BenefitsLink |
 |
 |
| December 21, 2007 |
| Here are the Web's best new links about compliance and cost aspects of plan operation, design and policy. |
Today's sponsor is ALM
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
| 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
Bill for Federal Employee Domestic Partner Benefits Introduced
Excerpt: "Senator Joe Lieberman (I-Connecticut), Senator Gordon Smith (R-Oregon) and 19 co-sponsors have introduced legislation to extend benefits to domestic partners of federal employees." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Bill Would Ensure Health Plans Pay Benefits for Medicare-Eligible Workers
Excerpt: "Legislation approved by Congress this week contains a provision that would help ensure group plans, rather than Medicare, would pay health care bills for workers who continue to work past retirement age." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
AARP Benefits Financially from Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit It Helped Pass
Excerpt: "Some advocates have expressed concern over the commercial success of AARP-branded Medicare prescription drug plans, administered by United Healthcare Services, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Military Retirees May Face Big Bump in Health Costs
Excerpt: "A Pentagon task force proposed dramatic increases Thursday in the health insurance premiums paid by more than 3 million military retirees and their families, warning that medical costs are growing faster than the federal budget or the U.S. economy. The 14-member panel unveiled a complicated fee structure that would more than double the annual cost of family coverage for 1.1 million military retirees under age 65, hiking their average fee from $460 to $1,100." (The Virginian-Pilot via PilotOnline.com)
(c) Summaries of Guidance; Filed Comments
How a Traffic Accident Can Be a Sickness -- The Denial of Accidental Death Benefits Based Upon Plan Exclusions
Excerpt: "Was it diabetes or traumatic injury, however, that really killed Dennis Nally? The insurance company that had issued an accidental death policy on Dennis ('LINA') wanted to know. As it turns out, no one will ever really know the answer to that question. So the standard of review question, as so often the case, really decided the issue." (Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)
Overview of New State Legislation Affecting California Employers in 2008
Excerpt: "The 2007 session of the California Legislature produced a number of new laws which will impact the state's private sector employers in the coming year. Below is an overview of those laws we view as most significant. The laws will become effective January 1, 2008, unless noted otherwise." (Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner LLP)
Overview: IRS Clarifies Definition of 'Qualifying Relative' for Purposes of Determining Who Is a Dependent (PDF)
Excerpt: "On December 18, 2007, the IRS issued Notice 2008-5, which clarifies when an individual will qualify as a dependent under Code Section 152. The Notice expands the definition of 'qualifying relative' so children who live with and are supported by a non-parent taxpayer (e.g., an unrelated friend, grandparent, or domestic partner) may be eligible to receive coverage from the taxpayer's health plan on a tax-free basis." (Miller & Chevalier Chartered)
Overview: IRS Confirmation that Self-Insured Health Plans are Eligible for $3,000 Retiree Medical Exclusion for Retired Public Safety Officers
Excerpt: "In early December 2007, the IRS issued a notice 2007-99 that confirms the change in interpretation by the IRS regarding the inclusion of self-insured health plans in the public safety officer $3,000 retirement medical exclusion enacted in PPA. In earlier guidance, the IRS had interpreted the statutory language to say that self-insured plans were not eligible for the exclusion. Since that time, Congress, through correspondence and the introduction of a Technical Corrections bill, clarified that they had intended for self-insured plans to be eligible." (ICMA-RC)
Court Affirms Denial of Accidental Benefits for Diabetic
Excerpt: "The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has agreed with an insurance company's decision to deny accidental death benefits for a participant who died of injuries from a car accident that was likely caused by his severe hypoglycemia." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
(d) Trends, Surveys, Research
Medicare Prescription Drug Plans More Complicated, Costly in 2008
Excerpt: "Almost all plans that provide coverage for prescription drugs in the coverage gap (called the 'donut hole') are restricting that coverage to generic drugs. The monthly premium for PDPs with some coverage in the donut hole averages twice the amount for other PDP coverage, about $63.29. From 2007 to 2008, the average premium for PDPs that help cover the cost of generic drugs in the gap rose by 23%." (Wolters Kluwer Financial Services)
More Health Plans Strategically Manage Diabetes
Excerpt: "Evidence is growing that effective management of diabetes can reduce complications and health care costs, while boosting employee productivity, reports the National Business Coalition on Health, which recently released a study on health plans and diabetes performance." (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)
CIGNA Expands Virtual House Calls
Excerpt: "CIGNA HealthCare, Bloomfield, Conn., an arm of CIGNA Corp., Philadelphia, is expanding a 4-state pilot program nationally in 2008 that allows qualified members to exchange messages with physicians in 'virtual house calls.'" (The National Underwriter Company; free registration or paid subscription required)
Health Costs Drop When Patients Shop, According to Study
Excerpt: "Relatively few patients talk to their doctors about costs or ask for a discount, despite their concerns about health care costs, according to a new survey. The survey by HealthMarkets Inc., North Richland Hills, Texas, shows that of those who did ask for a lower rate from their doctor, 55% were able to reduce their bill." (The National Underwriter Company; free registration or paid subscription required)
Drug Benefit Plans Driven by Short-Term Savings Could Be More Costly in the End
Excerpt: "Given the burgeoning demand for prescription drugs and the consequent efforts to rein in their costs, we undertook a systematic review of the published literature on how the salient cost-sharing features might affect drug access, medical spending, and health outcomes. We found several reasons for concern, based on 132 studies published in English between 1985 and 2006 on the effects of drug cost sharing in Australia, Britain, Can.ada, Germany, Sweden, the United States, and Taiwan." (RAND)
Small Business Owners Say Health Insurance is a Top Incentive to Recruit/Retain Workers
Excerpt: "After pay, health insurance is the single-most important incentive that small businesses use to recruit and keep workers, according to results of an annual employer survey published Dec. 12 by the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (NAPEO)." (Business Wire via InsuranceNewsNet.com)
(e) Policy, Opinion, Advocacy
2007: The Year in Health Care Research
Excerpt: "Every year, we choose 10 articles from our top research and evaluation projects that had real impact in the policy arena, helped shape our thinking and work, or stood out in other ways." (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)
The Basic FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions on Health Policy and Responses from a Pro-Market Perspective
Excerpt: "At the Galen Institute, our work is informed by economic principles, especially the importance of understanding how people and systems can be expected to respond to incentives placed before them. With this in mind, we are offering a regular feature to answer frequently asked questions about our health sector, informed by our free-market perspective. We invite your participation and contributions to the debate." (Galen Institute)
Health Care Costs Too Great a Burden: America's Families at Risk
Excerpt: "In order to understand how high health care costs affect American families, Families USA commissioned The Lewin Group to analyze data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Census Bureau. This analysis allowed us to determine how many non-elderly people are in families that will spend more than 10 percent of their pre-tax income, and how many will spend more than 25 percent of their pre-tax income, on health care costs in 2008." (FamiliesUSA)
Unions Reap Benefits from California's Compromise Health Reform Measure
Excerpt: "In an effort to secure support for his health reform plan, Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez (D-Los Angeles) added language to legislation that would benefit two labor unions, the Los Angeles Times reports." (California HealthCare Foundation)
Opinion: Looking Through Health Care Transparency to User-Friendly Access
Excerpt: "Recent years have witnessed important efforts to provide more and better cost and quality information to health care consumers -- but promoting value in health care requires more than just transparency. Consumers need user-friendly access to all the information that matters -- and some compelling reasons to use it." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
Overview: Congress Enacts Amendments to the Family and Medical Leave Act
Excerpt: "On December 14, 2007, Congress amended the FMLA to add two new reasons for taking unpaid leave and to greatly expand the amount of leave available to employees under one of those new reasons." (Kilpatrick Stockton LLP)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Options Still Dominate Executive Compensation Package
Excerpt: "The median value of total retirement benefits of Fortune 500 CEOs in 2006 was only about half that of their outstanding options awards, according to a new study." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
A Look at Some 409A Traps for Foreign Deferred Compensation Arrangements and Foreign Employees
Excerpt: "Section 409A generally does not apply to foreign employees. However, 409A does lay a few traps for the employers with individuals working outside the U.S. The following is a very brief summary you might want to keep handy: . . . . When a nonresident alien (NRA) earns deferred compensation for work outside U.S. and subsequently becomes U.S. resident before the compensation is vested, the deferred compensation is generally subject to Section 409A." (Michael S. Melbinger of Winston & Strawn LLP)
ICI Makes Recommendations on SEC Exemptive Application Proposal
Excerpt: "ICI believes that a recent SEC proposal, with minor modifications, would improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the agency's exemptive application process, thus allowing for fund industry innovation while still affording effective investor protections." (Investment Company Institute)
Overview: Rule 144 Adopting Release (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "The SEC is adopting a six-month holding period for the resale of restricted securities of reporting companies by affiliates and non-affiliates. Restricted securities of non-reporting issuers will have a one-year holding period. The SEC believes that these new holding periods are appropriate given the differences in the amount of information available for reporting and non-reporting companies." (Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP)
An Update on USERRA from the Multiemployer Perspective (PDF)
6 pages. Excerpt: "The effect of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) on multiemployer employee pension and health care plans is the subject of this Q&A." (International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)
Executive Compensation Update, December 2007 (PDF)
13 pages. The newsletter includes articles titled: IRS Postpones Year-End Deadline for Code Sec. 409A Changes; New Rules Issued on Reporting of Company-Owned Life Insurance Contracts; SEC Announces Scrutiny of 10b5-1Trading Plans; Court Upholds Plan Administrator's Interpretation in 'Claw Back' Case; Bad Facts Make Bad Law: Another Adverse Ruling in a Backdating Case; Consider Adopting Stock Option Award Guidelines; Executive Roth Plans: A New Funding Concept for Nonqualified Plans; and, Year-End Reminder: Determining When to Deduct Employee Bonuses can be Tricky. (Winston & Strawn LLP)
Most of Past Year a Bumpy Ride for Federal Employees on Pay and Benefits Issues
Excerpt: "President Bush's decision to give most employees a day off on Christmas Eve came on the heels of an announcement that the Pentagon was scrambling for money to pay civilian employees' salaries as a result of budget delays and might have to start issuing furlough notices. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have stepped in to suggest that the Defense Department find an alternative that would prevent furloughs. But the fact that the situation got to this point at all represents a fundamental problem with shaping federal employee pay and benefits policies." (GovExec.com)
Newly Posted Events
HIPAA And Health Law Compliance Assistance Seminar - Free
in Oklahoma on January 16, 2008
presented by U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
Living up to DC Plan Fiduciary Responsibilities: Plan Administration and Investments Webcasts
in Alaska on January 10, 2008
presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
Newly Posted Press Releases
ExpertPlan Develops Private Label 401(k) Product with Brock Asset Management
ExpertPlan
Union Announces Lowered Costs for Republic VEBA Participants
United Steelworkers
Consumer Group Condemns Bogus 'Hellhole' Report As Dishonest And Unfair
Center for Justice & Democracy
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
(Post a Job | View All Jobs |
RSS Feed )
Paralegal
for Trucker Huss, A Professional Corp.
in CA
Manager
for The Hartford
in CT
Retirement Sales - Inside Sales/Payroll
for ExpertPlan, Inc.
in NJ
Benefits Analyst
for North Memorial Health Care
in MN
Profit-Sharing (and Pension) Administrator
for ERISA Pension Systems
in FL
Retirement Plan Administrator
for Howard Simon & Associates
in IL
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
Subscribe to the BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter, Too!
Sign-up form is at https://benefitslink.com/newsletter (free).
This newsletter is sent to you each workday except federal holidays.
This email has been published by:
BenefitsLink.com, Inc.
1298 Minnesota Avenue, Suite H
Winter Park FL 32789
(407) 644-4146
Fax: (407) 644-2151
David Rhett Baker, J.D., Editor
Copyright 2007 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.; except that you can forward this email in full (including this boilerplate part) or otherwise reprint this email in full (including this boilerplate part) without obtaining our permission.
Anyone can receive these emails; just have them sign up at this web page: https://benefitslink.com/newsletter/
Other useful links: