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July 22, 2011 Get Retirement News  |  Advertise  |  Unsubscribe  |  Past Issues  |  Search

Employee Benefits Jobs

Customer Service Representative
for Mutual Of America in GA

Customer Service Representative
for Mutual Of America in KY

Account Mgr I - SRS
for The Standard in OR

Benefits Administration Representative
for 125MAX LLC in CA

Executive Director
for National Public Pension Coalition in DC

ESOP Administrator
for Employee Benefits Group, LLC. in MN

Benefit Calculation Specialist
for Prudential in CT

Sr Marketing Program Manager
for The Standard in OR

Analyst, Health & Productivity - Entry Level
for Cammack LaRhette Consulting in NY

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[Guidance Overview]
New Texas Health Care Privacy Law More Stringent Than HIPAA
"Texas House Bill 300 (HB 300), recently signed into law by Governor Rick Perry, mandates new patient privacy protections and harsher penalties for privacy violations related to electronic health records (EHR)." (Nixon Peabody LLP)


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[Guidance Overview]
Amendments to Rules Relating to Internal Claims and Appeals and External Review Processes under the Affordable Care Act
"The claims procedure rules build on similar requirements enacted more than 30 years ago under [ERISA], which were designed to ensure that participants in employee benefit plans had access to a full and fair review of disputed claims. They are set out in a new provision of the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) that is carried over into both ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code . . . ." (Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.)

[Guidance Overview]
New Proposed Regulations on Health Insurance Exchanges
"The primary purposes of an Exchange is to facilitate the purchase of health insurance coverage by qualified individuals through qualified health plans ('QHPs') and to assist qualified employers in enrolling their employees in QHPs." (Verrill Dana, LLP)

[Guidance Overview]
Extension of Minnesota State Tax Conformity with Federal Tax Treatment of Coverage of Adult Children
"[F]or all plan years beginning on or after September 23, 2010, the value of employer-provided health benefits provided to any employee's child under the age of 27 at the end of the taxable year (not just tax dependents) may be excluded from income for Minnesota state tax, as well as federal tax, purposes." (Faegre & Benson LLP)

Parental Bereavement Act Introduced in Senate
"Senator Jon Tester (D-Montana) has introduced a bill that would allow parents grieving the death of a child to receive up to 12 weeks of job-protected time-off under the Family Medical Leave Act." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

Accountable Care Organizations May Revolutionize Health Care (PDF)
"If the private sector adopts the concept of accountable care organizations (ACOs)—where health care providers have incentives to work together to treat an individual across care settings—patient care could improve and costs could go down." (International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans via International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists)

High Costs of Caregiving Extend Beyond Workplace
"Years ago, as the baby boomers found themselves caring for aging parents and young children, offering eldercare assistance began to look like the benefit of the future; it was something companies couldn't ignore. Now, experts agree, many companies are." (Human Resource Executive Online)

Will Employers Soon Use GPS to Catch FMLA Abuse?
"Clearly, FMLA abuse can literally turn a workplace on its head. I have worked with many an in-house counsel and HR professional who would do just about anything—ahem, anything—to bring these FMLA abusers to justice. But GPS? It's an interesting thought, but presently does not enjoy the support of any case law." (Franczek Radelet P.C.)

No Time Like Present for Employers to Start Thinking About Whether to Offer Health Insurance After 2014
"That year, under a provision known colloquially as pay or play, employers must decide whether to offer health insurance to their workers or pay a penalty that, for most, will be $2,000 per full-time employee and equivalent, over and above 30 full-timers. If the wrong decision were made, it could outweigh the combined costs of all the other factors associated with reform, health-care experts say." (CFO Publishing LLC)

Small Employer Premium Averages $5,107 Annually for Single Coverage
"The survey, Small Group Health Insurance in 2010: A Comprehensive Survey of Premiums, Product Choices, and Benefits, included responses from 477,000 employers with fewer than 50 employees." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)

Health Care Law Could Leave Families with High Insurance Costs
"At issue is a so-called 'firewall' in the law that denies subsidies to workers whose employers offer quality, affordable coverage. The firewall applies to plans with premiums that cost less than 9.5 percent of a worker's income. If a worker has to dole out more than that amount to buy coverage, the employer coverage is considered unaffordable and the worker is eligible for subsidies to buy coverage on the new exchanges." (Capitol Hill Publishing Corp.)

Benefits in General; Executive Compensation

[Official Guidance]
Text of EBSA Request for Nominations for Vacancies on Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans (PDF)
"Nominations should: State the person's qualifications to serve on the Advisory Council. State that the candidate will accept appointment to the Council if offered. Include the position for which the nominee is nominated." (U.S. Employee Benefits Security Administration)

[Guidance Overview]
SEC Update of Interpretive Guidance on Executive and Director Compensation Disclosure Rules (PDF)
"The most recent guidance has been released over the last several months in response to the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation. The interpretative guidance is briefly summarized [in this document] with the most recent guidance presented in italics." (Frederic W. Cook & Co., Inc.)

Press Releases



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