[Official Guidance]
Connecticut Expands COBRA to Maximum 30 Months for State Insured Group Health Plans
Excerpt: "The legislation is effective and applies only to COBRA beneficiaries covered under a Connecticut-regulated health insurance policy on May 5, 2010, or who become eligible for COBRA under a Connecticut-regulated insurance policy after that date."
(Jackson Lewis)

[Guidance Overview]
The Fraud and Abuse Provisions of the Health Care Reform Act
Excerpt: "The recently enacted Affordable Care Act includes . . . fraud-and-abuse provisions affecting health care providers, including amendments to the False Claims Act (FCA), changes to the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS), and new requirements related to the return of overpaymemts, as well as additional funding and new enforcement powers to fight fraud and abuse. Many of these changes are effective immediately. The developments that are most significant for health care providers are [covered in the target page]."
(Proskauer Rose LLP)

If Massachusetts is a Bellwether, Insurers May Soon Cut Payments
Excerpt: "[Some insurers who were denied the ability to raise premiums] are telling hospitals and physicians that they will freeze or slash payments in the upcoming round of contract negotiations. In essence, the insurers are shifting their losses to hospitals and physicians."
(HCPro)

Healthcare Bill Surprise: 1099 Nightmare for Small Employers
Excerpt: "The provision, inserted by Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee to help offset the cost of the bill, requires companies to report to the IRS payments of more than $600 a year to any vendor."
(Business Week)

HHS Says Government Will Keep 'Close Watch' on Health Insurance Premiums
Excerpt: "While states will still regulate rates that insurers charge consumers, [U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen] Sebelius said she reminded the executives that the new law provides her department with tools to limit rate hikes . . . ."
(Reuters)

Government Urges Employers to Expand Health Plan Coverage for Employees' Children
Excerpt: "[M]ore than 65 insurers have already agreed to allow young adults to stay on their parents' policies before the insurers are required to do so . . . . Relatively few employers, however, have modified their health plans to make this option available . . . . "
(New York Times; free registration required)

COBRA Assistance: A Lifeline for America's Unemployed (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "Without the subsidy, COBRA coverage would consume 83.4 percent of an American family's monthly unemployment check, on average. Most unemployed families couldn't afford this cost and still pay for shelter, food, and clothing."
(Families USA)

[Guidance Overview]
Supreme Court Changes Rules for Attorneys' Fees Awards Under ERISA; Increase in Fee Petitions Expected
Excerpt: "The Supreme Court's decision in Hardt may have inadvertently created more issues than it resolved. Importantly, the Supreme Court did not decide the question of whether a remand order to a plan administrator for further consideration qualifies, without more, as 'some success on the merits' that entitles a claimant to fees under ERISA Section 502(g)(1)."
(McDermott Will & Emery)

The Employee Ownership 100: America's Largest Majority Employee-Owned Companies
The NCEO has just released the latest version of the Employee Ownership 100, a list of the largest majority employee-owned companies in the U.S. To be on the list, companies must have at least 50% of their stock owned by an ESOP, a stock purchase plan in which most full-time employees can participate, a profit sharing plan or other trust, or some combination of such plans.
(National Center for Employee Ownership)

1099R – 945 Filing for 2010
Nationwide on November 17, 2010
presented by National Institute of Pension Administrators

Advanced 401(a)(4) Nondiscrimination Testing
Nationwide on August 19, 2010
presented by National Institute of Pension Administrators

Beyond Traditional Communications
Nationwide on August 25, 2010
presented by National Institute of Pension Administrators

Compensation
Nationwide on December 16, 2010
presented by National Institute of Pension Administrators

EBIA's 12th Annual Advanced Cafeteria Plans Conference 2010
in Washington on July 14, 2010
presented by EBIA / Thomson Reuters

End of Year Regulatory Update
Nationwide on December 14, 2010
presented by National Institute of Pension Administrators

M&A Due Diligence for ERISA Attorneys: A Case Study
in New York on June 4, 2010
presented by ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits

Medicaid and CHIP Programs; Meeting of the CHIP Working Group
in District of Columbia on June 14, 2010
presented by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)

Plan Document Issues
Nationwide on October 28, 2010
presented by National Institute of Pension Administrators

Service Agreements
Nationwide on September 15, 2010
presented by National Institute of Pension Administrators

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Recent Legislation Offers Special Tax Incentives for Small Businesses to Provide Health Care, Hire New Workers
Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

Ascensus Wins $50 Million 401k Plan
Ascensus

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Senior Client Employee Benefits Advisor
for Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
in DC, NY, PA

Benefit Specialist
for Swerdlin & Company
in GA

Senior Consultant (Strategic Client Relationship Manager) for Eastern U.S.
for Mahoney & Associates
in FL

Senior Benefits Analyst
for Tupperware Brands Corporation
in FL

Fund Administrator
for The Segal Company on behalf of a client
in KY

Client Service Manager
for Campbells Administration Inc
in CA

DB/DC Pension Analyst
for Boyce & Associates, Inc.
in AZ

Consultant
for Boyce & Associates, Inc.
in AZ

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