[Official Guidance]
Text of IRS Rev. Proc. 2011-32: HSA Limits for 2012
"For calendar year 2012, a 'high deductible health plan' is defined under § 223(c)(2)(A) as a health plan with an annual deductible that is not less than $1,200 (no change from calendar year 2011) for self-only coverage or $2,400 (no change from calendar year 2011) for family coverage, and the annual out-of-pocket expenses (deductibles, co-payments, and other amounts, but not premiums) do not exceed $6,050 for self-only coverage or $12,100 for family coverage."
(PLANSPONSOR.COM)
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[Guidance Overview]
CMS's Revised Model Disclosure Notices for Part D Eligible Individuals
"Employers using the model disclosure notices will need to replace them with the revised versions, while those using customized versions of the notices should review their practices for providing personalized information for consistency with the revisions."
(Thomson Reuters/EBIA)
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Medicare Finances: Findings of the 2011 Trustees Report
"The 2011 report projects that Medicare's Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Fund will remain solvent until 2024, at which time projected annual income will cover 90 percent of expenditures. This year's report decreases the date of solvency by five years."
(National Academy of Social Insurance)
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Nursing Homes Seek Exemptions from Health Law
"Among workers who provide hands-on care to nursing home residents, one in four has no health insurance. Among those who provide care to people living at home, one in three is uninsured."
(The New York Times; free registration required)
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Medicare Faces Serious Financial Challenges Over the Next Few Decades
"Swings in the predictions about the financial health of Medicare are common year to year. But the latest scorecard puts renewed pressure on the administration to find ways to improve the economy and make sure its experiments in the health law to lower health costs can actually work . . . ."
(Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)
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Health Insurers Making Record Profits as Many Postpone Care
"Yet the companies continue to press for higher premiums, even though their reserve coffers are flush with profits and shareholders have been rewarded with new dividends. Many defend proposed double-digit increases in the rates they charge, citing a need for protection against any sudden uptick in demand once people have more money to spend on their health, as well as the rising price of care."
(The New York Times; free registration required)
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Benefits in General; Executive Compensation
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[Guidance Overview]
Proposed SEC Rules Require Scrutiny of Potential for Conflicts of Interest in Compensation Advisors
"Committees should carefully evaluate all conflicts that could potentially hinder the consultant's providing fully objective advice and then determine whether and how they could be mitigated. As both Dodd-Frank and the proposed SEC rules confirm, mitigation processes can be put in place to ensure that companies receive fully objective and independent advice from their advisors, regardless of the category of firm they select."
(Towers Watson)
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Rewarding Global Employees with Stock Options or Other Equity-Based Compensation
"Equity-based compensation comes in many forms -- traditional stock options, restricted stock, restricted stock units, stock appreciation rights, performance shares, stock purchase rights and others. The type of award offered and the incentive plan design are two primary factors that affect compliance issues relevant to the implementation of a program in a new jurisdiction."
(Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP)
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Status of the Social Security and Medicare Programs
"The financial conditions of the Social Security and Medicare programs remain challenging. Projected long-run program costs for both Medicare and Social Security are not sustainable under currently scheduled financing, and will require legislative modifications if disruptive consequences for beneficiaries and taxpayers are to be avoided."
(Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees)
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[Opinion]
Bad News on the CEO Compensation Ratio Disclosure
"The SEC representatives pointed out, without taking a position on whether the requirements and methodology of Section 953(b) are good or bad, that they do not have the ability or flexibility to make changes that water down (my phrase, not theirs) the onerous and impractical aspect of this provision."
(Michael S. Melbinger via Winston & Strawn LLP)
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Press Releases
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