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| September 17, 2008 |
| Here are the Web's best new links about compliance and cost aspects of plan operation, design and policy. |
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[Guidance Overview] Incomplete COBRA Disclosure Costs Employer
Excerpt: "An employer has many COBRA disclosure requirements to many parties, including qualified beneficiaries and plan administrators. One party that is often overlooked is the health care provider. An employer recently learned the hard way that health care provider disclosures are very important. In Franciscan Skemp Healthcare, Inc. v. Central States Joint Board Health & Welfare Trust Fund . . . ." (infinisource)
[Guidance Overview] Upon Establishing a Health Savings Account, Must Custodian/Trustee Ask for Proof the Individual Is Covered by a High-Deductible Health Plan?
Excerpt: "No. IRS Notice 2004-2, Q&A-10 indicates that an HSA custodian/trustee may require proof or certification that the individual is indeed covered by a high-deductible health plan but there is no requirement to do so." (Wolters Kluwer)
[Guidance Overview] Dependent Eligibility Audits Make Good Business Sense
4 pages. Excerpt: "Employers looking for ways to control health care costs often find dependent eligibility verification or audit programs attractive. Business and compliance concerns make these programs – which attempt to weed out ineligible persons covered by an employer's health plan – a prudent risk management tool that should be seriously considered by any health care plan sponsor." (Mercer)
Parental Leave Policies in 21 Countries: Assessing Generosity and Gender Equality (PDF)
23 pages. Excerpt: "This report reviews the national policies of 21 high-income economies, as of June 2008. We focus on two key aspects of parental leave policies: the level of support provided to parents; and the degree to which leave policies promote an egalitarian distribution between mothers and fathers of the time devoted to child care." (Center for Economic and Policy Research)
Candidates' Health Care Reform Proposals Take Different Paths
Excerpt: "The health care reform plans so far proposed by presidential candidates Sens. John McCain (Ariz.) and Barack Obama (Ill.) take significantly different approaches to employer-provided health care plans. This is the first of several installments on the major features of the candidates' proposals and how they would affect employer provided benefits." (Wolters Kluwer)
More Employers Offering Wellness-Program Incentives, According to Study
Excerpt: "The number of major U.S. employers offering incentives to promote employer-sponsored health and wellness programs rose nearly 10 percent from 2007 to 2008, according to a recent national report. The report finds the number of companies offering workers wellness incentives increased from 62 percent last year to 71 percent this year . . . ." (The Central New York Business Journal)
Health Plan Reporting for Medicare Secondary Payer Program Begins Jan. 1, 2009
Excerpt: "Starting Jan. 1, 2009, group health plans must provide the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) with information about plan participants who also have Medicare coverage. The new reports will help CMS enforce Medicare secondary payer rules, which require employer group health plans to pay most claims from active employees and family members with Medicare coverage before the government program does." (Mercer)
Rep. Stark Introduces Electronic Health Records Bill That Includes Incentives, Penalties for Providers
Excerpt: "House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chair Pete Stark (D-Calif.) on Monday introduced a bill (HR 6898) that would use Medicare payments to encourage health care providers to adopt health information technology systems, CQ Today reports. The bill would offer payment incentives to physicians who are early adopters of health IT, such as electronic health records, and impose penalties on providers that delay implementation or fail to switch to the technology (Armstrong, CQ Today, 9/15)." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
[Opinion] McCain's Radical Health Insurance Agenda
Excerpt: "Talk about a shock to the system. Has anyone bothered to notice the radical changes that John McCain and Sarah Palin are planning for the nation's health insurance system? These are changes that will set in motion nothing less than the dismantling of the employer-based coverage that protects most American families. A study coming out Tuesday from scholars at Columbia, Harvard, Purdue and Michigan projects that 20 million Americans who have employment-based health insurance would lose it under the McCain plan." (The New York Times via Physicians for a National Health Program)
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Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
[Guidance Overview] Important Changes for Transportation Plans
Excerpt: "More employers may want to consider transportation plans, based on two recent developments and the continuing high cost of gasoline. Almost two years ago, the IRS clarified how debit cards should be used for Section 132 Transportation Plans. These rules, issued in Revenue Ruling 2006-57, were supposed to take effect on January 1, 2008. In 2007, Notice 2007-70 delayed the effective date for one year. In September 2008, Notice 2008-74 delayed the effective date one more year to January 1, 2010." (infinisource)
[Guidance Overview] Sixth Circuit Applies Trilogy of Supreme Court ERISA Cases in Upholding State Law
Excerpt: "The Sixth Circuit opinion in Associated Builders candidly discusses the shortcomings of the intentionalist model of statutory construction while also providing important comment on the Court's understanding of several seminal Supreme Court preemption cases." (Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)
[Guidance Overview] Deadline for Compliance with Section 409A Approaching (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "The deadline for ensuring that all deferred compensation plans, agreements, and other arrangements subject to section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) comply with the 409A requirements is December 31, 2008. It is highly unlikely that this rapidly approaching deadline will be extended." (Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP)
[Guidance Overview] Recent Developments Regarding the Effect of Equity Compensation on Earnings per Share (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "There are two recent developments . . . regarding the effect of equity compensation (referred to as 'share-based payments') on the calculation of basic and diluted earnings per share (EPS)." (Frederic W. Cook & Co., Inc.)
Social Security Programs Throughout the World: Europe, 2008
Excerpt: "This report, which is part of a four-volume series, provides a cross-national comparison of the social security systems in 44 countries in Europe. It summarizes the five main social insurance programs in those countries: old-age, disability, and survivors; sickness and maternity; work injury; unemployment; and family allowances." (U.S. Social Security Administration)
Treasury Responds to Lawmaker's Inquiry About Companies Moving SERP Benefits to Qualified Plans
Excerpt: "A Treasury Department letter responds to questions from Rep. Peter Welch, D-VT, about moving supplemental executive retirement plan benefits to qualified pension plans. Treasury is 'aware of no evidence' that the practice significantly affects pension solvency . . . ." (Mercer)
Newly Posted Events
2008 Web/Telephone Seminar: Advanced HSAs
Nationwide on October 16, 2008
presented by Ascensus
2008 Web/Telephone Seminar: HSA Basics
Nationwide on October 30, 2008
presented by Ascensus
2008 Web/Telephone Seminar: Introduction to 401(k) Plans
Nationwide on October 30, 2008
presented by Ascensus
2008 Web/Telephone Seminar: IRA Frontline Fundamentals - Part 1
Nationwide on October 23, 2008
presented by Ascensus
2008 Web/Telephone Seminar: IRA Frontline Fundamentals - Part 2
Nationwide on October 28, 2008
presented by Ascensus
2008 Web/Telephone Seminar: Withholding
Nationwide on October 14, 2008
presented by Ascensus
DOL's Proposed Regulations on Participant Fee Disclosure
Nationwide on September 30, 2008
presented by American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA)
Fall "Just the Basics" IRA Seminar Tour
Nationwide on September 23, 2008
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services
Fall "More than the Basics" IRA Seminar Tour
Nationwide on September 23, 2008
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services
Updated EPCRS and Plan Interim Amendments: New Rules and Coordination Issues
Nationwide on October 7, 2008
presented by ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits
Using Technology in Health and Welfare Plan Communications Webcast
Nationwide on October 2, 2008
presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
Newly Posted Press Releases
Watson Wyatt Data Services Releases 2008/2009 Survey Report on Human Resources Personnel Compensation
Watson Wyatt Data Services
John F. Greenberg Named Chief Investment Officer At The PBGC
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)
U.S. Department Of Labor Official Testifies Before Senate Committee On Fee Disclosures For 401(k)-Type Plans
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
ERIC Says Plan Sponsors Should Not be Penalized for Offering Employees Generous Benefits
ERIC (ERISA Industry Committee)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
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Retirement Plan Services Operations Manager
for Kibble & Prentice, A USI COMPANY
in WA
Daily Record Keeping Specialist
for AKT Retirement Plan Services LP
in OR
Installation/Conversion Specialist
for Professional Capital Services, LLC
in PA
Manager - Operations
for Professional Capital Services, LLC
in PA
Plan Compliance Specialist
for Lincoln Financial Group
in IL
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