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Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter

April 27, 2010

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[Official Guidance]
Text of IRS Notice 2010-38 Implementing Tax-Free Treatment of Health Plan Coverage for Participants' Children Under Age 27 (PDF)
12 pages. Excerpt from IRS press release: '[E]mployers with cafeteria plans may permit employees to immediately make pre-tax salary reduction contributions to provide coverage for children under age 27, even if the cafeteria plan has not yet been amended to cover these individuals. Plan sponsors then have until the end of 2010 to amend their cafeteria plan language to incorporate this change.' Also announces IRS' intent to amend regulations under section 106 (exclusion from income tax for reimbursements to plan participants for health expenses) to match the new statutory rules in section 105 (exclusion from income tax for health plan coverage of employees, dependents and children under age 27).
(Internal Revenue Service)

[Guidance Overview]
What's Next for Health Care Fraud Investigations under Health Care Reform?
Excerpt: "[Partner Daniel R. Margolis and health care senior associate Douglas Grimm] discuss modifications to the Anti-Kickback Statute under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the new trends in prosecution of such cases and the implications of the 2009 Physician Payments Sunshine Act."
(Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP)

[Guidance Overview]
District Court Orders Personal Injury Plaintiff to Reimburse ERISA Plan
Excerpt: "This is a useful ERISA health plan subrogation case that touches on all the typical issues that arise in the reimbursement context. This case appears in the new cases forum on erisaboard.com and may be accessed there. Georgia has a robust consumer protection statute that applies in health plan subrogation cases. In this instance, however, the plan was self-funded and the statute did not apply."
(Roy Harmon via Health Plan Law)

Employee Well-Being: Taking Engagement and Performance to the Next Level (PDF)
7 pages. Excerpt: "To what extent do your current workplace practices either support or hinder strong feelings of well-being among your workforce? Our research shows that certain aspects of culture have the highest impact on employee well-being. These include the physical environment, leadership effectiveness and working relationships, as well as people's sense of competency, their aspirations and need for personal growth, and their views about access to, and fairness of, performance-based rewards."
(Towers Watson)

Health Reform Implementation and Communications Toolkit
Excerpt: "The National Business Group on Health developed the Health Reform (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) Implementation and Communications Toolkit to assist our members with understanding the key employer provisions, complying with the regulatory implementation and communicating with employees, retirees and senior executives."
(National Business Group on Health)

What Does Health Care Reform Mean to Employers?
Excerpt: "Your plan will qualify as 'grandfathered' if it was in existence on March 23, 2010, with respect to individuals enrolled on that date. Family members and new employees who enroll after March 23, 2010, will also be covered if they would have been eligible to participate under the terms of the plan at the time. Unfortunately, the new laws are unclear as to what happens to employees who were employed on March 23, 2010, but either chose not to enroll, were subject to waiting periods, or were covered under a different plan."
(McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP)

An Overview of National Health Care Reform (PDF)
55 slides. Topics Included: the timing of the law's various components; the law's effect on employers, employer-sponsored group health plans, wellness plans and individuals; the law's creation of Health Insurance Exchanges and Cooperatives; and, the law's revenue-raising provisions.
(K&L Gates LLP)

Employers Begin Offering Eldercare As a Benefit
Excerpt: "The MetLife report notes that 20% of employers with more than 500 workers offer eldercare referral services, 15% eldercare leave, 3% emergency eldercare, and 2% subsidized eldercare, while 1% paid for eldercare or had an on-site eldercare center."
(Employee Benefit Adviser; free registration required)

What Is a 'Grandfathered Plan' and What Does That Mean? What Changes Can Plans Make and Still Retain Grandfathered Status?
Excerpt: "Generally, grandfathered plans do not have to comply with most of the new provisions under the insurance market reform rules, including the requirement to offer preventive health without cost sharing, establish external review procedures, offer choice of primary care providers, cover clinical trials, rating restrictions, and guaranteed access/renewability rules."
(PLANSPONSOR.com)




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Executive Compensation; Benefits in General

State Police and Firefighters Sue Over New Jersey Pension Changes Recently Enacted
Excerpt: "An Associated Press report said the union lawsuit claims the pension changes are unconstitutional and asks for a court order barring the changes from going into effect as scheduled on May 21 . . . ."
(PLANSPONSOR.com)


Webcasts and Conferences

2010 Benefits Boot Camp
in District of Columbia on May 13, 2010
presented by WEB (Worldwide Employee Benefits Network) Washington Chapter


Press Releases

Retirees Raise the ‘Red Flag’
National Retirees Legislative Network (NRLN)


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Newly Posted Employee Benefits Jobs

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