Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter |
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| July 10, 2009 \ Compliance \ Costs \ Administration \ Design \ Policy | ||
University Conference Services (Advert.)
What’s Your Next Move? Managing your organization’s health and welfare plans can seem like a game of chess. You always want to be one move ahead of your "opponent"—cost increases that outpace inflation, employees who ignore the principles of good nutrition and healthy living, or regulators who impose ever more complicated rules. The Las Vegas Health and Welfare Plan Management for Mid-Sized Employers conference, September 13–16, is an unmatched educational opportunity to evaluate your health care programs and create a winning strategy for keeping costs under control. |
[Guidance Overview]
Massachusetts Finally Authorizes Second Chance Elections for Mini-COBRA
Excerpt: "A second chance mini-COBRA enrollment in MA will be effective as of August 1, 2009. It can last for the duration of the 18 month period that would have applied if mini-COBRA had been elected at the time of the involuntary termination. Notification of this new right is required within 60 days of the new MA law's enactment on July 2, 2009. Small employers should coordinate with their insurers immediately to determine whether the carrier will send the notice or whether the employer is stuck with that chore." (theworkplace.biz)
[Guidance Overview]
Court Requires Production of Claims Handling Manuals Used in Benefits Denial
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: As this court acknowledged, there is disagreement in the reported decisions regarding how to read the relevant document rule, and some courts might not require production of claims handling guidelines as a general rule. . . . Given the lack of clarity in this area, employers, insurers, and service providers offering claims administration should be prepared to provide copies of these types of generally applicable documents when required. Note that a separate ERISA provision requires that certain documents be furnished to participants and beneficiaries on written request. This requirement, which includes 'other instruments under which the plan is established or operated,' may also require disclosure of a claims administrator's internal rules and guidelines (though here, too, the cases are mixed)." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)
[Guidance Overview]
Towers Perrin Monthly Health & Welfare Regulatory Round-Up, June 2009 (PDF)
6 pages. Excerpt: "The Monthly Regulatory Round-Up is a high-level summary of legal and regulatory developments that occurred during June 2009 that may be relevant to large employers. Developments are sorted according to federal legislative developments, federal regulatory guidance, other developments (e.g., significant litigation, studies, select state law developments)." (Towers Perrin)
Domestic Partners in Nevada Must Wait for Insurance Coverage Until July 2010
Excerpt: "Nevada will begin offering insurance coverage to the domestic partners of state and some other government employees in July 2010 -- nine months after the new state law granting such benefits takes effect. Officials with the Public Employees Benefits Board voted unanimously Thursday to delay extending the benefits, saying more time is needed to set rates and coverage plans that include domestic partners and their children." (Las Vegas Sun)
Senate Bill Could Help Rescue Employer-Provided Retiree Health Benefits
Excerpt: "A provision in a Senate health reform bill announced last week could help strengthen an aspect of the employer-based system that has unraveled almost completely in the past generation: health benefits for retirees." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
Administrative Solutions in Health Reform (PDF)
77 pages. Excerpt: "This report is the product of a two-year study panel convened jointly by the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) and the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI). It examines the administrative functions that are central to a variety of health reform proposals, defines the choices, summarizes what is known about them, and makes specific recommendations. The panel's recommendations fall into seven categories: planning and coordinating implementation of health reform, subsidizing health insurance premiums and cost sharing, administering health insurance mandates, regulating health insurance, restructuring health insurance markets, designing administrative organizations, and simplifying administration and controlling costs." (National Academy of Social Insurance)
Exploring Both Sides of the Debate Over Taxing Health Insurance Benefits to Pay for Expanded Coverage
Excerpt: "Health Affairs and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) today released the latest in a series of Health Policy Briefs, which provide objective, nonpartisan analysis of policy proposals related to health reform. The Senate Finance Committee's support for taxing some health benefits as a way to pay for health reform has created yet another fault-line in the ongoing debate over how to expand health coverage to millions of uninsured Americans. The new Health Policy Brief brings together experts from the Urban Institute, the American Enterprise Institute, the Employee Benefits Research Institute and the Economic Policy Institute. Together, these experts succinctly clarify the debate over taxing health benefits, explore arguments both for and against such a policy, and discuss what Congress may do next." (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)
EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com (Advert.)
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Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
[Guidance Overview]Monthly Regulatory Round-Up on Executive Compensation, June 2009 (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "The Monthly Regulatory Round-Up is a high-level summary of legal and regulatory developments that occurred during June 2009 that may be relevant to large employers. Developments are sorted according to federal legislative developments, federal regulatory guidance, other developments (e.g., significant litigation, studies, select state law developments)." (Towers Perrin)
Lawmakers Consider Domestic Partner Benefits at Hearing
Excerpt: "Lawmakers and witnesses at a hearing on Wednesday discussed how best to extend benefits to the partners of g.ay and les.bian federal employees and retirees, a conversation that involved occasionally pointed exchanges on the nature of discrimination. 'It's baffling that this blatant inequity persists on the federal level, despite the significant expansion in the availability of employment-related benefits and equal treatment for domestic partners among other public and private sector employers,' said House Oversight and Government Reform Federal Workforce Subcommittee Chairman Stephen Lynch, D-Mass." (GovernmentExecutive.com)
MetLife Breaks Down Benefit Trend Information for Small Businesses
Excerpt: "MetLife has made available a new resource designed to help small businesses more effectively leverage benefits programs. Small Business Benefits: Cost-Effective Strategies for Maximizing ROI is a supplement to MetLife's 7th annual Study of Employee Benefits Trends . . . ." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Companies Step Up Benefits Communication to Combat Unions
Excerpt: "As discussions around the Employee Free Choice Act heat up in Congress, employers are stepping up their communications to employees about the benefits they offer as a way of combating unionization efforts." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
Webcasts and Conferences
"401(k) Plans: Beyond the Basics" - A Two-day Seminar in 6 cities.Nationwide on September 10, 2009
presented by SunGard Relius
62nd Annual National Conference and Exhibition
in Arizona on September 21, 2009
presented by Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America (PSCA)
An Ownership Tale
Nationwide on September 9, 2009
presented by National Center for Employee Ownership
Communicating Valuation
Nationwide on August 4, 2009
presented by National Center for Employee Ownership
Don't Do That With Your ESOP
Nationwide on September 15, 2009
presented by National Center for Employee Ownership
ESOP Company Case Studies: Open-Book Management and Incentive Plans
Nationwide on July 14, 2009
presented by National Center for Employee Ownership
ESOP Company Case Studies: Open-Book Management and Incentive Plans
Nationwide on July 14, 2009
presented by National Center for Employee Ownership
ESOP Overview
Nationwide on August 6, 2009
presented by National Center for Employee Ownership
Incentive Plans that Support Employee Ownership
Nationwide on September 17, 2009
presented by National Center for Employee Ownership
Revitalizing Your Ownership Culture
Nationwide on August 19, 2009
presented by National Center for Employee Ownership
The Rollout: Introducing a New ESOP to Employees
Nationwide on July 22, 2009
presented by National Center for Employee Ownership
Valuation Challenges for Ongoing ESOPs
Nationwide on July 16, 2009
presented by National Center for Employee Ownership
(Click to post your webcast or conference)
Press Releases
U.S. Labor Department Obtains Court Actions Restoring Assets to Pension Plan of Former Dadeville, Alabama, Employee Leasing CompanyU.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
Health Insurance Options for Domestic Partnerships
National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)
Benefit Consulting Group of Puerto Rico Inc. Joins Select Group of ASPPA Certified Firms
Roland|Criss Fiduciary Services
(Click to post your press release)
Employee Benefits Jobs
Relationship Manager IIIfor Wilmington Trust Company Retirement and Institutional Services Company
in AZ
Corporate Retirement Service Section Manager
for Wilmington Trust Company Retirement and Institutional Services Company
in AZ
Account Executives
for Third Party Administration Firm, Philadelphia Area
in PA
(Click to post your job opening | View all jobs |
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EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com (Sponsor)
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| Where the best employers find the best candidates! |
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