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June 25, 2007
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Keeping Early Retirees Afloat -- Corporate America Steps Up
Excerpt: "What with years of layoffs, employee buyouts and sending jobs offshore, corporate America has helped create a pool of about 800,000 early retirees who now find themselves in a health care bind. They are no longer eligible for employer insurance programs, too young to qualify for Medicare and unable to afford private insurance on their own. But now corporate America, having created the problem, is trying to help solve it." (The New York Times; free registration required)

Presentation: ERISA Preemption and Massachusetts Health Care Reform (PDF)
15 pages. Excerpt: "Could spend the rest of today and tonight discussing the various twists and turns about whether a state law 'relates' to an ERISA plan: Key cases are: Shaw v. Delta Airlines (463 U.S. 85 (1983)); Travelers Insurance Co. (514 U.S. 645 (1995)); Egelhoff v. Egelhoff (532 U.S. 141 (2001))" (Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP)

The Case of the FMLA-Savvy Employer
Excerpt: "Reviewing FMLA case law is a little like playing Monday morning quarterback. One analyzes mistakes and ponders what might have been. Thus, it is refreshing to find a case where an employer took a firm stand on FMLA, based on thorough policies and excellent documentation, and prevailed." (infinisource)

Self-Funded ERISA Plan TPA - No Fiduciary Duty to Notify Participants of Employer's Failure to Fund
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: This is yet another example of a lawsuit alleging that TPAs are ERISA fiduciaries because of their roles in the claims process. Some courts, as in this case, have found that TPAs that perform administrative services in conformity with plan rules do not possess the requisite discretion to qualify as an ERISA fiduciary." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.)

Gross Misconduct Requires More Than Mere Negligence or Incompetence
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: Courts continue to struggle with the lack of clear guidance and sparse case law on the standard to apply in gross misconduct cases. Factual disputes can often preclude either side from obtaining judgment without a trial and costly litigation frequently ensues when a gross misconduct termination is involved." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.)

Opinion: Health Care Menu Prices Continue to Overwhelm Us
Excerpt: "It is an amazing fact that nearly $3 trillion of health-care goods and services are ordered off a menu that has no prices on it." (Missoulian)

Medical Errors, Also Known As 'Never Events,' Come in Many Forms
Excerpt: "Preventable medical errors cost employers billions of dollars a year. Now, some firms are standing up to the medical establishment, saying they'll refuse to pay for botched treatment and demanding high standards of care and safety." (Workforce Management; free registration required)

Health Care in Cuba More Complicated Than in 'SiCKO'
Excerpt: "Hospitals in Cuba are often shabby and badly-lit, and lack equipment and medicines. But the health system built by President Fidel Castro's government has produced results on a par with rich nations using the resources of a developing country." (Reuters via The New York Times; free registration required)

Chart: Health Benefit Costs and Establishment Size, March 2007
Excerpt: "The average cost to employers in private industry for health insurance benefits was $1.83 per hour worked (7.1 percent of total compensation) in March 2007." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Skyrocketing Premiums and Drug Prices Going Right Through the Roof
Excerpt: "Larry Little is among the nation's early retirees who are barely clinging to their health insurance. Mr. Little says he chose one of his company's best health plans when he retired in 2004 at age 55 after 32 years as a tire factory worker in Charlotte, N.C. But now, the plan's fees have soared and he is having a hard time paying his bills." (The New York Times; free registration required)

Rep. Stark Proposes Changes to Improve Comparison of Medicare Prescription Drug Plans
Excerpt: "House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chair Pete Stark (D-Calif.) at a hearing . . . said that he might push for measures this summer that would increase oversight of Medicare prescription drug plans, CQ HealthBeat reports." (Kaiser Family Foundation)

For Filmmaker, 'Sicko' Is a Jumping-Off Point for Health Care Change
Excerpt: "As he moved from Sacramento to New York and on to Washington this week, Mr. Moore has not just set out to sell tickets to 'Sicko,' his cinematic indictment of the American health care system. He has also pushed his prescription for reform: a single-payer system, with the government as insurer, that would guarantee access to health care for all Americans and put the private insurance industry out of business." (The New York Times; free registration required)


Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Sixth Circuit Expands Rule Governing Plan Versus SPD Conflicts
Excerpt: "In this recent Sixth Circuit opinion, the Court expands its prior holding that summary plan description language prevails over conflicting plan language to include instances in which the SPD conflicts with a conflicting plan interpretation." (Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)

GAO Testimony: Social Security Numbers - Use is Widespread and Protection Could Be Improved (PDF)
18 pages. Excerpt: "[T]he potential for misuse of the SSN has raised questions about how private and public sector entities obtain, use, and protect SSNs. Accordingly, this testimony focuses on describing the (1) use of SSNs by government agencies, (2) use of SSNs by the private sector, and (3) vulnerabilities that remain to protecting SSNs." (U.S. Government Accountability Office)

MetLife's 5th Annual Study of Employee Benefits Trends
Excerpt: "This year's findings make a compelling case that benefits strategy holds the key to one of employers' most pressing challenges: the need to recruit and retain the best talent in an increasingly competitive labor market." (Metropolitan Life Insurance Company)


Newly Posted Events

Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans; 138th Full Council Meeting; Notice of Meeting
in District of Columbia on July 11, 2007
presented by U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans; Working Group on Fiduciary Responsibilities Update and Revenue Sharing; Notice of Meeting
in District of Columbia on July 11, 2007
presented by U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans; Working Group on Financial Literacy; Notice of Meeting
in District of Columbia on July 10, 2007
presented by U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans; Working Group on Participant Benefit Statements; Notice of Meeting
in District of Columbia on July 12, 2007
presented by U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

Hearing on Computer Model Investment Advice Programs for IRAs
in District of Columbia on July 31, 2007
presented by U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)


Newly Posted Press Releases

ExpertPlan Jumps into Mid to Large Size Retirement Market, Hires Industry Veteran
ExpertPlan

New Fiduciary Education Campaign Announced by Presidium Retirement Advisers
Presidium Retirement Advisers, Inc.

Employer Costs For Employee Compensation - March 2007
U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics


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