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July 24, 2008

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


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Sick & Fired: Is There 'Health Discrimination' in the Workplace?
Excerpt: "Patients' advocates say some companies, squeezed by rising insurance costs, are finding reasons to fire workers with long-term illnesses. Statistics aren't available on how often this happens. But increasingly, health-care costs are driving a 'wedge' between employers and their employees, said Jerry Flanagan with Consumer Watchdog, a California-based advocacy group." (Orlando Sentinel via Consumer Watchdog)


Disease Management Programmes for Major Depression: Making the Financial Case (PDF)
44 pages. The report is geared to depression management in the United Kingdom. (Milliman)


New York Governor Seeks Input on Bill Regarding Prostate, Breast Cancer Screenings
Excerpt: "New York Gov. David A. Paterson called for public comments today on whether certain public employees should receive paid time off for prostate and breast cancer screenings. Bill S.8077/A.10035-A would clarify state law to explicitly state that certain government employees are entitled to up to four hours of paid leave for these health screenings. Paterson must act on the legislation by Wednesday." (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)


Americans and Summer Vacation
Excerpt: "The average U.S. worker gets 14 days of paid vacation, but anxieties about the economy are making fewer employees take off during the summer. Commentator Robert Reich says Americans still need a summer break." (American Public Media)


Intermittent Family and Medical Leave Poses Greatest Challenge for Employers
Excerpt: "Employee abuse of the intermittent leave benefit is the top complaint of employers that are subject to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), a recent survey of 450 WorldatWork (WAW) members found." (Wolters Kluwer)


Small Businesses Could Gain Health Insurance Options with House Bill
Excerpt: "Called the Small Business Cooperative for Healthcare Options to Improve Coverage for Employees Act of 2008, the bill helps small businesses offer health insurance to employees through health insurance pools and a refundable tax credit of 65 percent." (The Wichita Eagle)


California Gov. Signs Law That Bans Insurers from Linking Employee Bonuses to Health Insurance Coverage Limits, Cancellations
Excerpt: "California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) on Tuesday signed legislation (AB 1150) that prohibits health insurance companies from rewarding employees who cancel or limit an enrollee's coverage, the Los Angeles Times reports." (Kaiser Family Foundation)


Overview: ERISA Subrogation Rights
Excerpt: "[A] number of employers are not adequately using a tool that their plan already contains in the fight against rising health care costs - reimbursement through subrogation. . . . ERISA allows employers the right of subrogation, so many group health plans contain what is commonly called 'subrogation' provisions. Generally, these provisions state that the plan is entitled to reimbursement from the participant of any medical expenses the plan previously paid that the participant later recovers from another party responsible for those expenses." (Aiken and Aiken)


[Opinion] Universal Health Care is Pro-Business (PDF)
Excerpt: "Everyone agrees that three fundamental areas -- access, quality and cost -- need to be addressed, but politicians on the campaign trail differ on how to achieve universal care. Historically, U.S. health policy has embraced a spectrum of options amid predictable partisan rhetoric, demonizing both 'big government' and excessive commercialization of health care. Employers pressured by globalized competition and economic uncertainty appear poised to assume a more active role in the reform debate, possibly by lobbying collaboratively in strategically aligned policy blocs." (Executive Counsel via Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP)



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Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

[Guidance Overview] 409A Year-End Survival Guide (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "As widely reported, the IRS is highly unlikely to postpone the December 31, 2008 deadline for revising executive compensation arrangements to comply with Code section 409A. This date also marks the end of the 409A transition period, which has already lasted nearly four years and provided employers and executives with great flexibility. In the attached memo we offer (1) drafting tips for amending these arrangements, (2) aids in identifying arrangements subject to 409A, and (3) action items in light of the transition period ending." (Groom Law Group)


Will Employers Want Aging Boomers?
Excerpt: "This report examines the current employer demand for older workers and explores how demand may be changing over time. It begins by displaying the occupations at which older workers are most likely to be employed today. The report then discusses the personal and social benefits of increased work by older adults and the reasons why boomers are likely to try to work longer than earlier generations. Later sections of the report examine whether employers will want older workers and how changes in the nature of work, demands for different occupations, the characteristics of older workers, and overall labor force growth will affect the future demand for older workers. The report concludes with some policy recommendations." (The Urban Institute)


How the Seven Largest Audit Firms Approach Flexible Work Arrangements
Excerpt: "Many companies of all types have responded to the workforce's growing demand for work-life balance with a raft of programs. But few have bent as far as the accounting firms. There, after only a couple years of employment, client-service staffers generally are free to work how, where, and when they want, bestowed with seemingly endless options for customizing their careers." (CFO.com)


Some More Thoughts on the Primacy of the ERISA Plan Document
Excerpt: "Although the court was not delving too deeply into this particular issue, the court noted that 'in more recent cases, the First Circuit has held that courts should not look beyond the express terms of an ERISA-regulated plan unless the disputed term is ambiguous,' and that '[i]n ERISA cases . . . the central issue must always be what the plan promised . . . and whether the plan delivered.'" (Stephen Rosenberg of The McCormack Firm, LLC)




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