House Passes Repeal of Health Care Reform Law
– "[T]he House action marks the beginning of efforts to amend the law. Republicans and Democrats are united, for example, on stripping a provision from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that requires employers to furnish 1099 reporting statements if they do more than $600 of business with a corporate vendor starting in 2012."
(Business Insurance)
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[Guidance Overview]
Debit Card Reimbursement of Over-the-Counter Drugs
– "[L]ast month, in Notice 2011-5, the IRS modified its previous position on debit card reimbursement of OTC drugs. Effective January 16, 2011, the IRS will permit the continued use of health FSA and HRA debit cards to buy OTC medications at drug stores and pharmacies, at non-health care merchants that have pharmacies, and at mail order and web-based vendors that sell prescription drugs . . . ."
(Faegre & Benson LLP)
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[Guidance Overview]
California Mandates Paid Leave for Organ or Bone Marrow Donation
– "California law added a new provision requiring certain private employers to provide paid leave for employees serving as organ or bone marrow donors. In mandating paid leave, this provision is a significant departure from other protected leaves. These new requirements warrant the attention of California employers."
(Nixon Peabody LLP)
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Union Drug Plans Tighten Their Belts (PDF)
– "Over the past five years, union-sponsored prescription drug plans have moved from a generous philosophy of providing the broadest coverage at the lowest cost to members to a more pragmatic approach based on balancing cost with care, a new Medco study reveals."
(Employee Benefit News; one-time free registration required)
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House Votes for Repeal of Health Law in Symbolic Act
– "[T]he next steps will be much more difficult, as [Republicans] try to forge consensus on alternatives emphasizing 'free market solutions' to control health costs and expand coverage."
(The New York Times; one-time registration required)
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Value-Based Purchasing Guide Website Is Now Available to the General Public
– "The Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Guide is a tool developed by the National Business Coalition on Health to support the critical role purchasers and purchaser-led coalitions play as change agents in improved health and health care. The Guide serves to educate such stakeholders on how they may implement value-based purchasing programs in their own organizations and local communities."
(National Business Coalition on Health)
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Credit Suisse Offers Enhanced Benefits to U.S. Employees with Domestic Partners and Their Families
– "[E]ffective January 1, 2011, the company's benefits package includes enhanced health and welfare benefits for same-s.ex and opposite-sex domestic partners and their dependents to equalize the tax treatment related to the cost of benefits not available to them under federal law. In addition, the company is offering new transgender benefits including sex-reassignment surgery and related prescription drug treatment under its medical plan."
(PLANSPONSOR.COM)
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[Opinion]
'Multiple Fictions' Drive Opposition to Health Law
– "[T]he health reform debate is not about a fictional war between market-based health insurance and government regulation. It is about whether to provide adequate subsidies to cover the uninsured and whether to begin a process of leveraging change in the delivery and payment systems . . . ."
(Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)
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Complete Benefits Law Guidance from Law Journal Press (advert.)
The nation's workforce and health care system are constantly evolving and so are the legal issues. Law Journal Press helps you handle any benefits law question with up-to-date, authoritative books on all aspects of the field.
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Benefits in General; Executive Compensation
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[Guidance Overview]
Buyer Not Liable for Pension Benefits Under Seller's Top-Hat Plan
– "Executives who lost their supplemental pension benefits when their employer sold all company assets to an unrelated party have no right to recover benefits from the buyer, the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled . . . ."
(Mercer LLC)
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Press Releases
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