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Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter
December 15, 2009 
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CFOs love our budget-friendly benefit statements. And so will the rest of your employees.
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Health Reform Topics: Dependent Coverage, Expansion of Disclosure Requirements, and Limits to Insurers' Loss Ratios
Excerpt: "As the Senate proceeds with its debate on health reform, Health Reform Talk continues a series examining health reform provisions that will affect employer-sponsored health plans and would take effect soon after enactment of any legislation." (Wolters Kluwer)
'Risk Sharing' Concept As Applied to Pharma.ceuticals
Excerpt: "The concept of 'risk sharing' is a new idea that was in many cases discarded during the managed care backlash. But now that old idea is getting new attention among pharma.ceutical and biotech companies as part of the larger effort to control healthcare costs. This article from the Biotechnology Healthcare Journal examines the new risk sharing and includes perspective from Milliman principals Bruce Pyenson and Kate Fitch." (Milliman)
Some EAPs Find That Online Therapy Clicks With Clients
Excerpt: "Internet-based counseling and behavioral health services are finding their way into company employee assistance programs alongside in-person and telephone-based therapies. The services use a variety of Internet-related platforms, including e-mail, instant messaging, live chat and, in some cases, Skype video calls or other Internet-based videoconferencing." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
IRS's 2010 Version of Publication 15-B: Employer's Tax Guide to Fringe Benefits
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: Publication 15-B, which is a supplement to IRS Publication 15 (more commonly known as Circular E), can be a useful reference for employers on the employment tax treatment of fringe benefits. But it is important to remember that this publication doesn't provide full coverage of the many rules that apply to the benefits it summarizes." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)
[Opinion]
Why Health Reform Legislation Cannot Lay Out a 'Master Plan'
Excerpt: "In the most recent New Yorker (December 14), Dr. Atul Gawande faces down the critics. In seemingly effortless prose, he cuts to the heart of the matter: the uncertainty that haunts any human endeavor that aims at changing the culture. While most pundits who talk about health care reform focus on the day-to-day political debate, this Boston surgeon steps back and puts health care reform in a larger context: human history." (The Century Foundation)
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Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
[Guidance Overview]2010 Reporting & Disclosure Calendar for Benefit Plans
29 pages. Excerpt: "This [Calendar] posted in December 2009, is intended to indicate general reporting and disclosure requirements applicable to employee pension and welfare benefit plans on an annual basis. It does not cover all special requirements that may apply in a particular year due to an extraordinary event (e.g., plan termination or benefit cutbacks) or that may apply only to a particular class of participants (e.g., highly compensated employees or nonresident aliens)." (The Segal Group, Inc.)
[Guidance Overview]
IRS Steps Up Audits of Executive Compensation Programs
Excerpt: "The IRS has amplified enforcement initiatives with regard to executive compensation. In this article we look at the increased attention on Code section 409A, as well as providing an overview on efforts to regulate FICA taxes on nonqualified deferred compensation." (J.P. Morgan Compensation and Benefit Strategies)
'Fat Cat Compensation:' Rewarding Failure
Excerpt: "The CEOs of 10 Wall Street firms that either failed or received taxpayer bailouts were paid an average of $28.9 million per year in the years leading up to the Wall Street meltdown, according to a Public Citizen report. Their average pay this decade, calculated through 2007, equaled 575 times the median American family's 2007 income." (Public Citizen)
Potentially Significant Change Announced by IRS for Year-End Deduction of Annual Bonus Payments
Excerpt: "Just two weeks ago, I blogged on the question of whether your company is deducting its annual bonuses one year too early, since many bonus plans provide that bonuses attributable to Year 1 will be paid early in Year 2, but only to participants who are employed on the date of payment, and this provision could create a deduction timing trap for the unwary. Last week, the IRS released a Chief Counsel Advice Memorandum that seems to tighten the deduction of annual bonus rules further." (Michael Melbinger via Winston & Strawn LLP)
TARP Trends in Executive Compensation
Excerpt: "This article outlines restrictions that apply to financial institutions participating in TARP." (Haynes and Boone LLP)
Pension Fund Sues Goldman over C-Suite Bonuses
Excerpt: "A union pension fund has sued Goldman Sachs, alleging its 2009 bonus payouts are based on taxpayer bailout money the financial services firm received and not the executives' performance." (PLANSPONSOR.com)
Ford to Bring Back Raises and Benefits for Some Workers
Excerpt: "Ford Motor Co. will restore some benefits U.S. salaried employees lost last year and resume merit raises -- the latest sign that its recovery is gaining traction. 'Our plan is working,' Ford Americas President Mark Fields said in a note to white-collar workers . . . ." (The Detroit News)
2009-2010 Regulatory Plans for Employee Benefits Are Published (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "In recent days, the principal regulators of U.S. employee benefits have published their guidance plans for the coming months. The U.S. Treasury and Internal Revenue Service released their joint 2009-2010 Priority Guidance Plan, often informally referred to as the IRS Business Plan. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued its Fall 2009 Semi-Annual Regulatory Agenda." (Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP)
Women Reshape Union Agenda
Excerpt: "Women make up nearly half of the union membership and that is having an impact on issues that come up at the bargaining table. There's more of an emphasis on work/life issues, paid sick leave and paternity leave, experts say." (Human Resource Executive Online)
2009 Workplace Holiday Fetes Less Festive, According to Survey
Excerpt: "A new employer survey finds the down economy has taken a major bite out of traditional year-end holiday workplace activities. BNA reports that its Holiday Practices Survey finds a significant dropoff in corporate sponsorship of holiday parties from 81% in 2008 to 67% in the latest poll. The proportion of employers backing a company-wide holiday party has also plunged from 64% in 2008 to 50% in 2009." (PLANSPONSOR.com)
Benefits for Departing Employees Impact Those Who Remain
Excerpt: "Severance pay, outplacement support and other continuing benefits for terminated employees impact the morale of remaining employees, even affecting the company's brand and public image, according to new research on separation benefits. The study of more than 1,200 business leaders from 45 countries, conducted by DBM, a global outplacement firm, and the Human Capital Institute, a research group, reveals that most organizations (85%) provide severance to at least some of their employees, with almost half (45%) offering severance to all of their employees, including part-timers." (Employee Benefit Adviser; free registration required)
A Brief Overview of Employee Ownership in the U.S.
NCEO Executive Director Corey Rosen discusses the main approaches to employee ownership in the U.S. (ESOPs, stock options, etc.); employee ownership and corporate performance; and current estimates of the extent of broad-based employee ownership in the U.S. (National Center for Employee Ownership)
Press Releases
Council Warns: Senate Health Care Bill Must be Improved Now or Employers Will OpposeAmerican Benefits Council
Milliman Analysis Shows First Improvement in Pension Funding Status in Six Months
Milliman USA
Optimizing Corporate Culture is Critical to the Success of Wellness Programs
The Vitality Group
AFSCME Releases Best Practices Guide for Pension Systems
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
Corporations, Universities and State Governments Deploy Thomson Reuters Solution to Improve Employees' Benefit Selection Process
Thomson Reuters
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