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June 10, 2008

Here are the Web's best new links about compliance and cost aspects of plan operation, design and policy.


Today's sponsor is International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans

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Be Smart by Association with the International Foundation

Smart is not a permanent state of being. What's your maintenance plan? Take advantage of the education and information available through the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, a nonprofit educational association, and find out why over 35,000 industry professionals like Cindy Conway rely on the Foundation to stay informed and educated. Make sure you have the most comprehensive information on health, pension and compensation issues. Be smart by association. www.ifebp.org/memberkit

[Guidance Overview] 5th Circuit Rejects FMLA Association Claim
Excerpt: "Via Ross Runkel's Employment Law Memo, the Fifth Circuit issued a decision rejecting the retaliation claim brought by a police sergeant who alleged he was not promoted because his wife had brought an FMLA claim against their employer." (Workplace Prof Blog)


[Guidance Overview] IRS Notice Details Procedures for Full Contribution Limits to HSA
Excerpt: "This full contribution rule is applicable only if the individual remains eligible for an HSA during a 'testing period,' which begins on the first day of the last month of the taxable year and ends on the last day of the 12th month following that month. Thus, for a calendar-year taxpayer, the testing period is from December 1 of the current year to December 31 of the following year. This provision is effective for taxable years beginning after Dec. 31, 2006." (Wolters Kluwer)


The Role of Employer-Provided Benefits in Americans' Confidence About Retirement
Excerpt: "To get a better understanding of the value and effects of employer-sponsored retirement benefits and how current retirees are faring, Watson Wyatt Worldwide asked a national panel of older workers and recent retirees about their benefits, retirement planning, expectations in retirement and related issues. Our observations about the relationship between employer-provided benefits and Americans' confidence in their retirement readiness are based on our 2007 U.S. Surveys of Older Employees' and Retirees' Attitudes Toward Lump Sum and Annuity Distributions From Retirement Plans." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)


The Strains and Drains of Long-Term Care (PDF)
Excerpt: "The financial, emotional, and physical costs of providing long-term care often overwhelm families; unpaid family members supply most of it, struggling to balance these duties with work and other responsibilities. The most common alternative to home care is a nursing home, but a year's stay averaged about $78,000 in 2007 [2], and public assistance is not generally available until the residents have exhausted all of their financial resources. As the nation grows older, it's time to find a better way to care for those who need help as they age." (American Medical Association via Urban Institute)


Health Insurance Coverage of Young Adults (PDF)
7 pages. Excerpt: "Among young adults, the likelihood of coverage varies across a number of different characteristics, including income, citizenship status, and whether or not they are full-time students. Young adults with incomes less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) are 2.6 times more likely to be uninsured compared with those with higher incomes . . . ." (Urban Institute)


Obese Have Heftier Medical Bills Despite Shortened Lives
Excerpt: "The data add to mounting evidence that obese people have significantly higher medical costs. About one-third of people living in the USA are obese, which puts them at an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, some types of cancer and other diseases." (USA TODAY)


Amputees Bump Up Against Coverage Limits for Artificial Limbs
Excerpt: "Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas recently signed into law a bill making Vermont the 10th state to require insurance companies to cover prosthetics as fully as they do other medical procedures. A similar measure is pending in Congress. These laws say that if an insurance policy covers, say, 80 percent of the cost of any other medical procedure _ whether a doctor's office visit or open-heart surgery _ it must do the same for prosthetic limbs." (Associated Press WorldStream via NewsEdge via Human Resource Executive Online)


Microsoft, Kaiser in Health Data Swap Pilot
Excerpt: "Microsoft and Kaiser Permanente, the biggest U.S. health maintenance organization, are working on a patient information exchange pilot program to help give patients more control over their health records." (Thomson Reuters via eWEEK.com)


eHealth and NFIB Unveil New Small Business HSA Platform
Excerpt: "Designed primarily for small businesses that cannot afford group health insurance, BusinessHSA is a simple online platform that allows employers to co-fund and administer their contributions to employee individual health savings accounts (HSA). It combines eHealth's powerful online health insurance platform with the tax-advantaged savings of HSAs to provide a comprehensive healthcare expense management tool." (Marketwire via Consumer Electronics Net)


Dubai Gets New Health Care Plan
Excerpt: "From January 1, 2009, all residents of Dubai will compulsorily have to be part of a Health Funding System which will entitle them to affordable basic healthcare within the emirate. In a major announcement made by the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) yesterday, Director-General of DHA Qadhi Saeed Al Murooshid said the new system will be compulsory for everyone." (Khaleej Times)


Underinsured Trends Among U.S. Adults, 2003 And 2007
Excerpt: "With health insurance moving toward greater patient cost sharing, this study finds a sharp increase in the number of underinsured people. Based on indicators of cost exposure relative to income, as of 2007 an estimated twenty-five million insured people ages 19-64 were underinsured--a 60 percent increase since 2003." (Health Affairs)


Pay or Play: State Mandated Health Care Laws (PDF)
Pages 7-10 of 11 pages. Excerpt: "Currently, twenty-eight states (see http://www.epionline.org/hc_symposium.cfm) have introduced legislation that requires employers to: (i) pay for a minimum level of health care benefits for their employees; or (ii) pay an assessment to the government sponsoring the law. These laws not only increase the cost for employers doing business in these states, but also increase the burdens imposed on human resource personnel, often requiring additional reporting and disclosure requirements." (Proskauer Rose LLP)


Philadelphia Inquirer Examines Health Care Price Transparency Issue
Excerpt: "The Philadelphia Inquirer on Sunday examined the issue of 'price transparency,' in which hospitals and health systems make their charges for treatments more apparent. Patients each pay different prices based on what their insurance companies negotiated with the hospital and usually are not able to find out what those negotiated rates are. Insurance companies generally do not disclose their rates and ask hospitals to keep the rates secret." (Kaiser Family Foundation)


Los Angeles Times Examines Efforts by Policymakers, Researchers to Adopt Comparative Effectiveness Model to Control Health Care Costs
Excerpt: "According to the Times, 'it seems simple enough' that '[b]illions of dollars could be saved' by encouraging treatments 'that research showed were best and most cost-effective.' However, the Times notes that there is a 'cherished American belief that medical decisions are nobody's business but the patient's and the doctor's.'" (Kaiser Family Foundation)


[Opinion] Want Universal Health Care? The Operative Word Is 'Care'
Excerpt: "If a lack of health insurance were truly a white middle-class crisis, then conservatives and liberals would long ago have joined together, carved out a compromise and done something. Instead, we're served a constantly recycled set of excuses for legislative stalemate." (The Washington Post; free registration required)



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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.

(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)

Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

[Guidance Overview] Will Equitable Relief Be Redefined . . . Again? (PDF)
Pages 6-7 of 11 pages. Excerpt: "It remains to be seen whether the Supreme Court will grant certiorari in Amschwand v. Spherion Corp. If and when the Court reaches the Section 502(a)(3) issue, the one thing that is certain is that its decision will be of great import." (Proskauer Rose LLP)


Broadcom CFO and CEO Indicted - Indictment Reveals Litany of Alleged Backdating Schemes
Excerpt: "The former CFO and CEO of Broadcom Corporation have been indicted by a federal grand jury in California on securities fraud and conspiracy charges related to backdating stock options that caused the company to take a $2.2 billion write-down in 2007. The restatement is reported to be the largest accounting charge taken in connection with an options backdating case." (CFO.com)


Companies Promise CEOs Lavish Posthumous Paydays
Excerpt: "Dozens of . . . companies offer lush death-benefit packages to their top executives, according to a Wall Street Journal review of federal filings. Many companies accelerate unvested stock awards after a death, which by itself can amount to tens of millions of dollars. Some promise giant posthumous severance payouts, supercharged pensions or even a continuation of executives' salaries or bonuses for years after they're dead." (The Wall Street Journal)


Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation Plan Prevalance Remains High
Excerpt: "As of 2007, 95% of respondents to Clark Consulting's Executive Benefits survey offer some type of non-qualified deferred compensation (NQDC) plan to executives, up from 91% in 2005." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)


Workforce Protections Subcommittee Field Hearing: 'Family-Friendly Leave Policies: Improving How Workers Balance Home and Family'
Links to hearing testimony are provided. (U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor)


A Quarter of U.S. Employees Care for an Older Adult
Excerpt: "One in four employees currently cares for an older or disabled adult. Of those employees, nearly half (44%) have missed work time to care for a loved one, finds a new national survey of working adults conducted by work-life benefits firm Workplace Options." (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)


Will Same-Sex Marriage Drive Workplace Litigation?
Excerpt: "'Same-sex marriage tends to be a very polarizing issue because people's views are so often colored by religious beliefs and strong personal convictions,' said workplace compliance expert Shanti Atkins, President & CEO of ELT. 'And because it's such a heated subject, it's very difficult (if nearly impossible) to have a civilized discussion on the topic, which can lead to some very uncomfortable and offensive situations in the workplace.'" (PRWeb via Yahoo! News)


Shareholders Try to Kill Yahoo Severance Plan
Excerpt: "A Yahoo (YHOO.O) employee severance plan meant to protect workers after a merger with Microsoft (MSFT.O) should be scrapped, according to a shareholder lawsuit against Yahoo and its directors, The New York Times reported on Tuesday." (Reuters via The Washington Post; free registration required)


Handy Resource Page for Joint Board for the Enrollment of Actuaries Is Published by IRS
Information available includes: News from the Joint Board; Enrolled Actuary Information; Joint Board Examination Program; and, Renewal of Enrollment. (Internal Revenue Service)


Vacations Are Good for You, Medically Speaking
Excerpt: "Using information from the Framingham Heart Study, which started in 1948, researchers looked at questionnaires women in the study had filled out over 20 years about how often they took vacations. Those women who took a vacation once every six years or less were almost eight times more likely to develop coronary heart disease or have a heart attack than those who took at least two vacations a year, said Elaine Eaker, a co-author of the study and president of Eaker Epidemiology Enterprises, a private research company." (The New York Times; free registration required)




Newly Posted Events

Planning for Open Enrollment: Compliance Solutions for Cafeteria Plans and Component Benefits
Nationwide on May 29, 2008
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America (EBIA)/Thomson Tax & Accounting



Newly Posted Press Releases

Segal Expands Claims Audit Capabilities – Announces Agreement with Benefits Informatics
The Segal Company

Children’s Medical Center of Dallas and Alliance Coal in Tulsa Receive SouthWest Benefits Association’s Best of Class Benefits Solution Awards
SouthWest Benefits Association

Midwest Business Group on Health Leads Effort to Improve the Quality, Consistency and Reporting of Chicago’s Health Care Services
Midwest Business Group on Health

National Retirement Partners Closes Another Acquisition
National Retirement Partners, Inc.

Segal Expands Claims Audit Capabilities – Announces Agreement with Benefit Informatics
Benefit Informatics

Ascensus Improves Participant Website Offering
Ascensus

Paychex Offers Auto Enrollment Option for 401k Plans
Paychex

Go to Your Room! Survey Reveals Adult Children of Retired Parents Need More Discipline In Retirement Planning
NAVA



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