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| August 27, 2007 |
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AARP to Appeal Retiree Health Benefits Case to Supreme Court
Excerpt: "The AARP will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court a decision that validates federal regulations allowing companies to provide different health benefits to younger retirees and those eligible for Medicare." (Financial Week; free registration required)
The Price of Wellness in Colorado
Excerpt: "Proposals to bring better medical care to more Coloradans could cost more than $1 billion for families, employers, and the state and federal governments, according to an analysis released Tuesday. Colorado's 208 Commission - created by the legislature last year to develop health care reform ideas - is now plowing through an economic analysis of four very different ideas for changing health care." (The Denver Post)
Opinion: We Can't Afford to Not Have National Health Care
Excerpt: "To those who say we can't let the 'government run health care' and we should let the market solve our problem: 'Wake up. The market is the problem.' For-profit health care has been shown in numerous studies to be excessively costly, prone to abuse and fraud, and poorer quality." (Tallahassee Democrat via Physicians for a National Health Program)
Comment on the Lewin Group Analysis of Colorado Health Care Proposals
Excerpt: "The Lewin Group was engaged by the Colorado Blue Ribbon Commission for Health Reform to assist in developing and analyzing alternative proposals to expand health insurance coverage and reform the Colorado health care system." (Physicians for a National Health Program)
Survey: Awareness and Perceptions of the Movie 'Sicko'
Excerpt: "Among those familiar with 'Sicko,' 45% said they have had a discussion . . . about the U.S. health system as a result of the movie; 43% said they were more likely to think there is a need to reform the health system. About equal numbers believe the movie accurately represents problems in the U.S. health system versus overstating them. Still, 'Sicko' has not altered what have long been the fundamental factors shaping the public's views on health care . . . ." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Election 2008 -- Campaign Contributions, Lobbying, and the U.S. Health Sector
Excerpt: "What the next president of the United States does or does not advocate with regard to expanding coverage for the uninsured and reducing the costs of care may affect the health care system for years. Between January and June 2007 -- the latter being about 16 months before the election -- the presidential candidates raised more than $265 million." (New American Media via California Nurses Association / National Nurses Organizing Committee)
Overview: IRS's New Proposed Cafeteria Plan Regulations (PDF)
Excerpt: "The IRS recently issued new proposed regulations governing the operation of cafeteria plans under [IRC Section 125.] These regulations replace earlier proposed regulations and guidance issued since Section 125 was enacted in 1978. The proposed regulations generally are intended to apply for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2009, but can be relied on pending the issuance of final regulations. [Here is] a broad overview of cafeteria plan rules in the context of the new proposed regulations." (Buck Consultants)
Adding Hearing Benefits to Your Offerings
Excerpt: "Hearing loss is now the third most prevalent chronic health problem in the U.S., and most of it is treatable. It affects over 32 million of us . . . and it is estimated that this number will double in the next 15 years." (Insurance NewsNet)
Critics Question Healthy Lifestyle Incentive Plans
Excerpt: "A new wellness program launched by UnitedHealth Group has the benefits community in a quandary. Most experts agree with the objectives of the Vital Measures program, which combines a UnitedHealth-administered high-deductible plan with a supplemental plan administered by BeniComp Group that permits employees to 'buy down' their deductibles if they meet specified standards for non-tobacco use, body mass index, blood pressure and cholesterol." (Financial Week; free registration required)
Massachusetts Holds Hearing on Rule Requiring Certain Residents Pay Copayments, Deductibles To Receive Care
Excerpt: "Proposed rules in Massachusetts that would require some residents seeking no-cost care at hospitals to contribute deductibles and copayments would weaken the state's health care safety net, according to testimony given on Wednesday at a public hearing on the rule, the Boston Globe reports . . . ." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Ford and GM Ask UAW To Administer Health Care Benefits
Excerpt: "Ford Motor and General Motors officially have asked the United Auto Workers to assume responsibility for the health care benefits of more than 1.5 million working and retired employees, the Detroit News reports." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
No COBRA Penalties Awarded for Missing Information in Election Notice Where Employee Was Not Harmed
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: COBRA provides statutory penalties of up to $110 per day for failure to provide adequate initial and election notices. The plan sponsor in this case avoided a penalty award because the employee elected and received COBRA for the full 18-month maximum coverage period and thus was not harmed by the notice. Nevertheless, the notice in this case was missing two potentially important pieces of information." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.)
Eyes on California as Lawmakers Pursue a Health-Care Deal: Changes Could Set Tone for the Nation
Excerpt: "The adoption of a comprehensive plan to overhaul health care in a big, politically influential state probably would spur similar efforts around the country and increase pressure on presidential candidates to tackle the issue. It could also have an impact in Congress . . . ." (The Washington Post; free registration required)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Executive Misconduct: Recovering Amounts from Beneficiary Following Death
Excerpt: "A recent trial court decision serves as a reminder that it is easier to refuse to pay an amount than to recover it once it has been paid! The case is Miniace v. Pacific Maritime Association, 2007 WL 963160 (N.D. Cal. 2007). In Miniace, the court considered payments made to a beneficiary of a deceased executive under a split dollar life insurance arrangement." (The NASPP Advisor via Utz Miller & Kuhn, LLC)
Working Paper: Inequality and Mobility in Social Security Earnings Data since 1937
Excerpt: "This paper uses Social Security Administration longitudinal earnings micro data since 1937 to analyze the evolution of inequality and mobility in the United States. Earnings inequality follows a U-shape pattern, decreasing sharply up to 1953 and increasing steadily afterwards." (National Bureau of Economic Research; paid subscription or individual purchase required to retrieve fulltext)
Contribution Among ERISA Fiduciaries? - The Eighth Circuit Weighs In on the Issue
Excerpt: "Say an employer has to pay substantial sums in restitution and civil penalties for a fiduciary breach that it contends was caused, all or in part, by its third party administrator. Does ERISA provide a remedy? Most employers would probably think so - but this recent Eighth Circuit decision holds otherwise." (Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)
Top Attorneys Seek One-Year Delay on Section 409A
Excerpt: "The American Bar Association has suggested the agency set up a voluntary correction program for inadvertent violations. The IRS currently has no plans to provide such a program, and it's staying firm on its deadline. Spokesman Andrew Desouza said that while the IRS has received the letter and is reviewing it, the agency 'doesn't plan on extending the deadline.'" (Financial Week; free registration required)
California Supreme Court Says Employer Can Reduce Incentive Compensation by Expenses
Excerpt: "The California Supreme Court has ruled that incentive compensation plans that use calculations based on profits can subtract out certain expenses that are beyond an employee's control." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Where SPD & Plan Document Conflict, Participant Need Not Show Reliance on SPD in Order to Enforce Its Terms
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: The Fifth Circuit in this case notes that courts in other circuits have reached five different conclusions regarding whether an ERISA claimant must show reliance and/or prejudice when the terms of an SPD conflict with the plan itself. Although the Fifth Circuit sided with those courts that do not require a showing of reliance or prejudice, it expressly limited this holding to situations where the conflicting terms of the SPD unequivocally grant the employee a vested right to benefits." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.)
Newly Posted Events
ERISA Litigation Forum - Update on Stock Drop Litigation and Other Recent Developments
Nationwide on September 25, 2007
presented by Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP
Newly Posted Press Releases
New Poll on Awareness and Perceptions of the Movie "Sicko"
Kaiser Family Foundation
U.S. Labor Department Obtains Judgment Restoring More Than $600,000 To Profit-sharing Plan Of Orlando, Fla., Manufacturer
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
Prudential Names New President of Retirement Business
Prudential Financial, Inc.
BLAZE SSI Releases Profit Sharing Allocation Product
BLAZE SSI Corp.
Pentegra Retirement Services to Offer SSgA Index Funds
Pentegra Retirement Services
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
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Assistant Key Account Manager
for Transamerica Retirement Services
in CA
Vocational Case Manager
for Standard Insurance Company
in OR
Disability Benefits Analyst
for Standard Insurance Company
in NY
ERISA / Employee Benefits Attorney
for Faro Consultants International, LLC
in MN
Team Leader, New Business
for Standard Insurance Company
in PA
Retirement Plan Administrator
for Employee Fiduciary
in AL
Sr. Executive Compensation Analyst
for Marathon Oil Corp.
in TX
WRS Education Consultant
for Wachovia Corporation
in MN
Enrolled Actuary
for Chatham Consulting Group, Inc..
in NY
Retirement Plan Analyst
for First National Bank of Omaha
in NE
Primary Administrator for Qualified Retirement Plans
for Kidder Benefits Consultants, Inc.
in IA
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