BenefitsLink |   |
| May 31, 2007 |
Sponsored by: The Center for Tax Law and Employee Benefits at The John Marshall Law School
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
| Enhance Your Employee Benefits Career |
| The John Marshall Law School Center for Tax Law and Employee Benefits invites you to improve your marketability by earning an advanced degree in Employee Benefits in the heart of Chicago. We offer an M.S. degree in Employee Benefits for non-attorney benefits professionals and an LL.M. degree in Employee Benefits for attorneys. Attend an Information Session Monday, June 11 at noon or 5 p.m. Visit www.jmls.edu/employee.html for more information. |
Text of Prop. Regs. on Employer Comparable Contributions to Health Savings Accounts Under Sec. 4980G (PDF)
15 pages. Excerpt: "This document contains proposed regulations providing guidance on employer comparable contributions to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) under section 4980G in instances where an employee has not established an HSA by December 31st and in instances where an employer accelerates contributions for the calendar year for employees who have incurred qualified medical expenses. In general, these proposed regulations affect employers that contribute to employees' HSAs." (Internal Revenue Service)
Report Says All Insurers Should Cover Smoking Cessation Programs
Excerpt: "All insurers, both public and private, should be required to cover smoking cessation as a lifetime benefit, the federal government's advisory body on medical matters says in a report on reducing tobacco use. In its report, 'Ending the Tobacco Problem: A Blueprint for the Nation,' the Institute of Medicine also calls for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to be given broad powers over how tobacco products are marketed, packaged, and sold." (BestWire Services via Human Resource Executive Online; free registration required)
Social Security Disability Claims Process Change May Affect Employers' Disability Plans' Cash Flow
Excerpt: " If disabled workers receive their payments faster, companies whose disability plans are integrated with Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) should receive offsets to their disability benefit payouts more quickly as well." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)
Michigan Supreme Court to Hear Same-Sex Benefits Case
Excerpt: "The Michigan Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal of a ruling that blocks public universities and state and local governments from providing health insurance benefits to the partners of g.ay workers." (LexisNexis via International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)
Paid Sick Leave: Putting Legislative Preferences before Individual Preferences
Excerpt: "Paid sick leave is rapidly becoming the next big legislative trend. . . . Because this is a relatively new policy, there is little research examining its effects." (Employment Policies Institute)
New Jersey Family Leave Bill Nears Vote: Amended Measure Would Allow Up to 10 Weeks Off with Pay
Excerpt: "After a decade of lobbying, legislation that could make New Jersey the second state to provide paid leave so workers can care for sick family members, newborns or newly adopted children is ready for a vote by the full Senate." (The Star-Ledger; brief sign-in may be required)
Employers Seek Ways to Make Dental Coverage More Affordable
Excerpt: "Employers are using a variety of strategies to make dental coverage more affordable, such as requiring enrollees to shoulder a larger share of expenses for procedures and moving retirees into voluntary plans, according to employee benefit consultants. Plan sponsors also are adopting some dental plan features that allow members greater flexibility." (Managed Care Week via AISHealth.com)
Employer Group Health Benefits Costs Soaring, According to Survey
Excerpt: "Employee group health benefit costs for businesses continued a rapid increase over the past six months, and a majority of employers, regardless of size, paid a lot more to renew, a producer group reports. Those findings were contained in the spring Employee Benefits Market Survey by the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers (CIAB)." (The National Underwriter Company; free registration or paid subscription required)
Leading Prescription Benefit Managers
Excerpt: "In 2008, approximately 76 percent of drug spending for the non-Medicare population will be in private plans where pharmacy benefits are managed, and estimated total savings in drug costs from pharmacy benefit management will be $8.5 billion, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
Employers Focus on Value in Fostering Improved Employee Health Behaviors
Excerpt: "[F]rom Spencer's Benefits Reports: Employers' efforts to reduce health care costs increasingly are focused on providing incentives for healthier lifestyles and disease self-management, as well as adopting 'consumer-driven' approaches." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)
Working Out Helps the Workplace, According to Report
Excerpt: "When asked to identify the perceived benefits of their [wellness] initiatives, employers cited improved employee health, higher morale, lower medical claims, reduced absenteeism, increased productivity, and decreased turnover." (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
HealthPartners Launches New Worksite Wellness Program
Excerpt: "HealthPartners today announced a worksite wellness program that provides lower co-pays and co-insurance to employees who take a free health assessment and participate in any of more than 40 free health improvement and disease management programs. The program, called Healthy Benefits, is based on a pilot program that showed a significant reduction in medical costs for employers." (dBusinessNews)
New Indiana Law Could Show That Consumer-Directed Plans Work for the Poor and Uninsured
Excerpt: "A bill signed into law May 10 by Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) could help dispel the myth that consumer-directed health (CDH) coverage is only for the healthy and wealthy. The centerpiece of the new Indiana Check-Up law (HB 1678) . . . is a Personal Wellness Responsibility (POWER) account." (INSIDE CONSUMER-DIRECTED CARE via AISHealth.com)
More Health Insurers Offer Coaches for Clients to Live Better, Longer
Excerpt: "Health coaching is spreading as a growing number of companies and insurers try to play a more active role in helping their workers and members stay healthy and better manage chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. Health coaching services are typically provided on a voluntary basis through health insurance plans. Nearly all of the interaction between coach and client happens over the telephone." (The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Indiana Passes Legislation to Prompt Wellness Programs
Excerpt: "Lawmakers in Indiana passed legislation this month that will give some employers a tax incentive to provide health and wellness programs to their employees." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
New WellPoint Plan Makes Wellness Push - Program Lets Members Join Fitness Clubs for Free
Excerpt: "Want to join a gym but don't feel like splurging for the membership? No problem, if your company is one of a handful to offer a new wellness product that lets employees exercise at no charge. Called InTune, the program from Indianapolis-based insurance giant WellPoint Inc. is loaded with an array of services not unlike existing wellness offerings. Online and in-person coaching, diet advisers and holistic practitioners are among the benefits, for instance." (Indianapolis Business Journal)
Health Plans Offer Credit Lines and Credit Cards to Improve Customer Service
Excerpt: "More health insurers are offering credit cards or credit lines to enrollees in high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) in an effort to improve customer service and retention by making the benefit designs more user-friendly." (Managed Care Week via AISHealth.com)
Healthy Indiana Plan Lets Small Employers Band Together for Insurance
Excerpt: "The appeal of association health plans is that they allow companies to pool their health care dollars to gain bargaining power. For example, a pizza shop owner who employs five people might join with other independent restaurateurs to get a better deal than each business could on its own." (Indianapolis Business Journal)
Opinion: How The 'New Naders' and the Right Could Kill Health Reform
Excerpt: "Here's how health reform could die: The Republican Presidential candidates have remained silent on the topic for the most part. Come election season, the Democrats will have offered detailed plans that the GOP can then fire shots at each proposal in a leisurely manner. . . . Meanwhile the New Naders will be blasting the same plans from the right, which could rob them of much-needed support from the Democratic base." (The Huffington Post)
Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide Updated May 29, 2007, for Health and Welfare Plans (PDF)
19 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)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
What's Ahead for FASB and Balance Sheet Consolidation?
Excerpt: "[T]his article . . . focuses on balance sheet consolidation and its potential impact on leverage metrics." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)
Executive Compensation Provisions Dropped from Minimum Wage Package
Excerpt: "Provisions to cap annual deferrals under nonqualified deferred compensation (NQDC) arrangements and expand the number of workers covered by the $1 million cap on executive compensation were dropped from the minimum wage package." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)
Companies Omitting Specific Executive Pay Goals on Proxy Statements, According to Analysis
Excerpt: "Nearly half of U.S. companies have not disclosed the specific pay goals used in their executive compensation plans, according to an analysis by Watson Wyatt. The analysis of 2007 proxy statements found that 46 percent of the 100 large, publicly traded companies studied did not disclose the goals on which they based rewards under their 2006 annual incentive plans. Additionally, 45 percent did not include the goals for long-term incentive plans." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)
A Closer Look at Representative Claims by Plan Participants
Excerpt: "Deluca v. BCBSM shows in stark relief the distinction in outcomes between participant claims on behalf of an ERISA plan and those advanced as claims for individual relief." (Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)
Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide for May 29, 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)
Newly Posted Events
2007 Fall Forum
in Minnesota on September 10, 2007
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
2007 Fall Forum
in Massachusetts on October 15, 2007
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
2007 Fall Forum
in Nevada on October 29, 2007
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
2007 Fall Forum
in Texas on November 12, 2007
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
2007 Web/Telephone Seminar: Advanced Distribution Issues and Plan Loans
Nationwide on July 26, 2007
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
2007 Web/Telephone Seminar: Advanced Health Savings Accounts
Nationwide on July 12, 2007
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
2007 Web/Telephone Seminar: Basic IRAs
Nationwide on July 10, 2007
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
2007 Web/Telephone Seminar: Health Savings Account Market Entry
Nationwide on July 31, 2007
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
2007 Web/Telephone Seminar: Introduction to Health Savings Accounts
Nationwide on July 17, 2007
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
2007 Web/Telephone Seminar: Introduction to Qualified Retirement Plan Distributions
Nationwide on July 24, 2007
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
2007 Web/Telephone Seminar: IRA-to-IRA Transfers and Rollovers
Nationwide on July 19, 2007
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
9th Annual Conference of the Retirement Research Consortium
in District of Columbia on August 9, 2007
presented by Retirement Research Consortium
Broken Plan Basics: Using the EPCRS, DFVC and VFCP Toolboxes
Nationwide on June 26, 2007
presented by ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits
Cafeteria Plans for Rookies-- How to Play by the Rules and Keep the Umpires Happy
Nationwide on April 26, 2007
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
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)
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)
Practical Answers to Questions about Section 409A with Daniel Hogans - Webcast
Nationwide on June 12, 2007
presented by BNA, Inc.
ReDesigning Pension Plans and Executive Compensation Conference: New Rules, New Opportunities - Conference Recording And Materials Are Now Available
Nationwide on May 31, 2007
presented by BNA, Inc.
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
(Post a Job | View All Jobs)
Benefit Service Representative
for Leggette Actuaries, Inc.
in TX
Primary Administrator for Qualified Retirement Plans
for Kidder Benefits Consultants, Inc.
in IA
Qualified Plan Administrator
for BFP Associates
in MA
Pension Specialist
for Nationwide Insurance
in OH
Internal Sales Consultant
for Transamerica Retirement Services
in IL
Defined Contribution Advisor
for Mercer HR Consulting
in DC, MD, VA
Defined Benefit Actuarial Testing Consultant
for Fidelity Investments
in NC, NY
Sr Analyst, Executive Compensation
for The Washington Post Company
in DC
Director of Healthcare Delivery
for Culinary Fund
in NV
Retirement and Investment Consultant
for WEA Trust Member Benefits
in WI
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
Subscribe to the BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter, Too!
Sign-up form is at https://benefitslink.com/newsletter (free).
This newsletter is sent to you each workday except federal holidays.
This email has been published by:
BenefitsLink.com, Inc.
1298 Minnesota Avenue, Suite H
Winter Park FL 32789
(407) 644-4146
Fax: (407) 644-2151
David Rhett Baker, J.D., Editor
Copyright 2007 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.; except that you can forward this email in full (including this boilerplate part) or otherwise reprint this email in full (including this boilerplate part) without obtaining our permission.
Anyone can receive these emails; just have them sign up at this web page: https://benefitslink.com/newsletter/
Other useful links: