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May 23, 2011 Get Retirement News  |  Advertise  |  Unsubscribe  |  Past Issues  |  Search

[Guidance Overview]
2012 Cost-of-Living Changes to HSA Contribution Limits and HDHP Out-of-Pocket Maximums
"While minimum required deductibles are set to remain constant for the third year in a row, 2012 brings a modest cost-of-living increase in contribution limits and out-of-pocket maximums -- the first increase since 2010." (Thomson Reuters/EBIA)


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Health Policy Brief: The CLASS Act
"As currently structured . . . the program does not appear to be financially viable. Many policy makers have called for its repeal. The Obama administration has acknowledged the program's shortcomings and is developing modifications . . . ." (Health Affairs Blog)

IRS Requests Comments on Employer Mandate, Full-Time Employee Definition, and Waiting Period Issues
"[T]he Notice requests comments on possible approaches that employers could take to determine which employees are full-time employees for purposes of the shared responsibility mandate and other provisions." (Groom Law Group)

HHS Issues Questions and Answers Guidance on Medical Loss Ratio Requirements
"While the MLR rules apply directly only to insurers, the effect on the insurance market may have significant indirect impacts for employer-sponsored health plans." (Thomson Reuters/EBIA)

Single-Payer Health Care for All Finds Traction in Vermont
"Vermont [is poised] to become the first state to adopt a single-payer health care system, run and paid for by the government, with every resident eligible for a uniform benefit package." (Washington Post (free registration required))

2011 Milliman Medical Index
"The 2011 MMI cost is . . . 7.3% over 2010. Even though the rate of increase is slowing from prior years, it has taken fewer than nine years for such costs to more than double. In 2002, the cost of healthcare for the typical family of four was $9,235." (Milliman)

Benefits in General; Executive Compensation

[Guidance Overview]
Employee Benefits Update, May 2011 (Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren) (PDF)
Nice brief overview of significant employee benefit developments. (Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren)

[Guidance Overview]
Employee Benefits Developments, May 2001 (Hodgson Russ)
One of our favorite plain-text brief overviews of recent significant rulings and cases. (Hodgson Russ)

[Guidance Overview]
Supreme Court Speaks on the Remedies for Benefits Description Mistakes
"In a move that will gratify plan sponsors, administrators and fiduciaries, the Supreme Court . . . concluded that plan summaries, including summary plan descriptions and summaries of plan modifications, do not constitute plan terms. . . . The authors recently hosted a 25-minute teleconference addressing this Supreme Court decision [the link to which is on the target web page]." (McDermott)

[Guidance Overview]
Supreme Court Addresses Remedies for Violation of ERISA Disclosure Rules
"[T]he Supreme Court found that errors or omissions from the SPD might justify equitable relief in some circumstances. Drafting good SPDs has always been a challenge, and drafters must now consider Amara in writing or amending SPDs." (McGuireWoods)

Door to Monetary Awards Against Fiduciaries Is Opening (PDF)
"[T]he Supreme Court has signaled that 'compensatory,' 'make-whole' monetary relief is available under ERISA's catch-all provision, Section 502(a)(3). . . . . [Also, the] impact of the Supreme Court's holding that the terms of an SPD cannot be enforced as if they were plan terms will have to be sorted out in future litigation. The decision appears to overturn the rule adopted by many circuits . . . ." (Trucker Huss)

At Supreme Court, Employees Win New Benefit Protections
"In a 6-2 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that a lower court could award employees the benefit the company led them to believe they had. The ruling could have broad repercussions not only in pension cases, but also for health-care, disability and other workplace benefits." (Wall Street Journal)

Press Releases

Employee Benefits Jobs


Webcasts and Conferences

New Form W-2 Guidance: Reporting Employer-Sponsored Health Coverage
Nationwide on May 19, 2011 presented by EBIA / Thomson Reuters

TRI-AD Web Seminar: Getting Up to Speed with Commuter Reimbursement Plans
Nationwide on June 16, 2011 presented by TRI-AD


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Jeanette Hull, News Editor
David Rhett Baker, J.D., Editor and Publisher
dbaker@benefitslink.com

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