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January 11, 2011 Retirement Plans Newsletter  |  Advertise  |  Unsubscribe

[Guidance Overview]
DOL Provides Help and Seeks Feedback on Lactation Break Laws – Excerpt: "The DOL recognized some of the difficulties with the law's one-size-fits-all approach to the country's diverse workplaces. For example, the DOL acknowledged the challenge faced by employers with employees who do not work in a fixed place during a work shift, such as bus drivers, delivery workers, paramedics and police officers." (Constangy, Brooks & Smith, LLP)


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Insurance Mandates and Mammography – Excerpt: "Recently adopted federal health reform requires insurers to cover mammograms without cost-sharing. We examine similar state insurance mandates that vary substantially in the timing of adoption and in specifying the ages of women eligible for different mammography benefits." (National Bureau of Economic Research; paid subscription or individual purchase required to retrieve fulltext)

Banks Release Data on HSAs – Excerpt: "Research analyzing health saving accounts managed by three large banks shows that accounts with employer contributions had an average contribution of $1,058 for calendar year 2009." (Employee Benefit News; one-time free registration required)

U.S. Military Health Insurance Program Expanded to Cover Older Children – Excerpt: "President Barack Obama has signed into law legislation that allows adult children whose parents are in the Tricare health care program, which is available to members of the military and their dependents, to retain coverage up to age 26. That coverage extension is a key part of last year's health care reform law, but had not been applied to the Tricare program for members of the military until the president signed H.R. 6523 into law on Friday." (Business Insurance)

Health Savings Accounts and Health Reimbursement Arrangements: Assets, Account Balances, and Rollovers, 2006-2010 (PDF) – 28 pages. Excerpt: "In 2010, there was $7.7 bil.lion in health savings accounts [and health reimbursement arrangements], spread across 5.7 mil.lion accounts. This is up from 2006, when there were 1.2 mil.lion accounts with $835.4 mil.lion in assets, and 2009, when 5 mil.lion accounts held $7.1 bil.lion in assets." (Employee Benefit Research Institute)

Health Care Repeal Would Hurt Firms and Employees in Michigan, According to Report – Excerpt: "An estimated 126,300 Michigan small businesses would lose tax credits for health insurance, 32,800 young adults wouldn't be covered under their parents' plans and more than 2 mil.lion Michigan residents with pre-existing health conditions could face insurance rejection, according to report by PIRGIM, the Public Interest Research Group in Michigan, a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy group." (The Detroit News)

Workplace Flexibility and the Bottom Line – Excerpt: "[T]o some people, the whole notion of workplace flexibility -- paid maternity leaves, more flexible schedules, telecommuting -- is nice-sounding mumbo-jumbo that might makes employees feel good, but doesn't translate into dollars and cents on the bottom line." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)

Obesity Costs $300B a Year, According to Study – Excerpt: "[A] new study released Monday by the Society of Actuaries puts a dollar figure on obesity. The study finds that those who are overweight and obese in the U.S. and (Can.ada) cost $300 bil.lion a year, a result of increased need for medical care, as well as loss of economic productivity due to death and disability." (South Florida Business Journal via American City Business Journals, Inc.)

Recent Supreme Court Ruling Hints of Difficulty for Obama Insurance Law Foes – Excerpt: "The Supreme Court may not be so anxious to rein in Congress' broad power to pass regulatory laws under the Constitution's commerce clause, the key point of dispute in the pending court battles over President Obama's health insurance law." (Los Angeles Times)

Obama Administration Balances Health Insurance Benefits vs. Costs – Excerpt: "[G]overnment advisers this week are preparing to wade into one of the most contentious questions raised by the legislation: What benefits must insurers cover? The answer will affect tens of millions of Americans beginning in 2014: those who buy their own insurance and those who get coverage through small employers. While the law outlines 10 broad categories of coverage -- among them hospital and emergency services, prescription drugs, childbirth and pediatric care - it leaves the specifics to the government." (Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)

Health Information Exchanges That Work: Profiling Four Efforts – Excerpt: "There are about 200 health information exchanges in the United States today, and that number is growing fast, particularly now that the federal government is expected to make the ability to exchange patient data electronically part of the 'meaningful use' criteria that physicians and hospitals have to meet to get funds to help them deploy electronic health record systems." (UBM TechWeb)

Health Care Policy in the 112th Congress – Excerpt: "The healthcare reform law will not disappear overnight. For the near future, Republicans will be bound by the basic framework of the new healthcare reform law, and Republicans and Democrats alike will face numerous choices and challenges around healthcare reform implementation and other health policy issues." (Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP)

Lessons for GASB 45 Valuations: Questions Remain on OPEB, Particularly for Smaller Governments – Excerpt: "Three years after the adoption of GASB Statement 45, questions still remain about OPEB valuations and use of the Alternative Measurement Method, and there is some confusion about the key components of GASB 45. In this article, Joanne Fontana runs through some of the most common questions and sets forth several guidelines for managing GASB 45 liabilities and ensuring future compliance with the new requirements." (AccountingToday and SourceMedia, Inc.)

[Opinion]
No Evidence That New Health Care Law Has Increased Coverage and Brought Down Costs – Excerpt: "Sellers of small group policies report little change in demand for employee health insurance policies among small business owners. The sellers explain that compensation limits for employees make few small businesses eligible for the credit and that the low value of the credit does little to get business owners to provide employee health insurance." (Bloomberg L.P.)


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Benefits in General; Executive Compensation

[Guidance Overview]
Annual Reporting Requirements for Incentive Stock Options and Employee Stock – Excerpt: "For any exercise of an incentive stock option . . . or transfer of a share previously purchased pursuant to a tax-qualified employee stock purchase plan . . . where the purchase price paid for the share was (a) less than 100% of the fair market value on the date of grant or (b) not fixed or determinable on the date of grant, the Internal Revenue Code requires companies to . . . ." (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP)

[Guidance Overview]
8th Circuit Tosses ERISA Appeal Over Employees' Stock Losses – Excerpt: "The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a 2009 ruling against employees who alleged they lost money in medical-device maker Medtronic Inc.'s stock option plan because of corporate mismanagement." (Thomson Reuters)

[Guidance Overview]
The IRS 2010 Version of Form 2106 for Employees to Report Deductible Business Expenses – Excerpt: "The accountable plan rules allow employees to avoid tax on business expense reimbursements if three principal requirements are met: the expenses have a business connection, they are adequately substantiated, and any excess reimbursements are returned. If accountable plan reimbursements do not fully cover an employee's expenses, the employee may use Form 2106 to take a deduction for the unreimbursed expenses." (Thomson Reuters/EBIA)

Employees Want Interactive Communication and You Should Know How to Bring It to Them – Excerpt: "Today, most organizations have some sort of intranet used for business to employee (B2E) communication. B2E communication is a broad category ranging from bulletin boards and memos to e-mail and, in today's online world, intranets." (Employee Benefit Adviser; one-time free registration required)

Press Releases

US Labor Department Sues Defunct Portland, Maine, Company And Former Owner To Recover Misused Retirement Plan Assets U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

HSAs and HRAs See Growth Over Four-Year Span: Assets Have Also Increased While Account Balances Fell Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI)

Transamerica Retirement Services Announces Three Additions to TPA Channel Team Transamerica Retirement Services

Fidelity and MetLife Announce Variable Annuity Sales of Over $1 Billion MetLife

US Pension Plan Sponsors See Overall Decline In Funded Status In 2010 Mercer

Martin, Martin, Randall & Associates, Inc. Expands to Atlanta Georgia Martin, Martin, Randall & Associates, Inc. (MMR)

Best Doctors President Evan Falchuk Launches First Blog Carnival for the Benefits Community Best Doctors, Inc.


Employee Benefits Jobs

Group Benefits Account Coordinator
for The Meltzer Group in MD

Relationship Mgr II/III
for The Standard in IL

Retirement Plan Specialist / Relationship Manager
for Financial Services Firm in Austin Texas in TX

Relationship Mgr II
for The Standard in LA

Recordkeeping Specialist
for Capital Retirement Plan Services in FL

Plan Administrator
for Capital Retirement Plan Services in FL


Webcasts and Conferences

Dependent Audits -- Does Health Care Reform Make Them Obsolete or More Important than Ever?
Nationwide on January 20, 2011 International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans

Fixed Income Summit
in Illinois on April 28, 2011 Pensions & Investments

Fixed Income Summit
in New York on May 3, 2011 Pensions & Investments

Risk Management in a New Era Conference
in California on June 7, 2011 Pensions & Investments

Risk Management in a New Era Conference
in Texas on June 9, 2011 Pensions & Investments

Risk Management in a New Era Conference
in Illinois on June 14, 2011 Pensions & Investments

Risk Management in a New Era Conference
in New York on June 16, 2011 Pensions & Investments


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