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September 15, 2011 Get Retirement News  |  Advertise  |  Unsubscribe  |  Past Issues  |  Search
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Employee Benefits Jobs

Institutional Consultant
for Unified Trust Company, N.A. in TX

Regional Sales Consultant
for Gallagher Retirement Services in NY

Compliance Specialist - Retirement Plans
for Midsouth Consulting Group in ANY STATE

Director, ERISA Compliance & Consulting
for John Hancock in MA

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[Official Guidance]
Text of IRS Notice 2011–73: Request for Comments on Health Coverage Affordability Safe Harbor for Employers (PDF)
"To . . . provide employers a more workable option for determining the affordability of their health coverage, Treasury and the IRS expect to propose an affordability safe harbor whereby, for purposes of § 4980H(b), affordability of an employer's coverage would be measured by reference to an employee's wages from that employer. Wages for this purpose would be the total amount of wages as defined in § 3401(a), which is the amount required to be reported in Box 1 of Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement (W-2 wages)." (U.S. Internal Revenue Service)


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[Guidance Overview]
Will Your Employees Get a Better Deal through a Health Insurance Exchange?
"Employer-sponsored coverage is 'affordable' if the employee's share of the annual premium for employee-only coverage for the calendar year does not exceed 9.5% of the employee's household income for the calendar year. The 9.5% may be periodically adjusted after 2014 for inflation." (Miller, Johnson, Snell & Cummiskey C.L.P.)

[Guidance Overview]
New Disclosure Requirements Mandated by Health Care Reform
"Employers will find that complying with these new rules will be cumbersome, particularly for their self-insured plans. The regulations are just in proposed form, and there are lots of details that still need to be resolved." (Nixon Peabody LLP)

[Guidance Overview]
Waiver Deadline for Non-Exempt HRAs: Immediate Action Required
"Employers that sponsor self-insured mini-med reimbursement arrangements, health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs), and certain types of health flexible spending accounts (health FSAs) may need to take action by September 22, 2011." (Hodgson Russ LLP)

[Guidance Overview]
Health Reimbursement Arrangements: HHS Creates New Waiver Exemption
"This guidance gives employers some comfort that most HRAs in existence before September 23, 2010, will continue to be viable options until at least 2014." (Sherman & Howard L.L.C.)

Treasury/IRS Seek Public Input on Certain Employer Provisions of the Affordable Care Act
"Notice 2011–73 . . . solicits public input and comment on a proposed safe harbor, designed to make it easier for employers to determine whether the health coverage they offer is affordable. To that end, Treasury and IRS expect to propose a safe harbor permitting employers that offer coverage to their employees to measure the affordability of that coverage by using wages that the employer paid to an employee, instead of the employee's household income. This contemplated safe harbor would only apply for purposes of the employer shared responsibility provision, and would not affect employees' eligibility for health insurance premium tax credits." (U.S. Internal Revenue Service)

IRS Proposes Safe Harbor for Health Care Plan Affordability Test
"A new Internal Revenue Service proposal would make it easier for employers to determine if their health care plans are 'affordable' and exempt from a stiff financial penalty mandated by the health care reform law." (Business Insurance)

Recent 9th Circuit Decision on Same-S.ex Domestic Partner Health Benefits in Arizona More Narrow than Reported
"Following the announcement of the decision, several media reports incorrectly suggested that: The Ninth Circuit had recognized a constitutional right to healthcare for g.ay and les.bian domestic partners; Same-s.ex partners of all workers in Arizona were entitled to healthcare benefits; and The Arizona law at the heart of the controversy had been blocked from the books." (Littler Mendelson P.C.)

How Will PPACA Affect Consumer-Driven Health Care?
"In addition to detailing the PPACA-related changes to HSAs, FSAs and HRAs, [the author] includes updates on deductibles, out-of-pocket costs and tax-related information." (Council for Affordable Health Insurance)

Lost-Time Programs Appear Stable In Poor Economy
"'Research repeatedly has shown that the full costs of health—including absence, disability, employee performance and lost productivity—can often be greater than medical and pharmacy costs combined. Employers need to carefully consider these broader issues in decisions about exiting the health care system.'" (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business / CCH)

Health Insurance Plans' Innovative Initiatives to Combat Cardiovascular Disease
"A concerted focus on four interventions called the ABCS: Aspirin use, Blood pressure control, Cholesterol control and Smoking cessation, could save hundreds of thousands of lives a year. The profiles in this report provide a sample of some of the innovative trends in health plan initiatives to fight heart disease through incorporating the ABCS." (America's Health Insurance Plans)

Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2010 (PDF)
"The number of people without health insurance increased between 2009 and 2010, while the 2010 uninsured rate was not statistically different from the 2009 uninsured rate." (U.S. Census Bureau)

ML Strategies Health Care Reform Update (PDF)
Read this week's update on health care reform legislation, regulations, and initiatives. (ML Strategies, LLC)

2010 Marks Another Year of Decline for Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Coverage
"As most Americans, particularly those under age 65, rely on health insurance through the workplace, these unemployment trends make it no surprise that employer-sponsored health insurance continued to fall from 2009 to 2010." (Economic Policy Institute)

The ABCs of Workplace Flexibility
"In honor of National Work and Family Month, the Life Meets Work team collaborated to create the following ABCs of Workplace Flexibility." (TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.)

Role of Consumer-Controlled Personal Health Management Systems in Evolution of Employer-Based Health Care Benefits
"Consumer-controlled personal health management systems (HMSs) are a class of tools that provide encouragement, data, and decision support to individuals. Their functionalities fall into the following three categories: health information management, promotion of wellness and healthy lifestyles, and decision support." (RAND)

[Opinion]
Why Obamacare's a Legal Loser: Virginia Court Ruling Says Nothing about Law's Constitutionality
"Contrary to the headlines, the 4th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals did not 'uphold' the constitutionality of the Obama health law's mandatory insurance provision last week. The court dismissed the Virginia challenge for technical reasons but made a point of saying that the health law raises important constitutional questions that should be decided by the court on another day." (NYDailyNews.com)

Benefits in General; Executive Compensation

[Official Guidance]
Text of IRS Notice 2011–72 on the Tax Treatment of Employer-Provided Cell Phones (PDF)
"This notice provides guidance on the tax treatment of cellular telephones or other similar telecommunications equipment (hereinafter collectively 'cell phones') that employers provide to their employees primarily for noncompensatory business purposes." (U.S. Internal Revenue Service via BenefitsLink.com)

[Guidance Overview]
IRS Notice 2011–72 Brings End to Issue of the Taxation of Employer-Provided Cell Phones
"On September 14, 2011, the IRS issued long awaited guidance on the tax treatment of cellular phones or other similar telecommunication equipment that employers provide to their employees primarily for noncompensatory business reasons. In Notice 2011-72 the IRS announced that if the cell phone is provided primarily for noncompensatory business reasons, the substantiation rules necessary to exclude the value of the use of the cell phone as a working condition fringe benefit will be deemed satisfied and any personal use of the cell phone will be deemed excludable as a de minimis fringe benefit." (Miller & Chevalier Chartered)

[Guidance Overview]
Appeal Court Reverses Lower-Court Ruling Denying Former Employee Plan Benefits
"The [court] reversed a ruling that allowed John Young, a trade[r] at Merrill Lynch & Co. to be awarded the firm's 'Long-Term Incentive Compensation Plan for Managers and Producers (Plan) after he resigned from the firm." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

[Guidance Overview]
SEC Continues to Use Sarbanes-Oxley to Claw Back Incentive Compensation
"it is more important than ever that CEOs and CFOs, as well as other executive officers, set an appropriate tone at the top of their organizations, regularly evaluate the appropriateness and effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures, and work effectively with the company's internal audit function and independent registered public accounting firm." (Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati)

States Erode Power of Public-Sector Unions
"A law requiring Michigan public workers to contribute 3 percent of their pay to a retirement-healthcare fund was invalidated by an appeals court, but state efforts to decrease the benefits and compensation of union workers—as well as their right to collectively bargain—continue to increase." (Human Resource Executive Online)

Comparing Compensation: State-Local Versus Private Sector Workers (PDF)
"This brief examines whether benefits close the wage gap between public and private sector workers. The analysis found that the compensation of state-local and private sector workers is similar." (Center for State and Local Government Excellence)

Men and Work-Life Integration: A Global Study
"A quarter century after its emergence and a decade after the business case was established, the work-life field is challenged to understand the barriers that persist in preventing both employees (especially men) from fully utilizing work-life options, and managers (often men) from fully supporting them." (WorldatWork)

Press Releases

PBGC Gives Premium-Related Relief to Pension Sponsors
(Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC))

IRS Issues Guidance on Tax Treatment of Cell Phones; Provides Small Business Recordkeeping Relief
(Internal Revenue Service (IRS))

Proposed Tax Changes to Retirement Savings Would Have Big Impact on Workers
(Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI))

Financial Finesse Releases New Study on the State of U.S. Employees’ Retirement Preparedness
(Financial Finesse)

Employer-sponsored Retirement Plans Play Vital Role in Ensuring National, Personal Financial Security
(American Benefits Council)

Pension Rights Center to Lawmakers: "Changes to Retirement Plan Tax Breaks Should Address the Retirement Income Deficit, not the Budget Deficit"
(Pension Rights Center)

HR360 Releases 2011 Employee Benefit Plan Compliance Calendar
(HR360, Inc.)



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