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| December 20, 2007 |
| Here are the Web's best new links about compliance and cost aspects of plan operation, design and policy. |
Today's sponsor is BeneCom Associates, LLC
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
| "Benefits statements are terrific education tools. Now, they’re budget-friendly, too." |
| If you’re looking for a low-cost approach to communicating the value of your benefits, BeneCom Associates, LLC can help. Our "preformatted," customized and online approaches to benefit statements are attractive, very reasonably priced and used by employers across the country who thought benefits statements were financially out of reach.
To find out how little benefits statements can cost and how they can help your organization, call (860) 674-2626 or visit us at benecomassociates.com. |
(a) New Guidance Documents
(None today.)
(b) News
Study Confirms Benefits of Care by Doctors Employed by Hospitals
Excerpt: "So-called hospitalists work for hospitals or insurers solely to supervise the care of hospital patients with no regular doctors or whose doctors do not make hospital rounds, either by choice or because an insurer does not allow it." (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
Study Shows Insured Cancer Patients Do Better
Excerpt: "Uninsured cancer patients are nearly twice as likely to die within five years as those with private coverage, according to the first national study of its kind and one that sheds light on troubling health care obstacles." (AP via Houston Chronicle)
Health IT Spending in Limbo as Congress Wrangles Over Budget
Excerpt: "The legislation includes more than $6 million for telemedicine projects and nearly $18 million for health care IT projects. However, e-Health Law and the Center for Telehealth note that the omnibus spending measure includes a slight reduction in funding for the Office of the Advancement of Telehealth (Healthcare IT News, 12/18)." (California HealthCare Foundation)
N.Y. Plan Would Pool Self-Insured Employer Workers' Comp Risks
Excerpt: "The New York State Workers' Compensation Board has proposed a means of securing self-insurance claims. If adopted, the plan would release nearly $2 billion in letters of credit and surety bonds to the state's self-insured employers." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
(c) Summaries of Guidance; Filed Comments
(None today.)
(d) Trends, Surveys, Research
Text Message Services Speed Health Info to Those in a Hurry
Excerpt: "A study in New Zealand found that smoking-cessation programs were more effective in conjunction with supportive text messages." (The Wall Street Journal via St. Petersburg Times)
Changing Health Insurance Benefits Market Offers New Opportunities for TPAs
Excerpt: "In order to survive and succeed in this new health care environment, TPAs must apply the following three strategies[:] Be alert to and respond innovatively to changes and opportunities. Shape the future by shaping public opinion and political outcomes at the local level and by sharing with the SPBA insights, from the 'trenches,' on the actual functioning of the health insurance market. . . . Continue to provide attentive, personalized service . . . ." (Wolters Kluwer Financial Services)
Prescription Drug Benefit Design: The Building Blocks and Their Impact on Cost (PDF)
8 pages. (Milliman)
(e) Policy, Opinion, Advocacy
Comparing Employer-Provided Medical Care Benefits for Lower and Higher Wage Full-Time Workers
Excerpt: "Higher wage workers are considerably more likely to have access to employer-provided medical plans and to participate in such plans when they are offered to them. Higher wage workers also pay a smaller portion of their health insurance premiums than do lower wage workers." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Opinion: Slowing the Rise in Health Costs
Excerpt: "With the disjointed American health care system in perpetual crisis, it is essential to find ways to slow the relentless rise in costs, without jeopardizing the quality of care. There is no single solution. But a broad range of reforms could combine to produce worthwhile savings." (The New York Times; free registration required)
JAMA Commentary Examines Distortions in U.S. Health Care Market
Excerpt: "The JAMA commentary discusses three classic efforts to describe, to quantify and to propose solutions to health care market distortions. The authors also discuss current health policy initiatives that aim to reduce market distortions, including pay-for-performance systems and consumer-driven health plans . . . ." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Employee Benefits Can Spring Costly Surprises in M&A
Excerpt: "You've scrutinized the deal until your eyes hurt, but if you haven't carefully examined employee benefits, you haven't done your job in M&A due diligence, Patrick J. Haraden, director of employee benefit services at Longfellow Benefits, told the Boston Bar Association . . . ." (Market Wire via InsuranceNewsNet.com)
Headlines in Employee Benefits Law, December 2007 (PDF)
8 pages. This issue covers select compliance deadlines, retirement plan developments, and health and welfare plan developments. (Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c.)
Overview: SEC Amendment of Rule 144 and Rule 145 to Allow More Flexibility in Reselling Securities (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "On December 6, 2007, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued final amendments to Rule 144 to shorten the holding periods for restricted securities. The SEC also made changes to ease the burdens to resell securities under Rule 144 and amended Rule 145 to eliminate presumptive underwriter status in most cases." (Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c.)
Analyzing the 'Next Social Contract': Are Employment-Based Benefits Really Dead?
Excerpt: "Proponents of reforms affecting health insurance and retirement -- particularly removing such programs from employment-based systems -- should get their facts straight before proposing massive changes." (Human Resource Executive Online; free registration required)
Overview: Proposed Labor Regs Would Require Greater Disclosures of Fees, Compensation and Conflicts of Interest for Employee Benefit Plan Service Providers (PDF)
Excerpt: "It is unlikely that any plan sponsors have obtained contractual obligations of the type that would be required by these proposed regulations. However, the proposed regulations could be cited by defendants who would argue that such procedures and disclosures are not required under current law." (Alston & Bird LLP)
Participant Seeking Benefits Due Cannot Claim Fiduciary Breach
Excerpt: "The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has ruled a plan participant cannot move forward with fiduciary breach claims against her former employer when she has adequate remedy under her claim for additional benefits due to her." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
IRS Notice 2008-8: Waiver of Requirement to Make 2007 Information Return for Certain Stock Transfers Under Code Sec. 6039 (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "Section 403 of the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 (Act) amended the information reporting requirements of § 6039. . . . As amended by the Act, § 6039 requires corporations to make an information return with the IRS, in addition to providing employees with an information statement, following a [transfer of stock pursuant to the employee's exercise of an incentive stock option or a transfer of stock by the employee where the stock was acquired pursuant to the exercise of an option described § 423(c)]. . . . Because regulations under § 6039 have not yet been issued, the IRS is waiving the obligation to make an information return for 2007 stock transfers . . . ." (Internal Revenue Service)
Newly Posted Events
COBRA Compliance Workshop
in California on January 17, 2008
presented by U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
HIPAA And Other Health Benefits Laws: Compliance Assistance Seminar
in Massachusetts on March 19, 2008
presented by U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
Report Release On Estimated Savings From Specific Health Reform Options
Nationwide on December 21, 2007
presented by KaiserNetwork.org
Newly Posted Press Releases
SEI Releases 2008 Update of FAS 87 Disclosure Assumptions Research for Pension Plan Sponsors
SEI
Study Offers Counties Help for GASB 45 Rule Compliance
National Association of Counties
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
(Post a Job | View All Jobs |
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Pension Plan Operations Representative
for Transamerica Retirement Services
in CA
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
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