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| September 13, 2007 |
| Here are the Web's best new links about compliance and cost aspects of plan operation, design and policy. |
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New Compliance Rules; News
Schwarzenegger Vows Health Care Reform Bill VetoExcerpt: "California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has vowed to veto a bill forcing employers to offer a cafeteria-style health benefits package or chip in 7.5% of payroll to a fund to pay for uninsured worker coverage." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Auto Workers Await Details on Retiree Health Care Trust - The Voluntary Employees Beneficiary Association
Excerpt: "For something that's so central to the contract talks between auto companies and their unionized employees, most workers say a shroud of mystery covers VEBA, or Voluntary Employees Beneficiary Association. The union hasn't told them much about it. And management hasn't, either. But it's at the core of the talks -- how to pay for billions of dollars in retiree health costs -- and it could get in the way of smooth negotiations as Friday's contract expiration deadline approaches." (AP via tennessean.com)
Retiree Health Tab Could Fall on UAW As Automakers Seek to Get Out from Under Multibillion-Dollar Obligations
Excerpt: "As part of the negotiations for new contracts aimed at reducing costs, sources at the automakers and union say they are discussing proposals to shift health-care responsibility for nearly 1 million retired members and dependents from the company to the union. That would be a sea change not only because it involves $114 billion in long-term obligations but also because the union would take on the risk to manage investments and health-care costs in trust funds called voluntary employee beneficiary associations, or VEBAs." (Chicago Tribune; free registration required)
Compliance Rule Summaries/Analysis/Filed Comments
Tenth Circuit Holds that Participant Cannot Appeal Order Remanding Case to Plan AdministratorExcerpt: "In yet another decision on the scope of judicial review of district court orders remanding claims decisions back to plan administrators, the Tenth Circuit continues to thin the federal docket of such issues. Garner emphasizes that the Tenth Circuit views remand orders as essentially nonappealable except in narrow circumstances." (Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)
Overview: IRS Final Regulations on Dependent Care Tax Credit Provide Guidance for DCAPs (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "The final regulations and the examples provided in the regulations will be useful to DCAP administrators in determining whether a participant's dependent care expenses qualify for reimbursement." (Buck Consultants)
Overview: Internal Revenue Service's Final Rules Governing Reimbursement of Dependent Care Expenses (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "Employers with Dependent Care Assistance Programs (DCAPs) should review the final rules, which apply for taxable years ending after August 14, 2007. Thus, if a plan operates on a calendar year, the new regulations appear to apply to all expenses incurred during calendar year 2007, even those that were incurred before the final rules were issued. [T]he most significant addition made by the final rules is the safe harbor that applies to temporary absences from work of no more than two consecutive weeks." (The Segal Group, Inc.)
Overview: New York Enacts Law Protecting Rights of Nursing Mothers in the Workplace
Excerpt: "New York Governor Eliot Spitzer recently signed a law requiring all employers to permit nursing mothers to express breast milk in the workplace. New York joins thirteen other states that have enacted similar laws (California, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas and Washington). The law, which will be codified as Labor Law Section 206-c, took effect on August 15, 2007." (Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC)
Trends; Surveys; Research
Fact Sheet: Maternity Leave in the United States (PDF)5 pages. Excerpt: "While more than one-quarter of companies (28 percent) provide nine or more weeks of paid maternity leave, many of the winners' paid parental leave policies fall far short of families' needs. No company provides more than six weeks of paid paternity leave and only 7 of the 100 best companies provide seven weeks or more of paid adoptive leave." (Institute for Women's Policy Research)
Aon Consulting/ISCEBS Survey: CDH Plans Continue to Grow in Popularity (PDF)
7 pages. Excerpt: "Of the 470 employers responding to the joint Aon Consulting/ISCEBS survey, 37% currently offer a CDH plan to their employees, up from 28% last year. Reflecting how new this benefit design is, 83% of employers with a CDH plan began offering the plan in 2005, 2006 or 2007." (International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists)
Analysis: Out-of-Pocket Health Spending Among Older Versus Younger Adults (PDF)
13 pages. Excerpt: "Our measure of interest is the ratio of out-of-pocket health care spending to income, averaged over all the CUs within each subset of respondents. Total out-of-pocket spending for health care includes insurance premiums (private and Medicare Part B for seniors), medical services and supplies, and prescription drugs." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Cost Estimate of H.R. 1424, the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007 (PDF)
Excerpt: "Enacting the bill would affect both federal revenues and direct spending for Medicaid, beginning in 2008. The bill would result in higher premiums for employer-sponsored health benefits. Higher premiums, in turn, would result in more of an employee's compensation being received in the form of nontaxable employer-paid premiums, and less in the form of taxable wages." (Congressional Budget Office via American Benefits Council)
Survey Indicates Employees Warming Up to Consumer-Driven Health Plans
Excerpt: "A new survey from Aon Consulting Worldwide indicates employee fears about enrolling in consumer-driven health plans (CDHPs) have decreased, as 54% of respondents cited concerns about high out-of-pocket costs as the principal reason for not enrolling in a CDHP, compared to 66% who said the same in 2006." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Three U.S. Drugmakers Convicted of Overcharging
Excerpt: "Three of the nation's largest drugmakers recently were convicted of overcharging on prescriptions paid for by patients, employers, insurers, pension funds and the government between 1991 and 2003." (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)
As Commutes Begin Earlier, New Daily Routines Emerge
Excerpt: "Americans are leaving home earlier and earlier to beat the rush and get to work on time. Census data released today document the ever-lengthening commutes . . . . This 'commuting creep' is changing the lives of tens of millions of Americans. It affects everything from the breakfast-food industry to television viewership trends, from traffic-signal timing to newspaper delivery times, from carpooling patterns to personal fitness routines." (USA TODAY)
CalPERS May Hire Full-Time Health Adviser
Excerpt: "Trustees of the California Public Employees' Retirement System . . . are poised to recruit a full-time independent adviser to help the giant fund craft a long-term strategy to combat the knotty problem of high health-care costs." (The Sacramento Bee; free registration required)
Working Paper: A Tax on Work for the Elderly: Medicare As a Secondary Payer
Excerpt: "Medicare as a Secondary Payer (MSP) legislation requires employer-sponsored health insurance to be a primary payer for Medicare-eligible workers at firms with 20 or more employees. While the legislation was developed to better target Medicare services to individuals without access to employer-sponsored insurance, MSP creates a significant implicit tax on working beyond age 65. This implicit tax is approximately 15-20 percent at age 65 and increases to 45-70 percent by age 80." (National Bureau of Economic Research; paid subscription or individual purchase required to retrieve fulltext)
Health Savings Accounts Aren't Catching On
Excerpt: "A closely watched survey of employer-sponsored health insurance released today is getting attention for finding a 6% rise in premiums this year. That headline number is climbing faster than inflation, though still below the double-digit increases of a few years back. But the Health Blog was interested in a nugget buried inside the results. High-deductible insurance plans tied to special savings accounts continue to lag behind expectations, despite being praised high and low as a tool to slow the rise in health-care costs." (The Wall Street Journal Online Health Blog)
Policy; Opinion; Advocacy
Policy Brief Sees Few Advantages To HSAs in ColoradoExcerpt: "From Spencer's Benefits Reports: An August 2007 policy brief prepared by the Bell Policy Center in Colorado reviews the existing data on health savings accounts (HSAs) and high-deductible health plans and concludes that these consumer-driven health plans are unlikely to lower the number of uninsured residents in Colorado." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Overview: Minimal Relief for 409A Compliance
Excerpt: "Unfortunately, the relief provided does not preclude the need to complete a thorough review of all arrangements subject to 409A by year-end. Arrangements must be reviewed and amended to insure compliance with those requirements that must be met by December 31, 2007." (Gray, Plant, Mooty, Mooty & Bennett, P.A.)
Overview: 409A Document Compliance Deadline Extension
Excerpt: "Employers should not mistake the extension of the documentary compliance deadline with an extension of good faith compliance similar to the extensions that occurred at the end of 2005 and 2006. Employers need to confirm that their plans have, in writing, a compliant time and form of payment. In addition, employers should review the transition relief available only this year and determine whether they intend to take advantage of this relief." (Dorsey & Whitney LLP)
Employee's Exercise of Stock Option with Unlimited Term Violated Code Sec. 409A
Excerpt: "Compensatory nonstatutory stock options granted by an employer to two non-key employees were both subject to Code Sec. 409A as a nonqualified deferred compensation plan, the IRS has privately ruled. However, whether the exercise of an option was subject to tax under Code Sec. 409A was determined by whether the option was set to terminate 10 years after the date of the grant or 90 days after the employee terminated employment." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)
Court Rules New York State G.ay Married Benefits Legal
Excerpt: "An Albany court has dismissed a challenge to a decision by New York State's Comptroller that treats out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples the same as any other legal marriage in terms of benefits afforded to state employees through the New York State Retirement System." (365G.ay.com)
Overview: Deadline Extension for Written Compliance with Final Nonqualified Deferred Comp Regulations (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "Plan sponsors of nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements or any compensation program should carefully review such arrangements and programs to determine whether Code Section 409A applies to them. If Code Section 409A applies, plan sponsors should review and implement any required design changes and consider any other discretionary changes." (Kutak Rock LLP)
Overview: IRS Issues Limited 'Relief' to Bring Documents into Compliance with Section 409A Regulations
Excerpt: "Achieving full compliance by the end of 2007 has proven to be a daunting task. Many requests for further delays in the compliance deadline were submitted . . . . On September 10, the IRS and Treasury responded by issuing Notice 2007-78 . . ., which extends the Section 409A documentary compliance deadline from December 31, 2007, to December 31, 2008, for certain provisions required to be in writing." (Jones Day)
Newly Posted Events
2007 Fall Tour: Beyond the Essentials: Beneficiary Issues and Answers
in North Dakota on October 3, 2007
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
2007 Fall Tour: Beyond the Essentials: Beneficiary Issues and Answers
in North Dakota on October 5, 2007
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
2007 Fall Tour: Beyond the Essentials: Beneficiary Issues and Answers
in Illinois on October 17, 2007
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
2007 Fall Tour: Beyond the Essentials: Beneficiary Issues and Answers
in Idaho on October 19, 2007
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
2007 Fall Tour: Beyond the Essentials: Beneficiary Issues and Answers
in Indiana on October 24, 2007
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
2007 Fall Tour: IRA Essentials
in North Dakota on October 2, 2007
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
2007 Fall Tour: IRA Essentials
in North Dakota on October 4, 2007
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
2007 Fall Tour: IRA Essentials
in Illinois on October 16, 2007
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
2007 Fall Tour: IRA Essentials
in Idaho on October 18, 2007
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
2007 Fall Tour: IRA Essentials
in Indiana on October 23, 2007
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
401(k) Plans
in Washington on September 25, 2007
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
401(k) Plans
in California on October 9, 2007
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
401(k) Plans: Beyond the Basics
in Kansas on October 18, 2007
presented by SunGard Relius
Cafeteria Plans
in Washington on September 26, 2007
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
Cafeteria Plans
in California on October 10, 2007
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
COBRA Compliance for Group Health Plans
in Washington on September 28, 2007
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
ERISA Compliance for Health & Welfare Plans
in Washington on September 27, 2007
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
ERISA Compliance for Health & Welfare Plans
in California on October 11, 2007
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
ERISA Workshop
in Iowa on October 17, 2007
presented by SunGard Relius
ERISA Workshop
in Missouri on October 17, 2007
presented by SunGard Relius
HIPAA Portability, Privacy & Security
in Washington on September 28, 2007
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
HSAs, HRAs, and Consumer-Driven Health Care
in Washington on September 27, 2007
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
HSAs, HRAs, and Consumer-Driven Health Care
in California on October 11, 2007
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
Newly Posted Press Releases
Hewitt Launches Defined Contribution Consulting Practice
Hewitt Associates LLC
U.S. Labor Department Proposes New Disclosure Rules For Multiemployer Pension Plans
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
National Survey Shows Employee Fears About Consumer-Driven Health Plans on Decline; CDH Plans Continue To Grow in Popularity Among Employers and Employees
Aon Consulting
The Bottom Line: Employers Can Manage Obesity Problem with Actionable Information
Gordian Health Solutions, Inc.
Keller Rohrback L.L.P. Files Complaint on Behalf of Participants and Beneficiaries of the Countrywide Financial Corp. 401(k) Savings and Investment Plan
Keller Rohrback
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
(Post a Job | View All Jobs |
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Pension Actuary
for Chicago Suburban Pension Firm
in IL
Employee Benefit Attorney With at Least 2 Years Experience
for Chang, Ruthenberg & Long PC
in CA
Employee Benefit Attorney With at Least 5 Years Experience
for Chang, Ruthenberg & Long PC
in CA
Employee Benefit Attorney With ESOP Experience
for Chang, Ruthenberg & Long PC
in CA
Non-Qualified / Deferred Compensation Plan Financial Analyst
for Client-oriented, results-oriented privately held firm
in GA
Associate Pension Administrator
for Alliance Pension Consultants
in IL
Pension Plan Administrator
for The Pension Alliance
in PA
Participant Services Representative
for Sentinel Benefits Group
in MA
Account Manager, Health & Welfare
for Cammack LaRhette Consulting
in NY
Healthcare Consulting Senior Manager
for Deloitte Aers - Midwest
in TX
Sr. Defined Benefit Administrator/Client Manager
for Stephen H. Rosen & Associates, Inc.
in NJ
Client Service Consultant - Regional
for StanCorp Equities, Inc.
in CT
ESOP/401 (k) Administrator
for Polycomp Administrative Services
in CA
Client Service Consultant - Regional
for Standard Insurance Company
in TX
Client Service Consultant - Regional
for Standard Insurance Company
in TX
Pension Administrator
for Polycomp Administrative Services
in CA
Data Project Administrator
for Vanguard
in PA
Retirement Compliance Testing Administrator
for Vanguard
in PA
Defined Contribution Analyst II
for Standard Insurance Company
in TX
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
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