|
Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter
December 28, 2009 
|
Click to view employee benefits jobs:
|
|
Apply Now For Graduate Employee Benefits eClasses
|
[Official Guidance]
DOL Notice on the Availability of the Year 2009 Form M-1 with Electronic Filing Option (PDF)
Excerpt: "This document announces the availability of the Year 2009 Form M-1, Annual Report for Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements and Certain Entities Claiming Exception. It is substantively identical to the 2008 Form M-1. The Form M-1 may again be filed electronically over the Internet. . . . Copies of the Form M-1 are available on the Internet at ." (Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor)
[Guidance Overview]
Legal Issues Regarding Employee Leave in an H1N1 Pandemic (PDF)
Excerpt: "Employers hit by an H1N1 pandemic could face complex or novel legal issues as employees who contract the illness -- or those who seek to avoid it -- stay home from work. Attorneys . . . analyze questions presented by state and federal laws, including workers' compensation statutes and the Family and Medical Leave Act.[Reproduced by McDermott Will & Emery with permission from Workplace Law Report, 7 WLR 1670, 12/18/2009. Copyright 2009 by The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (800-372-1033) http://www.bna.com]" (The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. via McDermott Will & Emery)
[Guidance Overview]
COBRA Premium Subsidy Extended from Nine to Fifteen Months; Eligibility Period Extended Through End of February
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: The DOL has informally stated that it intends to issue a new set of model notices incorporating information about the COBRA subsidy extension. We understand that certain employers, in order to minimize the confusion over the transition period rules, are considering providing quick, informal communications for assistance eligible individuals who are still within their premium grace periods to alert them to the extension and their right to continue to pay a reduced COBRA premium going forward. Any plan for such communications should be discussed with experienced counsel." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)
[Guidance Overview]
IRS Issues 2009 Version of Publication 503: Child and Dependent Care Expenses
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: Because Pub. 503 is written primarily to help taxpayers determine whether expenses qualify for the DCTC, use caution if consulting it as a guide for determining what expenses are reimbursable under a DCAP. For example, the DCTC and DCAPs have different rules about the maximum amount of expenses that can be taken into account and about the timing of expenses." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)
Businesses to Push for Modifications to Senate Health Bill
Excerpt: "The Senate bill, which passed 60-39 on Christmas Eve with no Republican backing, has drawn tentative support from some large corporations and industry groups, despite containing a range of provisions that they hope to change. By contrast, businesses of all sizes oppose the House bill, which contains more-stringent requirements on employers to offer health coverage to employees." (The Wall Street Journal)
Cincinnati, Ohio, Retirees Go to Court Over Retiree Health Care
Excerpt: "A new federal lawsuit claims that the city of Cincinnati violated the civil rights of its former employees by changing their retiree health care benefits." (PLANSPONSOR.com)
How Health Insurance Premiums Are Eating Up Middle-Class Incomes: State Health Insurance Premium Trends and the Potential of National Reform
Excerpt: "The rapid rise in health insurance premiums has severely strained U.S. families and employers in recent years. This analysis of federal data finds that if premiums for employer-sponsored insurance grow in each state at the projected national rate of increase, then the average premium for family coverage would rise from $12,298 (the 2008 average) to $23,842 by 2020 -- a 94 percent increase." (The Commonwealth Fund)
What You Need to Know About Health Care Reform, Last Updated December 24, 2009
Excerpt: "How will the proposed reform affect employers, employees, providers, and health plans? Hewitt provides you with the latest information on how this historical health reform legislation is unfolding in the U.S." (Hewitt Associates)
Health Care Changes Wouldn't Have Big Effect for Many Workers
Excerpt: "Now that the Senate has caught up with the House by passing a sweeping health care bill, lawmakers are on the verge of extending coverage to the tens of millions of Americans who have no health insurance. But what about the roughly 160 million workers and their dependents who already have health insurance through an employer? For many people, the result of the long, angry health care debate in Washington may be little more than more of the same." (The New York Times; free registration required)
[Opinion]
Like Most Americans Who Have Health Insurance (and Most Do), I'm Reasonably Happy with What I Already Have
Excerpt: "And like many Americans, I'm willing to take the President at his word from the campaign trail -- that if you like the insurance you have, you'll get to keep it. But as I study the text in the two bills that will have to be merged to create legislation to fulfill that promise -- well, I have to tell you, I'm not sure how that's going to happen." (PLANSPONSOR.com)
|
EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com is where the best employers find the best candidates!
|
Executive Compensation; Benefits in General
[Guidance Overview]Governance and Compliance Advisory Update: December 2009
Excerpt: "November saw significant regulatory activity by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Department of Labor . . . ." (Towers Perrin)
[Guidance Overview]
IRS Final Regulations Governing Options Granted Under Employee Stock Purchase Plans (PDF)
Excerpt: "The final regulations are effective as of November 17, 2009, and will apply to any options granted under an ESPP on or after January 1, 2010. Employers may apply these rules retroactively to options granted prior to January 1, 2010." (Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP)
2009 Guide to Bold New Ideas for Making Work Work (PDF)
180 pages. Excerpt: "[The organizations profiled in this Guide are] the leading lights in creating workplaces that fit the needs of the 21st century workforce and the challenges of a changing economy. These employers are changing the norms of the workplace by thinking anew about how, when and where work gets done and about how to structure work to better meet the needs of employees, and of their families and communities, while also achieving organizational success." (Families and Work Institute)
Webcasts and Conferences
"All You Need to Know About Form 1099-R" Web SeminarNationwide on January 20, 2010
presented by SunGard Relius
(Click to post your webcast or conference)
Press Releases
PBGC Protects Pensions At PTC Alliance Corp.Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)
US Labor Department Publishes 2009 Form M-1 for Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
(Click to post your press release)
Newly Posted Employee Benefits Jobs
Plan Administrator for Retirement Plan & ERISA Specialistsfor Dana Consulting Group, Ltd.
in IL
(Click to post your job on EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com | View all jobs |
RSS feed of all jobs )
Fill your employee benefits job openings fast!
Click to post your job on EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com
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
Jeanette Hull, News Editor
jeanette.hull@benefitslink.com
David Rhett Baker, J.D., Editor and Publisher
david.baker@benefitslink.com
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: