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[Guidance Overview]
Employee's Failure to Return Supervisor's Phone Calls Dooms FMLA Claim
"When an employee's request for medical leave is vague or is unclear, the Family and Medical Leave Act regulations specifically allow (in fact, they require) the employer to question the employee further to determine whether the absence potentially qualifies under the FMLA."
(Franczek Radelet P.C.)
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[Guidance Overview]
Schedule of Benefits Properly Described the Plan's Out-of-Pocket Maximum
"This case illustrates the importance of adequate disclosure to participants. The DOL regulations require an SPD to include, among other things, a description of the plan's cost-sharing provisions and the circumstances under which coverage is provided for out-of-network services."
(Thomson Reuters/EBIA)
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Health Care Cost Increases Moderated In 2010
"The average per capita cost of health care services covered by commercial insurance and Medicare programs rose 6.06% over the 12 months ending December 2010, according to the Standard & Poor's (S&P) Healthcare Economic Composite Index."
(Wolters Kluwer)
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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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Insurance Trade-Off: Reducing Premiums by Eliminating Expensive Doctors and Hospitals
"When consumers and employers pick health plans, some increasingly are being offered a trade-off these days: They can get a hefty break on their premiums if they agree to pay more out-of-pocket when they use certain high-cost providers in their network or if they cut those providers out of their network altogether."
(Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)
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Government Presses Fight Over Les.bian Employee's Benefits
"Given the recent Obama policy shift on the marriage act, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White issued a written order last week asking the administration to explain how it could continue defending the Golinski lawsuit."
(The New York Times; free registration required)
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Benefits in General; Executive Compensation
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ERISA Loopholes: Accidental Death Becomes Suicide When Insurers Don't Pay
"Insurers can make erroneous arguments with near impunity when it comes to the 112.8 mil.lion life and accidental death policies provided by companies and associations to their employees and members. That's because of loopholes in a federal law intended to protect worker benefits."
(Bloomberg L.P.)
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Impact on Employer Plans of President Obama's Decision Not to Defend DOMA
"For now, President Obama's decision not to defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act . . . should not affect how employers administer their employee benefit plans. This Communique explains the President's decision and its impact on employer-sponsored plans."
(Thorp Reed & Armstrong, LLP)
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[Opinion]
Limit Pay, Not Unions
"Across the country, taxpayers are providing pensions, benefits and job security protections for public workers that almost no one in the private sector enjoys. Taxpayers simply cannot afford to continue paying these costs, which are growing at rates far outpacing inflation."
(Michael R. Bloomberg via The New York Times; free registration required)
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Press Releases
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