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| July 2, 2008 |
| 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.)
| Changes to your benefit plans can be confusing. Communicating them doesn’t have to be. |
| No matter how benefits-savvy your employees may be, benefit plan changes can be confusing to the most sophisticated consumer. That’s why companies large and small use BeneCom for their benefits communication. We make understanding benefit changes easy, so employees know exactly what you’re offering and how it will work for them. And while we’re at it, we’ll make your life a little easier, too. |
[Official Guidance] Text of IRS Rev. Rul. 2008-42: Premiums Paid by S Corporation on Employer-Owned Life Insurance Contract (PDF)
Excerpt: "HOLDINGS: (1) Premiums paid by an S corporation on an employer-owned life insurance contract, of which the S corporation is directly or indirectly a beneficiary, do not reduce the S corporation's [accumulated adjustments account, or 'AAA']. (2) The benefits received by reason of the death of the insured from an employer-owned life insurance contract that meets an exception under § 101(j)(2) do not increase the S corporation's AAA." (Internal Revenue Service)
[Guidance Overview] New Genetic Nondiscrimination Act Creates Restrictions for Health Plans, Insurers and Employers (PDF)
Pages 1-3 of 8 pages. Excerpt: "Although regulations are expected within a year, health plans, insurers and employers should begin reviewing their policies and procedures relating to the treatment and collection of genetic information now to ensure timely compliance." (Trucker Huss)
Sen. Kennedy Leads Renewed Effort on Universal Healthcare
Excerpt: "Senator Edward M. Kennedy's office has begun convening a series of meetings involving a wide array of healthcare specialists to begin laying the groundwork for a new attempt to provide universal healthcare, according to participants." (The Boston Globe)
Fewer Employees Covered for Health Care in Micro Businesses
Excerpt: "About 45% of the smallest business owners had health care coverage purchased through the business, through a spouses's employers's plan, or through other group coverage such as COBRA, according to a 2008 survey by the National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE). Another 40% purchased individual health insurance coverage. However, only 18.6% of those owners who buy health coverage through their business also offer that coverage to some or all full-time employees." (Wolters Kluwer)
Lawsuit Raises Questions on Administration of CalPERS PPO Plans
Excerpt: "A lawsuit before California's Second District Court of Appeal centers on the question of whether public employees who get health benefits through CalPERS can sue insurers if they deny treatment, the Los Angeles Daily Journal reports." (California HealthCare Foundation)
Financing the U.S. Health System - Issues and Options for Change
Excerpt: "This report . . . examines the economic and policy implications of various options for restructuring the health care finance system, exploring the principle alternatives proposed by 2008 presidential candidates Senators John McCain and Barack Obama." (Bipartisan Policy Center via Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)
State and Federal Approaches to Health Reform: What Works for the Working Poor?
Excerpt: "We compare and contrast the labor market and distributional impact of three common approaches to state and federal health insurance expansion: public insurance expansions, refundable tax credits for low income people, and employer and individual mandates." (National Bureau of Economic Research; paid subscription or individual purchase required to retrieve fulltext)
Pricing and Welfare in Health Plan Choice
Excerpt: "Prices in government and employer-sponsored health insurance markets only partially reflect insurers' expected costs of coverage for different enrollees. This can create inefficient distortions when consumers self-select into plans. We develop a simple model to study this problem and estimate it using new data on small employers." (National Bureau of Economic Research; paid subscription or individual purchase required to retrieve fulltext)
2008 Presidential Election: Candidates Health Care Proposals (PDF)
9 pages. Excerpt: "After a long primary election season, Barack Obama (D) and John McCain (R) are the presumptive U.S. presidential nominees. Both candidates have articulated a position on health care reform, though some of their proposals are more detailed than others." (Hewitt Associates)
The Most Common Misconceptions About Self-Insurance and Some Facts to Help You Decide If This Approach Is Right for You
Excerpt: "Fifty-five percent of the employers in the United States with more than 200 employees partially or completely self-fund their health plans. Yet despite the prevalence of self-insured plans, there is still misinformation about them." (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)
Maine's Workers' Compensation Statute v. ERISA Policy
Excerpt: "Many involved in the administration of ERISA Plans do not realize that some state insurance law is preempted even when a fully insured ERISA Plan is involved. In Spellman v. United Parcel Service, 540 F. Supp.2d 237 (D.C. Maine 2008), the Court addressed an issue of enforcing Maine's workers' compensation statutes with regards to health plans under ERISA." (Passion for Subro)
Sponsored by: University Conference Services
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| Trimming the Benefits Tab Without Cutting the Value |
| If you’re like most employers, you struggle with how to contain the cost of your health care programs without diminishing their value to employees. There are many remedies to consider, but you do you know what’s best for your organization? Health and Welfare Plan Management for Mid-Sized Employers, September 7–10, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, is the perfect place to find out if you have the right "dosage" for your benefit plans. |
| (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] Heroes Earning Assistance and Relief Tax Act Adds Benefits for Those in Military Service (PDF)
Pages 3- of 8 pages. Excerpt: "The HEART Act deals principally with the tax treatment of military personnel, with provisions applying to a wide range of Internal Revenue Code ('Code') provisions. This article will deal primarily with those provisions which have an effect on qualified retirement or Section 125 plans, and IRAs." (Trucker Huss)
Executive Compensation: A New View from a Long-Term Perspective, 1936-2005
Excerpt: "We analyze the long-run trends in executive compensation using a new panel dataset of top executives in large publicly-held firms from 1936 to 2005, collected from corporate reports." (National Bureau of Economic Research; paid subscription or individual purchase required to retrieve fulltext)
UnitedHealth Settles Class Action Lawsuit
Excerpt: "The lawsuit filed by the California Public Employees' Retirement System in 2006, alleged that UnitedHealth's CEO and COO collectively earned over $500 million by exercising the backdated options." (RTTNews)
The IRS Targets a Popular, and Perfectly Legal, Strategy Used by Executives for Dodging the Tax Man
Excerpt: "At issue are variable prepaid forward contracts, which allow executives to get cash for their stock holdings while skirting capital gains taxes. They have served as an appealing retirement planning device for executives who want to reduce their personal financial exposure to their own companies as a result of stock option grants, although much of that diversification flies in the face of pay-for-performance demands by shareholder activists." (Financial Week; free registration required)
New edition of Model Equity Compensation Plans
The NCEO presents excerpts from the new edition of its book Model Equity Compensation Plans, which provides model stock option and employee stock purchase plan (ESPP) documents, plus brief explanations of the plan documents. (National Center for Employee Ownership)
2008 Presidential Election: Candidates' Employment Proposals (PDF)
9 pages. Excerpt: "[T]he candidates have proposed changes to employer-paid leaves of absence, the rules governing union elections, minimum wage . . . ." (Hewitt Associates)
Sun's 'Open Work' Program Sheds Light on Telecommute Savings
Excerpt: "'Not only did we find that the energy used by working in the office was about twice as much as what was used when working from home, which was a significant difference, but we also found a huge impact [from] the energy consumption used in the commute,' . . . ." (Computerworld Inc.)
A Look at the Candidates' Stands on Health Care Reform and Retirement Savings
Excerpt: "What seems certain is that political change is not only in the air, it is likely to find its way into the workplace in a significant way over the next four years." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Employee Ownership Update for July 1, 2008
NCEO Executive Director Corey Rosen discusses the agreement by the State of Florida to buy U.S. Sugar, an ESOP company recently in the news due to employee complaints that they were cashed out of the ESOP at too low a price; the State of California's offer of a settlement in certain abusive ESOP transactions; and a survey showing that employee stock purchase plans (ESPPs) have become somewhat more conservative in response to accounting rule changes that became fully effective in 2006. (National Center for Employee Ownership)
Newly Posted Events
2008 Web/Telephone Seminar: 403(b) Plans
Nationwide on August 28, 2008
presented by Ascensus
2008 Web/Telephone Seminar: Amending & Restating QPs for EGTRRA
Nationwide on August 28, 2008
presented by Ascensus
2008 Web/Telephone Seminar: Comparing Roth & Traditional IRAs
Nationwide on August 7, 2008
presented by Ascensus
2008 Web/Telephone Seminar: Coverdell Education Savings Accounts
Nationwide on August 7, 2008
presented by Ascensus
2008 Web/Telephone Seminar: IRA Beneficiary Distributions
Nationwide on August 14, 2008
presented by Ascensus
2008 Web/Telephone Seminar: IRA Required Minimum Distributions
Nationwide on August 12, 2008
presented by Ascensus
2008 Web/Telephone Seminar: Maintaining Your QRPs
Nationwide on August 19, 2008
presented by Ascensus
2008 Web/Telephone Seminar: Selecting the Best 401(k) Plan Design
Nationwide on August 26, 2008
presented by Ascensus
2008 Web/Telephone Seminar: SEP Plans
Nationwide on August 5, 2008
presented by Ascensus
2008 Web/Telephone Seminar: Traditional IRA Distributions
Nationwide on August 21, 2008
presented by Ascensus
Conference of Consulting Actuaries Annual Meeting
in Florida on October 26, 2008
presented by Conference of Consulting Actuaries
Membership Diagnostics: Analyzing Shifts and Creating High-Impact Future Strategies
in California on July 24, 2008
presented by Healthcare Web Summit
The 401k Service Training Program™
in Pennsylvania on September 10, 2008
presented by Financial Service Standards, LLC
Newly Posted Press Releases
Russell to Plan Sponsors: Use a New Evaluation Framework to Differentiate Among Target Date Funds
Russell Investments
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
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Sr. Benefits Specialist
for Quest Diagnostics
in NJ
Account Manager
for Retirement Consulting Firm
in NY
ERISA Attorney #3953
for Special Counsel, formerly The Esquire Group
in MN
Paralegal - Employee Benefits/Executive Compensation
for Perkins Coie LLP
in IL
Director Retirement Plans Client Services
for Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company
in NE
Client Relationship Consultant
for Gallagher Retirement Services
in CO
Senior ERISA Consultant
for Tofias, PC
in MA
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
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