BenefitsLink |
 |
 |
| October 2, 2007 |
| Here are the Web's best new links about compliance and cost aspects of plan operation, design and policy. |
Today's sponsor is Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
| Record Retention Requirements for Health & Welfare Plans |
| In Record Retention Requirements for Health & Welfare Plans, EBIA's experts analyze record retention requirements for ERISA health and welfare plans as well as other employer-provided health and welfare benefits not subject to ERISA. You'll find answers to your record retention questions for many benefits including cafeteria plans, DCAPs, qualified transportation plans, HSAs, group health plans (like major medical, dental, health FSAs, and HRAs), and other ERISA benefits.
Available now at the introductory price of $195. Please enter priority code BL195. For more information and to order, visit http://www.ebia.com/OtherOfferings/Books/RecordRetention. |
(a) New Guidance Documents
(None today.)
(b) News
Medicare Part B Premiums to Increase by 3.1% for 2008
Excerpt: "The premium amount represents an increase of $2.90 from 2007 . . . ." (ModernHealthcare; free registration required)
Medicare Stand-Alone Drug Plan Premiums To Increase 8.7% in 2008 to $40 Per Month
Excerpt: "Average premiums for stand-alone Medicare prescription drug plans will increase by 8.7% to $40 monthly in 2008, and many plans will reduce benefits, according to a study released on Friday by Avalere Health, USA Today reports." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Supreme Court Turns Down Cases on Religious Separation
Excerpt: "One was a case from New York on whether church-affiliated employers who object to birth control on religious grounds must nonetheless provide contraceptive coverage to their female employees as part of their medical insurance coverage, as required by laws in New York and some two dozen other states." (The New York Times; free registration required)
New $35 Billion UAW Retiree Medical Trust Probably Will Resemble a Pension Fund with a Twist
Excerpt: "Based on experience elsewhere, the VEBA might be invested similar to a pension fund, but with a lot more variability to take into account both short-term liabilities and unforeseeable medical inflation down the road." (Pensions & Investments)
UAW's Deal to Assume GM Retiree Benefits May Become a Model for Others
Excerpt: "For employers with aging workers and lots of retirees, a VEBA may be the only way, short of an elusive national health-care plan, to strip crushing liabilities from their books. While GM will take a big one-time hit, the ongoing drain of retiree health care, which now costs $1,400 per car, will finally end. For unions, a trust can provide an opportunity to safeguard members from losing benefits in the event of a corporate bankrup.tcy." (BusinessWeek)
CMS Announces Internet Access to National Plan and Provider Enumeration System Data
Excerpt: "[O]nce the technical problems have been sorted out, these web tools should provide automated mechanisms for group health plans and others to obtain NPIs and other basic information about medical providers necessary for HIPAA standard transactions." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)
(c) Summaries of Guidance; Filed Comments
Overview: Substantiation Requirements in New IRC Sec. 125 Proposed Regulations
Excerpt: "The proposed regulations explicitly state that IRC § 125 plans must substantiate every expense as a precondition of payment or reimbursement. This rule will not be satisfied by substantiating only a percentage of claims, or substantiating only claims above a certain dollar amount. Also, additional substantiation requirements may apply depending on the type of expense being paid or reimbursed -- i.e., expenses for health care, dependent care, or adoption assistance." (Deloitte)
Overview: New Proposed Regulations from IRS on Cafeteria Plans (PDF)
6 pages. Excerpt: "The regulations finalized in 2001 with respect to permissible cafeteria plan election changes and the Family Medical Leave Act remain unchanged. The proposed regulations are generally effective for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2009, but employers can rely upon the proposed rules until final rules are issued." (Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP)
An Employers' Guide to the 2006 Massachusetts Health Care Reform Act, Updated Sept. 22, 2007 (PDF)
73 pages. Excerpt: "Following a brief overview of the Act and a description of the Act's individual mandate, this paper examines the Act's effects on Massachusetts employers and multi-state employers that operate in Massachusetts. In particular, it explains . . . features of the Act and, in each case, what employers will need to do to comply . . . ." (Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.)
Overview: IRS Updates Per Diem Business Travel Expense Reimbursement Amounts
Excerpt: "The IRS issued Revenue Procedure 2007-63 on September 27 updating the business travel expense rules for employees." (Hewitt Associates)
COBRA Qualified Beneficiaries Can Sue for Failure to Provide Notice Without Exhausting Plan Remedies
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: Many courts require claimants to exhaust their own plan's remedies before litigating an ERISA claim. But when a COBRA claim is based on a plan administrator's alleged failure to provide required COBRA notices, some courts (like this court) have not required exhaustion of administrative remedies, permitting the claimant to take the dispute directly to court." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)
(d) Trends, Surveys, Research
Enrollment in High-Cost Health Plans Will Dominate U.S. Healthcare Market by 2020, Predicts Booz Allen Hamilton
Excerpt: "A new analysis by the management consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton (www.boozallen.com) projects that up to 60 percent of the privately insured in the U.S. - 120 million people - will be enrolled in some form of high-cost health plan by 2020. As these plans become increasingly pervasive, more consumers will assume greater responsibility for the cost of their healthcare, sparking an emerging crisis in the middle class as many are forced to make tradeoffs between medical care and other critical financial needs." (Business Wire via Human Resource Executive Online; free registration required)
Few Have Paid Family Leave: Availability of Other Paid Leave Varies Substantially
Excerpt: "From Spencer's Benefits Reports: Fewer than one in ten workers (8%) in the U.S. have access to paid family leave, but blue-collar and service workers are much less likely than white-collar workers to have any type of paid leave." (Wolters Kluwer Financial Services)
Public-Sector Health Liability Tops $1 Trillion, According to Report
Excerpt: "Public-sector retiree health-care liability exceeds more than $1 trillion under GASB 45, according to a report issued today by Goldman Sachs. GASB 45, an accounting rule taking effect this year that requires such benefits be quantified, 'encourages, but does not dictate, funding,' . . . ." (Pensions & Investments)
Differences in Disease Prevalence As a Source of the U.S.-European Health Care Spending Gap
9 pages. Excerpt: "The United States spends more on health care than any European country. Previous studies have sought to explain these differences in terms of system capacity, access to technologies, gross domestic product, and prices. We examine differences in disease prevalence and treatment rates for ten of the most costly conditions between the United States and ten European countries using surveys of the noninstitutionalized population age fifty and older." (Health Affairs)
Anthem Colorado Offers Same-Sex Domestic Coverage to Small Groups
Excerpt: "Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Colorado says it is the first health insurer in the state to voluntarily make same-sex domestic partner health coverage available to employers with 50 or fewer employees." (The AIS Report on Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans via AISHealth.com)
Older Americans Have Higher Rates of Serious Diseases Than Aging Europeans, a Study Says
Excerpt: "Costly diseases, many of them related to obesity and smoking, are more prevalent among aging Americans than their European peers and add as much as $100 billion to $150 billion a year in treatment costs to the U.S. healthcare tab, a new study says. The study by researchers at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health found higher rates of several serious diseases -- including cancer, diabetes and heart disease -- among Americans 50 and older as compared with aging Europeans." (Los Angeles Times; free registration required)
Male Business Owners Place Emphasis on Health Insurance Provision
Excerpt: "Challenging conventional wisdom, a new survey says men -- more than women -- put greater emphasis on offering health insurance to employees at small businesses. The American Express survey of 627 small-company owners and managers found that 67% of men vs. 59% of women feel such coverage is important. The results, out today, are surprising to authorities on female-owned firms who believe women put more emphasis on health benefits." (USA TODAY)
New Web Site Offers Disability Information for Employers and Employees
Excerpt: "A new, employer-focused Web site [at http://www.disabilitycanhappen.org/employer/] from the Council for Disability Awareness offer information to help employers educate employees about disability insurance and planning for emergencies." (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)
Presentation: CDHPs - Consumer Perspectives (PDF)
Excerpt: "Jennifer Vachon, . . . Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, shares new research regarding the consumer experience with Consumer Directed Health Plans (CDHPs), especially Health Savings Accounts. Ms. Vachon's presentation, 'CDHPs: Consumer Perspectives', focuses on consumer reaction to, and the future of, CDHPs. This presentation aired live . . . on Friday, September 28, 2007. [For a link to the Webcast, go to http://www.bcbs.com/news/bluetvradio/consumerdriven2007/.]" (Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association)
(e) Policy, Opinion, Advocacy
Overview: The 2008 Presidential Candidates on Health Care Reform, Updated Oct. 1, 2007 (PDF)
Excerpt: "While it is still early in the campaign process and plan details are incomplete for most candidates, these summaries provide a snapshot of the candidates and their blueprint for reform. Our intent is to be thorough and accurate in compiling what they have said or indicated they want to do." (Council for Affordable Health Insurance)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
ABA Tax Section, Law Firms, Urge Delay in 409A Compliance Until End of 2008
Excerpt: "The American Bar Association Section of Taxation and a group of 96 law firms have asked the IRS and Treasury to push back until January 1, 2009 the deadline for deferred compensation plans to comply with 'all aspects' of the final Code Sec. 409A regulations . . . and, at the same time, extend the good faith compliance period to December 31, 2008. " (Wolters Kluwer Financial Services)
Overview: Limited Section 409A Documentary Compliance Relief Leaves Much to be Done by Year-End (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "This notice is welcome news for many employers but, in general, it does not relieve them from having to finalize their plan designs by year-end. Employee benefits attorneys and employer groups have banded together to request a further delay in the compliance date for the final regulations, but the outcome of these efforts cannot be predicted at this point." (Buck Consultants)
Newly Posted Events
Benefits Legislative Update
in California on October 9, 2007
presented by International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists, Northern California Chapter
Newly Posted Press Releases
Benefit Software Releases Fringe Facts® Communicator 7.2; Enhanced Version Provides Benefits Brokers with a Fast and Easy Tool to Produce High-Impact Total Rewards Statements for Clients
Benefit Software Inc.
U.S. Labor Department Obtains Consent Judgment Restoring More Than $100,000 to Orlando, Fla.-based ZHA Inc. 401(k) Plan
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
Four Organizations Win Limited Competition to Train Older Workers
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
The ESOP Association and Employee Ownership Foundation Announce Creation of New Employee Ownership Blog
ESOP Association
MassMutual Officially Launches Its Fiduciary Warranty and Third-Party Certification to the Defined Contribution Market
MassMutual
ANB Introduces ANBTrust, a Unique Discretionary Trustee Service for Retirement Plans
American National Bank of Texas (ANB)
Enrollment in High-Cost Health Plans Will Dominate the US Healthcare Market by 2020, Predicts Booz Allen
Booz Allen Hamilton
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
(Post a Job | View All Jobs |
RSS Feed )
Retirement Plan Document and Forms System Sales Representative
for SunGard Relius
in FL, GA
Installation/Conversion Specialist
for Professional Capital Services LLC
in PA
401(k) TPA Account Executive
for Small Broker/TPA Firm in NYC
in NY
Assistant Pension Administrator- Daily Valuation
for BenefitStreet
in NY
Senior Retirement Plan Consultant, Defined Contribution/Daily Valuation (DC/DV)
for BenefitStreet
in NY
Retirement Plan Consultant (Defined Contribution/401(k))
for BenefitStreet
in NY
Client Relationship Manager
for Strategies LLC
in CO
Director of Retirement Plan Operations
for Tycor Benefit Administrators
in PA
Account Administrator-Daily Recordkeeping
for McCready and Keene, Inc.
in IN
Health and Welfare Group Account Manager
for Great Lakes Employee Benefit Services, Inc.
in MI
Director Health & Welfare
for Buck Consultants
in OH
Benefits Compliance Professional
for Aerojet - Sacramento
in CA
Senior Operations Administrator
for Charles Schwab
in AZ, OH
Sr. Benefits Planning Analyst
for Aerojet - Sacramento
in CA
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
Subscribe to the BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter, Too!
Sign-up form is at https://benefitslink.com/newsletter (free).
This newsletter is sent to you each workday except federal holidays.
This email has been published by:
BenefitsLink.com, Inc.
1298 Minnesota Avenue, Suite H
Winter Park FL 32789
(407) 644-4146
Fax: (407) 644-2151
David Rhett Baker, J.D., Editor
Copyright 2007 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.; except that you can forward this email in full (including this boilerplate part) or otherwise reprint this email in full (including this boilerplate part) without obtaining our permission.
Anyone can receive these emails; just have them sign up at this web page: https://benefitslink.com/newsletter/
Other useful links: