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| July 2, 2007 |
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San Francisco Paid Sick Leave Ordinance Update (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "[San] Francisco's Paid Sick Leave Ordinance went into effect on February 5, 2007 with a 'grace period' until June 6, 2007 to allow employers to establish and implement accrual and record-keeping systems. The grace period also allowed the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement ('OLSE') an opportunity to gather and respond to the numerous implementation questions that arose from employers attempting to comply with the intricacies of the new law." (Winston & Strawn LLP)
Overview of Changes to the Final Massachusetts Section 125 Cafeteria Plan Requirements
Excerpt: "The Massachusetts Health Care Reform Act generally requires each employer with more than 10 employees in the commonwealth to 'adopt and maintain a cafeteria plan that satisfies 26 U.S.C. 125 and the rules and regulations promulgated by the [Massachusetts Health Insurance Connector Authority].'" (Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.)
Additional Submissions Did Not Restart Period for Deciding Appeal of Disability Claims Case
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: Filing an incomplete disability claim appeal does not stop the running of the 45-day period for determining the appeal. As this court points out, the claims procedure regulations provide that the 45-day period for determining an appeal starts when the appeal is filed, 'without regard to whether all the information necessary to make a benefit determination on review accompanies the filing.'" (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.)
Disability Insurance Is Often Overlooked
Excerpt: "There are two major types of disability insurance. Short-term coverage, often offered by employers, covers the first part of a disability and may provide income for a week up to a year or two, depending on the policy." (The New York Times; free registration required)
Overview; Massachusetts Discrimination Law Preempted by ERISA in Same-Sex Benefits Case
Excerpt: "In the case of Partners Healthcare Sys. Inc. v. Sullivan, . . . the federal district court in Massachusetts has found that the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) may not investigate a reverse se.xual orientation discrimination claim that providing benefits to non-married same-sex couples, but not to non-married heterose.xuals, is discriminatory under Massachusetts discrimination law because such a claim is preempted by ERISA." (Workplace Prof Blog)
Civil Union Laws Don't Ensure Benefits
Same-sex New Jersey couples are finding that employers can get around the new rules. (The Washington Post; free registration required)
Court Blocks Massachusetts Benefits Discrimination Inquiry
Excerpt: "A federal judge in Massachusetts has blocked a state agency from looking into whether an employer ran afoul of state anti-discrimination law by providing benefits to same-sex domestic partners but not non-married heterose.xual couples." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Bill to Provide Paid FMLA Leave Introduced in Senate
Excerpt: "Legislation was introduced in the Senate . . . to create a program that would provide workers with eight weeks of paid leave for reasons allowed under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Paid Family Leave Dead in Oregon
Excerpt: "An effort to give working Oregonians a paid family leave program died June 28. The bill, passed by the House earlier . . . but turned down by the Senate . . ., failed to make it to the floor before the Senate adjourned for the session, according to Oregonian reporter Dave Hogan." (The Oregonian)
Retiree Health Benefits Funded by Contributions of Unused Sick and Vacation Leave Are Not Taxable
Excerpt: "The absence of employee choice (i.e., between taxable cash and nontaxable retiree health benefits) is what protected the retirees in this . . . ruling from taxation." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.)
National Review of HIPAA Compliance Finds Rampant Confusion and Mistakes
Excerpt: "Four years after the privacy rule went into effect, hospitals and other covered entities (CEs) are struggling with basic concepts that underlie compliance, such as what the 'minimum necessary' standard means. Mistrust among CEs is rampant, and many have implemented business practices in the name of privacy and security that have no basis in law." (Report on Patient Privacy via AISHealth.com)
Minnesota Is First State to Require Electronic Submission of All Health Transactions
Excerpt: "Minnesota is now the first state in the nation to require all health care payers and providers to submit claims and eligibility transactions electronically using a common format starting in 2009." (Minnesota Department of Health)
CMS Announces Delay of Websites to Retrieve NPI Information
Excerpt: "This delay is not surprising since the original 30-day deadline for the [availability from CMS of certain National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) data via the Internet] appeared a bit ambitious. It is important, however, for group health plans and other users of the NPPES websites that the information be correct and up-to-date." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.)
Google Launch of Health Advisory Panel Sparks Speculation
Excerpt: "Google . . . announced on its official blog the creation of a health care advisory panel, and recent speculation indicates that the company might be developing an application for patients to store their medical information online, the Wall Street Journal Health Blog reports." (California HealthCare Foundation; free registration may be required)
Massachusetts Seeks Cheap Health Care Insurance for Adults
Excerpt: "One of the toughest challenges is simply convincing younger people they need insurance. ''If you're young and healthy, it's not at the top of your mind,'' said Larry Levitt with the Kaiser Family Foundation, a California-based nonprofit health policy foundation. ''Young people frankly don't think about catastrophic coverage and don't think about access to the system for routine coverage.''" (AP via The New York Times; free registration required)
Massachusetts Universal Care Plan Faces Hurdles
Excerpt: "People who must pay the full cost themselves, who are crucial to the success of the nation's most ambitious effort to achieve near-universal coverage, may now be a majority of the state's uninsured and not all are rushing to get coverage." (The New York Times; free registration required)
Part D Sponsors Scramble to Make Changes on 2008 Formularies
Excerpt: "Medicare Part D sponsors burned the midnight oil to meet CMS's April 16 deadline for submitting 2008 Part D formularies -- a process that industry observers and executives say was made tougher by the agency's delayed announcement of changes to formulary submission requirements." (DRUG BENEFIT NEWS via AISHealth.com)
2008 Medicare Part D Bids Resemble those of 2007; Modest Premium Hikes Are Likely
Excerpt: "Medicare Part D bids for calendar year 2008 products have come in approximately where they did last year -- between $80 and $82, as the calculated average per-member per-month cost to provide the standard benefit, according to industry analysts." (MEDICARE PART D COMPLIANCE NEWS via AISHealth.com)
Richard Branson on His Plans for a Healthier Workforce
Excerpt: "The Virgin Group founder and chairman took his global brand into the U.S. health care market in 2006 when he launched Virgin Life Care, which offers programs for employers to give incentives -- free movie tickets, music, clothing -- to employees who live healthy lifestyles." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
Strategies for Improving the Stop-Loss Coverage that Provides Protection from Large Claims Costs (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "This Public Sector Letter provides an overview of available stop-loss coverage options, discusses strategies for avoiding potential coverage gaps and other common pitfalls, and illustrates what plan sponsors can expect from today's dynamic stop-loss market." (The Segal Group, Inc.)
Massachusetts Begins Universal Health Care
Excerpt: "Making insurance mandatory -- and more affordable -- for Massachusetts's 6.5 million residents is the centerpiece of a law approved by the legislature last year that civic and business leaders hope will dramatically reduce the ranks of the state's 400,000 uninsured and the number of people who seek costly 'uncompensated' care in hospital emergency rooms." (The Washington Post; free registration required)
Opinion: Look at Health Data, Not Propaganda
Excerpt: "America's health care woes all could be solved with a government-run universal-coverage system. Or so says Michael Moore in his new film, Sicko, which claims that even Cuba's health care system is superior to ours." (The Baltimore Sun)
Opinion: Michael Moore's SiCKO Misses Facts
Excerpt: "Michael Moore's new movie, SiCKO, should be called 'SKiPO,' since it skips over so many vital facts en route to government medicine." (National Review Online)
Opinion: Michael Moore and I Agree! (Sort Of)
Excerpt: "When we spoke before the D.C. premiere, you apologized for leaving a clip of me on the cutting room floor, and suggested that we get together sometime to discuss health care reform. I'll forgive you for the former if you'll make good on the latter. We may not agree on everything, but we share a sharp distaste for the status quo." (Michael F. Cannon via Cato Institute)
San Francisco Will Try Its Own Health Care Solution
Excerpt: "As the national debate rages over how to fix the country's broken health care system -- with 2008 presidential candidates offering up their solutions and Michael Moore's documentary 'Sicko' opening -- San Francisco will become the first city in the country to actually try to solve the problem itself." (San Francisco Chronicle via Scripps Howard News Service)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Commentary: Consequences of a Graying World
Excerpt: "Numerous studies have estimated the probable impact of population aging, from the potentially devastating effects on an unprepared welfare state to shortages of blood for transfusions. Pension provisions will be stretched to the limit. The traditional model of the working young paying for the retired old will not work if the latter group is twice the size of the former." (The Christian Science Monitor via RAND)
Judge Refuses to Dismiss Grace Age-Based Firing Suit
Excerpt: "A suit alleging a company violated federal laws by firing an employee shortly before he became eligible for increased retirement payments has survived its first major legal challenge." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Subpoena for Advisers on Salaries
Excerpt: "Towers Perrin, one of the nation's largest executive pay consulting firms, was subpoenaed by a House committee after it failed to comply with a request for information about potential conflicts in its compensation consulting business." (The New York Times; free registration required)
An Overview of Perks in the Workplace
Excerpt: "[A]ny discussion of perks would not be complete without mentioning San Francisco's very own Google. Recently named the best company to work for by Fortune Magazine, this place exceeds any expectations of employee benefits. In addition to the standard rota of 401(k) plans and health insurance coverage, their offices have coin-free washers and dryers, an on-site doctor, and employees can partake in daily free lunch and dinner from any one of eleven cafeterias." (The Examiner)
Little Change in Benefit Packages This Year, According to Survey
Excerpt: "Overall, employee benefits remained relatively stable from 2006 to 2007, despite a slight decrease in financial and compensation benefits, according to a comprehensive benefits survey released [last] week by the Society for Human Resource Management." (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)
Newly Posted Events
From "Required" to "Inspired": Moving Beyond the PPA '06 Rules of Participant Communications Teleweb
Nationwide on July 26, 2007
presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
National Employee Benefits Web Summit
in California on July 23, 2007
presented by Healthcare Web Summit
Newly Posted Press Releases
President Names Chair, Two Members To PBGC Advisory Committee
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)
The Online 401k Partners With Two Additional Financial Advisors
The Online 401(k)
MainStay to Launch Target Date Retirement Fund Series
New York Life Investment Management
Heinz Foundation/Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement Releases 'How To' on Retirement
Heinz Family Philanthropies
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
(Post a Job | View All Jobs)
Tax Manager - Employee Benefits, Global Employment Services
for Deloitte & Touche, LLP
in FL, GA
Pension Administrator
for Block Consulting Actuaries, Inc.
in CA
Account Relationship Manager
for Beneco, Inc.
in AZ
Employer Products & Sales Director
for Sutter Health
in CA
Pension Administrator
for Highly Respected Independent Pension Consulting Firm
in CA
Pension Actuary
for Chicago Suburban Pension Firm
in IL
Employee Benefits Consultant / Client Relationship Manager
for The Segal Company
in TX
Defined Benefit Administration Specialist
for Consulting Actuaries Incorporated
in NJ
Client Management
for Benefit Jobs LLC
in ANY STATE
Manager, Leave and Disability
for Administaff
in TX
Product Manager - OmniPlus
for Administaff
in TX
Associate Consultant - Defined Contributions
for Segal Advisors
in NY
Pension Administrator
for Jim Hallinan Pension Consulting, LLC
in
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