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July 7, 2009 \ Compliance \ Costs \ Administration \ Design \ Policy

www.ftwilliam.com (Advert.)

Join our free webinar regarding HRA plan design. (clickable image)

Join our free webinar regarding HRA plan design.

On Wednesday, July 15th, Attorney Aimee Nash will discuss Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) Plan design on ftwilliam.com's plan document software. She will also discuss how COBRA, HIPPA and other requirements apply to HRA plans. Learn how to best make use of the ftwilliam.com HRA document options and refresh your understanding of important requirements that apply to HRA plans.


[Guidance Overview]
New Jersey Employees Now Eligible to Receive State Benefits Under New Jersey Family Leave Insurance Program

Excerpt: "Now that the commencement date for the Family Leave Insurance Program (the Program) has arrived, New Jersey employers should confirm that their employee handbooks, policies, and procedures dealing with employee leaves and benefits properly address the Program. Employers should also confirm that they are in compliance with the Program's mandatory wage deduction and employee notice requirements." (Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP)


[Guidance Overview]
What Is a 'Special Enrollment Opportunity' in Employment-Based Health Insurance Plans (PDF)

4 pages. Excerpt: "This special enrollment opportunity gives people who are losing coverage a chance to sign up immediately in an employer's group health plan -- even if it is outside of the plan's specified times for enrollment, such as when you are starting a job. Like many federal protections, however, this one has a number of conditions that make it complicated. You must meet certain requirements for the right to enroll, including notifying the employer within a specified time . . . . The employer, too, has certain responsibilities. For example, the employer or the employer's health plan must give all employees notice of special enrollment rights when the employee is first offered the chance to enroll in the employer's group health plan." (Families USA)


[Guidance Overview]
Notice of Denial on Appeal Faxed to Participant's Attorney Met Delivery Requirements in DOL Regulations

Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: ERISA-required notices, such as the notice of denial on appeal in this case, must be furnished in a way reasonably calculated to ensure actual receipt. The DOL regulations do not require a plan administrator to prove actual receipt, just that the delivery method utilized is likely to result in the participant's receipt of the notice. The regulations provide several examples of acceptable delivery methods, including mail and in-hand delivery. But these examples are 'safe harbors,' and are not intended to be an exhaustive list of acceptable delivery methods." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)


[Guidance Overview]
Court Fixes Employment Termination Date Based on Timing of Election Notice, Requiring Longer Active Coverage for Employee

Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: We think other courts would have dismissed the employee's claim because he failed to elect COBRA within 60 days after it was offered (even though the election notice was late, relative to the date the employer said the employment termination occurred). We also disagree with the court's analysis because we don't think that either COBRA or ERISA restricts an employer's ability to fix the date of a termination of employment. Nevertheless, the court was clearly disturbed that the employee had not received earlier notice of the effect his absence would have on his health coverage, and it reached for a remedy. As a result, the case is yet another example of the need for clear policies regarding leaves of absence, including their impact on COBRA." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)


Noteworthy Developments of Interest to Sponsors of Multiemployer Health Plans (PDF)
1 page. This trend report provides a brief look at: Recent developments in health care and the multiemployer marketplace. Data including consumer price index (CPI) and Segal health trends. Context for what's happening to health plans. Share information on what other Segal multiemployer plans are doing. (The Segal Group, Inc.)


Health Care Reform: What Small Business Wants
Excerpt: "As Congress prepares to do battle over health reform, a parallel dispute is shaping up among small-business groups that are staking out opposing positions on a key element of reform proposals: whether Uncle Sam will take on a bigger role in offering insurance coverage or leave the field to the private market." (CNNMoney.com)


Healthcare Overhaul Could Limit Tax Breaks on Benefits
Excerpt: "New Hampshire state employees get $450 annually toward gym memberships, if they go regularly, or $200 toward their own treadmill - and there's a $150 annual reimbursement for yoga classes, diabetes clinics, and nutritional counseling. They have what some call 'gold-plated'' or 'Cadillac'' health insurance. For just $60 a month, state workers' families get coverage worth $20,400 a year, about 62 percent more than the plan the average American family gets through work. And because the federal government excludes health benefits from taxation, they pay no income taxes on any of it. But that may be about to change." (The Boston Globe)



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Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

[Guidance Overview]
Severance Plan Is Subject to ERISA When Employer Discretion and Ongoing Demands on Employer's Assets Are Present

Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: Depending on the nature of plan administration, a severance plan may or may not qualify as an ERISA welfare benefit plan. However, the state of the law is not clear, and the many court cases on this issue have created a range of fine distinctions on which the determination turns. In general, courts will determine that a severance plan is subject to ERISA where the plan requires both an administrative scheme and sufficient employer discretion (e.g., to determine when severance benefits are payable or in identifying eligible employees)." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)


[Guidance Overview]
SEC Proposal of New Executive Pay Disclosure Rules

Excerpt: "[T]he SEC proposed a broad package of corporate disclosure improvements, amending Item 402 of Regulation S-K, to provide shareholders with important information about their corporation's key policies, procedures and practices relating to compensation policies and incentive arrangements." (Michael Melbinger via Winston & Strawn LLP)


[Guidance Overview]
Proposed Rule Changes for Proxy Statement Disclosures and Broker Discretionary Voting

Excerpt: "On July 1, 2009, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission held an open meeting to consider three proposals related to proxy statement disclosure enhancements and shareholder voting. The proposals regarding 'say on pay' and enhanced proxy statement disclosures were approved unanimously by the Commissioners. The vote to approve revisions to NYSE Rule 452 on broker discretionary voting was passed, three to two." (Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP)


SEC Proposes New Rules on Pay Disclosure and Approves Broker Voting Rule
Excerpt: "The SEC has voted to propose rules changing executive pay and corporate governance disclosures, clarifying TARP companies' legal duty to submit executive pay to an annual shareholder vote, and requiring companies to report proxy vote results within four business days on Form 8-K. If adopted, the changes would take effect for the 2010 proxy season. The commission also has approved a New York Stock Exchange rule to eliminate broker discretionary voting in director elections, effective in 2010." (Mercer LLC)


SEC Proposed Rules Clarify TARP Say-on-Pay Requirement
Excerpt: "Proposed SEC rules clarify say-on-pay requirements under the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) but avoid prescribing specific language for management resolutions. The proposal specifies that the resolution must cover the compensation program set out in the proxy and explains when companies are subject to the requirement. As mandated by the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, many TARP recipients included say-on-pay proposals in their 2009 proxies. Comments on the proposal, which would apply for the 2010 proxy season, are due within 60 days of publication in the Federal Register." (Mercer LLC)



Webcasts and Conferences

2009 Action Plan: What U.S. Plan Sponsors Must Do and Should Consider Before 2010
in New York on July 21, 2009
presented by Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

FutureOffice Network™ Presents July Smartcast Federal Health Care Reform: A Review and Commentary of the Proposals
Nationwide on July 21, 2009
presented by Davidson Marketing Group -- FutureOffice Network

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act and Qualified Plans
in New York on July 13, 2009
presented by Executive Benefits Design Group

Web Seminar -- Primer on Providers: Who Does What for Your 401(k) Plan
Nationwide on July 23, 2009
presented by TRI-AD

Work/Life Balance
in Georgia on July 16, 2009
presented by WEB (Worldwide Employee Benefit Network) Atlanta Chapter

(Click to post your webcast or conference)

Press Releases

U.S. Labor Department Obtains Appointment of Independent Fiduciary for Profit-sharing Plans Abandoned by Defunct Binghamton, New York, Companies
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

Employers Prefer Incremental Approach to Health Care Reform
Mercer

Fiduciary Benchmarks Announces Milestones
Fiduciary Benchmarks, Inc.

(Click to post your press release)

Employee Benefits Jobs

Defined Benefits Administrator/Actuary
for Employee Benefits Consulting - TPA
in ANY STATE

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EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com (Sponsor)

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