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April 15, 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]
COBRA Subsidy Provision Effects on COBRA Premiums when Employee has Same-Sex Spouse or Domestic Partner
Excerpt: "COBRA regulations do not require that you extend COBRA coverage to domestic partners of either sex or same-sex spouses, although many employers do so as part of their benefits package. One extra complication in the ARRA subsidy provision is that coverage for domestic partners, same-sex spouses and their children who are not dependents of the employee are not eligible for the subsidy." (TRI-AD)
[Guidance Overview]
HITECH Changes to HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules for Group Health Plans
Excerpt: "The HITECH Act, which amends the privacy and security regulations promulgated under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ('HIPAA'), creates . . . new risks and penalties . . . ." (Dorsey & Whitney LLP)
[Guidance Overview]
Two New Minnesota Health Benefits-Related Laws
Excerpt: "Two laws were enacted in Minnesota recently relating to health benefit plans that may affect you as an employer. The first, which should be attended to right away, requires employers to provide a report to each employee with his or her annual W-2 informing the employee of the amount of health insurance premiums paid by the employee with pre-tax dollars through a Section 125 plan (also known as a cafeteria plan or flexible benefits plan) beginning with premiums paid in 2009. . . . The second, which takes effect on July 1, 2009, requires an employer with more than 10 full-time equivalent employees (except employers who offer a group health insurance plan or group self-insured plan or who have no employees who would be eligible to participate in a Section 125) to establish and maintain a Section 125 that allows employees to purchase on a pre-tax basis individual or employer-based health coverage." (Fredrikson & Byron P.A.)
[Guidance Overview]
Change in Accounting Method Issues Arising from VEBA Terminations and IBNR Deductions
Excerpt: "This article addresses the accounting method issues that arise in two scenarios. In the first scenario, an employer terminates a welfare benefit fund, such as voluntary employees' beneficiary association (VEBA). In the second scenario, an employer without a VEBA begins taking deductions under IRC § 162(a)(1) for medical claims that are incurred but not reported (IBNR) as of the end of the employer's tax year." (Deloitte via BenefitsLink.com)
[Guidance Overview]
COBRA Guidance Highlights Potential Problem Areas
Excerpt: "In recent guidance, IRS addressed certain 'sleeper' issues that will affect administration of the new COBRA premium subsidy. Employers and administrators will need to watch for continuation coverage that is provided as a severance benefit, employer reimbursement of employee COBRA premiums, coverage of individuals who are not assistance eligible, health reimbursement arrangements, and eligibility for retiree medical coverage and coverage under a spouse's employer plan, among others. IRS Notice 2009-27." (Deloitte via BenefitsLink.com)
[Guidance Overview]
CMS's Medicare Part D Benefit Parameters for 2010
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: The new parameters will help group health plan sponsors determine whether their plans' prescription drug coverage is creditable for 2010. This information is needed for the disclosures that must be made annually and at other specified times to Part D eligible individuals and to CMS [Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services]." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)
[Guidance Overview]
Great-West Health Coverage Suit Sent Back for More Hearings
Excerpt: "A federal appellate court has sent back for more hearings a suit filed by disabled employees of Great-West Life & Annuity Co., charging the firm with wrongdoing in connection with cutting off medical coverage for employees on disability leave. The 8th U.S. Court of Appeals said a lower court was wrong in ruling that Great-West intended for employees to have vested health insurance coverage as long as they remained disabled or until age 65. The three-judge appellate panel said they found ambiguous a plan provision allowing the employer to amend the plan and that the lower court judge needed to gather more evidence before resolving the ambiguity." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Maine Considers New Health Coverage Funding Model
Excerpt: "Maine legislators are considering a proposal that would impose a 2.14% surcharge on health care claims to help fund a program that provides state-subsidized health insurance coverage. The proposed surcharge on claims paid by insurers and third-party administrators, backed by Maine Gov. John Baldacci, would replace a controversial assessment on health insurers that failed to provide enough revenue to fund DirigoChoice, the state-subsidized program offered to small employers and individuals." (Business Insurance)
Health Insurers Face Low Returns in Tough Economy; Premiums May Rise
Excerpt: "Major U.S. health insurers and managed care companies earned sharply lower profits in 2008, some nearly half of 2007 results, as poor stock market performance and lower interest rates chiseled away at their investment portfolios. The downturn in results may lead some insurers to try to increase premiums, though they will likely meet stiff resistance from employers, some analysts say." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
Insurance Payment Lags As Cancer Care Comes in a Pill
Excerpt: "Pills and capsules are the new wave in cancer treatment, expected to account for 25 percent of all cancer medicines in a few years, up from less than 10 percent now. The oral drugs can free patients from frequent trips to a clinic to be hooked to an intravenous line for hours. Fewer visits might save the health system money as well as time. And the pills are a step toward making cancer a manageable chronic condition, like diabetes. But for many patients, exchanging an I.V. bag for a pill is a lopsided trade because the economics and practice of cancer medicine have not caught up with the convenience of oral drugs." (The New York Times; free registration required)
Electronic Record Keeping Improves Patients' Health and Reduces Costs
Excerpt: "Employers' thinking on switching employees' health records from paper to electronic is shifting, perhaps helped by promised billions from the recent stimulus package. Though some companies have gotten a head start, the reality is still 'years and years of work' away." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
Rhode Island Law Expands COBRA Coverage to Former Employees of Small Businesses
Excerpt: "Rhode Island Gov. Don Carcieri (R) on Thursday signed into law a bill that 'officially closed a loophole' to allow workers laid off from small businesses or firms that dissolved to receive COBRA subsidies included in the federal economic stimulus package, the Providence Journal reports." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com (Advert.)
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Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
[Guidance Overview]Summary of Recent Federal Employment Discrimination Law Cases Involving Employee Benefit Plans
21 pages, by attorney Andrew Stumpff. Prepared April 2009. Includes cases on age, gender, pregnancy and disability discrimination. Excerpt: "This represents a survey of recent court decisions involving the intersection of employment discrimination law and employee benefit law. Cash balance plan litigation is omitted, as are cases involving only ERISA Section 510. Case summaries are limited to only those parts of the decisions that relate to the interplay of employee benefits and employment discrimination law." (Stevenson Keppelman Associates)
[Guidance Overview]
Third Circuit Abandons 'Sliding Scale' Approach in Judicial Review of ERISA Benefit Denials
Excerpt: "In this recent Third Circuit opinion, the Court found that, in light of MetLife v. Glenn, the Court's 'sliding scale' approach was 'no longer valid.' Instead, judicial review of benefit denials under 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(1)(B) requires evaluation applying 'a deferential abuse of discretion standard of review across the board and consider any conflict of interest as one of several factors in considering whether the administrator or the fiduciary abused its discretion." (Roy Harmon III via Health Plan Law)
[Guidance Overview]
Repricing Underwater Stock Options
Excerpt: "In this article, we discuss the more philosophical pros and cons of re-pricing these underwater options, and to the extent that there is some sort of exchange, what techniques are available for determining the exchange methodology." (JPMorgan Chase & Co.)
Severance Pay Alive and Well Despite Downturn
Excerpt: "Employers grappling with the pressures of the economic downturn are nontheless paying stepped-up attention to outplacement and severance for departing employees. That was a key takeaway from a new survey by human resources consulting firm Lee Hecht Harrison (LHH) in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Webcasts and Conferences
(Click to post your webcast or conference)7th Annual Employee Benefits Symposium
in Illinois on April 20, 2009
presented by The Center for Tax Law and Employee Benefits at The John Marshall Law School in Chicago
A Return to Security: Emerging Deferred Compensation Strategies for Troubled Times
in California on March 19, 2009
presented by Retirement Capital Group
Executive Total Rewards: How is the Market Reacting? What's Hot and What's Not
in California on April 21, 2009
presented by Retirement Capital Group
Retirement Crisis: Now What?
in New York on April 21, 2009
presented by AXA Equitable
Retirement Crisis: Now What? - Webcast
Nationwide on April 21, 2009
presented by AXA Equitable
What to Expect -- and Require -- From 401(k) Recordkeepers (60-Minute Power Series) Webcast
Nationwide on April 28, 2009
presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
Press Releases
(Click to post your press release)Ward Harris Rejoins McHenry from Rogerscasey
McHenry Consulting Group
Suspending the 401(k) Match: Look Before You Leap
Mercer
Retirement Plan Advisory Group Launches Fiduciary Fitness Program
Retirement Plan Advisory Group
Employee Benefits Jobs
(Click to post your job opening | View all jobs |
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New Client Implementation Assistant
for The Pension Studio
in FL
Participant Communication Consultant
for The Standard
in OR
Conversions Specialist
for The Newport Group
in NC
Account Manager
for Fiduciary First / SagePoint Financial
in FL
Manager, Participant Communication
for The Standard
in OR
Team Leader, Retirement Plans Administration
for The Standard
in OH
EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com (Sponsor)
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