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| June 5, 2007 |
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A Work in Progress: July 1 Requirements of The Massachusetts Health Care Reform Act (PDF)
7 pages. Excerpt: "Effective July 1, 2007, employers with more than 10 full-time equivalent employees working in Massachusetts . . . must adopt, maintain and file with the state a cafeteria plan that fulfills the requirements of Section 125 of the federal Internal Revenue Code (Tax Code) and the rules and regulations of the Massachusetts Connector." (Seyfarth Shaw LLP)
One-Third of American Workers Won't Use All of Their Vacation Time This Year
Excerpt: "This year an estimated 51 million Americans -- more than one-third of the workforce -- will not use all their vacation days, according to a survey by Expedia.com. In what the company calls 'vacation deprivation,' each worker will pass up an average of three days off." (The Christian Science Monitor)
Establishment of Websites to Retrieve NPI Information Announced
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: Group health plans always have the option of asking a medical provider directly for its NPI, when the NPI is needed for a standard transaction and the provider is a covered entity under HIPAA. However, these web tools should be helpful alternative methods for obtaining NPIs and other basic information about medical providers for HIPAA standard transactions." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.)
CalPERS to Invest in Containing Health Costs
Excerpt: "The nation's largest public pension fund already wields its huge clout to get the lowest possible rates and best healthcare coverage for 1.2 million government workers and retirees. But now the California Public Employees' Retirement System wants to drive down soaring medical costs even more by investing $700 million in cutting-edge companies that find new ways to make medical care more efficient." (Los Angeles Times; free registration required)
Regina Herzlinger - Health Care Heretic
Excerpt: "Mrs Herzlinger is America's leading advocate of market-driven, consumer-orientated health reform. . . . Now comes her latest salvo. 'The US health-care system is in the midst of a ferocious war. Four armies are battling to gain control: the health insurers, hospitals, government and doctors,' she writes at the start of her new book, 'Who Killed Health Care?'." (The Economist)
New Product for Self-Insured Florida Employers Will Limit Health Cost Increases or Make Refunds
Excerpt: "Humana on Friday unveiled a health insurance product for self-insured employers in Florida with 300 or more employees that will limit annual increases in health care costs or refund employers a portion of administration fees charged by the company, the Orlando Sentinel reports." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Proposed Policy and Technical Changes to Medicare Part D Regulations, Including COB Provisions
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: Most of the changes in the proposed regulations are technical changes that won't have much practical impact on group health plan sponsors not seeking the retiree drug subsidy (e.g., no substantive changes were made to the creditable coverage disclosure notice provisions)." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.)
Opinion: Michael Moore's Sick RX
Excerpt: "While overly critical of U.S. health care, Moore overlooks the flaws of national health-care systems. He suggests, for example, that Can.ada's waiting lists are mere inconveniences, interviewing apparently healthy Canadians who claim they have no problem getting care. Yet nearly 800,000 Canadians aren't so lucky." (New York Post via Cato Institute)
American Benefits Council and ERIC Urge Congress to Preserve ERISA Preemption in Health Care
Excerpt: "[F]rom Spencer's Benefits Reports: Any efforts to improve coordination of federal and state initiatives for health care reform should be careful to avoid undermining the state law preemption provisions of ERISA, the American Benefits Council and the ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) told a House panel on May 22." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Investigators Find Gap in Stock Option Reporting
Excerpt: "There is a multibillion-dollar gap between what public companies book as expenses for their executives' stock options and what they report to the IRS under two different sets of rules, according to Senate investigators and a key senator who is seeking to change the reporting system." (AP via The Washington Post; free registration required)
How a Restrictive Executive Bonus Arrangement Benefits Everyone
Excerpt: "[The restrictive executive bonus arrangement (REBA), provides benefits to both parties involved - employee and employer - and lets you compensate selected executives through employer-paid premiums used to purchase insurance on the executive's life. " (Investment Advisor)
The Impact of IRS Final 409A Regs on U.S. Participants in Foreign Deferred Compensation Plans
Excerpt: "In a globalizing economy, many non-U.S. companies maintain deferred compensation arrangements in which U.S. citizens or residents participate, while many Americans participate in their foreign employers' plans. Section 409A is thus more than domestic tax law. . . . Some potential problems are ameliorated by the final regulations, but many complications and traps for the unwary remain." (Deloitte)
ERISA Plans As Contracts - Supplying the Missing Terms
Excerpt: "In Gilliam, the Ninth Circuit was asked to decide whether the district court properly determined that severance pay should not be included as wages in calculating benefits payable under a top hat plan." (Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)
MetLife Study Shows Employee Retention As Top Benefit Motive
Excerpt: "More than half of employers (55%) see employee retention as the most important reason for offering benefits, a recent report by MetLife found." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Code Provision Requiring IRS User Fees Made Permanent
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: Details about user fees can be found in Revenue Procedure 2007-8 (this year's version of the annual IRS release on the subject) and in the Instructions to IRS Form 8717 (User Fee for Employee Plan Determination, Opinion, and Advisory Letter Request)." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.)
The 2007 Benefits and Talent Survey
Excerpt: "In January 2007, Aon Consulting conducted a survey of 2,172 employers in the United States to examine what their current benefit and talent strategies are, as well as what actions they plan to take in the future to attract, retain, develop and reward employees. The survey focused on four areas of critical concern to employers -- health care, retirement, employee communication, and talent." (Aon Consulting; must register to receive full text of survey)
Newly Posted Events
Participant Benefit Statements - Where Do We Stand?
Nationwide on June 26, 2007
presented by SunGard Relius
The Final Regulation Under Section 409A: Nightmare or Opportunity? - Webcast
Nationwide on June 20, 2007
presented by Lorman Education Services
Newly Posted Press Releases
CIKR to Represent Independent 401(k) Plan Recordkeepers
Council of Independent 401(k) Recordkeepers (CIKR)
SSA's Office of Policy is Completing The Posting of the Annual Statistical Supplement, 2006.
Social Security Administration
Guardian Launches Pre-Paid MasterCard(R) Debit Card and Web Tools to Facilitate Use of Healthcare Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
Guardian
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
(Post a Job | View All Jobs)
Retirement Plan Consultant
for Valley Forge Pension Management, Inc.
in PA
Retirement Services Sales Consultant
for Administaff
in TX
Employee Benefits Analyst
for Foothill-De Anza Community College District
in CA
Admin assistant / account manager
for Boutique employee benefits office
in TX
Plan Administrator
for Sanders Petmecky, LLC
in GA
Retirement Plan Specialist
for SVA Retirement Plan Services, LLC
in WI
Client Relationship Manager - Atlanta, Georgia or Florida
for Transamerica Retirement Services
in FL, GA
HM Benefits Service Manager
for Hewitt Associates
in NJ
Client Relations Manager/Enroller, Indianapolis, IN
for ING, Financial Services
in IN
Client Relationship Manager- Retirement Plans
for Pendleton Resources
in IL, NY
Assistant Benefits Department Manager
for Laborers' National Pension Funds
in DC
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
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