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April 2, 2009


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

International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (Advert.)

Celebrate National Employee Benefits Day on April 2, 2009 (clickable image)

Celebrate National Employee Benefits Day on April 2, 2009

This year the day has a special focus on retirement security. Use the day to educate yourself and your plan participants about the importance of planning now for a secure retirement! Visit www.ifebp.org/benefitsday for free retirement planning tip sheets and links to online resources. Free videocasts featuring two of the nation’s top experts on retirement and the economy will be available on April 2.



[Guidance Overview]
Treasury Notice with 58 Q&As on the COBRA Subsidy (PDF)

2 pages. Excerpt: "The Notice provides welcome guidance with many helpful examples on issues such as the events that qualify as involuntary terminations of employment, when retiree health coverage will qualify for the subsidy, how to treat individuals who are not qualified beneficiaries under COBRA for purposes of the subsidy, and when eligibility in another health plan will end eligibility for the subsidy." (Miller & Chevalier Chartered)


[Guidance Overview]
Immediate Employer Action Required to Implement New COBRA Subsidies (PDF)

4 pages. Excerpt: "Although the federal government is responsible for paying the premium subsidy, employers must advance the funds by reducing COBRA premiums. Employers also must act quickly to notify individuals who are eligible for COBRA of the right that Assistance Eligible Individuals have to pay reduced premiums under ARRA and how to exercise that right." (The Hay Group)


[Guidance Overview]
Model COBRA Notices from the Department of Labor

Excerpt: "Employers and plan administrators should use the model notices as a guide, but those notices will require customization to meet the circumstances of particular employers and plans. Also, in the Model election forms there is a technical error in the way the election period is described. The Model election forms state that an election must be made within 60 days of notice. In fact, COBRA regulations allow for elections within 60 days of the date of notice or the date that coverage will end due to the qualifying event, whichever is later. Employers and plans using the Model Notices as a guide should correct that error." (Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP)


[Guidance Overview]
DOL's Model COBRA Notices Required Under ARRA

Excerpt: "The Department of Labor has issued model COBRA notices to help group health plans and employers quickly explain to former employees and their families how to take advantage of the premium subsidy as set forth in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (P. L. 111-5)." (Wolters Kluwer)

[Guidance Overview]
Medicare Part D: Optimizing the Opportunities for Employer Plans (PDF)

5 pages. The article discusses the pluses and minuses of options. (International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans via Milliman)


[Guidance Overview]
Increased HIPAA Obligation on Health Benefit Plans and Service Providers (PDF)

6 pages. Excerpt: "The much-heralded economic stimulus package signed by President Obama on February 17, 2009 (ARRA or the 'Act'),1 dramatically expands and strengthens the security and privacy requirements under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (the 'HIPAA Rules'). Most of ARRA's security and privacy provisions will be effective within a year of ARRA's enactment; some provisions, however, are already in effect. This article highlights the key changes to the HIPAA Rules and the impact of these changes on health benefit plans, their business associates and certain previously non-covered entities." (Alston & Bird LLP)


[Guidance Overview]
Effective Date of New Special Enrollment Period Under CHIPRA

Excerpt: "Effective April 1, 2009, CHIPRA requires a group health plan and a health insurance issuer to permit an employee who is eligible, but not enrolled, for coverage under the employer's group health plan (or a dependent of such employee, if the dependent is eligible, but not enrolled) to enroll for coverage where certain conditions are met . . . ." (Littler Mendelson P.C.)


Bill Would Put LTC on Cafeteria Menu
Excerpt: "Lawmakers have launched a new effort to help consumers pay for long term care insurance through cafeteria plans and flexible spending arrangements. In addition to permitting workers to pay for LTC insurance through cafeteria plans and FSAs, the new Senate bill, S. 702, the Long-Term Care Affordability and Security Act of 2009, would add consumer protection standards drawn from a model law approved by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Kansas City, Mo." (National Underwriter Life & Health)


Massachusetts Spending Hundreds of Millions for Health Coverage for Workers at Some of State's Largest Employers
Excerpt: "In the 2008 fiscal year, the state spent nearly $794 million on coverage for workers and their families. That's a 25% jump over the prior year. The report by the state just looks at employers with 50 or more workers using subsidized care. . . . Despite the increase, Massachusetts employers are still more likely to offer insurance than employers nationally. Among the employers on the list were Wal-Mart, Stop & Shop, and the state itself." (AP via ModernHealthcare.com)


Financial and Health Burdens of Chronic Conditions
Excerpt: "While problems paying medical bills are especially acute and still rising for uninsured people with chronic conditions (62%), medical-bill problems also are significant and growing among people with private insurance and higher incomes. For the more than 20 million chronically ill adults with medical bill problems in 2007, one in four went without needed medical care, half put off care and more than half went without a prescription medication because of cost concerns." (Center for Studying Health System Change)


State Health Care Reform Update
Excerpt: "For the last few years, states have been leading the way toward more comprehensive health care coverage to ensure that more people have or can obtain health insurance. Because of the potential impact of this ongoing activity on employer-provided health insurance benefits, Spencer's Benefits Reports provides regular updates about state health care reform." (Wolters Kluwer)


House Passes H.R. 1253, the Health Insurance Restrictions and Limitations Clarification Act of 2009
Excerpt: "[On March 31, 2009], the House passed (422 Ayes, 3 Nays) 'H.R. 1253, the Health Insurance Restrictions and Limitations Clarification Act of 2009' which amends ERISA, the Code, and the Public Health Service Act to require that limitations and restrictions on coverage under group health plans be timely disclosed to group health plan sponsors and timely communicated to participants and beneficiaries under such plans in a form that is 'clear and explicit.'" (Attorney B. Janell Grenier via Benefitsblog.com)


Hearing: Health Reform in the 21st Century: Reforming the Health Care Delivery System
April 1, 2009. Excerpt: "Focus Of The Hearing: The hearing will focus on policies to modernize the health care delivery system." (U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways & Means)


CBO Cost Estimate of the Health Insurance Restrictions and Limitations Clarification Act of 2009 (PDF)
2 pages. As ordered reported by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on March 4, 2009. Excerpt: "CBO estimates that H.R. 1253 would have no significant impact on the federal budget." (U.S. Congressional Budget Office)


Principal Introduces New Wellness Program
Excerpt: "The Principal has announced a new wellness program offering it says gives employers the necessary tools to create a cultural shift, making healthy living a way of life for employees. With the new offering, employers receive a guide including a year-round education and communication campaign and incentive strategy, according to the announcement. By participating in wellness-driven events like onsite health screenings and seminars, employees receive points which can be redeemed for incentives like lower co-pays or deductibles for the next year's benefits." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)


[Opinion]
President's Stimulus Plan Should Help Ease Financial Obstacles to Electronic Health Records

Excerpt: "The main impediment is money. Many hospitals simply do not have the capital to buy systems that can cost $20 million to $200 million, especially when so many are struggling to remain solvent. Hospitals also worry about high maintenance costs, an uncertain payoff on their investment, a lack of staff with adequate technical expertise and resistance from doctors." (The New York Times; free registration required)



University Conference Services (Advert.)

Solving the Puzzle of Managing Health Care Benefits Today (clickable image)

Solving the Puzzle of Managing Health Care Benefits Today

Managing your organization’s health and welfare plans can be compared to assembling a giant jigsaw puzzle —and never more so than in the current economic environment. Do you have all the pieces? How do they fit together? The Chicago Health and Welfare Plan Management for Mid-Sized Employers Conference, June 7–10, is the ideal place to turn the jigsaw pieces of your plan into a complete picture.

Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General


Today is National Employee Benefits Day
Excerpt: "This year National Employee Benefits Day has a special focus on retirement security. The current economy has made retirement a top concern for many individuals. We encourage you to celebrate the day by educating yourself and your plan participants about the importance of planning now for a secure retirement." (International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)

[Guidance Overview]
Stock Awards to Employees in Europe: Changes to Securities Laws

Excerpt: "The European Commission has recognised that the requirement to be listed on an EEA regulated market can lead to unnecessary burdens and costs for companies and in January 2009 it launched a consultation paper proposing, amongst other things, to extend the 'employee share scheme' exemption to all companies making offers under employee share plans to employees resident in the EEA as long as a document is made available containing information on the number and nature of the securities offered and the reasons for and details of the offer." (K&L Gates LLP)


[Guidance Overview]
Possible Challenges to Retroactive Restrictions on Executive Compensation

Excerpt: "Both contractual and constitutional challenges to the application of Section 7001 to existing TARP recipients are available. A suit for declaratory and injunctive relief could be brought now in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Or a financial institution could sue for damages in the Court of Federal Claims upon complying with the Secretary's new standards. The choice depends on an institution's priorities -- trying to forestall the new standards or being compensated for the harm they cause. Similar legal challenges could be raised to a bonus tax. Additionally, a bonus tax could be challenged as an unconstitutional bill of attainder." (Jones Day)


Executive Pay: Perception and Reality
Excerpt: "As the economy tanks and rank-and-file workers lose income, security and jobs, executive pay has again become the focal point of public anger. The pay gap between the most affluent executives and the average worker yawns wide. Last year, Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 chief executive officers averaged $10.5 million a year, 344 times the annual pay of typical U.S. workers." (Society for Human Resource Management)


Tongue-in-Cheek: Top Ten Ways To Celebrate National Employee Benefits Day 2009
Excerpt: "1. Put a new twist on childhood games: Salary-Freeze Tag, Dodge Calls, Underfunded Pension Pickle, Benefits Manager in the Middle. 2. Demonstrate your social media savvy: Tweet all of your SPD updates; be sure to use plenty of emoticons. 3. Investigate the latest investment vehicles: shoe boxes, mattresses and piggy banks. [Numbers 4-10 are even better.]" (International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)


Tough Times Demand Smart Solutions in Employee Benefits Packages
Excerpt: "Economically challenging times require creative solutions, especially among small and midsize employers who, despite budget constraints, are trying to offer comprehensive benefits packages that adequately protect their workforce. With the help of brokers and advisers, employers are finding that creative benefits solutions - a strategic mix of employer-sponsored plan designs and added voluntary plans - can close coverage gaps and still be affordable." (Employee Benefit Adviser; Registration may be required)


New Edition of The ESOP Communications Sourcebook
The NCEO provides excerpts from the new edition of its book The ESOP Communications Sourcebook, which provides articles on communicating the plan to employees; sample communication documents; case studies; samples of what successful companies are doing; PowerPoint presentations and recorded Webinars to use; and more. The new edition includes much more electronic resources on its accompanying CD, plus new articles on communicating in a downturn and on what must be communicated. (National Center for Employee Ownership)


Employee Ownership Update for April 1, 2009
NCEO Executive Director Corey Rosen discusses FASB's reconsideration of whether ESOP-held shares that are mandatorily redeemable upon the occurrence of an event certain to occur are liabilities; French executives who gave up stock options; cash incentives; and, as an April 1 special, a new system that attaches to the ear and detects brain wave patterns in executives in response to various pay systems. (National Center for Employee Ownership)


[Opinion]
An Essay on Social Insurance and Sharing Risks in a New Era of Responsibility (PDF)

6 pages. Excerpt: "In his inaugural address, our new president spoke of a 'new era of responsibility.' After hearing the language of personal responsibility for so many years, it may have been a little jarring to some to hear President Obama use the term. But the President was defining 'responsibility' to mean more than just responsibility for ourselves; he was defining it to encompass the responsibilities that we owe each other - that is, the social contract that binds us to each other. One important aspect of the social contract -- my focus in what follows -- is the sharing of risk." (National Academy of Social Insurance)



Webcasts and Conferences

(Click to post your webcast or conference)

COBRA Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 – Second Compliance Assistance Webcast
Nationwide on April 6, 2009
presented by U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

FutureOffice Network Presents April Smartcast: New COBRA Updates
Nationwide on April 21, 2009
presented by Davidson Marketing Group -- FutureOffice Network

What's New in 401(k)s?
in Michigan on April 22, 2009
presented by International Society of CEBS - West Michigan Chapter


Press Releases

(Click to post your press release)

Hewitt Integrates Financial Engines Service into Administration Solution
Hewitt Associates LLC

U.S. Labor Department Asks Court To Distribute Profit-sharing Plan Assets Of Closed Chesterfield, Michigan, Company
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

U.S. Labor Department Obtains Appointment Of Independent Fiduciary To Oversee Abandoned Oklahoma 401(k) Plan
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

Fidelity Introduces Online Technology Evaluation Tool for RIAs
Fidelity Investments

BrightScope Reports Strong Response from Plan Sponsors
BrightScope


Employee Benefits Jobs

(Click to post your job opening | View all jobs | RSS feed for jobs RSS feed of all jobs )

Senior Pension Sales Consultant
for Executive Benefit Design Group
in ANY STATE

Pension Manager
for Time Warner Inc.
in NY

Actuary
for Prestigious mid-Long Island New York Firm
in NY



EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com (Sponsor)

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