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April 3, 2009 |
| Here are the Web's best new links about compliance and cost aspects of plan operation, design and policy. |
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[Official Guidance]
DOL to Present Second COBRA Compliance Webcast April 6
An archive of the webcast will be available on www.dol.gov/COBRA by April 8. Excerpt: "In the upcoming webcast, the Department of Labor will be joined by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service to discuss the new COBRA provisions and the latest guidance, including information on the model notices and tax credit." (Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor)
[Official Guidance]
Expanded FAQs for Employers on the COBRA Premium Reduction with New Q&As on the Model Notices
(Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor)
[Guidance Overview]
Additional COBRA Premium Assistance Guidance from IRS
Excerpt: "[T]he IRS issued Notice 2009-27, which contains 58 questions and answers that address a number of issues related to the COBRA premium subsidy, including: What constitutes an 'involuntary termination' for purposes of the COBRA subsidy; Circumstances under which timing of an involuntary termination or loss of health coverage will affect eligibility for the COBRA subsidy; How the 65% premium reduction is to be calculated; How the COBRA subsidy applies to spouses and dependent children of employees; The types of coverage for which the COBRA subsidy is available; and What constitutes comparable state continuation coverage for purposes of determining eligibility for the COBRA subsidy." (Groom Law Group)
[Guidance Overview]
DOL FAQs Related to COBRA Premium Subsidy
Excerpt: "Previously, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued four model notices to assist group health plans and employers in complying with ARRA's notice requirements. [On April 2, 2009], DOL released thirteen new Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), which provide additional guidance on ARRA's notice requirements." (Groom Law Group)
[Guidance Overview]
IRS Clarification of COBRA Subsidy Rules
Excerpt: "The guidance addresses a few specific situations. For example, lay-offs (that reduce an employee's work hours to zero) and lock-outs initiated by the employer will be considered involuntary terminations of employment. Strikes initiated by employees or their representatives will not." (Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP)
[Guidance Overview]
DOL's Model Notices: Implementation of New COBRA Premium Reductions (PDF)
11 pages. Excerpt: "These notices provide a full explanation of the COBRA subsidy, as well as general COBRA information. There is a special notice for small plans that are not subject to federal COBRA but are subject to State COBRA requirements. The models include some new and useful forms which will be helpful when implementing the COBRA premium subsidy. In addition, we include a Model set of FAQs." (Baker & McKenzie)
[Guidance Overview]
Stimulus Bill Expands Trade Adjustment Assistance Program, Increases Health Coverage Tax Credit, and Extends COBRA Eligibility Periods for TAA-Eligible Individuals and PBGC Pension Recipients
Excerpt: "In general, the TAA program has had relatively little reach, but the stimulus package expands the categories of workers who will be eligible for the program -- and by extension, eligible for the increased HCTC and the COBRA subsidy. Before the stimulus bill, TAA generally applied to workers in a firm (or a division within a firm) if: A significant number or proportion of workers had become or were expected to become totally or partially separated from service; The firm manufactures a product; The separation or threat of separation was due to increased trade with certain foreign countries (i.e., free-trade agreement or unilateral-preference partners) and could involve increased imports or a shift in production[.]" (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)
[Guidance Overview]
Federal Court Holds D.C.'s Access Rx Act Preempted by ERISA
Excerpt: "In a decision handed down on March 19, 2009, the Pharma.ceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) won a multi-year battle in federal court when the United States District Court for the District of Columbia held that the Access Rx Act (the 'Act') 'impermissibly intrudes upon a field exclusively reserved for federal regulation.' This court's holding that the Act is preempted by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) marks a departure from a First Circuit opinion upholding a nearly identical Maine statute in the face of a preemption challenge." (Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo P.C.)
[Guidance Overview]
Eleventh Circuit Holds That ERISA Does Not Authorize Fee Award for 'Pre-Litigation Administrative Proceedings'
Excerpt: "In this case the Eleventh Circuit rejected a claim for attorney's fees for time expended in a 'claims reassessment' process offered by UNUM to claimants whose claims had been denied. After suit was filed following a denial of benefits, the disability claimant received a letter from UNUM offering a claims reassessment as a part of a program instituted by the company in cooperation with states' attorney general offices." (Roy Harmon III via Health Plan Law)
[Guidance Overview]
Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 Adds Another Special Enrollment Opportunity
Excerpt: "Employers that maintain a group health plan in states that provide assistance must provide employees with a written notice of the availability of premium assistance programs under Medicaid or State child health plans. In addition, the administrator of a group health plan must provide information upon request of a State regarding the benefits available under the plan with respect to a participant or beneficiary who is covered under a Medicaid or State child health plan." (ERISA Diagnostics Inc.)
New Bill Would Encourage Employers to Offer Wellness Programs
Excerpt: "U.S. Senators Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) and U.S. Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) and Mary Bono Mack (R-California) on Thursday reintroduced legislation designed to make wellness and prevention part of the national discussion on health care reform." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Podcast: Health Plan Options Help Produce Cost-Conscious Health Care Consumers
10 minutes. Excerpt: "As employers look to control health care costs, more are adding account-based consumer directed plans and encouraging participation in wellness programs. Mercer's Sander Domaszewicz talks with Richard Klein about these and other cost-cutting measures employers are taking, as revealed in Mercer's National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans." (Mercer LLC)
America's Health Literacy: Why We Need Accessible Health Information (PDF)
8 pages. Excerpt: "For the first time, there are national data that demonstrate currently available health information is too difficult for average Americans to use to make health decisions. Limited health literacy isn't a disease that makes itself easily visible. In fact, you can't tell by looking. Health literacy depends on the context. Even people with strong literacy skills can face health literacy challenges . . . ." (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)
Video of FRONTLINE Program, 'Sick Around America'
Excerpt: "As the worsening economy leads to massive job losses -- potentially forcing millions more Americans to go without health insurance -- FRONTLINE travels the country examining the nation's broken health care system and explores the need for a fundamental overhaul. Veteran FRONTLINE producer Jon Palfreman dissects the private insurance system, a system that not only fails to cover 46 million Americans but also leaves millions more underinsured and at risk of bankrup.tcy." (WGBH educational foundation)
House Takes Up a Plan Tied to Health Care Overhaul
Excerpt: "House Democrats pressed a budget plan Wednesday to make it easier to pass health care legislation backed by President Barack Obama, but their GOP rivals in the Senate preserved their ability to block upcoming legislation on global warming. As debate continued on nonbinding Democratic budget plans largely mimicking President Barack Obama's $3.6 trillion budget proposal, Republicans in the House offered an alternative that would eventually end the Medicare program as it is presently known." (AP via Yahoo! News)
[Opinion]
Health Savings Accounts As an Investment
Excerpt: "Much has already been written about the wisdom, or lack thereof, of health savings accounts (HSAs) and the high-deductible health plans that are linked with them. By design, they benefit higher-income individuals who are able to take advantage of the regressive tax policies, and who remain healthy, allowing the savings to accumulate for use in their retirement years. But they don't work for individuals with modest incomes who have significant health care needs." (Physicians for a National Health Program)
University Conference Services (Advert.)
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
[Guidance Overview]Exploring the New 'Say on Pay' Requirements
Excerpt: "Among the new executive compensation requirements introduced under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) is a provision requiring firms that have received Trouble Asset Recovery Program (TARP) funds to submit an annual, nonbinding shareholder vote allowing shareholders to approve the compensation of the firm's executives starting with all proxies filed after February 17, 2009. The vote, known as 'Say on Pay,' has seen voluntary adoption by a few U.S. firms thus far, but this new legislation coupled with the current political environment may spur additional legislation requiring the adoption of the practice across all companies." (Deloitte Development LLC)
House Bill Carries New TARP Executive Compensation Curbs
Excerpt: "The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a measure limiting 'unreasonable or excessive' executive compensation at firms taking federal bailout money. A Wall Street Journal report said the bill, passed on a 247 to 171 vote, deals with new or existing compensation packages at firms receiving funds under the $700-billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) program. The bill comes in the wake of widespread voter anger at the executive bonus program at AIG, a recipient of federal bailout money." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Webcasts and Conferences
(Click to post your webcast or conference)"Automatic Enrollment: The Future Is Now" Archived Web Seminar
Nationwide on April 2, 2009
presented by SunGard Relius
401(k) Plan Workshop, April - May in 17 Cities
Nationwide on April 24, 2009
presented by SunGard Relius
403(b) plans: The Basics and Some Frequently Asked Questions - FREE
Nationwide on April 1, 2009
presented by ftwilliam.com
Automatic Enrollment Redux: The Final Regulations
Nationwide on April 14, 2009
presented by ASPPA (American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries)
COBRA Provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Workshop
in Missouri on April 14, 2009
presented by U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
EPCRS: Even your Plan Can be Restored (Seriously!)
in California on April 23, 2009
presented by Western Pension & Benefits Conference - Orange County Chapter
Form 5500 Workshop, April - May 2008 in 16 Cities
Nationwide on April 23, 2009
presented by SunGard Relius
Press Releases
(Click to post your press release)Focus on the Positive: Still Time to Enter National Employee Benefits Recognition
Principal Financial Group
Cost Control Strategy Central to Health Care Reform
American Benefits Council
In the Fight to Stem Health Costs by Improving Health, Nonprofit HERO, in Collaboration with Mercer, Launches New Best Practice Scorecard for Health Management
Mercer
Employee Benefits Jobs
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