Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter |
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| September 29, 2009 \ Compliance \ Costs \ Administration \ Design \ Policy | ||
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[Guidance Overview]
Mental Health Parity: Is Your Health Plan Ready?
Excerpt: "A number of legislative and regulatory changes affecting group health plans recently have or soon will become effective in the 15 months between October 1, 2008, and January 1, 2010 [including]: * The COBRA subsidy; * Michelle's Law; * Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act; * Special enrollment rights for persons losing CHIP or Medicare coverage or obtaining premium assistance from a state under a CHIP or Medicare program; * HIPAA privacy and security changes, including a breach notification requirement; * Final cafeteria plan regulations; and * Changes in state health insurance laws, such as the expansion of the available continuation coverage period from 18 to 36 months (New York) and modifications to the Massachusetts Health Care Reform Act. [In addition, the] Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 . . . becomes effective for plan years beginning after October 3, 2009 (a special rule applies to collectively bargained plans). Thus, the effective date is January 1, 2010, for calendar year plans." (Jackson Lewis)
[Guidance Overview]
District Court Within The Ninth Circuit Holds That Priority Language Overrides the Make-Whole Rule
Excerpt: "A recurring issue for health plan subrogators is what language is sufficient to override the make whole rule. On the one hand, Circuits like the Fifth Circuit have held that no particular language is required to overcome the make whole rule. In the Fifth Circuit (and others like it), plan language simply providing for 100% recovery is sufficient. On the other hand, some Circuits like the Eleventh Circuit require that a health plan specifically disclaim the make whole rule by saying something to the effect that the plan can recover 100% of the medical expenses paid even if the member has not been made whole." (Clear Direction)
Towers Perrin U.S. Legislative Tracking Chart -- Health and Welfare (PDF)
20 pages; updated September 24, 2009. (Towers Perrin)
Where ERISA And Workers' Compensation Claims Intersect -- An Insider's Guide
Excerpt: "In many cases employer self-funded group health plans are paying claims that should be paid by the workers' compensation insurance they have purchased (in other words, the employer is self-insured on the health plan, but has insurance coverage on the comp claim). And then there are the cases where the comp claim is on a dependent, such that the employer's group health plan is paying expenses incurred by a non-employee injured on some other employer's work site. Here's an insider's look into what is going on in this cost-shifting war." (Health Plan Law blog)
Some Question Fairness of Older Persons Being Required to Pay More for Health Insurance
The AARP supports provisions in the healthcare reform legislation that would prohibit such premium price differentials. (AP via New York Times; free registration required)
In Some States, a Push to Outlaw Proposed Mandate on Purchase of Health Insurance
Excerpt: "In more than a dozen statehouses across the country, a small but growing group of lawmakers is pressing for state constitutional amendments that would outlaw a crucial element of the health care plans under discussion in Washington: the requirement that nearly everyone buy insurance or pay a penalty." (New York Times; free registration required)
In Rationing Health Care, More Not Always Better, Experts Say
Excerpt: "Medical professionals say the fundamental problem in the nation's health-care system is the widespread misuse and overuse of tests, treatments and drugs that drive up prices, have little value to patients, and can pose serious risks. The question, they say, is not whether there will be rationing, but rather what will be rationed, and when and how. " (Washington Post; free registration required)
A New Measure of EAP Success
Excerpt: "At the very core of any EAP is the understanding that employees with behavioral health and emotional well-being issues are as likely to struggle in their jobs as well as in their homes. Contemporary EAPs, however, have focused on being in the counseling business rather than in the business of improving workplace productivity using behavioral health expertise." (Society for Human Resource Management)
Reforming Health Care: The Paradoxes of Cost
Excerpt: "[T]he rhetoric of unspecified cost reduction is used to avoid the painful choices needed to prune health care outlays, choices which inevitably involve agonizing denials of medical services in a world of finite resources. Medical costs cannot be controlled without denying something to somebody. Yet, paradoxically the term 'cost' is used in contemporary political discourse to avoid the difficult choices involved in such denials." (Prof. Edward Zelinsky via Social Science Research Network)
EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com (Advert.)
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Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
[Guidance Overview]Legal Alert: IRS Approves 'Longevity' Annuity (PDF)
Excerpt: "In Private Letter Ruling 200939018 (June 18, 2009), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) ruled favorably on an annuity product providing benefits only in the event the annuitant lives to a specified date." (Sutherland)
[Guidance Overview]
SEC Votes to Change Proxy Disclosure Rules
Excerpt: "The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has voted unanimously to propose several important changes to the proxy disclosure rules that could take effect for the 2010 proxy season. The proposal calls for new disclosures about risk and more information about directors and compensation consultants. " (Watson Wyatt)
[Guidance Overview]
FASB Launches New Accounting Standards Codification All Preexisting Non-SEC Accounting Standards Are Superseded (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "The purpose of this letter is to alert compensation professionals to a significant development in the reorganization of U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Beginning with interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009, all financial statements will make reference to the Financial Accounting Standards Board's (FASB) new Accounting Standards Codification (ASC or Codification) rather than previously existing accounting standards such as FASB Statement No. 123R. The reorganization does not create new accounting standards or guidance, but the structure of the Codification is significantly different than that of previous accounting standards. This letter provides a brief overview of the Codification and identifies citations that are relevant to executive compensation." (Frederick W. Cook & Co., Inc.)
Towers Perrin U.S. Legislative Tracking Chart -- Retirement and Executive Compensation (PDF)
11 pages; updated September 24, 2009. (Towers Perrin)
Local Area Employee Benefits Estimates for 15 Metropolitan Areas
Excerpt: "This article introduces a set of experimental benefit incidence measures for civilian workers in several large metropolitan areas; the data have a reference period of December 2008. These estimates include worker access to three of the main types of employee benefits for which the NCS publishes estimates: retirement benefits, medical care benefits, and life insurance benefits. Because of the relatively small sample sizes for the metropolitan areas, this article reports only access statistics. Access, as defined by the NCS, is having the benefit available for use." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Xerox to Buy Parent of Buck Consultants for $6.4 Billion
Excerpt: "Xerox Corp. said Monday that it plans to acquire Affiliated Computer Services Inc., the parent company of Buck Consultants L.L.C., in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at $6.4 billion." (Business Insurance)
Issue Brief on Understanding Assumptions Used to Evaluate Social Security's Financial Condition (PDF)
This issue brief describes the major assumptions used in projections of Social Security's financial condition and how variations in the assumptions affect the results. (American Academy of Actuaries)
Executive Compensation in ESOP Companies
The NCEO presents excerpts from the second edition of its book Executive Compensation in ESOP Companies, which features the results of a 2009 survey of companies with employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) and compares them to non-ESOP companies. (National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO))
Webcasts and Conferences
Total Rewards Webinar: The Key To Successful Benefits CommunicationNationwide on October 1, 2009
presented by Benefit Software Inc.
Webinar: Low Cost Total Rewards Statements Prepared on Your Own PC
Nationwide on October 14, 2009
presented by Benefit Software Inc.
Webinar: Taking Control of Benefits Administration Costs for New Hires, Qualifying Events, and Open Enrollment
Nationwide on October 1, 2009
presented by Benefit Software Inc.
(Click to post your webcast or conference)
Press Releases
PSCA Releases 52nd Annual Survey of Profit Sharing and 401k PlansProfit Sharing/401(k) Council of America (PSCA)
The Pension Rights Center Mourns the Death of Lisle Carter
Pension Rights Center
Fidelity Study Finds Investors Lack Basic Understanding Of Roth Ira Benefits, As Roth Ira 2010 Conversion Opportunity Nears
Fidelity Investments
MassMutual Earns #1 Rating from Advisors for “Helping Participants Reach Their Retirement Goals”
MassMutual
CEFEX Certifies Montgomery Retirement Plan Advisors
Centre for Fiduciary Excellence (CEFEX)
BrightScope Launches Advisor Central to Provide 401k Plan Advisors and Consultants Tools to Identify and Service Plans
BrightScope
Sutherland Partner Appointed Benefits Tax Counsel with the Treasury Department
Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP
Impact Technologies’ New Roth IRA Conversion Analysis Software Simplifies the Process for Financial Service Professionals and Clients
Impact Technologies Group, Inc.
(Click to post your press release)
Employee Benefits Jobs
Client Service Manager (Benefits Payment Group)for JPMorgan
in LOCATION OTHER THAN U.S., OH
Director, Marketing Research & Analysis
for Prudential Financial
in CT
(Click to post your job opening | View all jobs |
RSS feed of all jobs )
EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com (Sponsor)
(Click on banner to learn more.)
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Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
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