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January 7, 2009

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]
Following Precedent, 6th Circuit Rules CBA Covering a 3-Year Period Creates a Permanent Obligation for Retiree Health Benefits (PDF)

At p. 4 of 8. Excerpt: "Following its decision in Noe v. Polyone Corp., 520 F.3d 548 (6th Cir. 2008) . . ., the Sixth Circuit in Cole v. ArvinMeritor, Inc., 2008 WL 5211802 (6th Cir. Dec. 16, 2008), held that retirees had vested in their retiree health benefits because the applicable collective bargaining agreements ('CBAs') did not contain language that expressly limited the duration of the company's commitment to provide health benefits to its retirees." (Proskauer Rose LLP)


[Guidance Overview]
Medicare Secondary Payor Reporting Requirements Will Affect Self-Insured Health Care Providers, Captive Insurers

Excerpt: "Section 111 of the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 added new mandatory reporting requirements for insurers that will now enable CMS to ensure that it has the necessary information to determine when Medicare's financial responsibility is secondary." (McDermott Will & Emery)


Audio and Text: How Obama Can Learn from Clinton Health Reform Failure
Excerpt: "In 1993, Bill Clinton had just become president, and his party was in the majority in both the House and Senate. There were tens of millions of people without health insurance and high hopes for change. That health reform effort crashed. The policy experts involved in that initiative say the Obama team will have to do things differently if they want to make change this time." (Morning Edition via National Public Radio)


New York Governor Would Insure Dependents Up to Age 29 Under Employment-Based Health Insurance
Excerpt: "Gov. David A. Paterson will propose that private employers be required to offer health insurance to workers' dependents who are ages 19 to 29, part of what the administration hopes will be a step toward universal health care coverage in New York." (The New York Times; free registration required)


Work-Based Wellness and Diet Coaching Help Employees Keep Resolutions
Excerpt: "According to recent studies, pairing personalized coaching with employee wellness initiatives leads to higher success rates. As a result, many of today's wellness programs, such as Workplace Options' Advantage Live Well, integrate expert coaching with other tools, such as online interactive programs, to better help employees achieve their health and wellness goals. Whether it's through the telephone, e-mail, instant messaging or online educational resources, employees can access guidance and support from coaches in ways that work best for them." (dBusinessNews)


Stimulus to Offer Health Insurance Subsidies for Unemployed, Senator Says
Excerpt: "The economic stimulus package now being assembled on Capitol Hill will include significant subsidies to help the newly unemployed keep their health insurance after they lose their jobs, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee said yesterday. COBRA benefits let laid-off workers keep their group healthcare coverage for up to 18 months, but the benefits are too expensive for many unemployed people because they must pay the full cost of their premiums - typically more than $1,000 a month for a family. Democratic senators want the federal government to ease that burden so more people can keep their insurance." (The Boston Globe)


More Younger Adults than Older Adults Are Focusing on Fiscal Fitness
Excerpt: "A newly commissioned survey from Union Bank concludes that fiscal fitness, not physical fitness, is a higher priority for younger adults than for older adults. According to a press release, the survey found 59% of respondents ages 18-34 are focused more intently on achieving fiscal fitness rather than physical fitness in 2009 (41%). In contrast, 61% of adults age 55+ said physical fitness was a high priority for 2009, and 39% selected fiscal fitness." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)


Massachusetts Governor Intensifies State's Push to Curb Soaring Health Premiums
Excerpt: "Governor Deval Patrick yesterday accelerated his administration's efforts to control spiraling statewide healthcare costs, warning that rising premiums threaten to crush families and businesses and doom Massachusetts' groundbreaking experiment with universal insurance. Patrick said officials are considering using state insurance regulations to block excessive healthcare premiums. He is also summoning leaders of insurance and hospital companies for meetings as soon as this week to ask for their 'vigorous cooperation.'" (The Boston Globe)


[Opinion]
Insurers Expand Primary Care Creating an Argument for Obama's Plan

Excerpt: "A recent story in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer offers hope for primary care by focusing on an innovative program at Group Health Cooperative, a nonprofit health care system headquartered in the state of Washington. Under the new program, patients see their doctors less often, but when they do, it is a meaningful encounter. And in between appointments, doctors are paid to communicate with patients in other ways." (The Century Foundation)



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Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

[Guidance Overview]
Reference Guide to 2009 Retirement, Health and Welfare Plan Limits, Social Security and Medicare Changes (PDF)

Excerpt: "[The guide includes] a Table of Retirement Plan Limits from 1990 to Present. Plan administrators must concern themselves with a broad array of annual limits and thresholds that affect a variety of employee benefits. This Reference Guide consolidates these limits to give plan administrators quick access to this information. Page 1 lists updated limits and other cost-of-living adjusted numbers affecting retirement plans. Page 2 lists 2009 health, welfare and fringe benefit plan limits and 2009 figures needed to determine Social Security benefits and contributions. Page 3 lists 2009 Medicare premiums. Page 4 provides key retirement plan-related annual limits from 1990 to 2009. Page 5 provides the 2009 covered compensation tables." (Hay Group)


UAW Will Seek Worker Approval for Contract Changes
Excerpt: "UAW president Ron Gettelfinger said Tuesday, January 6, that the union would seek rank-and-file approval for any changes it makes to labor agreements to help the Detroit Three comply with provisions of the federal bailout. The UAW's bargaining team from the General Motors department was scheduled to begin discussing their negotiating strategies Tuesday, Gettelfinger said in an interview with Automotive News. The union's bargaining teams from Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler will begin meeting later this week, he said." (Workforce Management; free registration required)


Obama's Retirement Agenda: Many Proposals Will Be Weighed
Excerpt: "'We can expect a very quick start for the new administration and the new Congress in terms of pursuing their agenda,' said Frank McArdle, head of Hewitt Associates' Washington, D.C., office during a recent Webcast on how the Obama Administration and the 111th Congress will deal with healthcare and retirement issues. . . . Plus, said McArdle, 'There are also going to be significant tax policies that could directly or indirectly affect tax-favored employee benefits.' Executive compensation, too, will be 'in the forefront throughout 2009 with a variety of proposals likely to be enacted,' McArdle said. Obama has also promised an economic stimulus bill. 'That's of interest not only for how it will help the economy, businesses, and workers but for other provisions it might carry related to employee benefits,' McArdle noted. 'For example, right now for those of you who sponsor defined benefit plans there are a number of proposals to try and get temporary relief from the big increases in contributions that are now required because of the economic downturn and volatility." (Investment Advisor)




Newly Posted Events

A Washington Update
in California on February 12, 2009
presented by Western Pension & Benefits Conference - Orange County Chapter

FMLA Update: New Regulations, New Notices, New Procedures Webcast
Nationwide on January 22, 2009
presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans

Plan Audits: Practical Ideas for Plan Sponsors
in California on January 15, 2009
presented by Western Pension & Benefits Conference - Orange County Chapter

Qualified Transportation Plans: Design and Compliance Issues (Including the New Bicycle Commuting Benefit)
Nationwide on January 29, 2009
presented by EBIA / Thomson Reuters

The ABCs of Pension Law
in California on January 21, 2009
presented by Western Pension & Benefits Conference - Orange County Chapter

Top Ten COBRA Mistakes: How to Identify, Correct, and Prevent the Big Problems
Nationwide on January 15, 2009
presented by EBIA / Thomson Reuters



Newly Posted Press Releases

Chicago Contractor Indicted For Stealing From Union Employee Benefit Plans
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

U.S. Department Of Labor Sues Former Employee Leasing Company In Brentwood, Tennessee, To Protect Workers’ 401(k) Plan Assets
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

U.S. Department Of Labor Sues To Protect Participants Of Defunct New Jersey Company’s Employee Benefit Plan
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

U.S. Labor Department Sues Defunct Memphis, Tennessee, Heating And Air Conditioning Maintenance Company For Abandoning 401(k) Plan
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

U.S. Department Of Labor Sues Corporate Parent Of Academic Financial Services And Trustees To Restore Losses To Tampa 401(k) Plan
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

Treasury Announces Results of High School Financial Literacy Challenge
U.S. Treasury Department



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Global Retirement Benefits Manager
for JELD-WEN, inc.
in OR

Actuary
for Swerdlin and Company
in GA

Manager, Corporate Benefit Programs
for McDonald's Corporation
in IL

Defined Benefit Actuary I
for The Standard
in MA, OH

Retirement Services Consultant
for CUNA Mutual Group
in WI




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