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August 3, 2011 Get Retirement News  |  Advertise  |  Unsubscribe  |  Past Issues  |  Search

Employee Benefits Jobs

Part Time On-Call Participant Counselor
for Diversified in CA, DC, FL, IL, MI, NJ, NV, OH, OR, TX, WI

New Plan Conversions
for Heintzberger - Payne in OR

DB/DC Administrator
for NICHOLAS & HICKS, INC. in CA

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Webcasts and Conferences

401(k)Rekon Advisor Symposium - Garden City
in New York on September 1, 2011 presented by 401(k) Rekon

Best Practices and Practical Guidance on Prevailing Wage Plans
Nationwide on August 3, 2011 presented by AccuDraft, Inc.


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[Official Guidance]
Text of Interim Final Rules on Group Health Plans and Health Insurance Issuers Relating to Coverage of Preventive Services Under PPACA (PDF)
Federal Register (typeset) version of the version posted in yesterday's newsletter. Defines "religious employer" and incorporates the Preventive Services guidelines issued on August 1 by HHS. "Written comments may be submitted . . . ." (U.S. Internal Revenue Service / Employee Benefits Security Administration / Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services)

[Guidance Overview]
HHS Issues Rules on DB Pension Costs for Medicare Wage Index
"[U]nder the final policy, the pension cost to be included in the Medicare wage index equals a hospital's average cash contributions deposited to its defined benefit pension plan over a three-year period, or number of years that the hospital has sponsored a defined benefit plan if less than three years." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

[Guidance Overview]
New York State's Marriage Equality Act: Top 10 Q&A Regarding Impact on Employer-Sponsored Health & Welfare Plans (PDF)
"Employers with employees in New York State should review their health and welfare plan documents, SPDs, participant communications materials, and open enrollment forms to determine the rights of same-se.x spouses under the Act and consider whether they would like to make any changes." (Groom Law Group)

[Guidance Overview]
Guidance on Complying with Prohibition on Using Early Retiree Reinsurance Program Reimbursements as General Revenue (PDF)
"CMS has provided guidance on complying with the requirements for use of ERRP reimbursements. The guidance provides considerable flexibility for plan sponsors but will require documentation of the plan sponsor's compliance approach." (Buck Consultants, LLC)

[Guidance Overview]
New Connecticut Law Mandating Paid Sick Leave
"A new Connecticut law, which will become effective on January 1, 2012, requires a certain amount of paid sick leave for many Connecticut employees. This historic law makes Connecticut the first state to require employers to provide paid sick leave to their employees." (Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart PC)


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[Guidance Overview]
GINA Prohibits Financial Incentives As Inducement to Provide Genetic Information As Part of Employee Wellness Program.
"The EEOC's opinion letter states that GINA allows an employer to use genetic information voluntarily provided by an employee in order to 'guide that individual into an appropriate disease management program.' However, the letter also spells out parameters related to the gathering and compilation of information for such programs." (Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart PC)

Utah's Health Insurance Experiment Built Around Small Businesses
"While many other states have been looking to Utah for advice on how to set up an exchange, critics point out the response to it has been at best lukewarm, with only 160 small businesses signed up so far." (MacNeil/Lehrer Productions)

U.S. Employers Expand Health Benefits Coverage Under Reform
"The federal healthcare law allows young adults up to age 26 to stay on their parents' health plans. As a result, employers say they have seen an average 2% increase in insurance enrollments, with some saying the figure has jumped by 5% or more, according to the survey by the benefits consulting firm Mercer." (Los Angeles Times)

BLS Reports on Employer-Provided Benefits for Unmarried Domestic Partners
"The BLS reports that health care benefits for unmarried domestic partners are available to 30 percent of all civilian workers for same-s.ex partner coverage (and are available to 25 percent for opposite se.x partner coverage)." (Deloitte via BenefitsLink.com)

GAO Report: Private Health Insurance: State Oversight of Premium Rates
"GAO found that oversight of health insurance premium rates—primarily reviewing and approving or disapproving rate filings submitted by carriers—varied across states in 2010. While nearly all—48 out of 50—of the state officials who responded to GAO's survey reported that they reviewed rate filings in 2010, the practices reported by state insurance officials varied in terms of the timing of rate filing reviews, the information considered in reviews, and opportunities for consumer involvement in rate reviews." (U.S. Government Accountability Office)

[Opinion]
American Benefits Council/Chamber Comment Letter Regarding HIPAA Privacy Rule Accounting of Disclosures under HITECH (PDF)
"This proposed regulatory expansion significantly enlarges the scope of changes that were contemplated by the Act, in a manner that greatly adds to the burden of the accounting requirement." (American Benefits Council / U.S. Chamber of Commerce)

Benefits in General; Executive Compensation

Senators Introduce Bill to End Stock Option Tax Break
"A . . . press release said the Ending Excessive Corporate Deductions for Stock Options Act, S. 1375, would end excessive corporate tax deductions for stock options by requiring such deductions not to exceed the expense shown on corporate financial reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

12-Month Private Industry Compensation Costs, June 2011
"Compensation costs for private industry workers increased 2.3 percent for the 12-month period ending June 2011, compared to the 1.9-percent increase for the 12-month period ending June 2010." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Did the Housing Boom Increase Household Spending?
"The brief's key findings are: Regional variations in U.S. house prices provided a natural experiment to test how price changes influence household spending. Households age 51 and over who saw rapid growth in house prices increased their spending on non-durables (e.g., meals out, vacations, and entertainment). The annual increase was modest but, if sustained over time, could be substantial. Interestingly, when house prices fell, households did not appear to tighten their belts." (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)

Press Releases

12 New Investment Options for Securian Retirement Plans and Participants
(Securian Retirement Services)

US Department of Labor Sues Former North Carolina Fabric Mill, Company President to Restore Nearly $145,000 to Pension Plan
(U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA))

States Reaching Millions Of U.S. Investors Through Investor Protection Trust
(Investor Protection Trust (IPT))

Fiduciary Firewall Consulting Is Among First To Have Its Investment Support Services Certified
(Centre for Fiduciary Excellence (CEFEX))

Mercer Analysis Reveals Automatic Plan Features Help Passively Enrolled Participants
(Mercer)

Hyas Group Hires Scott Faris as Senior Consultant
(Hyas Group)

DCIIA Report Identifies How Plan Sponsors Can Help “Plug the Drain” on 401(k) Plan “Leakage” to Improve Retirement Income Security for Workers
(Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA))

Introducing Compliancedashboard 2.0 – It’s More Than a Face-lift
(Compliancedashboard, LLC)

Enrolled Actuary Joins Staff at APC
(Associated Pension Consultants)

Study: Standing and Sitting at Work Improves Health, Happiness of Workers
(Ergotron)



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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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