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Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter
December 11, 2009 
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DataPath Reaches Out to Banks in Need of HSA Services with HSAToday®
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[Guidance Overview]
Year End Employment Terminations and the COBRA Premium Subsidy
Excerpt: "Based on the [IRS guidance reviewed here], employers will want to communicate carefully with employees being terminated in December about the availability of the federal COBRA premium subsidy, if it is not extended. Careless communications with employees could arguably promise a subsidy for terminated employees that the government will not reimburse. Employers will also want to review this issue with their COBRA administrators. Finally, employers should monitor the status of the bills that have been introduced to extend the subsidy." (Dorsey & Whitney LLP)
[Guidance Overview]
Towers Perrin Monthly Health & Welfare Regulatory Round-Up, November 2009 (PDF)
Towers Perrin Monthly Health & Welfare Regulatory Round-Up, November 20094 pages. Excerpt: "The Monthly Regulatory Round-Up is a high-level summary of legal and regulatory developments that occurred during July 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)
Premium and Cost-Sharing Subsidies under Health Reform: Implications for Coverage, Costs, and Affordability
Excerpt: "Using the Urban Institute's Health Insurance Policy Simulation Model (HIPSM), we estimate coverage, costs, and household financial burdens under legislation proposed by the Senate Finance Committee and under two alternative subsidy schedules: those specified in the Senate Leadership bill, and those specified in H.R. 3962, passed by the House of Representatives. This analysis shows that health care cost burdens can be substantial for those with modest incomes and significant health care needs. It shows how enhanced premium and cost-sharing subsidies could reduce burdens, while increasing overall coverage and government costs." (Urban Institute)
Health and Welfare Plans: 2009 Year-End Review (PDF)
6 pages. Excerpt: "The following summary provides a general overview of new guidance and legislation applicable to health and welfare plans. This summary . . . is intended to provide a reminder of the significant issues facing these plans." (Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP)
House Bill Prohibits Reduction of Retiree Health Benefits
Excerpt: "Under the House version of the health care reform bill, group health plans will be prohibited from reducing benefits for retirees and their dependents unless benefits are reduced by the same amount for active employees. A reduction of benefits occurs if retirees are asked to pay a greater percentage of the premium, or if the actuarial value of the plan is reduced. In its current form, the rule in the House bill will go into effect on the date the bill is enacted into law." (Dorsey & Whitney LLP)
Mini-Medicare Proposal Could Solve Municipal Retiree Benefits Problems As Police, Fire and Teachers Could Use Medicare at 55, Cutting Localities' Costs
Excerpt: "A group of Democrats in the Senate are working on a health-care reform compromise that contains a feature of keen interest to state and local governments -- expanded access to Medicare benefits for American retirees and unemployed workers over age 55. This proposal gained renewed interest as a trade-off or alternative for the so-called public option which has become a possible deal-breaker." (Governing.com)
Loophole in Senate Bill Would Let Insurers Cap Payments for Costly Diseases
Excerpt: "The Associated Press: 'A loophole in the Senate health care bill would let insurers place annual dollar limits on medical care for people struggling with costly illnesses such as cancer, prompting a rebuke from patient advocates.' An earlier version of the bill in a Senate committee forbid the practice, but a tweak would allow limits so long as they aren't 'unreasonable' (Alonso-Zaldivar, 12/11)." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Senators Seek to Force Congress, Political Appointees Out of Federal Employees Health Benefits Program
Excerpt: "Four Republican senators have joined forces to push a proposal that would require high-level federal officials, including members of Congress and Obama administration political appointees, to leave the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program and join a new public option health system if Congress creates one. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Richard Burr of North Carolina and David Vitter of Louisiana introduced the measure Monday as an amendment to health care legislation pending in the Senate. 'Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all federal officers shall be enrolled in the community health insurance option when established,' the amendment states. Federal officers are defined in the provision as the president, vice president, political appointees, members of Congress and congressional staffers." (GovernmentExecutive.com)
Rules for Flexible Spending Accounts Loosen Up
Excerpt: "In the last few years, many employers have extended the use-it-or-lose-it provisions up until March 15 of the following year. The grace period option was made possible by an Internal Revenue Service rule change four years ago that allowed employers to offer up to a 14- and a half-month frame for account usage. However, many employers are still sticking with the Dec. 31 deadline, which means you only have a few weeks instead of a couple months to figure out how to best spend any unused dollars. 'Participants should really be encouraged to check with their employer or employee benefits plan to see what the specific rules are for their plans,' said Jody Dietel, chief compliance officer for WageWorks Inc., a San Mateo-based provider of employee benefits." (Contra Costa Times via The Oakland Tribune)
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THE DEFINED CONTRIBUTION PLANS SUMMIT
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Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
[Official Guidance]Text of IRS Notice 2009-92: Compliance with TARP Advisory Opinion Will Not Cause Plan to Fail 409A Requirements (PDF)
16 pages. Notice 2009-92 provides that a delay or acceleration of the payment of nonqualified deferred compensation in order to comply with an advisory opinion issued by the Office of the Special Master for TARP Executive Compensation, pursuant to the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 and regulations thereunder, including conditioning payment on satisfaction of a requirement related to the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), such as repayment of the financial assistance granted under TARP, will not cause the plan to fail to meet the requirements of Internal Revenue Code section 409A. The notice is effective for arrangements in opinions issued after September 30, 2009. (Internal Revenue Service)
[Guidance Overview]
Final Regulations for Employee Stock Purchase Plans
Excerpt: "Employers that offer their employees an opportunity to purchase company stock under an employee stock purchase plan ('ESPP') (as defined in Section 423 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the 'Code')) should review their ESPPs for compliance with newly released final regulations to ensure that shares issued under the plan remain eligible for favorable tax treatment and to consider the options available for new offerings under the ESPP." (Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP)
[Guidance Overview]
Towers Perrin Monthly Regulatory Round-Up on Executive Compensation, November 2009 (PDF)
Towers Perrin Monthly Regulatory Round-Up on Executive Compensation, November 2009 5 pages. Excerpt: "The Monthly Regulatory Round-Up is a high-level summary of legal and regulatory developments that occurred during July 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)
SEC to Consider Finalizing Changes to Executive Compensation Disclosure Rules Next Wednesday
Excerpt: "In case you have not already heard, the SEC announced . . . [http://www.sec.gov/news/openmeetings/2009/ssamtg121609.htm.] that it will consider next Wednesday, November 16, whether to adopt amendments to rules and forms under the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940 to enhance the disclosures that registrants are required to make about compensation and other corporate governance matters." (Michael Melbinger via Winston & Strawn LLP)
Summary of Payroll Tax Rates and Limits for 2010 (PDF)
2 pages. (Lindquist LLP)
Taking Care of Business Starts with Taking Care of Employees
Excerpt: "Commentary: Bob Nelson, keynote speaker for the Workforce Management online conference Road to Recovery: HR Strategies for Post-Recession Success, discusses some simple perks that organizations can give employees to sustain engagement during the downturn." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
Webcasts and Conferences
The Defined Contribution Plans Summitin New York on February 24, 2010
presented by IQPC
Value-Based Purchasing: An Approach to Improving Health Care
in Maryland on January 7, 2010
presented by Worldwide Employee Benefits Network (WEB) - Baltimore Chapter
(Click to post your webcast or conference)
Press Releases
NTSAA Combines Operations with ASPPAASPPA (American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries)
U.S. Labor Department Obtains Appointment of Independent Fiduciary for Abandoned 401(k) Plan of Defunct Bennington, Vt., Company
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
The Principal Announces New TPA Expense Allowance Program
Principal Financial Group
ING Expands Multicultural Sales Efforts in the U.S. -- Expands Team and Bolsters Efforts in Retirement Services Business
ING Retirement Services
(Click to post your press release)
Newly Posted Employee Benefits Jobs
Healthcare Data Analyst/Programmerfor HEREIU Welfare Fund
in NJ
401K ESOP Manager
for Daymon Worldwide
in CT
Senior Business Development & Sales – Employee Benefits Plans
for Mahoney&Associates
in FL
Benefits Consultant I/II
for EBS-RMSCO, Inc.
in NY
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