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| June 29, 2007 |
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Employers Lash Out at Moore's 'Sicko' Agenda
Excerpt: "Like a growing number of employer groups, filmmaker Michael Moore says he wants to fix America's $2 trillion health care system. But that's where the similarity ends." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
Text of IRS Correction to Proposed Reg. on Employer Comparable Contributions to HSAs (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "On page 30504, column 3, §54.4980G-4(f) Example 4., line 9 from the top of the column, the language 'February, 2008. Employer T satisfies the' is corrected to read 'February, 2010. Employer T satisfies the'." (Internal Revenue Service)
Benefits Questions and Answers on FSAs and HSAs
Excerpt: "[F]rom Spencer's Benefits Reports: [The target page presents] several recent questions that were submitted by subscribers and the answers from Spencer editors." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)
Putting Limits on Domestic Partner Benefits
Excerpt: "A federal judge in Massachusetts has ruled that the state's ban on workplace se.xual orientation discrimination is preempted by federal law in any dispute about who has eligibility under a benefit plan governed by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)." (G.ay City News)
COBRA Requirements May Apply to Employers Having Less Than 20 Employees
Excerpt: "If the employer does not have 20 or more employees, is a suit based on COBRA possible? Yes, in the view of the Sixth Circuit. The basis for this answer lies in the doctrine of equitable estoppel." (Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)
Confusion and Problems Are Resulting from HIPAA Minimum Necessary Standard
Excerpt: "[T]echnically, the minimum-necessary concept is not supposed to be applied to the disclosure of protected health information (PHI) for treatment purposes at all, although it is supposed to be applied to the use of PHI for treatment purposes." (Report on Patient Privacy via AISHealth.com)
Minnesota to Require Electronic Filing for Health Insurance Claims
Excerpt: "The Minnesota Department of Health . . . announced that Minnesota in 2009 will require all health care providers and insurers to file claims electronically in a standard format, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports." (iHealthBeat)
Cost and Quality Data Disclosures Can Provoke Provider Disputes
Excerpt: "A Pennsylvania report disclosing provider cost and quality data for certain surgical procedures has caused one hospital system to push Highmark Inc. for more equitable payments." (Managed Care Week via AISHealth.com)
Some Health Plans Are Not Tracking Per-Member, Per-Month Specialty Pharmacy Costs
Excerpt: "Health plans are struggling with tracking their per-member, per-month (PMPM) specialty drug costs as the number of therapies are increasing, according to the third annual edition of the EMD Serono Injectables Digest." (Specialty Pharmacy News via AISHealth.com)
Businesses Help Workers to Lose Weight
Excerpt: "A burgeoning industry of wellness advisers, counselors and consultants is booming as corporate America tries to increase productivity and control insurance costs by helping its employees get healthy and shed pounds." (AP via The Washington Post; free registration required)
A Great Consumer-Directed Plan Design Cannot Overcome Education Shortcomings
Excerpt: "Even a well-designed consumer-directed health (CDH) plan won't be effective at controlling health coverage costs or improving employee health if it isn't combined with a thorough and continuous education strategy, according to a new study from Towers Perrin." (INSIDE CONSUMER-DIRECTED CARE via AISHealth.com)
Discussion: Is There a Role for Markets in Health Care?
At a public policy symposium addressing the question of whether there is a role for markets in health care, the speakers were primarily from leading policy think tanks in the US, Can.ada, England and Europe. The target page highlights some of the comments made during the symposium. (Society of Professional Benefit Administrators)
Overview: Employers Face July 1 Deadline on Massachusetts Health Plan Mandate
Excerpt: "As of July 1, 2007, all employers with more than 10 full-time equivalent employees at locations in Massachusetts generally must have a 'cafeteria' plan that complies with Section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code and with regulations issued by the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority." (Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Fulfilling the Duty to Inform Employees of Their Rights in the Multilingual Workplace
Excerpt: "The diversification of the American workforce requires many employers to determine whether they have an obligation to ensure that their communications to employees are understood. Understood, in this context, may mean that the communication should be in a language other than English or even Spanish." (The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel)
Overview: Senate Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Taxation of Stock Options
Excerpt: "On June 5, the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs' Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held a hearing on executive stock options. The hearing focused on the mismatch between the expensing of stock options for financial reporting purposes and the tax treatment of those options." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)
Newly Posted Events
A Day with Sal Tripodi
in California on August 8, 2007
presented by National Institute of Pension Administrators
Discover How to Manage Your Consumers' Health Care Costs by Leveraging Consumer Directed Healthcare (CDH)
in California on July 18, 2007
presented by DST Health Solutions
Newly Posted Press Releases
HMOs Propose Highest Rate Increases in Four Years, According to Hewitt Analysis
Hewitt Associates LLC
NIPA Announces 2007-2008 Officers and Directors
National Institute of Pension Administrators
PBGC Protects Pensions At Malden Mills
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)
Tennessee Woman Indicted for Forgery and Theft from Union Pension Plan Following U.S. Labor Department Investigation
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
U.S. Labor Department Obtains Judgment to Restore Assets to Sandusky, Ohio-Based Pension Plan
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
Statement From The Pension Rights Center On The Introduction Of The Restoring Pension Promises To Workers Act Of 2007
Pension Rights Center
Aon Consulting Announces Appointment of U.S. Retirement Practice Leader
Aon Consulting
John Hancock Launches Newly Enhanced Corporate Solutions Program for Multi-Life Long Term Care Insurance Market
John Hancock Retirement Plan Services
Harkin Introduces Legislation To Ensure Retirement Security For American Workers
Office of Senator Tom Harkin
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
(Post a Job | View All Jobs)
Retirement Plan Writer
for The Capital Group Companies
in CA
Jr. Benefits Analyst
for JPMorgan Compensation and Benefit Strategies
in IL
Senior Communications Development Account Manager
for New York Life Investment Management - Retirement Plans Services
in MA
Pension Administrator
for R-Tech Consultants, Inc.
in CA
Benefits Administrator
for Northwestern Benefit Corporation of Georgia
in GA
Pension Benefit Advisor (PA/Upstate NY Region)
for The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America
in DC, DE, MD, NJ, NY, PA
Plan Administrator
for Beneco, Inc.
in AZ
Retirement Plan Manager
for The Capital Group Companies
in VA
Senior Manager, Retirement Plans
for The Capital Group Companies
in VA
Account Executive - Retirement Service
for The Principal Financial Group
in MI
HRIS/Benefits Specialist
for The Urban Institute
in DC
Sr. Consultant - Relationship Manager
for Westminster Consulting
in CT, NJ, NY
Actuarial Analyst
for Dorsa Consulting
in FL
Calc Engine Analyst -BIG
for Hewitt Associates
in IL
Benefits Manager
for Friedkin Companies, Inc.
in TX
Programmer Analyst -BIG
for Hewitt Associates
in TX
Omni Business Analyst
for Group H, Inc.
in ANY STATE, AL, CO, GA, NC, NY, OH
Administrator - Retirement Services
for Aris Corporation of America
in PA
BIG: Client Acceptance Mgr-DB
for Hewitt Associates
in IL
Health & Welfare System Configuration Analyst
for Hewitt Associates
in ANY STATE
H&W Systems Analyst - BIG
for Hewitt Associates
in ANY STATE
BIG: Client Acceptance Manager -Health & Welfare
for Hewitt Associates
in ANY STATE
Client Acceptance Analyst -Benefits
for Hewitt Associates
in ANY STATE
Health & Welfare Implementation Requirements Analyst - BIG
for Hewitt Associates
in ANY STATE
Relationship Manager
for Pension Specialists, Inc.
in IL
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
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