Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter |
|
|
| August 26, 2009 \ Compliance \ Costs \ Administration \ Design \ Policy | ||
International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (Advert.)
What Rick Wellner, CEBS, says about International Foundation membership: "We became members of the Foundation because of our commitment to the Foundation’s educational content. We leverage our membership in many ways: We use the library for research, the Certificate Series for training, CEBS classes to credential our folks and E-learning courses to get our associates up and running quickly. If there is any kind of article or research in the employee benefits field, we know where to go to get it. You really need to be part of the Foundation if you’re in the employee benefit market." |
[Guidance Overview]
Summary of the HHS Security Breach Notification Rules (PDF)
6 pages. Excerpt: "The Department of Health and Human Services ('HHS') has issued interim final rules on HIPAA's new security breach notification requirement, which was adopted under the HITECH Act in February as part of the stimulus bill. The HITECH Act made significant changes to the HIPAA privacy and security rules, including imposing a new requirement that covered entities notify individuals when their 'unsecure' protected health information ('PHI') is breached." (Groom Law Group via American Benefits Council)
[Guidance Overview]
The Latest Guidance for Employers for Flu Season from the CDC
Excerpt: "This new guidance, aimed at all employers, is a tacit acknowledgement by the federal government that businesses and employers play a key role in protecting employees' health and safety, as well as in limiting the negative impact of flu outbreaks on local communities and the nation's economy." (Nixon Peabody LLP)
[Guidance Overview]
HIPAA Security Breach Notification Rules
Excerpt: "The new rules are effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, or September 9, 2009 (although HHS did adopt a nonenforcement policy through 2/22/10). Comments are due October 23, 2009. The [summary attached to the target page] details the new rules, including what steps health plans and health care providers should be taking. Also attached are the rules themselves." (Groom Law Group)
[Guidance Overview]
Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act Regulations Expected: Are Your Wellness Programs Ready?
Excerpt: "'Genetic information' is defined broadly to include, among other things, information about 'the manifestation of a disease or disorder in family members of such individual.' As an exception, GINA permits employers to acquire genetic information when it is requested as part of an employer's 'health or genetic services, including such services offered as part of a voluntary wellness program.' We expect the EEOC will clarify the nature and scope of this exception in the final regulations." (Jackson Lewis LLP)
San Francisco Asks Court to Reject Case Challenging Health Care Effort
Excerpt: "On Monday, San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera filed a brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to dismiss the Golden Gate Restaurant Association's challenge of a Healthy San Francisco provision requiring employers to contribute to workers' health care coverage, the San Francisco Chronicle reports (Knight, San Francisco Chronicle, 8/25)." (California HealthCare Foundation)
Insurers and Lawmakers Weigh Strategies to Combat Obesity and Resulting Costs
Excerpt: "There's good reason health plans are eyeing the expanding waistlines of members. People who fall into the category of 'obese' (i.e., a body mass index of more than 30) spend an average of $1,429 more each year on health care than do people who have a healthy BMI, according to a new study from the CDC. People who are overweight or obese are more at risk for heart disease, hypertension and respiratory problems than are those who maintain a healthy weight." (AISHealth.com)
The Problem with Prevention Claims in Health Care
Excerpt: "'You can't rely on a clinical setting to help people stop smoking, lose weight and make healthier food choices,' said Dr. Steven Woolf, a professor of family medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University who has written extensively about preventive medicine. But the picture is murkier for other preventive interventions. Very few actually save money. A study published in The American Journal of Preventive Medicine in 2006 examined 25 common preventive services and found that just a handful resulted in savings (PDF). These included childhood immunizations, offering to help smokers kick the habit and discussing daily aspirin use with people at risk for heart disease." (The New York Times; free registration required)
BenefitsLink Vendor Directory (Advert.)
Outsource benefits tasks by selecting a vendor from our online directory Your employee benefits service or product can be advertised in an online directory sponsored by the nation's leading employee benefits web site-- BenefitsLink. Your premium listing will include a logo, contact information and a link to take readers directly to your web site. Newly designed and easily searchable. You can't afford not to be part of it. |
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Domestic Partner Benefits: Corporate Equality Index 2009Excerpt: "92 percent of CEI-rated employers provide partner health coverage to employees (criterion 3a), up 16 percent from the previous year. Of these employers, 67 percent provide them to both same and opposite-sex partners of employees (just a one percentage point increase from last year)." (The Human Rights Campaign)
Certain Benefits and Compensation Arrangements Excluded from FASB Codification Project
Excerpt: "According to the summary of a recent board meeting, the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has decided to exclude certain pension and deferred compensation plans from the definition of financial instruments included in its Accounting Standards Codification project. The Board decided that the scope of the project would include all financial instruments as defined in the master glossary of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification, except employers' and plans' obligations for pension benefits; other postretirement benefits, including health care and life insurance benefits; postemployment benefits, employee stock option and stock purchase plans; and other forms of deferred compensation arrangements. FASB excluded these benefits due to their need for special attention." (International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)
Few Employers Planning to Beef Up Communication with Employees About Pay or Benefits, According to Survey
Excerpt: "[A]ccording to Watson Wyatt 2009/2010 Communication ROI, many companies are planning to scale down their recession/recovery-oriented communications. Over the next 12 months, the study finds, only about 28 percent of companies plan to increase communications about business performance, 27 percent about benefits and 19 percent about pay." (Human Resource Executive Online)
Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 Bill Bails Out Union Pension Plans, Too
Excerpt: "Section 164 of the Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 provides that the government pay 80 cents on the dollar to corporate and union insurance plans for claims between $15,000 and $90,000 for retirees age 55 to 64. Union health insurance funds only have about 30 cents available to cover each dollar of anticipated claims, according to the Lewin Group and other research outfits." (The Examiner)
Webcasts and Conferences
Mandatory E-Filing of Form 5500: Are You Ready? Mastering the New EFAST2 Procedures and Rules WebcastNationwide on August 26, 2009
presented by Atessa Benefits, Inc.
(Click to post your webcast or conference)
Press Releases
PSCA Offers Free Communication Program to 401(k) Plan SponsorsProfit Sharing/401(k) Council of America (PSCA)
State of Kansas Streamlines COBRA Administration With Innovative Web-Based Solution
CobraGuard, Inc.
Medicare Prescription Benefit Program Has Exceeded Expectations
RAND Corporation
The Retirement Advantage, Inc. Acquires 401(k) Administrators
The Retirement Advantage, Inc.
(Click to post your press release)
Employee Benefits Jobs
Director of Strategy Analysis & Developmentfor Prudential Financial
in CT
Regional Sales Director - Michigan, Ohio, Indiana Territory
for DailyAccess Corporation
in IN, MI, OH
(Click to post your job opening | View all jobs |
RSS feed of all jobs )
EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com (Sponsor)
(Click on banner to learn more.)
| Where the best employers find the best candidates! |
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
Subscribe to the BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter, Too!
Sign-up form is at https://benefitslink.com/newsletter (free).
This email has been published by:
BenefitsLink.com, Inc.
1298 Minnesota Avenue, Suite H
Winter Park FL 32789
(407) 644-4146
Fax: (407) 644-2151
David Rhett Baker, J.D., Editor
Copyright 2009 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.; except that you can forward this email in full (including this boilerplate part) or otherwise reprint this email in full (including this boilerplate part) without obtaining our permission.
Anyone can receive these emails; just have them sign up at this web page: https://benefitslink.com/newsletter/
Other useful links: