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| November 2, 2007 |
| Here are the Web's best new links about compliance and cost aspects of plan operation, design and policy. |
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(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
| BeneCom Associates, LLC, for one-stop benefit communications |
| Since 1992, BeneCom has provided one-stop benefit communications for organizations large and small, nationwide. Staffed by people who know benefits, we write, design and produce effective media, including SPDs, enrollment materials, newsletters, benefit statements and more. So whether you're an employer, plan administrator or consultant in need of traditional or online capabilities, we're here to help. Call (860) 674-2626 today. |
(a) New Guidance Documents
(None today.)
(b) News
Ford and UAW Bargaining Intensifies As Progress Seen
Excerpt: "In four days of intensive talks, the two sides made progress on key issues centered on health care costs and Ford's planned plant closings, putting a deal within reach as soon as Friday . . . ." (Reuters via The Washington Post; free registration required)
HEROES Act Headed to House for Consideration
Excerpt: "Legislation to protect the survivor benefits of service members killed in action passed the House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday and is now headed to the full House for consideration." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
(c) Summaries of Guidance; Filed Comments
IRS Targets 'Welfare' Trusts Used to Buy Cash-Value Life Insurance for Owner-Employees
Excerpt: "The IRS has issued two notices and a revenue ruling aimed at certain trust arrangements being sold to small businesses and professional corporations as welfare benefit funds, and has identified some of these arrangements as listed transactions." (Wolters Kluwer Financial Services)
Items of Interest for Health Plans in the New IRS Cafeteria Plan Proposed Regulations (PDF)
7 pages. Excerpt: "The [paper presents] highlights from the rules that are likely to be of interest to health plans, particularly those that provide cafeteria plan administrative services." (Miller & amp; Chevalier Chartered)
Cafeteria Plan Rules Hold Risks, Opportunities, Benefits Attorney Says (PDF)
Excerpt: "Employers should be very careful in adopting the rules because the Internal Revenue Service is taking a ''zero tolerance compliance standard,'' . . . . Plans must precisely follow all the rules in the terms of plan design, written plan documents, and operations . . . . The rules, proposed in August, are a ''significant rulemaking,'' in which IRS consolidated and updated previous cafeteria plan guidance dating to 1984 . . . ." (The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. via Miller & amp; Chevalier Chartered)
(d) Trends, Surveys, Research
(None today.)
(e) Policy, Opinion, Advocacy
Medical Tourism: Global Competition in Health Care (PDF)
40 pages. Excerpt: "Prices for treatment are lower in foreign hospitals for a number of reasons. Labor costs are lower, third parties (insurance and government) are less involved or not at all involved, package pricing with price transparency is normal, there are fewer attempts to shift the cost of charity care to paying patients, there are fewer regulations limiting collaborative arrangements between health care facilities and physicians, and malpractice litigation costs are lower." (National Center for Policy Analysis)
Opinion: The U.S. Health Care Market System (PDF)
Excerpt: "Before we can address the status of the medical excess marketplace, we must explore what's occurring in the direct marketplace. Key driving forces for the direct market include public discontent with continually rising health care costs, reluctantly empowered consumers shouldering more responsibility for selecting cost and quality without adequate provider information, and the growing population of the aged who are increasing demand for health care." (American Academy of Actuaries)
Opinion: National Health Care Reform Is on Its Way (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "What's different this time? Unions and auto manufacturers, Wal-Mart and the Service Employees International Union, the AMA and consumer groups, Democrats and (a few) Republicans are all calling for major changes in the way we fund, purchase, evaluate, and deliver health care. They have their own reasons, but the basic problem is universal -- cost." (American Academy of Actuaries)
The 2008 Candidates' Proposals on Health Care (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "This isn't an in-depth analysis or critique of each candidate's proposal, however. Instead, the intent here is to provide a flavor for the range of options the candidates are proposing. Candidate proposals are, by nature, works in progress, and this article reflects the information available as of this writing." (American Academy of Actuaries)
Help for Employees during the Annual Health Care Plan Enrollment Process, from Aon Consulting Worldwide
Excerpt: "With 2008 just around the corner, employers nationwide are preparing for annual enrollment -- a process that allows employees to enroll or change their enrollment status in their employers' healthcare and financial protection plans. While enrolling can feel like an administrative burden in the short-term, the choices employees make during this time will impact their health care and financial protection throughout 2008 . . . ." (PR Newswire via Human Resource Executive Online; free registration required)
Testimony on Increasing Health Insurance Coverage of Workers in Small Firms: Challenges and Strategies
Testimony before the Finance Committee United States Senate. (Urban Institute)
Study Reports Crisis on the Horizon in Health Care Affordability
Excerpt: "Up to 60% of those privately insured in the US -- about 120 million people -- will be enrolled in some form of high-cost health plan by 2020, a study has found. Because of that, a news release from management consultant Booz Allen Hamilton about its study said there could be an emerging crisis in the middle class as many are forced to make tradeoffs between medical care and other critical financial needs." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Opinion: Doctors and Drug Companies -- Scrutinizing Influential Relationships
Excerpt: "Concern about the risks associated with physician-industry relationships has inspired action by policymakers at the federal, state, and institutional levels. The same day that the new Senate bill was introduced, Boston University School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center announced a new conflict-of-interest policy -- prohibiting their clinicians from accepting gifts from manufacturers of pharma.ceuticals and medical devices, banishing industry-funded meals from campus, and requiring physicians who serve on the hospital's drug-selection committees to be free of financial ties to companies that stand to gain from committee decisions." (New England Journal of Medicine)
Briefing Paper: The Erosion of Employment-Based Insurance
Excerpt: "Because of . . . large declines in employer-provided health insurance, workers and their families have been falling into the ranks of the uninsured at alarming rates. There were almost 5 million more uninsured workers in 2006 than in 2000. While uninsured workers are disproportionately young, non-white, less educated, and low wage, workers across the socio-economic spectrum have experienced losses in coverage. Even the most highly educated and highest wage workers had lower rates of insurance coverage in 2006 than in 2000." (Economic Policy Institute)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Chart: Employment Costs in Private Industry, September 2007
Excerpt: "Wages and salaries for private industry workers increased 0.8 percent between June and September, the same as the previous quarter. Benefit costs for private industry also rose 0.8 percent, compared to 1.1 percent the previous quarter." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Summary of Tax and Supplemental Security Income Provisions Designed to Assist Military Families and Service Volunteers (PDF)
2 pages. Summary of provisions in The Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax Act of 2007. (American Benefits Council)
Employee Benefits Developments November 2007
Rulings, opinions, cases. (Hodgson Russ LLP)
2008 Benefit Plan Dollar Limitations -- In a Printable Brochure Form (PDF)
2 pages. (Gray Plant Mooty)
Overview: Mandatory Electronic Filing of Form 5500 Delayed to 2009 Plan Years
Excerpt: "On May 25, 2007, Joe Canary, deputy director, Office of Regulations and Interpretations for the Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), confirmed that the requirement to file Form 5500 electronically will be implemented for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2009, rather than January 1, 2008, as previously announced. He acknowledged that many in the pension industry, including ASPPA, had asked for a delayed effective date because of the volume of changes that would be needed to information and recordkeeping systems, the time needed to train staff and, in general, getting the plan sponsor community on board with the new requirement." (form5500help.com)
Newly Posted Events
CQ Presidential Forum: From Sick Care to Well Care - Webcast
Nationwide on November 3, 2007
presented by KaiserNetwork.org
Regulatory Updates
in Connecticut on December 5, 2007
presented by National Institute of Pension Administrators-CT Chapter
Newly Posted Press Releases
2008 Steven H. Sandell Grant Program "Call for Proposals"
Center for Retirement Research at Boston College
TransitCenter Marks 20th Anniversary Of Commuter Benefits With 20 Reasons For Employers, Commuters To Participate
TransitCenter
Highmark Introduces New Healthcare Gift Card
Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
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Labor Relations Sr. Manager
for 1199 Benefit and Pension Funds
in NY
Plan Administrator
for The Newport Group
in FL
Health and Welfare Benefits Analyst
for Omnicom Group
in CT
DC/401(k) Software Support Specialist
for Actuarial Systems Corporation
in ANY STATE
Defined Benefits Actuarial Consultant
for ERP Actuaries & amp; Consultants
in NY
Qualified Consultant
for The Newport Group
in FL
Plan Administrator
for The Newport Group
in WI
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
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