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| January 7, 2008 |
| Here are the Web's best new links about compliance and cost aspects of plan operation, design and policy. |
Today's sponsor is www.ftwilliam.com
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
| Ftwilliam.com has added a Transportation Spending Account Plan (IRC 132(f)) to our list of high quality plan documents. |
| This new plan provides a substantial benefit to employees, allowing purchases of qualified transportation spending expenses pre-tax. The plan also includes wage deferral agreement forms, reimbursement forms (when applicable) and a summary plan description for employees.
Contact Holly Roussel with questions at 800.596.0714 or via email at sales@ftwilliam.com. |
(a) New Guidance Documents
(None today.)
(b) News
AARP Seeks U.S. Supreme Court Ruling That EEOC Lacks Authority To Allow Employers To Reduce Health Care Benefits for Medicare-Eligible Retirees
Excerpt: "AARP has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review whether the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had the authority to issue a Dec. 26, 2007, regulation that allows employers to legally eliminate or reduce health benefits for retirees when they reach age 65 and become eligible for Medicare while retaining benefits for retirees under age 65, CQ HealthBeat reports (Reichard, CQ HealthBeat, 1/3)." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Court Seems to Favor Employer Funding for San Francisco Health Access Plan
Excerpt: "The panel of judges from the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals seemed skeptical of U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White's decision to prevent the Healthy San Francisco program from requiring employers to meet minimum contribution levels to employee health insurance benefits or help fund the program." (California HealthCare Foundation)
Appeals Panel Questions Federal Judge's Decision That Healthy San Francisco Violates ERISA
Excerpt: "A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday 'made it clear they thought U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White was on shaky ground last week' when he struck down a key funding provision for the city's Healthy San Francisco program, the San Francisco Chronicle reports (Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle, 1/4)." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Health Plan Cost Increases Steady at 6.1 Percent; Similar Increases Expected for 2008
Excerpt: "That marks the third consecutive year that health care plan costs have increased 6.1 percent. While that is roughly double the rise in the Consumer Price Index, it is a big improvement from just a few years ago, when annual health plan increases were rising by double digits and employers despaired about their seeming inability to bring costs under control. In 2002, for example, costs jumped an average of 14.7 percent; in 2003, costs climbed an average of 10.1 percent." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
VEBA Gag Order Irks UAW Ranks: GM Retirees Seek Details of Health Trust
Excerpt: "Retirees from General Motors Corp.'s UAW ranks are rankled over a judicial order that appears to allow just about anything in the court proceedings to establish a $29.9-billion UAW health-care trust to be deemed confidential. The health-care trust -- known as a voluntary employee beneficiary association, or VEBA -- is already a controversial topic among the Detroit automakers' active UAW members and retirees because the deal allows the automakers to relieve themselves, at a significant discount, of future hourly retiree health costs and because much of the financial justification for the deal has been kept under wraps by the UAW." (Detroit Free Press via Human Resource Executive Online; free registration required)
Bush Administration Seeks High Court Review in MetLife ERISA Case
Excerpt: "U.S. Solicitor General Paul D. Clement is recommending that the Supreme Court hear an appeal by Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. in an employee-benefits case that could have broad implications for life and health insurers that act as plan administrators under the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act." (A.M. Best Company, Inc. via Human Resource Executive Online; free registration required)
(c) Summaries of Guidance; Filed Comments
Overview: EEOC Final Rules Allow Differentials in Pre- and Post-Medicare Retiree Health Benefits
Excerpt: "Sec. 9 of the ADEA authorizes the EEOC to 'establish such reasonable exemptions to and from any or all provisions of the Act as it may find necessary and proper in the public interest.' In the preamble to the final regulations, the EEOC explains, 'Rising health care costs, larger numbers of workers nearing retirement age, and mandated changes in the way employers must account for the long-term costs of providing retiree health coverage have been substantial factors contributing to the erosion of this valuable employment benefit." (Wolters Kluwer Financial Services)
Tenth Circuit Says Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies Requirement 'Judicial', Not 'Contractual' Requirement
Excerpt: "This recent Tenth Circuit case provides a succinct exposition of the exhaustion of administrative remedies doctrine that the federal judiciary has added as a gloss to ERISA's statutory provisions. Further, since the requirement is judicial, not contractual, its applicability does not depend on the plan document, according to the Tenth Circuit. The case arose out of a claim for benefits under Sunoco's disability plans." (Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)
Circuit by Circuit Survey of Claims Administrator Conflict of Interest Cases
Excerpt: "The various circuit courts of appeal have reached different views on this fundamental question. The catalog of these points of view has been undertaken on several occasions, including Stephen Rosenberg's article 'A Survey of All the Circuits on the Effect on the Standard of Review of Structural Conflicts of Interest' and my own summary in :: Standard of Review - A Circuit By Circuit Overview[.]" (Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)
15 Health Plan Law Guidance Pointers from the Department of Labor
Excerpt: "The Department of Labor provides a substantial compliance assistance resource. The [target page] information, taken from the DOL site, provides the starting point for helpful client newsletters and advice . . . ." (Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)
Some Recommended Blogs About Health Law
The target page repeats criteria for evaluating the quality of blogs and provides a list of blawgs that provide useful information relating to health plan law. (Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)
Employer Cleared of ERISA Violations in Firings
Excerpt: "A federal judge in Philadelphia has cleared a building materials manufacturer of wrongdoing in firing a half dozen sales representatives for violating its travel expense policy." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
(d) Trends, Surveys, Research
Many Advisers and Employers Give Group Life and Other Ancillary Products Short Shrift
Excerpt: "Employers and advisers don't always take a proactive approach to educating employees about their life insurance needs and providing meaningful entry points to increase their coverage, experts observe. Although health plans have claims data to rely on to know when and how to target new parents, life insurers have it a little tougher. However, says, Gemus, 'To the point an employer is willing to share demographic information with us, we can reach out to employees as these types of life events are happening.'" (Employee Benefit Advisor; free registration required)
Modeling Long Term Healthcare Cost Trends
Excerpt: "The Society of Actuaries' Pension Section and Health Section Research teams commissioned Professor Thomas E. Getzen of Temple University to construct a resource model for the projection of long term healthcare cost trends. . . . The model and related documents are available for download [on the target page]: Modeling Long Term Healthcare Cost Trends Technical Documentation including FAQ's; Practical Issues for Health Actuaries -- Written by Project Oversight Group; SOA-Getzen Long Term Healthcare Cost Trends Resource Model v3.1 . . . ." (Society of Actuaries)
Finding Health Insurance for the Retirement Years
Excerpt: "[O]nce you retire, it's increasingly likely you'll need to find insurance. Without it, serious illness or injury to you or a spouse can put a big dent into your retirement nest egg. Plan ahead by looking at your coverage options. First, see if you can get coverage as a full or partial retirement benefit through the employer . . . you're leaving. Even if that's not available, federal law (COBRA) requires your former employer to let you stay in its group plan for up to 18 months after leaving, but that can be expensive. You may have to pay 100% of premiums, plus up to 2% of administrative costs." (Investor's Business Daily via CNNMoney.com)
Companies Find That Workplace Exercise Programs Provide Benefits
Excerpt: "It's 10,995 steps to the top of Mount Everest, give or take a few. Want to make it your New Year's resolution to get there -- while you're on the job? A client of Lockton Benefits recently helped its employees make the trek with a wall poster alongside a staircase." (The Kansas City Star; free registration required)
Some Say Free Company Meals Can Even Fatten Productivity and Build Teamwork
Excerpt: "Companies that provide food to their employees -- whether as catered breakfasts, weekly lunches or free fruit in the kitchen -- boost morale, encourage workers to mingle and create a friendlier workplace culture, employers say. In most cases, providing meals signifies a commitment to improving interpersonal relations . . . ." (The Washington Post; free registration required)
(e) Policy, Opinion, Advocacy
It's Time for State Governments to Acknowledge Health Care Costs
Excerpt: "Collectively, according to a recent study by the Pew Charitable Trusts, the states have a liability of $381 billion for retiree health care and other non-pension benefits, including dental insurance and life insurance. They have set aside just 3 percent of the money needed to fund those benefits.' (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
Overview: The 2008 Presidential Candidates on Health Care Reform, Updated Jan. 4, 2008 (PDF)
12 pages. Excerpt: "While it is still early in the campaign process and plan details are incomplete for most candidates, these summaries provide a snapshot of the candidates and their blueprint for reform. Our intent is to be thorough and accurate in compiling what they have said or indicated they want to do." (Council for Affordable Health Insurance)
Enhanced Protections for Uses of Health Data: A Stewardship Framework for 'Secondary Uses' of Electronically Collected and Transmitted Health Data (PDF)
71 pages. Excerpt: "This report and its recommendations were developed in response to a request from the Office of the National Coordinator on Health Information Technology to address the benefits, sensitivities, obligations, and protections of uses of health data for quality measurement, reporting, and improvement; research; and other purposes that benefit the health of all Americans and the health care delivery system of the Nation." (National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics)
Opinion: Evaluation of Colorado Blue Ribbon Commission for Health Care Reform Final Recommendations
Excerpt: "The 208 Commission Recommendations fail to address: Rising cost of health insurance premiums (82% increase in 6 years in Colorado), as well as copays, deductibles and prescriptions. The U.S. fragmented commercial health insurance system that siphons more than 20 percent of health care dollars to profits, exorbitant CEO salaries, etc. and duplicative layers of administrative waste. A greater than doubling of median family income spent on health insurance: 7.7% in 1987 to 19% in 2005. As premium costs continue to increase, coverage has decreased: 'Insurance does not equal health care.'" (Physicians for a National Health Program)
Editorial: Health Benefits and Retirees
Excerpt: "A new federal regulation allows employers to reduce or eliminate health benefits for retirees when they turn 65 and become eligible for Medicare. Although that will cause distress for some, it is a welcome step that could help slow the deterioration of employment-based health insurance. It seems likely that the new rule will help far more people than it hurts." (The New York Times; free registration required)
A Global Look at Public Perceptions of Health Problems, Priorities, and Donors
Excerpt: "The Kaiser/Pew Global Health Survey, a unique new partnership between the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Pew Global Attitudes Project, was conducted in 47 countries across the world in the spring of 2007. The Kaiser/Pew Global Health Survey polled people in these countries on a series of health questions, giving them an opportunity to share their views on health as a priority for government and in their own lives, on some of the biggest global health challenges that confront the world, particularly the HIV epidemic, and on the efforts of donor nations to help poorer nations address health challenges." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Overview: Final Rule Changes to Rules 144 and 145 under the Securities Act of 1933
Excerpt: "On November 15, 2007, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the 'SEC') voted unanimously to adopt changes to Rules 144 and 145 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the 'Securities Act'), including a change to shorten the holding period requirements for restricted securities. The modifications to Rules 144 and 145 will promote capital formation at lower cost and reduce reporting obligations, which will be of particular benefit to smaller public companies. " (Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner LLP)
Highlights of Results from the 'Employee Benefits Survey: U.S. and Can.ada 2007'
Excerpt: "Based on member requests and need, the International Foundation has developed a broad employee benefits survey to benchmark the benefits offerings and design of four distinct employment sectors throughout the United States and Can.ada." (International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)
Overview: Recent DOL Actions Increase Obligations of Service Providers
Pages 1-4 of 5 pages. Excerpt: "The DOL has proposed an amendment to the regulation under Section 408(b)(2) of ERISA. Section 408(b)(2) of ERISA provides an exemption from ERISA's prohibited transaction rules for reasonable arrangements with service providers. The proposed regulation would require Plan service providers to disclose to Plan Fiduciaries detailed information regarding fees, compensation and conflicts of interest." (Goodwin Procter LLP)
Overview: Proposed Regs on Civil Penalties for Noncompliance with ERISA Disclosure Rules
Excerpt: "The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has issued proposed regulations on the assessment of civil penalties under ERISA §502(c) (4) for the failure to disclose certain documents to participants, beneficiaries and others as required by ERISA. The proposed regulations reflect amendments to ERISA by the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA; P.L. 109-280)." (Wolters Kluwer Financial Services)
Newly Posted Events
2008 Plan Design Issues - Webcast
Nationwide on January 15, 2008
presented by ASPPA (American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries)
Newly Posted Press Releases
The SPARK Institute Evaluating 403(b) Issues in Light Of New Regulations
SPARK Institute
Healthcare311.com: Now Retail Health Clinics Can Be Found Everywhere
benefits information group
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
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Pension Administrator
for Primark Benefits
in CA
Assistant Vice President & Counsel-50033243
for MassMutual Financial Group
in NC
Defined Contributions/401K Consultant
for Aon Consulting (Baltimore)
in MD
Defined Contribution Analyst II - Part Time
for Standard Retirement Services
in OR
Sales Consultant
for Diversified Investment Advisors
in CA
401 (k) Plan Administrator-Document Specialist
for Valley Pension Services, Inc.
in CA
Sr. Retirement Plan Analyst
for Scripps Health
in CA
Pension Account Technician II
for Alerus Retirement Solutions
in MN
Investment Analyst / Investment Consultant
for Alerus Investment Advisors
in MN
Director, Disability Benefits - STD
for Standard Insurance Company
in OR
Health Care Consultant (Actuarial)
for Gabriel Roeder Smith & Company
in TX
Director of Executive Benefits
for Great-West Financial Services
in ANY STATE
Daily Operations Processor/Team Leader
for Columbia Benefits Consultants, Inc.
in MD
Benefits Analyst
for ICF International
in VA
Senior Calculation Specialist
for Prudential Financial
in CT
Retirement Plan Administrator I
for Southampton Bucks County Pension TPA
in PA
Pension Administration
for Stephen H. Rosen & Associates, Inc.
in NJ
Pension Analyst
for T Rowe Price
in MD
Retirement Consultant
for Towers Perrin
in CT, DC, MA, NJ, NY, PA
Benefit Administration Team Associate
for Towers Perrin
in PA
Health and Welfare Actuarial Consultant
for Towers Perrin
in CT, NJ, NY
Retirement Associate
for Towers Perrin
in CT, DC, MA, NY, PA
Health and Welfare Associate
for Towers Perrin
in NJ, NY, PA
Senior Retirement Plan Coordinator
for ERAS, LLC
in KY
Health and Welfare Consultant
for Towers Perrin
in GA, NJ, NY, TX
Senior Retirement Consultant
for Towers Perrin
in DC, MA, PA
DB or DC Plan Analyst
for Derby and Company, Inc.
in MA
Associate Attorney
for National Law Firm
in OH
Pension Administration Assistant
for Taylor/Webster
in TN
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