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

Employee Benefits Jobs

Compliance Specialist
for Ascensus in PA

Stock Plan Services Client Service Manager
for Charles Schwab in OH

Manager, Client Services Team
for Charles Schwab in OH

Relationship Manager
for Employee Fiduciary in FL

Benefits Specialists
for Chugach Alaska Corporation in AK

Pension Administrator I
for Beneco in AZ

Client Relations Rep at Fun, Dynamic and Growing 401(k) Company
for The Online 401(k) in CA

On-Site Education Specialist (Contractor)
for Milliman in AR

Retirement Plan Account Manager
for Benefit Administration, Inc. in WI

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Webcasts and Conferences

"Advanced Plan Design Workshop" - Boston
in Massachusetts on September 27, 2011 presented by SunGard Relius

Employee Benefit Plan Accounting & Regulatory Update
in Texas on September 7, 2011 presented by Houston CPA Society


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[Guidance Overview]
Guidance on the ACA's Uniform Summary of Benefits and Coverage Requirement (PDF)
"[O]nly those 'group health plans' subject to the health insurance reforms are subject to the SBC requirement. Thus, an SBC is not required to be sent to an eligible employee or eligible dependent with respect to an excepted benefit, such as limited scope dental or vision coverage or a Health FSA." (Alston & Bird LLP)


6th Annual Obesity and Wellness Congress   [Advert.]

Sponsored by World Congress

Convening providers, payers, employers and public purchasers, the 6th Annual Obesity and Wellness Congress will discuss preventative and collaborative solutions to reverse the nationwide epidemic of obesity.


No Penalties for COBRA Notice Failures Discovered and Corrected Through Employer's Program of Compliance Audits
"These notice failures occurred despite the employer's use of an outside auditor to monitor COBRA compliance, using a random sample of terminated employees' files and the associated TPA data to ensure that it was meeting its COBRA obligations. It is clear from the court's analysis that an employer cannot meet its COBRA notification obligations by simply contracting with a TPA, providing the TPA with information regarding a qualifying event, and then assuming that the TPA sends timely notices." (Thomson Reuters/EBIA)

Employers Can Play Critical Role in Battling Childhood Obesity
"[The National Business Group on Health] has updated its employer toolkit, 'Childhood Obesity: It's Everyone's Business,' to include examples of family-focused wellness programs that four forward-thinking companies are doing to fight childhood obesity." (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)

Employees Don't Want Changes in Their Health Insurance, According to Poll
"Only 27 percent of people with insurance provided through their employer said they would accept a more restricted list of doctors and hospitals in their networks . . . ." (Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)

Worksite Walking Programs for Better Employee Health
"While Domino's—and likely other employers implementing workplace walking initiatives—coupled the exercise with education, the success of the program is proof-positive that wellness programs don't need to cost millions to be effective." (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)

The Impact of Repealing PPACA on Savings Needed for Health Expenses for Persons Eligible for Medicare (PDF)
"The estimates suggest that retirees with high levels of prescription drug use throughout retirement would see their savings targets increase roughly 30-40 percent were the coverage gap reduction in PPACA repealed." (Employee Benefit Research Institute)

GAO Report: Private Health Insurance's Early Experiences Implementing New Medical Loss Ratio Requirements
"GAO examined: (1) what can be learned from the traditional MLR data reported by health insurers prior to PPACA; (2) what factors might affect the MLRs that insurers will report under PPACA; and (3) what changes in business practices, if any, have insurers made or planned to make in response to the PPACA MLR requirements." (U.S. Government Accountability Office)

[Opinion]
Uninsured Don't Know How Much the Health Reform Law Will Benefit Them
"When there is real insurance coverage available for people who don't have it, they will be more aware of it, and they will be able to render a judgment about whether coverage is affordable for them. These benefits will technically be available in 2014, but outreach and enrollment takes time. It will be 2015 or 2016 before there is a real test of awareness and affordability." (Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)

Benefits in General; Executive Compensation

[Guidance Overview]
Individual Employment Agreement Was Not ERISA Plan
"We caution against concluding, based on this opinion, that one-employee arrangements can never be subject to ERISA, particularly for employers outside the Eighth Circuit . . . . Resolution of these cases tends to be highly fact-specific, and a different court could very well reach a different conclusion on similar facts." (Thomson Reuters/EBIA)

The Practice of Upward Stock Option Repricing
"[A]ffected employees must be allowed to elect whether to accept the repricing offer. If they do not accept the offer, the options remain discount options. While accepting the repricing offer provides the employees the tax benefits accorded to ISOs, it does not necessarily maximize their future payoffs from the options because of the increase in the exercise price." (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants)

Which Business-Trip Costs Will Employers Cover?
"For example, 91% of corporate travel managers who were surveyed recently said they would reimburse employees for checked-baggage fees, but only 3% said they would cover in-flight entertainment charges." (Los Angeles Times)

The Most Outrageous Workplace Luxuries
"Prof. Jeffrey Pfeffer, of Stanford University, studies workplaces extensively and says such added benefits are useful only where there's a positive corporate culture that values employees and rewards their work beyond just attractive perks. 'What matters is whether companies let employees make decisions, offer them reasonable job security, and treat them with respect. Not whether or not they give them free food,' he says." (Forbes.com LLC)

Press Releases



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