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| March 2, 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]
Recent Legislation Requires Numerous Changes to Group Health Plans
Material covered includes coordination with SCHIP and Medicaid and New Privacy Restrictions in the Stimulus Package. (Troutman Sanders LLP)
[Guidance Overview]
CHIPRA: How it Affects Your Group Health Plan
Excerpt: "On February 4, 2009, the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA) was signed into law by President Obama. CHIPRA allows states to subsidize premiums for employer-provided group health coverage for eligible children, but it also imposes certain requirements on plan sponsors. . . . Plan sponsors should notify their employees with regard to their special enrollment rights as soon as possible, but no later than April 1, 2009. They should provide disclosures to employees once HHS issues its model notice, and provide disclosure to state agencies once HHS and the Department of Labor issue model forms." (McDermott Will & Emery)
[Guidance Overview]
Participants in Retiree Health Plan Were Entitled to COBRA Notice
5th item from the top of target page. Excerpt: "This case highlights one of the more complicated areas of COBRA compliance. Often employers with retiree medical plans do not consider the provision of a COBRA notice because most employees prefer coverage under a retiree plan to electing, and often paying for, COBRA coverage. However, even if a retiree plan is superior to COBRA coverage, if there is 'any change in the terms or conditions of coverage,' employers should nonetheless provide retirees with a COBRA notice. A failure to provide a timely COBRA notice could cost an employer up to $110 a day in penalties. (Phillips v. Wythe County Community Hospital (W.D. Va., 2008))" (Hodgson Russ LLP)
[Guidance Overview]
$2.25 Million Payment Required in Resolution Agreement to Settle Potential Violations of HIPAA Privacy Rule
Excerpt: "Even though the $2.25 million monetary payment to be paid by CVS is not characterized as a civil monetary penalty, it is nonetheless a very significant amount to settle alleged privacy violations and demonstrates that there are real 'teeth' to HIPAA enforcement." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)
[Guidance Overview]
IRS's Revised Form 941 and Q&As Addressing How to Claim Credit for COBRA Subsidy
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: The IRS calls this the first step in its efforts to provide employers with information on the COBRA subsidy created by ARRA and adds that it will continue to work in the weeks ahead to help employers implement the changes. We note, in particular, that both the Form 941 instructions and the introduction to the Q&As remind employers to only report the premium assistance payments that they made for the AEIs who have paid their 35% share of the premium. ARRA specifically provides that no reimbursement may be made to an employer with respect to any AEI until after the reduced premiums with respect to such individual (that is, the 35%) has been received. It's also important to remember that any overstatement of the reimbursement will be treated as an underpayment of payroll taxes, which may be assessed and collected by the IRS in the same manner as payroll taxes." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)
[Guidance Overview]
Towers Perrin U.S. Legislative Tracking Charts -- Health and Welfare -- Updated February 27, 2009 (PDF)
6 pages. Excerpt: "These charts summarize selected federal legislation that would affect employee benefit programs. The bills included on the charts are based on judgments regarding the prominence of the issue, the likelihood of enactment, and the influence of the sponsors." (Towers Perrin)
'Never Events' Survey Finds Employers Say No Way That They Should Pay
Excerpt: "Ninety-five percent of employers say hospitals should waive all costs associated with so-called never events, or serious and largely preventable illnesses or injuries that occur at a hospital, a survey finds." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
EEOC Seeking Public Comment on Proposed Rules to Implement Genetic-Discrimination Law Passed Last Year
Excerpt: "The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is seeking public comment as part of its rulemaking process to implement employment provisions of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, which was signed into law in May 2008. 'The addition of genetic information discrimination to the EEOC's mandate is historic and represents the first legislative expansion of the EEOC's jurisdiction since the Americans with Disabilities Act passed in 1990,' said Acting EEOC Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru at a hearing on February 25 that presented the proposed rules." (Human Resource Executive Online)
Leisure and Illness Leave: Estimating Benefits in Combination (PDF)
7 pages. Excerpt: "Paid vacation leave, holidays, and sick leave are among the most expensive benefits offered to employees in private industry. They are also some of the most widespread: according to the National Compensation Survey (NCS), 78 percent of private sector workers receive paid vacation leave, 77 percent receive paid holidays, and 61 percent receive paid sick leave. In NCS parlance, an employee has access to a benefit plan if the plan is made available by the employer, regardless of whether the employee actually participates in the plan." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Data Use Will Set TPAs Apart in the New Economy
Excerpt: "With more than 1,800 third-party administrators (TPAs) vying for market share, this business segment has become very competitive. Where TPA clients were once satisfied with solid benefits administration, much more is now expected - no less than proving the value the TPA provides to the client. This includes sophisticated data analysis to identify and manage risk through new programs that advance the plan's performance and lowers employer health care costs by improving member health." (Employee Benefit Adviser; Registration may be required)
Tips for Small Employers to Comply with GASB 45
Excerpt: "Many managers of small municipalities, utilities, school districts and other governmental entities are in for a rude awakening once they discover the time, cost and human resource burdens of compliance. GASB 45 requires the accrual method of accounting (rather than pay-as-you-go), which means that the employer must account for the present value of future OPEB costs, including OPEB for current and future retirees. The liability on financial statements can be millions of dollars, even for a small entity." (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)
Promised Retiree Health Care Benefits Weighed Against Survival of Auto Industry
Excerpt: "The health benefits for retired autoworkers may be the envy of most Americans. For $11 a month, a retiree gets medical, dental, vision and prescription drug coverage. It's a deal, however, that's not likely to last long. As General Motors, Chrysler, the autoworkers union and the Obama administration enter negotiations and plot the future of the U.S. auto industry, one of the most delicate issues they face is what to do about the health benefits of an estimated 800,000 retirees." (The Washington Post; free registration required)
EEOC's Proposed Regulations on GINA's Employment Nondiscrimination Provisions
Excerpt: "Among other things, the law requires the EEOC to issue final regulations by May 21, 2009 implementing GINA's employment nondiscrimination requirements. In this press release, the EEOC announced the imminent publication of proposed regulations, which will be subject to a 60-day comment period." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)
[Opinion]
Muddling Through: The Continuing Importance of Employer-Provided Health Care
Excerpt: "For the foreseeable future, employer-provided health care will remain the central means of financing medical coverage for working Americans and their families. There are, moreover, strong normative grounds for perpetuating the existing system of employer-sponsored medical coverage. Among these grounds, an employer-based system is our best means for constraining medical costs, given the inability of the political process to control health care outlays." (Social Science Research Network)
[Opinion]
The President's Budget and The Challenge of Universal Coverage
Excerpt: "President Obama's budget demonstrates how difficult it will be to build a sustainable, effective, and safe health care program for all Americans. His ten-year $634-billion plan for funding health care reform depends on 'asking the wealthy to pitch in a bit more' (budget director Peter Orszag's happy phrase), wringing some of the waste out of Medicare and Medicaid (cuts that are needed, but that will not be popular ); and strong-arming drug makers to raise discounts on Medicare drugs from 15 percent to 21 percent. About half of the money will come from changes in government programs, half from tax increases. As the Congressional Quarterly reports, 'the new proposals for tax hikes on couples earning over $250,000 'will immediately test the limits of the new political dynamic on Capitol Hill in the midst of a recession.' And even then, the budget provides only a 'down payment' on health care reform-- roughly half to two-thirds of what is likely to be needed to cover everyone." (The Century Foundation)
[Opinion]
Obama's Health Plan, Ambitious in Any Economy, Is a Tougher Challenge in This One
Excerpt: "Mr. Obama is proposing a major expansion of the federal commitment to health care even though the government can barely afford the health insurance programs it has. The financial condition of Medicare is deteriorating because of the recession, according to new information from federal officials, and the Medicare trust fund could be depleted several years sooner than expected. As he gears up for a week focused on health care, Mr. Obama hopes to turn the economic crisis to his advantage by citing the burden of health costs and the growing ranks of the uninsured, now at 46 million people, to justify a shake-up." (The New York Times; free registration required)
[Opinion]
Medical Evidence and Health Care Reform
Excerpt: "Medicare has proposed not to pay for so-called virtual colonoscopies because there is not enough evidence that they would benefit people aged 65 and older. That may be disappointing for older Americans who would prefer a virtual exam to a real one. But those sort of judgments will be fundamental to any successful health care reform effort. Eliminating unproven procedures and reducing needless costs is necessary if the nation is to improve the quality and lower the cost of care over all." (The New York Times; free registration required)
[Opinion]
Will Obama Be Able to Move the Country Toward a National Health Care System?
Excerpt: "The absurd system of health coverage we now have is a historical accident from World War II. Because of wage controls, employers competed for workers by offering health insurance as a fringe benefit -- and so we're stuck today with a system in which the loss of a job is compounded by the loss of health insurance. Titanic ambitions encounter titanic opposition, and opponents of health reform are already rehearsing the arguments that they successfully used in the past . . . ." (The New York Times; free registration required)
EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com (Sponsor)
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Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
[Guidance Overview]
Law Firms Navigating A Minefield Through Reductions In Force
Excerpt: "The Editor interviews Robert M. Projansky, Partner, and Marc Mandelman, Senior Counsel, who are Co-chairs of Proskauer Rose LLP's Managing Change/Reductions in Force Practice Group. . . . Editor: We're seeing a number of RIFs as a result of the current economic crisis. Section 409A of the IRS Code has various proscriptive measures regarding severance. How are employers able to sidestep the requirements of Section 409A of the IRS code when structuring a RIF?" (The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, Inc.)
[Guidance Overview]
Towers Perrin U.S. Legislative Tracking Charts -- Human Resources -- Updated February 27, 2009 (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "These charts summarize selected federal legislation that would affect employee benefit programs. The bills included on the charts are based on judgments regarding the prominence of the issue, the likelihood of enactment, and the influence of the sponsors." (Towers Perrin)
Obama Budget Plan Raises Employer Issues
Excerpt: "The $3.5 trillion budget unveiled Thursday includes proposals to reform health care, expand unemployment benefits and require employers to automatically enroll workers in retirement accounts." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
Best HR Ideas for 2009
Excerpt: "The editors of HRE announce their top picks for ideas launched this past year that helped strengthen productivity, boost morale and engagement, and put a well-deserved spotlight on the creative powers within HR." (Human Resource Executive Online)
DOL's Reporting and Disclosure Guide for Employee Benefit Plans, Revised October 2008 (PDF)
21 pages. Excerpt: "It is intended to be used as a quick reference tool for certain basic reporting and disclosure requirements under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). Not all ERISA reporting and disclosure requirements are reflected in this guide. For example, the guide, as a general matter, does not focus on disclosures required by the Internal Revenue Code or the provisions of ERISA for which the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service have regulatory and interpretive authority." (U.S. Employee Benefits Security Administration)
Issue Brief: The State of Employee Ownership 2009
The NCEO presents excerpts from The State of Employee Ownership 2009, an issue brief that reviews the number of plans, participants, and assets for ESOPs and similar plans, broad-based stock options, 401(k) plans with company stock, and employee stock purchase plans. It also reviews the most relevant research on employee ownership and corporate performance and recent political and legal developments in the field. (National Center for Employee Ownership)
Employee Ownership Update for February 27, 2009
NCEO Executive Director Corey Rosen discusses new estimates of the number of ESOP plans and participants; an employee-owned company that is a poster company for the stimulus bill; provisions in the stimulus bill that may help ESOP companies; and an award from the Center for Business Education at the Aspen Institute to be given for a dissertation on shared capitalism through employee ownership. (National Center for Employee Ownership)
A Statistical Profile of Employee Ownership
The NCEO has released the 2009 update of its Statistical Profile of Employee Ownership. The Web page with the data also explains the methodology behind the new estimates of the number of ESOPs. (National Center for Employee Ownership)
A Statistical Profile of Employee Ownership
The NCEO has released the 2009 update of its Statistical Profile of Employee Ownership. The Web page with the data also explains the methodology behind the new estimates of the number of ESOPs. (National Center for Employee Ownership)
Newly Posted Events
401(k) Challenges in Troubled Economic Times
in Illinois on March 19, 2009
presented by ASPPA Benefits Council of Chicago
New COBRA Rules: Implementing Them Without Getting Bitten
Nationwide on March 4, 2009
presented by Greenberg Traurig, LLP
New COBRA Subsidy Webcast
Nationwide on March 4, 2009
presented by Trucker Huss
Who’s the Employer: Aggregation Aggravation (Presented by S. Derrin Watson, Esq.)
in Colorado on March 10, 2009
presented by Western Pension and Benefits Conference-Denver Chapter
Newly Posted Press Releases
U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve Board Announce Participation in AIG Restructuring Plan
U.S. Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service
Buck Consultants Launches Critical Communications Consulting Services in Canada
Buck Consultants, an ACS Company
President Obama’s Budget Includes Automatic IRA Proposal And Expansion Of Saver’s Credit For 401(k)/IRA Savings
Retirement Security Project
ING Institutional Plan Services to Provide 401k Services for BNY Mellon
ING Retirement Services
The Vitality Group Announces Expansion to Board of Directors
The Vitality Group
Two New Senior Investment Analysts Join Arnerich Massena
Arnerich Massena & Associates
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
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Employee Benefits Administration
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Pension Benefit Advisor
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Defined Benefit Pension Plan Administrator
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in ANY STATE
Pension Manager
for UFCW & Employers Trust Health and Retirement Benefits
in CA
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