of taxable payrolls and the trust fund faces exhaustion in the early 2040s, after which the system will be able to pay only 75 percent of promised benefits. The clear message of the persistent deficits is that the financing shortfall should be eliminated . . . ." (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)
The 2007 OASDI Trustees Report
Excerpt: "The 2007 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Disability Insurance Trust Funds, was issued on March 31, 2007. The report presents the current and projected future financial status of the trust funds. [The 226 page report is also available as a PDF at http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/TR/TR07/tr07.pdf.]" (U.S. Social Security Administration)
Newly Posted Events
Before You Sign on the Dotted Line: Employment Agreements and Separation Pay Under the Final 409A Regulations - Webcast
Nationwide on April 24, 2007
presented by Venable LLP
Capturing Market Share Amid a Shifting Environment: Evidence-Driven Portfolio Optimization Strategies
in California on May 24, 2007
presented by Healthcare Web Summit
Newly Posted Press Releases
Statement of U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao Following Social Security and Medicare Board of Trustees Meeting
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
U.S. Labor Department Seeks Comments on Fee Disclosure for 401(k)-Type Plans
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
WFB Partners with Triveris to Integrate Delivery of Work/Life Resources and Personalized Preventive Care
Work & Family Benefits Inc.
Aon Consulting Names New National Defined Contribution Practice Leader
Aon Consulting
Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. Statement on the 2007 Social Security and Medicare Trust Fund Reports
U.S. Department of Treasury
GreatBanc Trust Company Named Independent Trustee of Newly Formed Tribune Company ESOP
GreatBanc Trust Company
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
(Post a Job | View All Jobs)
Asst. Director of Plan Administration - Defined Contribution Plans
for MidAmerica Administrative & Retirement Solutions, Inc.
in FL
Pension Manager - Retirement Consulting Group
for Fidelity Investments
in MA
Pension Analyst - Retirement Consulting Group
for Fidelity Investments
in MA
Tax Manager - Employee Benefits, Global Employment Services
for Deloitte & Touche, LLP
in FL, GA
Pension Services Consultant, ESG
for CUNA Mutual Group
in WI
Retirement Plan Consultant
for RBC Dain Rauscher
in CA
Retirement Plan Administrator
for DeSantiago Pension Consulting, LLC
in AZ
401(k) Plan Administrator
for Hicks Pension Group - Honolulu Hawaii
in HI
Omni Business Analyst
for Group H, Inc.
in ANY STATE, AL, CO, GA, NC, NY, OH
Vice President, Health & Welfare Advisory Services
for Sapers & Wallack, Inc.
in CT, MA, ME, NH, NY, RI, VT
401(k) Processor
for Leggette Actuaries, Inc.
in TX
Senior Plan Consultant
for July Business Services
in TX
Retirement Sales Representative
for Eide Bailly Employee Benefits
in MN
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
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