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April 16, 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.)

What you need to know about the Economic Stimulus Bill’s impact on COBRA and HIPAA (clickable image)

What you need to know about the Economic Stimulus Bill’s impact on COBRA and HIPAA

The signing of the economic stimulus bill has broad implication not only for the nation, but also for employers and their benefit plans. Find out what you as an employer —and your staff-- are now responsible for. Recently recorded 90-minute webcasts are available on CD or instantly online with an on-demand webcast. Updates available on CD or On-Demand Webcast.
To order, visit the Foundation’s Bookstore at www.ifebp.org/cobraondemand or www.ifebp.org/hipaaondemand.


[Official Guidance]
The New Continuation Statute in Rhode Island Relating to Insurance - Extended Medical Benefits

Excerpt: "This act would provide a method to resume extended medical coverage when a person has declined to elect coverage within the timeframe provided." (State of Rhode Island via theworkplace.biz)


[Guidance Overview]
HIPAA Covered Entities Face a Variety of New Enforcement Risks

Excerpt: "'Privacy and security enforcement will get much more aggressive' under the Obama administration, says Washington, D.C., attorney Robert Hudock, with Epstein, Becker & Green. He expects a shift from the voluntary compliance approach that has marked enforcement so far to more fines and penalties. . . . CMS and OCR have a much bigger stick -- in the form of fines that now go up to $1.5 million per entity per calendar year." (AISHealth.com)


Some Companies Succeeding in Lowering Healthcare Using Behavior-Based Techniques
Excerpt: "Safeway Inc. president Steven Burd . . . said that making employees at the third-largest North American supermarket chain accountable for their weight, smoking, cholesterol and blood pressure, has saved millions. Burd proposed the highly praised program used by his company as a model not only to other companies, but to the federal government." (uk.reuters.com)


Senate Bill Would Replace Existing Health Insurance Coverage With Single-Payer System
Excerpt: "While nearly all health care reform legislation recently proposed avoids implementing any major changes to the existing health insurance system, a new Senate bill would replace the current private insurance system with a single-payer option. S. 703, the American Health Security Act of 2009, introduced on March 25 by Sen. Bernard Sanders (Vt.), would replace public health care plans, including the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), and TRICARE (the military civilian employee coverage), with a state-based health security program." (Wolters Kluwer)


PBMs Are Taking New Steps to Influence Consumer Behavior and Push Generics
Excerpt: "CVS Caremark provided DBN with an exclusive look at survey data that finds growing interest among employers in adopting plan designs that promote generic and over-the-counter (OTC) drug options." (AISHealth.com)


Drug Prices Up, According to AARP Study
Excerpt: "Prices of the most popular brand-name prescription drugs are on the rise even as the economy falters, the AARP says. But the group's annual study released Wednesday also found prices of generic drugs are falling and more and more seniors are making the switch to generics, a trend the powerful senior citizens' lobby hopes to encourage." (AP via The Sun News)


Wellness and Health Management Programs Still Important for Most Employers
Excerpt: "Despite the recession and recent cutbacks in some benefit programs, companies continue to add wellness and health management programs to promote healthier behaviors among their workers. Additionally, companies are finding greater success by offering workers financial incentives for participation in these programs, according to a survey by Watson Wyatt, a global consulting firm, and the National Business Group on Health (NBGH), an association of more than 300 mostly large employers." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)


How Payers of Health Care Are Using Telemedicine
Excerpt: "Boston-based data storage company EMC has embraced telemedicine to help its employees better manage high blood pressure, a key indicator of other potential health problems. Two years ago, with help from the Center for Connected Health in Boston, the company set up a program to see how far it could enable patients to manage their hypertension without the help of a doctor. Using special blood pressure cuffs developed by the Centers for Connected Health that plug into a computer, 400 EMC employees volunteered to take their blood pressure three times a week. The information automatically populated an online health record, tracking the changes in a person's blood pressure over time." (Workforce Management; free registration required)


Firms Develop Strategies for Specialty Drugs
Excerpt: "Faced with the high cost of specialty drugs, many employers are relying more on strategies from specialty arms of their pharmacy benefit managers to control spending." (Workforce Management; free registration required)


WSJ Examines Hospital, Drug Company Price Increases, While Government, Private Insurers Attempt To Rein in Costs
Excerpt: "Many hospitals and drugmakers are raising prices on their products and services to reinforce their earnings, 'underscor[ing] the deep challenges' that the Obama administration and Congress face as they work to rein in health care costs and expand health insurance, the Wall Street Journal reports." (Kaiser Family Foundation)



EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com (Advert.)

EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com is where the best employers find the  best candidates! (clickable image)

EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com is where the best employers find the best candidates!

  • A clickable link to your ad goes in the next day's BenefitsLink newsletters, to which thousands of employee benefits professionals subscribe.
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Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

[Guidance Overview]
Revisiting Underwater Options

Excerpt: "Unprecedented volatility has been wreaking havoc on equity programs, placing many, if not all, stock options underwater. As a result, many companies are weighing whether to take action on underwater options. This Perspective, the third in Mercer's 'Weathering the Storm' series, provides a framework for evaluating underwater options and determining if actions are appropriate. The article explores different approaches to exchanging underwater options; discusses legal, shareholder approval and communication issues; and highlights findings from Mercer's review of about 50 recent option exchanges." (Mercer LLC)


Executive Retirement Benefits in Tax-Exempt Organizations: Actions for 2009
Excerpt: "Executive compensation could become a flash point for tax-exempt organizations in 2009, as the economic crisis spurs calls for greater accountability. With the new Form 990's expanded disclosures, tax-exempts can expect nonqualified deferred compensation (NQDC) arrangements to receive extra scrutiny. These changes and the prospect of new Section 457(f) rules have many tax-exempts revisiting their NQDC plans and practices. This Perspective offers a checklist of 2009 actions to help tax-exempts ensure that their NQDC arrangements meet today's trends and the organization's executive talent needs." (Mercer LLC)


Rights for Same-Sex Partners Headed for State of Washington Law
Excerpt: "Same-sex domestic partners would have all the rights and benefits that Washington state offers married couples under a bill that passed the state Legislature on Wednesday. After nearly two hours of debate, the House approved the Senate-passed measure on a mostly party-line 62-35 vote. It now goes to Gov. Chris Gregoire, who said she will sign it into law." (AP via Tacoma News, Inc.)


New Publication on Equity Compensation in a Down Market
The NCEO presents excerpts from its new publication Equity Compensation in a Down Market: Repricing, Accounting, ESPP, and Employee Communications Issues, a 63-page issue brief. (National Center for Employee Ownership)


Employee Ownership Update for April 15, 2009
NCEO Executive Director Corey Rosen discusses the results of the NCEO's survey of executive compensation in ESOP companies; the content of the NCEO's new issue brief on equity compensation in a down market; and the Great Game of Business's conference. (National Center for Employee Ownership)



Webcasts and Conferences

(Click to post your webcast or conference)

"Wellness: Beyond Savings in Health Care Costs"
in Maryland on May 7, 2009
presented by Worldwide Employee Benefits Network -- Baltimore chapter

401(k) Plans for Rookies: Master the Basics So You Can Handle the Details
Nationwide on May 13, 2009
presented by EBIA / Thomson Reuters


Press Releases

(Click to post your press release)

Companies See Fewer Sales Force Reductions In 2009, Watson Wyatt Survey Finds
Watson Wyatt

Former Owner of BB Kids Stores in Massachusetts Agrees to Restore Employee Contributions to SIMPLE IRA Plan to Resolve U.S. Labor Department Lawsuit
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

U.S. Department of Labor Sues Defunct Arkansas Trucking Company to Protect Participants’ 401(k) Assets
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

ERIC Urges Appeals Court to Uphold District Court Dismissal of 401(k) Excessive Fee Case
ERIC (ERISA Industry Committee)

The ESOP Association Announces 2009 Silver ESOP Award Winners
ESOP Association

Aberdeen Funds Added to CPI Retirement Platform
CPI Qualified Plan Consultants, Inc.

Firm Seeks DOL Clarification of ERISA Fiduciary Rules Against Self-Dealing
Avatar Associates


Employee Benefits Jobs

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

Team Leader II, Retirement Plans Administration
for The Standard
in OR

Trust Administration Supervisor
for Associated Pension Consultants
in CA



EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com (Sponsor)

(Click on banner to learn more.)
Where the best employers find the best candidates!

Where the best employers find the best candidates!


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