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April 6, 2009 |
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International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (Advert.)
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[Guidance Overview]
New COBRA Premium Reduction Guidance from IRS and DOL
Excerpt: "On March 31, the IRS issued Notice-2009-27, a much-anticipated and comprehensive guidance about the COBRA premium reduction under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). For the first time, the IRS has provided insight into what constitutes an involuntary termination. Notice 2009-27 confirms information provided in our previous Management Alerts, and provides new guidance, which is summarized below. On April 2, the Department of Labor (DOL) also expanded its 'FAQs for Employers About COBRA Premium Reduction Under ARRA,' which includes detailed guidance about use of the model notices." (Seyfarth Shaw LLP)
[Guidance Overview]
More Guidance IRS on the COBRA Subsidy
Excerpt: " In this WorkCite, we will describe Notice 2009-27, issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on March 31, 2009. The Notice contains important information regarding: The definition of involuntary termination. Who are Assistance Eligible Individuals. How to calculate the premium reduction. Coverage that is eligible for premium reduction. The beginning and end of the premium reduction period. Recapture and waiver of premium subsidies. The extended election period. Payments to insurers under federal COBRA. How to determine when state continuation overage is comparable. Due to the breadth of these issues, we will try to cover only ground that we have not previously covered." (McGuireWoods LLP)
[Guidance Overview]
Expansive Definition of Involuntary Termination Included in New COBRA Subsidy Guidance
Excerpt: "Any termination of employment in which the employee is 'willing and able to continue performing services' can trigger the new COBRA premium subsidy, according to the Internal Revenue Service in Notice 2009-27, which provides 58 questions and answers regarding the 65% COBRA premium subsidy available in 2009." (Wolters Kluwer)
[Guidance Overview]
Updated CMS COBRA Webpage for Premium Assistance Provisions
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: This guidance reminds us that the COBRA continuation coverage laws are administered by several federal agencies. CMS is the federal agency responsible for implementing the continuation coverage provisions as they apply to state and local government employers and their group health plans. The DOL and IRS share responsibility with respect to federal COBRA as it applies to private-sector employers and their group health plans." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)
[Guidance Overview]
DOL Expansion of COBRA Premium Reduction Notice FAQs, Posting of Second Compliance Webcast, and More
Excerpt: "The FAQs for employers on COBRA premium reduction model notices have been expanded, including new FAQs discussing to whom each of the four model notices should be sent." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)
[Guidance Overview]
IRS Notice on COBRA Premium Subsidy Addresses Involuntary Terminations and Many Open Issues
Excerpt: "There is likely to be more guidance on the horizon -- the notice indicates that the IRS is aware of other issues relating to the premium subsidy provision, including issues affecting particular arrangements, on which they hope to issue further guidance. Note also that the IRS had previously made available a revised 2009 Form 941 (along with instructions) and posted on its website other Q&As in order to help employers administer the COBRA premium subsidy . . . ." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)
[Guidance Overview]
Sixth Circuit Sustains Michigan Ban on Discretionary Clauses (PDF)
At page 8. Excerpt: "[T]here has been a wave of litigation over whether state law prohibitions against discretionary clauses in life, disability, medical and similar insurance contracts are preempted by ERISA. In general, these clauses provide insurers of ERISA plans with discretion to interpret and apply ERISA plan terms. Discretionary clauses often have been viewed as playing a significant role in containing plan costs, because they limit a court's review of claims determinations to an inquiry into whether the plan fiduciary abused its discretion. In American Cou[n]cil of Life Insurers v. Ross, 2009 WL 691062 (6th Cir. Mar. 18, 2009), the Sixth Circuit joined several earlier district courts and became the first appellate court to conclude that a state law ban on discretionary clauses was not preempted by ERISA." (Proskauer Rose LLP)
Retiree Health Benefits and the Decision to Retire
Excerpt: "We estimate the effect of employer offers of retiree health benefits (RHBs) on the timing of retirement using a sample of men observed over a period of up to 12 years in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Our main concern is that such estimates may be contaminated by unobserved heterogeneity - workers with a taste for early retirement sort into jobs offering RHBs. We attempt to address this concern by using a fixed-effects estimator, which yields substantially smaller estimates of the effect of RHB offers than estimators that do not attempt to control for unobservables. The findings suggest that an RHB offer increased the probability of retirement by 14 percent on average for men born between 1931 and 1941." (Social Science Research Network)
2nd Quarter 2009 TRENDS in Health Insurance Coverage (PDF)
1 page. Excerpt: "TRENDS captures noteworthy developments of interest to employers that provide health coverage." (The Segal Group, Inc.)
Health Savings Accounts and Preventive Care (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "Employers and individuals are increasingly looking to consumer driven health plans like Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) to help rein in expenditures. Unfortunately, there is a common misperception that HSAs discourage preventive care. However, not only do most HSA plans provide first-dollar coverage for preventive care, but use of preventive services is higher for persons enrolled in these plans. In addition, the HSA provides a tax-free way to pay for preventive care services even when not covered by an insurance plan." (The Council for Affordable Health Insurance)
More Large Employers Offer Chronic Disease Management Programs to Reduce Health Care Costs
Excerpt: "Eighty percent of large U.S. companies this year are offering chronic disease management programs for workers in an effort to reduce health care costs, up from 51% last year, according to a new survey by Hewitt Associates . . . . Hewitt surveyed 343 large companies and found that more employers are targeting costly chronic diseases -- such as diabetes, heart disease, asthma and depression -- rather than workers' eating or exercise habits. Hewitt estimates that a company with 9,500 workers and 500 retirees younger than age 65 spends between $18 million to $22 million on health care just for those with diabetes." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com (Advert.)
EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com is where the best employers find the best candidates!
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Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
[Guidance Overview]
Judge OKs Adviser Deferred Compensation Settlement
Excerpt: "A federal judge in New Jersey has approved a $1-million settlement to a long-standing legal battle waged by a group of former Prudential Financial advisers over whether they had been denied deferred compensation benefits. U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Falk of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, in an order approving the deal, noted that an out-of-court disposition of the case is best because it would avoid having to face a potentially unsympathetic jury mad at Wall Street over the nation's financial downturn." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
EBSA Requests Extensions of Information Collection Relating to Plan Assets, Summary Annual Reports, Terminated Individual Account Plans, and National Medical Support Notices
Excerpt: "The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has issued four separate notices requesting the extension of existing information collection deadlines. The notices relate to the definition of plan assets with respect to participant contributions, the national medical support notice, summary annual reports, and the termination of individual account plans. Comments on the extensions are due by May 26." (International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)
WSJ Special Section on Employee Benefits
Produced in cooperation with the Employee Benefit Research Institute and the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, the section includes the following titles: Tough Responsibilities in a Tough Era --Entrusted with overseeing retirement and health care benefits to employees at a time when both are under siege, few jobs today are more taxing than that of the employee benefits manager; The Future of Retirement Plans; In Tough Economic Times, Employers Turn to Value-Based Health Care; and, A Tax Cap on Health Benefits? Remember Sec. 89 (Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)
Webcasts and Conferences
(Click to post your webcast or conference)"Documented Confusion: Understanding Restatement Procedures" Archived Web Seminar
Nationwide on April 3, 2009
presented by SunGard Relius
2009 Western Pension & Benefits Conference Spring Conference
in Arizona on May 12, 2009
presented by Western Pension & Benefits Conference - Phoenix Chapter
COBRA Provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Workshop
in Massachusetts on April 23, 2009
presented by U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
COBRA Subsidy Part II: New Guidance Issued by the IRS Webcast
Nationwide on April 9, 2009
presented by Trucker Huss
DC Plan Terminations And Orphaned Plans
Nationwide on April 21, 2009
presented by ASPPA (American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries)
Form 5500 Workshop, April - May 2009 in 16 Cities
Nationwide on April 23, 2009
presented by SunGard Relius
Remote Patient Management Issues and Trends
Nationwide on May 7, 2009
presented by MCOL
The HITECH Act: Implications for HIPAA-Covered Entities and Business Associates (Webinar Recording)
Nationwide on April 6, 2009
presented by Nixon Peabody LLP
Press Releases
(Click to post your press release)U.S. Department of Labor Obtains Consent Judgment Requiring Defunct Greensboro, North Carolina, Wholesaler and Retailer to Restore Pension Funds
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
U.S. Department of Labor to Host Second Webcast on COBRA Subsidy and Notices
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
Financial and Health Burdens of Chronic Disease Grow Between 2003 and 2007
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Employee Benefits Jobs
(Click to post your job opening | View all jobs |
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Pension Administrator/Consultant
for PenServ, Inc.
in NY
Account Manager
for The Standard
in
Senior Benefits Analyst – Retirement Plans
for Sodexo USA
in MD
Employee Benefits/Executive Compensation Paralegal
for International Law Firm -- Chicago Office
in IL
EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com (Sponsor)
(Click on banner to learn more.)
| Where the best employers find the best candidates! |
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