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| October 22, 2007 |
| Here are the Web's best new links about compliance and cost aspects of plan operation, design and policy. |
Today's sponsor is International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
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| Meet Licensing and Recertification Requirements with the International Foundation |
| The International Foundation's suite of e-learning courses provides numerous options for those needing continuing education/recertification. There is a suite of courses which have been approved by HRCI -- and we're adding more options everyday. All courses deliver the quality content you'd expect from the International Foundation and are written by experienced benefit and compensation professionals. Topics range from introductory level to specific compliance issues. Watch for one-hour courses coming soon. |
(a) New Guidance Documents
(None today.)
(b) News
The Baltimore Sun's Parent Imposes Fee on Employee Smokers
Excerpt: "Starting next year, Baltimore Sun employees and any of their dependents who smoke could pay the company about $100 a month under a new plan proposed by the newspaper's parent company, Tribune Co." (Baltimore Business Journal via bizjournals.com; free registration required)
Alcoa Retiree Health Benefits Dispute Headed for Trial
Excerpt: "A federal judge in Tennessee has turned away a request from a group of Alcoa retirees for an emergency court order mandating Alcoa Inc. not to drop their company health coverage. U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Phillips of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee also denied a plaintiffs' request for a jury trial on claims that the company wanted to end benefits that were actually vested for the retirees' lifetime and required under a union contract." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
(c) Summaries of Guidance; Filed Comments
(None today.)
(d) Trends, Surveys, Research
Health Insurance Terms Key to Choices at Work
Excerpt: "When it comes to your health insurance, can you define a flexible spending account, a health reimbursement account or a Health Savings Account? If you can't, you're not alone." (The Dallas Morning News; free registration required)
Efforts to Manage Health Care Costs Succeeding for High-Performing Companies
Excerpt: "Companies that take a rigorous and comprehensive approach to managing delivery of health care benefits are starting to show impressive results in achieving lower annual cost increases than other companies. This is one of the key findings in Towers Perrin's annual Health Care Cost Survey . . . ." (Towers Perrin)
60% of the Privately Insured Will Be Enrolled in HDHPs by 2020
Excerpt: "The study, Healthcare Consumerism: Trends in Consumer Cost-Sharing, found that consumer-driven health plans (CDHPs) will be a smaller subset of that figure, with 20% to 25% of the privately insured market potentially enrolled in CDHP plans by 2020." (Wolters Kluwer Financial Services)
Pay the Doctor Bill, Not the Tax Bill, with Flexible Spending Accounts
Excerpt: "[Even though flexible spending accounts] are widely offered, few of us sign up. One study showed that more than 96 percent of large companies offered FSAs, but only one-quarter of employees participated in the healthcare accounts and just 3 percent used the dependent-care accounts." (Star-Telegram.com; free registration required)
(e) Policy, Opinion, Advocacy
Federal Employees Health Benefits Program Is Debated as a Model for uninsured
Excerpt: "While health policy experts acknowledge that the federal employees' program could be a workable way to reach some of the uninsured, they also say there is nothing about it that would help address what they see as an underlying reason for the growing numbers of uninsured: the nation's runaway medical costs. And without major changes, they say, the model would be sharply limited in achieving the goal of universal coverage for all Americans." (The New York Times; free registration required)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Opinion: Don't Make Returning Disabled Veterans Fight a War in the Workplace
Excerpt: " Most employers want to treat returning veterans fairly and therefore should be clear about the state and federal requirements in this regard. This is particularly important for small to midsized businesses, for whom the legal and business obligations can prove most challenging." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
Overview of Employers' Legal Obligations to Employees in the Military
Excerpt: "This article is intended to bring to the attention of employers the legal obligations they have to employees who have been called to active military duty or who are members of the United States National Guard or Reserves. For example, what obligations, if any, does an employer have to re-employ a veteran in the position they held before being called to active duty? What if doing so displaces another employee or results in hardship for the employer?" (Workforce Management; free registration required)
2007 Proxy Disclosures of CEO Pay -- Some Observations
Excerpt: "This analysis looks at CEO pay disclosed in three new tables: the Summary Compensation Table (SCT), the Pension Benefits Table (PBT) and the Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Table (NQDCT)." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)
IRS May Respond Soon to Practitioner Calls for Extension of 409A Compliance Deadline
Excerpt: "The IRS is giving 'very serious consideration' to the concerns expressed by practitioners, Alan N. Tawshunsky, assistant chief counsel for employee benefits, IRS Tax-Exempt and Government Entities, said. Practitioners could expect to hear something 'shortly,' Tawshunsky said, but he did not give specifics of what action the IRS may take." (Wolters Kluwer Financial Services)
Text of Offshore Deferred Compensation Reform Act of 2007, S. 2199 (PDF)
4 pages. (American Benefits Council)
Newly Posted Events
403(b) Plan Workshops
Nationwide on November 30, 2007
presented by SunGard Relius
Annual Meeting and Health Care Costs Seminar
in District of Columbia on December 6, 2007
presented by Capital Chapter ISCEBS
EGTRRA Pre-Approval Plan Workshops
Nationwide on December 4, 2007
presented by SunGard Relius
Webinar -- New Proposed Cafeteria Plan Regulations, Part II with Craig J. Davidson, CEBS
Nationwide on November 13, 2007
presented by Davidson Marketing Group -- FutureOffice Network
Newly Posted Press Releases
Connecticut Employee Benefit Plan Administrator And Officers Agree To Distribute More Than $337,000 To Health Plan Clients To Resolve U.S. Labor Department Lawsuit
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
CIGNA Consumer Driven Health Plans Cut Medical Trend in Half; Member Savings Compound over Time, Two-Year Experience Study Finds
CIGNA HealthCare
Unrealistic Expectations Could Lead to Broken Retirement Dreams or Younger Generations
Edward Jones
Serve You Selected As Preferred Pharmacy Benefit Manager For FutureOffice Insurance Broker Network
Davidson Marketing Group -- FutureOffice Network
Workers Expect Baby Boomers to Break Social Security
American Payroll Association (APA)
ShirleyBoard.com Enlightens Caregivers On Elderly Home Care Choices
ShirleyBoard
Five Million Seniors Remain in Poverty Despite Today's 2008 Social Security Cost of Living Adjustment Announcement; Medicare Premiums Have Skyrocketed 93 Percent Since 2001, Five Times Faster Than COLA Increases
Senior Citizens League
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
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Trust Administrator II or III
for Associated Pension Consultants
in CA
ERISA / Employee Benefits Attorney
for Faro Consultants International, LLC
in MN
DC Implementation Analyst
for Milliman, Inc.
in TX
DC Implementation Specialist
for Milliman, Inc.
in TX
Retirement Plan Specialist
for Diversified Investment Advisors
in TX
Learning & Development Consultant
for Transamerica Retirement Services
in CA
Employee Benefit Specialist
for Principal Financial Group
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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