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| December 17, 2007 |
| Here are the Web's best new links about compliance and cost aspects of plan operation, design and policy. |
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(a) New Guidance Documents
(None today.)
(b) News
Despite N.J. Law, Companies Failing to Extend Marriage Benefits to Same-Sex Couples
Excerpt: "[I]n October 2006, the state Supreme Court ordered the state Legislature to grant homose.xual couples the same rights it extends to heterose.xual married couples. The resulting legislation, a bill creating civil unions, took effect in February." (Courier News)
House Approves FMLA Expansion for Military Families
Excerpt: "The U.S. House of Representatives has approved the National Defense Authorization Act -- an expansion of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to include family members of military personnel." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Springfield, MO Audit Faults Huge Accrual of Vacation, Holiday Time
Excerpt: "'[A]llowing employees to accumulate and be compensated for large vacation leaves upon retirement has contributed to the unfunded amount of the Police Officers and Firefighters Retirement System,' the audit found. An influx of $70 million is needed to adequately fund the pension system, and auditors characterized the shortfall as the city's biggest burden." (Springfield News-Leader)
Health Savings Accounts for Poor Tested
Excerpt: "The popularity of health savings accounts for the poor will be put to the test in Indiana under a program approved Friday by the Bush administration. Under the plan, someone making $20,000 a year could get health coverage for about $19 a week." (The Washington Post; free registration required)
(c) Summaries of Guidance; Filed Comments
Holidays Count Against An Employee's Intermittent FMLA Leave
Excerpt: "The Family and Medical Leave Act's (FMLA) intermittent leave provision has traditionally been difficult for employers to administer. In Mellen v. Trustees of Boston University, the First Circuit, for the first time, gave employers guidance on how to calculate days used during intermittent leaves that include work holidays." (Seyfarth Shaw LLP)
Overview: IRS Issues 2-Percent Shareholder Health Cost Rules
Excerpt: "The Internal Revenue Service has come out with an interpretation that could affect the ability of some S corporation shareholder-employees to deduct health insurance premiums. The guidance, given in IRS Notice 2008-1, affects taxation of health insurance premiums for S corporation employees who own 2% or more of the corporation's stock, IRS officials write in the notice." (The National Underwriter Company; free registration or paid subscription required)
Revisiting Pruitt v. United Healthcare Services, Inc. -- A Health Plan Subrogation Claim Gone Sour
Excerpt: "Pruitt v. United Healthcare Services, Inc., 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87829 (W.D. Mo) (November 29, 2007) brings to the forefront some very interesting issues in the intersection of ERISA plan rights to subrogation, on the one hand, and the rights of an ERISA plan participant to funds available through a personal injury settlement." (Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)
Working Paper: Legal Implications of Proposed GM/UAW VEBA
Excerpt: "This research note provides an initial exploration of the potential securities law implications of the proposed Voluntary Employees Beneficiary Association (VEBA) of General Motors and the UAW." (Social Science Research Network)
Court Limits COBRA Award for Worker Terminated for Misconduct
Excerpt: "The U.S. Bankrup.tcy Court for the Southern District of New York awarded a former Delphi Corporation employee $10 per day for his claim of COBRA violations by the company, instead of the statutory $110 a day." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
(d) Trends, Surveys, Research
Managing Health Costs: Four Case Studies
Excerpt: "Fall River Group brought down health-care premiums by persuading employees to share in increased co-pays. Highsmith offered financial incentives to employees who participated in wellness programs. Nexen used consumer-driven health care. Union Pacific is addressing smoking." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
Employee Benefits: Health Insurance Features and Terms
Excerpt: "For many of us, our health insurance benefits are the most important employee benefit. . . . Before you have a medical emergency, it's important to know how to understand the basics of your health insurance benefits." (AOL)
Workplace Flexibility Can Boost Healthy Behaviors
Excerpt: "'People who believe they have flexibility in their work lives have healthier lifestyles. Individuals who perceive an increase in their flexibility are more likely to start some positive lifestyle changes,' lead author Joseph G. Grzywacz, of Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C., said in a prepared statement." (The Washington Post; free registration required)
Web Retailers Get Into Employee Gifts
Excerpt: "Internet retailers and corporations have grown chummy in recent years, with merchants offering companies corporate gift and incentive programs. Emboldened, online retailers are designing technology and Web pages to capture more of the roughly $32 billion in merchandise sales spent on workers and clients annually." (The New York Times; free registration required)
(e) Policy, Opinion, Advocacy
Articles and Comments on the New Dutch Health Insurance System
Excerpt: "On 1 January 2006, a major reform of the Dutch health insurance system came into effect. The former system, a combination of a statutory sickness fund scheme for the majority of the population and private health insurance for the rest, was replaced with a single universal scheme." (Physicians for a National Health Program)
U.S. Needs Individual Medical ID Numbers, Industry Organization Says
Excerpt: "The National Alliance for Health Information Technology is calling for a national system of unique patient identification numbers to which patients would voluntarily subscribe." (Government Health IT)
Health Insurance Issue Sparks Fight Among Democrats, Bogs Down Schwarzenegger
Excerpt: "The issue of requiring individuals to purchase health insurance is triggering an escalating fight between the top contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination even as the same question is bogging down Governor Schwarzenegger's plan to make sure all Californians are insured." (The New York Sun via The Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights)
Group Letter to Congress Outlining Position on Issues in Medicare Debate (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "On behalf of the Employers' Coalition on Medicare (ECOM), we are writing to express our concerns with various proposals and provisions that were included in the House-passed CHAMP Act that may be considered as a part of this year's Medicare package. Collectively, we represent hundreds of employers and their employees who support offering Medicare beneficiaries with choice in the selection of their Medicare benefit options. In addition, we support the continuation of the Prescription Drug Program that provides options for Medicare beneficiaries, who also have employer-sponsored retiree health care coverage." (American Benefits Council)
Fighting Back Against ERISA Reimbursement Claims
Excerpt: "[Read excerpts from an] instructive case presented by Brian King at the ERISA Law blog . . . ." (Workplace Prof Blog)
Report Looks at Success, Challenges of Massachusetts Health Insurance Law
Excerpt: "'Revisiting Massachusetts Health Reform: 18 Months Later,' Community Catalyst: The analysis examines the first 18 months of Massachusetts' health insurance law, as well as the challenges that remain in providing coverage to all state residents." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Opinion: Mandated Insurance Is Not a Health Reform
Excerpt: "The 'mandate model' for reform rests on impeccable political logic: avoid challenging insurance firms' stranglehold on health care. But it is economic nonsense. The reliance on private insurers makes universal coverage unaffordable." (David U. Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler via The New York Times; free registration required)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Text of Final SEC Rule Shortening Rule 144 Holding Period for Certain Restricted Securities (PDF)
29 pages. Excerpt: "Effective Date: February 15, 2008. The revised holding periods and other amendments that we are adopting are applicable to securities acquired before or after February 15, 2008." (Securities and Exchange Commission)
Overview: IRS Limited Correction Program for Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plans (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "Certain unintentional operational failures that are corrected within the same taxable year will result in no amount being includible in the service provider's income under Section 409A." (Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP)
Newly Posted Events
2008 Mid-Winter Tour: Beyond the Essentials: Moving IRA Assets
in Minnesota on January 24, 2008
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
2008 Mid-Winter Tour: Beyond the Essentials: Moving IRA Assets
in Minnesota on January 30, 2008
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
2008 Mid-Winter Tour: IRA Essentials
in Minnesota on January 23, 2008
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
2008 Mid-Winter Tour: IRA Essentials
in Minnesota on January 29, 2008
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
2008 Web/Telephone Seminar: Advanced HSAs
Nationwide on January 22, 2008
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
2008 Web/Telephone Seminar: Basic IRAs
Nationwide on January 24, 2008
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
2008 Web/Telephone Seminar: HSA Basics
Nationwide on January 8, 2008
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
2008 Web/Telephone Seminar: Introduction to QRP Distributions
Nationwide on January 31, 2008
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
2008 Web/Telephone Seminar: IRA Reporting
Nationwide on January 15, 2008
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
2008 Web/Telephone Seminar: QRP Nonspouse Beneficiary Rollovers to Inherited IRAs
Nationwide on January 10, 2008
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
WorldatWork Total Rewards Conference & Exhibition 2008
in Pennsylvania on May 20, 2008
presented by WorldatWork
Newly Posted Press Releases
Employee Ownership Foundation Releases Report on Reasons for ESOP Termination
ESOP Association
The Hartford Agrees to Acquire Sun Life Retirement Services
The Hartford
Paycor and UNIFI Team Up to Offer Retirement Plan Options
UNIFI Companies Retirement Plans
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
(Post a Job | View All Jobs |
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Pension Administrator/TPA
for Block Consulting Actuaries, Inc.
in CA
WRS Senior Communications Specialist
for Wachovia
in NC
ERISA Consultant / Plan Document Specialist
for American Pensions, Inc.
in SC
Defined Contribution Compliance Specialist
for 401k ASP, Inc.
in FL
AVP Product Leader
for MassMutual Financial Group
in MA
ERISA Attorney/Consultant / Plan Document Specialist
for Financial services company
in PA
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
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