[Guidance Overview]
HHS Requests Comments on CO-OP Rules and Loans and Grants under PPACA
"The questions asked by HHS are fairly specific and numerous, but the request also asks for any other considerations that should be addressed." (Groom Law Group)

ftwilliam.com is dedicated to making your life easier! (advert.)

Sign up for our free webinar February 2nd and learn about our automation and productivity tools. We’ll cover batch printing of amendments and notices, workflow for tracking 5500 statuses, our web-portal for e-filing and census collection and more!

[Guidance Overview]
EEOC's Final Regs Implementing Employment-Related Provisions of Title II of GINA Took Effect on January 10, 2011 (PDF)
"For purposes of GINA, genetic information includes information about an individual's or family member's genetic tests, a request for or receipt of genetic services by an individual or family member, and the manifestation of disease or disorder in an individual's family members (i.e., family medical history)." (Buck Consultants)

[Guidance Overview]
Plan Sponsors Need Not Worry About the Health Care Law 60-Day Notice or Automatic Enrollment Now
"[W]e do not expect the requirement to provide 60 days' advance notice to take effect until early 2012. Note, however, that the general summary plan description and summary of material modifications rules will continue to apply to most group health plans under ERISA." (McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP)

Employer-Sponsored Insurance under Health Reform: Reports of Demise Are Premature
"Our results show [that] the ACA has little effect on overall ESI coverage and overall employer spending on health care would be slightly lower under the ACA." (Urban Institute)

The Voluntary, Long-Term Care Insurance Program Known As the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports, or CLASS (PDF)
"The first section [of this brief] discusses how families currently cover the burden of long-term care. The second section describes CLASS and compares it to private insurance. The third section identifies adverse selection . . . as the major stumbling block facing CLASS." (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)

Employees Rely More on Employer and Health Plan for Information, According to Survey
"The NBGH survey found that 75% of employees used their employer as a resource for medical and health information in 2010, a significant increase from 54% in 2007 . . . ." (Business Insurance)

Lobbyists Challenging Limits on Health Flexible Spending Accounts
"The repeal effort will move ahead next week when Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and Rep. Erik Paulsen, R-Minn., are expected to file bills that would allow FSA money to once again pay for OTC medications. The legislation also would eliminate the law's $2,500 annual limit on contributions to FSAs, a provision that takes effect in two years." (Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)

State Legislation and Actions Challenging Certain Health Reforms, 2010-11, Updated January 31, 2011
"In response to federal health reform legislation and enacted law, some members of at least 40 state legislatures proposed legislation to limit, alter or oppose selected state or federal actions, including single-payer provisions and mandates that would require purchase of insurance." (National Conference of State Legislatures)

Social Security and Retirement around the World: Historical Trends in Mortality and Health, Employment, and Disability Insurance
"This [study] is intended to set the stage for and inform future more formal analysis of disability insurance programs, with this key question: Given health status, to what extent are the differences in [labor force participation] across countries determined by the provisions of disability insurance programs?" (National Bureau of Economic Research; paid subscription or individual purchase required to retrieve fulltext)

Stanford Study Questions Benefits of Electronic Health Record Applications
"'Across a wide range of quality indicators, there was no consistent association between having those electronic tools available and providing better quality of care,' . . . ." (eWEEK.com)

Health Insurance Kicks In for New Congressional Members
"Whether in direct protest of the health care overhaul, . . . or in an attempt to retain their Washington-outsider patina, about 15 members declined coverage through the Federal Employees' Health Benefits Plan, which covers eight mil.lion federal employees and their dependents." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)

New Breastfeeding Law Could Help Mothers Nursing at Work
"While the nursing law that was part of the health care bill is the first nationally, 16 states now have some sort of legislation on their books that mandates breastfeeding support by employers, and in those states the rate of women who keep breastfeeding to the six-month mark is higher, according to the CDC." (msnbc.com)

The 8th Annual World Health Care Congress(WHCC). April 4-6, 2011 (advert.)

The 8th Annual World Health Care Congress (WHCC) is World Congress' flagship event in which over 1,800 health care, government and corporate leaders formulate solutions to the challenges of health care cost, quality and delivery.

[Official Guidance]
Text of SEC's Final Rule for Shareholder Approval of Executive Compensation and Golden Parachute Compensation (PDF)
"We are adopting amendments to our rules to implement the provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act . . . ." (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission)

[Guidance Overview]
Protecting Employees: Asset Purchasers Now Liable for Delinquent ERISA Payments
"A corporate entity that buys the assets of another corporate entity may be liable for the seller's delinquent contributions to multiemployer pension and welfare plans governed by ERISA, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has held." (Ballard Spahr LLP)

Private Industry Compensation Costs Increase 2.1 Percent in 2010
"The cost of benefits for private industry workers increased 2.9 percent for the 12-month period ending December 2010, higher than the December 2009 increase of 0.9 percent." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Financial Planning Technology As an Employee Benefit
"It can lead to adverse consequences for both well-intentioned employers and financial do-it-yourselfers that use financial planning software without a certain amount of knowledge or the inability to see the bigger financial picture." (Employee Benefit News; one-time free registration required)

Employee Ownership Update for February 1, 2011
NCEO Executive Director Corey Rosen discusses the following: A new NCEO survey of over 420 ESOP companies on how they handle their repurchase obligations provides new data on this topic. One of the more notable trends in ESOPs over the last several years has been the move to more outside, independent directors. Indian companies are cutting back on broad-based equity plans. Applications for the Innovations Award are due by February 10. (National Center for Employee Ownership)

Help for Retirement Plan Sponsors Facing New Participant Fee Disclosure Rules
(Principal Financial Group)

The ESOP Association Submits Comments to the Department of Labor
(ESOP Association)

Retirement Realities to Face Big Changes
(Bankrate, Inc.)

CAPTRUST Expands Advisory Board
(CAPTRUST Financial Advisors)

Research and Markets Adds 401k Resource to Offering
(Research and Markets)

Investors Issue Call for Annual Vote on Executive Pay
(Walden Asset Management)

FiduciaryFirst Comments on the "New Fiduciary" Regulations
(FiduciaryFirst)

International Foundation

Senior Plan Consultant in TX for Scholz, Klein & Friends Enlightened Retirement Group, Inc.

Benefit Services Specialist in GA for Northwestern Benefit Corporation of Georgia

Account Manager in GA for Northwestern Benefit Corporation of Georgia

Benefits Program Manager in CA for Apple Inc.

Education Consultant in TX for AXA Equitable

Pension Administrator in CA for Jordan & Associates

VP, Core Sales in NJ for Prudential

Manager, Defined Contribution Services in OH for Tegrit Group / Summit Retirement Plan Services, Inc.

401(k) Rekon Advisor Symposium - Garden City, NY
in New York on March 3, 2011 presented by 401(k) Rekon

401(k) Rekon Advisor Symposium- Larchmont, NY
in New York on March 2, 2011 presented by 401(k) Rekon

HIPAA Privacy and Security Training: Basic Rules for Handling Group Health Plan PHI
Nationwide on January 27, 2011 presented by EBIA / Thomson Reuters

Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program and Abandoned Plan Program Workshop
in California on March 7, 2011 presented by U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

Wellness Starts with Me - HR's Driving the Wellness Bus! GMSHRM Annual Health and Wellness Conference & Expo
in Florida on April 12, 2011 presented by Greater Miami Society for Human Resource Management (GMSHRM)