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BenefitsLink Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter
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[Official Guidance]
COBRA Premium Reduction Program Still in Effect for Some Participants
"[S]ome individuals will still be eligible to receive the subsidy beyond August 31, 2011. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provided a COBRA premium reduction for eligible individuals who were involuntarily terminated from employment through the end of May 2010."
(U.S. Employee Benefits Security Administration)
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Judge Rules Cincinnati May Alter Retirees' Health Coverage
"If upheld on an almost certain appeal, [the judge's] decision could save Cincinnati's $2 bil.lion retirement system tens of millions of dollars on city retirees' medical coverage, which costs about $5 mil.lion a month."
(news.cincinnati.com)
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[Guidance Overview]
Sabbatical Programs under Attack in California
"To avoid costly claims, employers offering sabbatical programs must take steps to ensure that the program is a true sabbatical and not just additional vacation. The program must be carefully worded to meet the criteria laid out . . . ."
(Ballard Rosenberg Golper & Savitt, LLP)
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States Move to Implement Health Reform Provisions
"According to the Kaiser Family Foundation's State Health Facts, 23 states have established American Health Benefit Exchanges under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), have enacted legislation with the intent to establish an Exchange, or have Exchange legislation pending."
(Wolters Kluwer Law & Business / CCH)
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Former Chicago Mayor's Officials' Unused Vacation Costs Taxpayers $9.5M
"That means that Chicago taxpayers spent $9.54 mil.lion to compensate 1,119 employees for unused vacation time thanks to a liberal policy that Emanuel has vowed to eliminate. The new benefits policy is due out later this week. Among other things, it's expected to limit the number of accrued vacation days that can be carried over from one year to the next to as few as five."
(Sun-Times Media, LLC)
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Bill to Regulate California Health Insurance Rates Is Shelved
"Opponents argued that the bill would create a costly new state bureaucracy. Healthcare providers also said they feared that artificially low insurance rates would lead to reduced payments for their services, resulting in less access to doctors and medical specialists."
(Los Angeles Times)
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Flexible Schedule Could Keep Workers from Playing Hooky
"A new global survey commissioned by The Workforce Institute at Kronos Incorporated reveals employees in counties all over the world, have all, to varying degrees, called in sick to work when they were not actually sick."
(PLANSPONSOR.COM)
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Benefits in General; Executive Compensation
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Benefits Programs Remain Stable Despite Poor Economy
"A new study of employers conducted by the Integrated Benefits Institute (IBI) indicates the key aspects of loss-time benefits programs have remained stable during the harsh economic times U.S. businesses have been facing."
(PLANSPONSOR.COM)
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How Long to Retain ERISA Plan Records? Forever
"Remember: the retention obligation is the employer's responsibility. It is the employer who must ensure that any records produced outside are nonetheless preserved for ERISA purposes."
(Constangy, Brooks & Smith, LLP)
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N.J. Public Workers and Unions Sue to Stop Pension and Benefits Overhaul
"The suit challenges several aspects of the new bill . . . including the suspension of cost of living adjustments until the fund is 80 percent financed, which is estimated to take 30 years. The unions say employees and retirees have 'non-forfeitable rights' to the adjustments."
(New Jersey On-Line LLC)
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Press Releases
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