Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter |
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| July 29, 2009 \ Compliance \ Costs \ Administration \ Design \ Policy | ||
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[Guidance Overview]
Court Emphasizes Importance of Specific Identification of Funds in ERISA Subrogation Case
Excerpt: "This recent district court opinion provides a useful contrast between Sereboff and Knudson. The facts are those typical of most ERISA subrogation and reimbursement cases. The benefit plan [paid] medical expenses following an automobile accident involving young Duncan Graham. The plan then sought reimbursement for the expenses paid." (Roy Harmon III via Health Plan Law)
[Guidance Overview]
Sixth Circuit Rules That a Program of Insured Benefits to Which an Employer Pays the Premiums for at Least One Employee Is Subject to ERISA As to All Employees
Excerpt: "In Helfman v. GE Group Life Assurance Company, No. 08-2168 (6th Cir. 2009), the Court faced the question of whether a program, which consisted of two insurance policies that paid long-term disability benefits to employees (the 'Program'), was subject to ERISA. The plaintiff did not want the Program to be subject to ERISA, because he was bringing a state law claim against the insurers under the Program which ERISA would preempt. The case centered on whether the Program was exempt from ERISA under the 'safe harbor' found in the Department of Labor's regulations at 29 C.F.R. § 2510.3-1(j). For the safe harbor to apply to the Program, among other requirements of the regulations, no premiums may be paid to the Program by an employer (the 'No Premium Condition')." (Stanley D. Baum of Eaton & Van Winkle)
Audio and Text: Prevention Efforts May Not Reduce Health Care Costs
Excerpt: "If you can prevent people from getting sick or detect disease early, you can save money for the health care system, right? Maybe not, says the Congressional Budget Office. So far, in looking at health overhaul bills now moving through Congress, the CBO has failed to attribute any savings to increased efforts to provide preventive efforts like stop-smoking programs." (All Things Considered via National Public Radio)
Confusing the Terms of the Health Care Debate
Excerpt: "Martin Feldstein, a brilliant conservative economist, has his facts wrong on the health care debate in an op-ed he penned [July 28, 2009] in the Washington Post. Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight concisely explains Feldstein's error . . . ." (Workplace Prof Blog)
OPM Work/Life Effort May Have Broader Impact
Excerpt: "The Office of Personnel Management is launching a series of programs to improve work/life balance for its 5,000 employees, a move that, if successful, many say will cascade throughout the federal government and into the private sector." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
Employers Promoting Wellness in Workplace Need to Be Careful What They Ask For, and How They Ask It
Excerpt: "Wellness programs can be effective in cutting a company's health-care costs. But how employers go about establishing them, and guiding employees into them, is key to avoiding legal problems including possible lawsuits. At issue is the use of health risk assessments, or HRAs. These surveys include questions about workers' habits, personal health and family medical histories. The results, which are confidential, are used to direct workers into employer-sponsored wellness programs, such as smoking cessation and weight-loss courses." (The Wall Street Journal)
State Health Care Reform Update
Excerpt: "For the last few years, states have been leading the way toward more comprehensive health care coverage to ensure that more people have or can obtain health insurance. Because of the potential impact of this ongoing activity on employer-provided health insurance benefits, Spencer's Benefits Reports provides regular updates about state health care reform." (Wolters Kluwer)
Proposed Federal Insurance Office Could Mean Duplicative Regulations and New Costs for Health Plans
Excerpt: "In addition to a public insurance option that would compete against private health insurers, House lawmakers want to create a new federal agency that would oversee all health plans. But a new layer of bureaucracy could duplicate efforts of state regulators and would likely mean new administrative costs for health plans, say insurance commissioners and other industry observers . . . ." (AISHealth.com)
Massachusetts Legislators Consider Bills Requiring Insurance Policies to Cover More Medical Conditions
Excerpt: "Massachusetts legislators this year have filed a flurry of bills - more than 70 in all - that, if passed, would substantially expand the medical services insurers are required to cover for patients but also potentially raise healthcare costs. The cascade of proposals to mandate coverage is up 50 percent from last year, and comes amid unprecedented scrutiny of healthcare spending." (The Boston Globe)
Report Suggests Imposing an Excise or Sales Tax on Fattening Foods
Excerpt: "[A]lthough 40 U.S. states now impose modest extra sales taxes on soft drinks and a few snack items, the Urban Institute report suggests that a truly forceful 'intervention' -- one that would drive down the consumption of fattening foods and, presumably, prevent or reverse obesity -- would have to target pretty much all the fattening and nutritionally empty stuff we eat: 'With a more narrowly targeted tax, consumers could simply substitute one fattening food or beverage for another,' the reports says." (Los Angeles Times)
Fat Tax Could Be Panacea for Health Reform
Excerpt: "According to a study released Monday by experts at the Urban Institute and the University of Virginia, a 10% excise or sales tax on fattening foods could raise $522 billion over the next 10 years. A 20% tax could raise $937 billion. Among its other uses (like paying down the deficit), that money could be used to defray the costs of health care reform or to curb the rise in obesity." (Forbes.com)
Explaining Health Care Reform: How Might a Reform Plan Be Financed? (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "This brief explains the likely sources of added costs under reform, the types of financing measures being considered, and some of the key questions likely to be addressed by how a plan is financed." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
In Hawaii, Health Insurance Paid by Employers
Excerpt: "Hawaii's decades-old law aimed at increasing health coverage by requiring companies to provide insurance to their workers has brought something less than universal health care to the 50th state. The experience in President Barack Obama's home state poses some cautionary realities as Congress considers a similar federal requirement that businesses provide health insurance to their employees in any sweeping overhaul of the nation's health care system. Since its passage 35 years ago, the percent of uninsured in Hawaii has fallen to lower levels than nearly every other state, but the system left coverage gaps. And cost-conscious business owners have found an easy way to avoid the law by hiring more part-time workers who aren't required to be covered." (AP via Google)
[Opinion]
A Market for Health Reform
Excerpt: "The central problem in health-care reform is that good policy and good politics point in opposite directions. Good policy proceeds from the understanding that our health-care system is a fractured, pricey, inefficient mess. Good politics, however, proceeds from the insight that a lot of people rely on this fractured, pricey, inefficient mess and don't trust Washington to change it. Good politics means, as Barack Obama frequently says, that if you like what you have, you get to keep it. But put those imperatives together and you have a strange problem indeed: How do you reform a system that you're not allowed to change?" (The Washington Post; free registration required)
[Opinion]
Large Employers Make Key Health Care Reform Recommendations (PDF)
6 pages. Excerpt: "[T]he Association is concerned that the leading bills in Congress as written would dramatically increase the cost of health care in the U.S. by expanding access at a rate much faster and a scope much broader than they would address the failures that are driving our nation's health care cost and quality problems. The result of the imbalance between savings and new spending will be new burdens on an already challenged economy. As senior human resource executives, the Association's members are very concerned about the impact of policy changes on job creation and employment trends in the United States, and that some proposals could significantly erode employer-based coverage." (HR Policy Association)
[Opinion]
CBO Affirms H.R. 3200 Provides Targeted Assistance, Supports Employer-Sponsored Coverage and Refutes Lewin Estimates
Excerpt: "'This analysis is proof that our bill will meet President Obama's direction to build on what works in our current system and fix what's broken,' said U.S. Reps. Henry A. Waxman (D-CA), Charles Rangel (D-NY) and George Miller (D-CA), the Chairman of the House Committees on Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means and Education and Labor. 'It reinforces that we are on track to delivering reforms that will reduce costs for American consumers and businesses, ensure access to quality, affordable health insurance for all and give Americans the peace of mind of knowing their coverage can never again be denied or taken away.'" (U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education & Labor)
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Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
[Guidance Overview]SEC Proposal Would Expand Compensation and Governance Disclosure for 2010 Proxy Season
Excerpt: "This Update provides a high-level overview of the proposed rules and a more detailed summary of the key components of the proposed rule changes and the SEC's comment requests relating to executive compensation disclosure." (Perkins Coie LLP)
Webcasts and Conferences
2009 Chicago Advanced Pension Conferencein Illinois on September 2, 2009
presented by SunGard Relius
Improving Employee Morale During Recessionary Periods with Total Rewards Statements
Nationwide on August 6, 2009
presented by Benefit Software Inc.
Learn How to Prepare Professional Total Rewards Statements In-house on Your Own PC
Nationwide on August 5, 2009
presented by Benefit Software Inc.
Open and Ongoing Benefits Enrollment Solutions that Work
Nationwide on August 6, 2009
presented by Benefit Software Inc.
Preparing for the Roth 2.0 Market: Advanced Roth Conversion Strategies & Considerations
Nationwide on August 12, 2009
presented by Convergent Retirement Plan Solutions, LLC
Preparing for the Roth 2.0 Market: Roth Conversion Review
Nationwide on August 12, 2009
presented by Convergent Retirement Plan Solutions, LLC
Preparing for the Roth 2.0 Market: Roth IRA Fundamentals Revisited
Nationwide on August 11, 2009
presented by Convergent Retirement Plan Solutions, LLC
Preparing for the Roth 2.0 Market: Roth Reporting & Administration
Nationwide on August 13, 2009
presented by Convergent Retirement Plan Solutions, LLC
Preparing for the Roth 2.0 Market: The Art & Science of Roth Conversion Optimization
Nationwide on August 11, 2009
presented by Convergent Retirement Plan Solutions, LLC
(Click to post your webcast or conference)
Press Releases
U.S. Labor Department Obtains Default Judgment and Court Appointment of Independent Fiduciary for 401(k) Plan Abandoned by Rochester, New York, EmployerU.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
U.S. Department of Labor Sues Winter Park, Florida, Law Firm to Protect Retirement Assets
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
Large Employers Make Key Health Care Reform Recommendations
HR Policy Association
MJM401k, LLC Is Certified For Fiduciary Excellence
Centre for Fiduciary Excellence (CEFEX)
Tampa Retirement Plan Consultant Awarded AIFA® Designation From fi360.com
American Pension Services, LLC
Resolution Introduced in the House to Declare “National Save for Retirement Week”
National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators
Softscape First to Market with HR Compliance Manager Enabling Companies to Meet TARP Compensation Restrictions
Softscape
(Click to post your press release)
Employee Benefits Jobs
401(k) Plan Administratorfor TPA Firm located in South Florida
in FL
Retirement Plan Administrator
for Actuarial Consulting Group, Inc.
in VA
Retirement Plan Administrator
for Pension Solutions, Inc.
in OK
Retirement Plan Case Design / Illustration Specialist
for The Guardian Insurance Company
in NY
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