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June 30, 2011 Get Retirement News  |  Advertise  |  Unsubscribe  |  Past Issues  |  Search

[Guidance Overview]
Changes to PPACA Claims and External Review Rules Include More Transition Relief (PDF)
"Finally, the 2011 amendments to the July 2010 regulations clarify the rule that both the claimant and the plan or issuer are bound by the final decision of the IRO, except to the extent that other remedies are available under State or Federal law." (Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP)


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Apply by August 8 to Receive Health Reform Funds for Employer Health Promotion Programs
"The initiative's goal is to improve workplace environments to support healthy lifestyles and reduce risk factors for chronic medical conditions such as heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes . . . ." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)

It Is Critical to Select Healthcare Subrogation Vendor That Understands the Issue from a Legal Perspective
"Everybody within the organization that may interact with a participant or a lawyer must have some legal understanding regarding healthcare subrogation. Even the staff level 'callers' or 'investigators' must, at the very least, be able to spot legal issues and exercise good judgment in seeking assistance from supervisors." (Health Subrogation Blog)

Benefits Investments Contribute to Bottom Line of EMC Corp.
"Thanks to its ability to contain its health care costs, EMC revenue grew at a compounded annual rate of 14.5% between 2003 and 2009. [How did they do it?]" (Business Insurance)

Understanding U.S. Health Care Spending (PDF)
"Spending is highly concentrated among a relatively small portion of high-cost users, with just 5 percent of the population responsible for almost 50 percent of all spending. At the other end, half of the population accounts for just 3 percent of spending." (The National Institute for Health Care Management Research and Educational Foundation)

Obama Administration Backs Boost in Health Insurance Premium Subsidies
"In its announcement Tuesday, the Obama administration said it would back raising the tax credit to 72.5%, but then letting it expire after Dec. 31, 2013." (Business Insurance)

Health Care Costs Vary Widely by Provider, Study Shows
"That means patients who pay for a percentage of their care, instead of a co-payment, may end up spending hundreds of dollars more for a certain procedure than they would if they chose treatment somewhere else — often within a few minutes' drive." (USA TODAY)

First Round in Appeals of Health Care Overhaul Goes to Obama
"The ruling by the Cincinnati court is the first of three opinions to be delivered by separate courts of appeal that heard arguments in the health care litigation in May and June." (The New York Times; free registration required)

Flexible Schedule Helps Keep New Moms in the Workplace
"'When confronted by one or more job demands, a flexible schedule provides working moms with alternatives for meeting those demands while caring for their newborns. When working moms are better able to control their work environment and adapt, work-related stress is less likely to become a family issue,'" (HealthDay News via U.S. News & World Report)

Study Finds That More Minnesota Workers Are Winding Up Uninsured or in Taxpayer-Funded Programs
"A decade ago, about 8 in 10 workers and their families received health benefits from a company-offered plan. By 2009, the most recent year available, 71 percent of Minnesotans were covered through the workplace." (Star Tribune)

Federal Appeals Court In Cincinnati Upholds Health Law
"The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that the health overhaul did not exceed Congress' powers under the Constitution's Commerce Clause." (Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)

Benefits in General; Executive Compensation

[Guidance Overview]
Same-S.ex Couples May Now Marry in New York: Impact on Employee Benefits and Other Employment Rights
"The Marriage Equality Act . . . provides same-s.ex married couples with the same legal rights as their opposite-se.x counterparts in New York." (Proskauer Rose LLP)

If I'd Only Known That: A New Book On What Can Go Wrong With Your Equity Compensation Plan
If I'd Only Known That is a new book that illustrates a multitude of common mistakes in equity compensation, how to avoid them, and what to do about them when they occur. (National Center for Employee Ownership)

Missteps in Benefits Communications
"Communications that are infrequent and indecipherable are common mistakes HR leaders make when transmitting information about benefits packages to employees. Using more of a 'selling' approach while adopting multiple channels and targeted messages will help, experts say." (Human Resource Executive Online)

ESOP Valuation Issues
The NCEO's new issue brief presents articles on matters related to ESOP valuation, ranging from valuing SARs in an ESOP company to valuing an accounting firm's shares. (National Center for Employee Ownership)

[Opinion]
CIGNA Cash Balance Conversion Case: Justice Trumps Law 6-to-2 - But Who Got It Right?
"[H]as the Court now taken a second large step towards loosening the tight-knit set of enforcement provisions that Congress crafted with such precision in section 502 of ERISA, where it spelled out with exquisite care the permissible civil actions for enforcing the requirements of ERISA, specifying not just the harms proscribed and the corresponding remedies (e.g., recovery of lost benefits, injunctions, breach of fiduciary suits, clarifications of future benefits, other appropriate equitable relief), but also who may bring the remedial actions (for some causes, participants and beneficiaries, for others, the plan, for another, the Secretary of Labor along with participants, beneficiaries and fiduciaries)?" (Alvin D. Lurie, Esq. published by BenefitsLink.com)

Press Releases

Employee Benefits Jobs

Defined Contribution Compliance Specialist
for MBM Advisors, Inc. in TX

Paralegal
for Diversified in MA

Manager Enrollment Services
for The Standard in OR

Enroller - Retirement Services
for ING Life Insurance and Annuity Company in IL

ERISA Attorney
for U.S. Dept. of Labor, Office of the Solicitor in DC

Post Your Job on EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com

View All Jobs

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Webcasts and Conferences

P&I Defined Contribution Conference-West Coast
in California on October 30, 2011 presented by Pensions & Investments

Self-Funded Health Insurance Basics with Two CEUs for CA Life and Accident and Health Insurance Agent Licenses
in California on July 13, 2011 presented by No. Calif. Chapter of Certified Employee Benefits Specialists (ISCEBS)


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Jeanette Hull, News Editor
David Rhett Baker, J.D., Editor and Publisher
Lois Baker, J.D., President
Holly Horton, Business Manager

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