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October 12, 2007

Here are the Web's best new links about compliance and cost aspects of plan operation, design and policy.


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Complete Benefits Law Guidance from Law Journal Press

The nation's workforce and health care system are constantly evolving and so are the legal issues. Law Journal Press helps you handle any benefits law question with up-to-date, authoritative books on all aspects of the field. Get legal and practical advice from leading experts on everything from COBRA to ERISA, "contingent" employees to family and medical leave, and more. Browse our product listings for detailed information and special offers.

(a) New Guidance Documents

(None today.)

(b) News

House Subcommittee Approves Mental Health Parity Legislation
Excerpt: "The House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee by voice vote on Wednesday approved legislation (HR 1424) that would require health insurers to provide equal levels of coverage for physical and mental illnesses, CQ Today reports." (Kaiser Family Foundation)

UAW Reaches Tentative Contract Agreement With Chrysler; GM Rank-and-File Members Ratify Contract
Excerpt: "United Auto Workers on Wednesday ended a six-hour strike against Chrysler Group when the two sides reached a tentative contract agreement that would establish a voluntary employees' beneficiary association to assume Chrysler's retiree health care liabilities, the Detroit News reports." (Kaiser Family Foundation)

CalPERS Retiree Health Care Pre-funding Plan Opened to All California Public Agencies
Excerpt: "A bill signed [today] by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will allow all California local public agencies to participate in the California Public Employees Retirement System's (CalPERS) trust fund to pre-fund the future cost of retiree health insurance benefits and other post-employment benefits (OPEB)." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

Industry Coalition Unveils 'Blueprint' for Health IT
Excerpt: "The eHealth Initiative . . . released a consensus report on how the use of IT can enhance health care, Health Data Management reports. The group hopes legislators and presidential candidates will use the report as they make health care policy decisions." (California HealthCare Foundation)

Tribune Co. 'Smoker' Fee -- and Spousal Surcharge -- Draw Union Fire
Excerpt: "A Tribune Company plan to assess a $100 per month health benefit fee on smokers, and a $75 fee for some spousal coverage, is drawing angry reaction among newspaper workers, including at least two Teamster locals that have filed grievances over the cost." (Editor & Publisher)

(c) Summaries of Guidance; Filed Comments

California Adopts Military Spouse Leave Law, Effective Immediately
Excerpt: "With the addition of this new statute, California law now provides for more than 15 statutory leave-of-absence rights of various durations with which private employers of various sizes must comply." (Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP)

Law's Effect on Cafeteria Plans Clarified
Excerpt: "Cafeteria plan sponsors offering cash-out options can breathe a sigh of relief. The Department of Defense (DOD) recently confirmed that a law passed last year does not prohibit this benefit option." (infinisource)

Effective Date of Guidance on Electronic Payment Cards Used for Transit Expenses Is Delayed Until 2009
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: We understand that one sticking point for some transit systems has been adjusting their technology to make electronic payment cards single-purpose rather than dual-purpose or to at least provide separate 'purses' . . . for transit and parking expenses (for example, some smartcards are currently designed to allow reimbursements for both transit and parking expenses from the same 'purse' of funds). The delayed effective date will give those transit systems more time to make necessary technological changes." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)

(d) Trends, Surveys, Research

Analysis: Uncovering $1.5 Trillion in Hidden OPEB Liabilities for State and Local Governments (PDF)
32 pages. Excerpt: "There's a new accounting rule in town that's beginning to uncover some very large hidden liabilities of state and local governments. It's GASB 45, Accounting and Financial Reporting by Employers for Postemployment Benefits Other Than Pensions, which drastically changes the accounting by state and local governments for Other Postemployment Benefits or OPEB (e.g., retiree healthcare, life insurance, etc.), moving it from a cash (i.e., pay-as-you-go) basis to an accrual basis." (Credit Suisse Securities via The Wall Street Journal Online)

Higher Stakes Make Your 2008 Health Plan Decision Critical
Excerpt: "With out-of-pocket costs up dramatically since 2000, the 158 million Americans who rely on private, job-based insurance would be wise to avoid defaulting automatically to whatever coverage they have this year, experts say. Employers often switch health-plan vendors or change cost structures within the plans they offer, which can affect employees' monthly insurance premiums, deductibles, copayments and doctor networks . . . ." (CNNMoney.com)

What Absence Control Programs Are Your Colleagues Using?
Excerpt: "Respondents to the 2007 CCH Unscheduled Absence Survey were asked, 'What other absence control policies or programs, if any, does your company employ?' The range of responses was wide and demonstrated great creativity among participating organizations." (Wolters Kluwer Financial Services)

More States Pass Cafeteria Plan Laws
Excerpt: "Following the lead of Massachusetts, three states have enacted laws that require employers to establish cafeteria plans: Connecticut, Missouri and Rhode Island. Massachusetts recently rescinded a cafeteria plan filing requirement." (infinisource)

United Kingdom Workers Due More Annual Leave
Excerpt: "The amount of statutory annual leave will be extended from four weeks to 5.6 weeks per year, under regulations that began to take effect in October 2007. The main beneficiaries will be the estimated 22 percent of employees who have received less than 5.6 weeks of paid holiday." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)

Argentinean Government Eliminates Double Severance Payment
Excerpt: "The Argentinean government has revoked a law that forced employers to give an extra 50 percent severance payment to workers fired without a justified reason. The change took effect on September 19, 2007." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)

Company Steps Up to Help Laid-Off Workers
Excerpt: "It's hard to imagine how laying off 20 percent of your workforce can turn into positive publicity, but that's what has happened to Mobility Electronics Inc. The small Scottsdale Airpark company was featured in the Wall Street Journal last month in a story on how more companies are extending the availability of employee-assistance programs to workers being laid off." (The Arizona Republic)

Credit Unions Report Summer Boom for Health Savings Accounts as More Employers Show Interest
Excerpt: "Credit unions that offer HSAs say they can compete with more established HSA administrators because they generally charge low or no fees, typically offer higher interest rates than other financial firms and give 'service with a smile.'" (INSIDE CONSUMER-DIRECTED CARE via AISHealth.com)

Advisers Find Onsite Fitness Fits Employers' Needs
Excerpt: "Corporate wellness is much more than random actions aimed to improve employee behaviors. Wellness efforts have become a strategic, unified and branded effort to measure where the health of an employee population is and where it needs to be to improve a company's bottom line." (Employee Benefit Advisor; free registration required)

Wellness vs. Privacy: Companies' Health Surveys Get Cool Reception
Excerpt: "A growing number of companies are asking - or even requiring - that their workers fill out a health questionnaire to identify employees with medical conditions who might benefit from early intervention, a move that isn't sitting well with some employees who fear an invasion of privacy." (San Francisco Chronicle)

(e) Policy, Opinion, Advocacy

'Why Not Single Payer?' A Response to Paul Krugman and the Leading Democratic Presidential Contenders
Excerpt: "Faster than you can say the word 'Sicko' and turn around 3 times, the Democrats' promise of health care for all has gone from 'Universal Medicare For All' to 'Individual Insurance Mandate'. In Monday's New York Times, Paul Krugman defends that reversal in an article entitled 'Why Not Single Payer?'" (Physicians for a National Health Program)

2007 Bills in the States on Universal Health Care Coverage
Excerpt: "Health reform will remain a priority this year. Several states--including Illinois, Colorado, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico and Washington -- have commissions charged with creating recommendations for expanding coverage and reforming health care. Political leadership in other states including California, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, Oregon, Minnesota, New Jersey and Wisconsin are poised to act in 2007." (National Conference of State Legislatures)

Letter: Revisions to HIPAA Transaction Standards Urgently Needed (PDF)
6 pages. Excerpt: "Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS) studies and recommends healthcare information standards. To fulfill this responsibility, NCVHS' Subcommittee on Standards and Security held hearings on proposed new versions of the HIPAA transaction standards on July 30 and 31, 2007. The purpose of this letter is to summarize those hearings and make recommendations." (National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics)


Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Social Security Reform: A Framework for Analysis (PDF)
18 pages. Excerpt: "This brief seeks to advance the debate over Social Security reform by offering a top-down framework for designing and evaluating Social Security reform plans. This framework centers on the following four key questions that any plan must address. 1. Fairness across generations. . . . 2. Fairness within generations. . . . 3. Size of the safety net. . . . 4. Pre-funding future benefits." (U.S. Department of the Treasury)


Newly Posted Events

Compensation and Benefits in the Non-Profit and Government Sectors :Making Sense of the New Rules
in Pennsylvania on October 30, 2007
presented by PEBA --Penjerdel Employee Benefits & Compensation Assn.

HIPAA Revisited Teleweb
Nationwide on October 25, 2007
presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans

Legislative Overview and Update
in Virginia on November 5, 2007
presented by Capital Chapter ISCEBS

VEBA Madness - Teleconference
Nationwide on October 30, 2007
presented by Seyfarth Shaw LLP


Newly Posted Press Releases

PBGC Assumes Easton Hospital Pension Plan
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)

U.S. Labor Department Sues Former Officer of Detroit Business to Restore Funds to Pension and Profit-sharing Plans
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

Employee Benefits Security Administration Provides Additional Guidance on Timing for Individual Benefit Statements
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

California Public Employees Retirement System Prefunding Plan For Retiree Health Benefits To Be Available To All California Public Agencies
CalPERS (California Public Employees' Retirement System)

Hillary Clinton's American Retirement Accounts Plan: A 401(k) Plan For All Americans
HillaryClinton.com

RiverSource Investments and PLANSPONSOR Research: Most Mid and Large 401(k) Plans Offer Lifecycle Funds
RiverSource Investments


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