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

Employee Benefits Jobs

Senior Benefits Specialist - Retirement - Phoenix, AZ-1104305
for Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold in AZ

Institutional Trust Sales Representative (New York, NY)
for BMO Harris Bank in CT, MA, ME, NH, NY, RI, VT

New Business Specialist
for BeneTrends, Inc. in PA

401K/Pension Clerk
for Benefit & Risk Management Services in CA

Disability Claims Examiner
for Prudential in AZ

Senior Business Analyst
for Tegrit Technologies in MI

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Webcasts and Conferences

"ERISA Workshop 2011" - Boston
in Massachusetts on November 3, 2011 presented by SunGard Relius

"ERISA Workshop 2011" - New Orleans
in Louisiana on November 3, 2011 presented by SunGard Relius

"ERISA Workshop 2011" - Syracuse
in New York on November 4, 2011 presented by SunGard Relius

Are You Aware that Patient Centered Medical Home Can Lower Overall Health Care Costs? Webcast
Nationwide on October 27, 2011 presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans

Capitol Hill Briefing: Important New Research Findings Indicate a "Rising Tide" of Contributions Facing Defined Benefit Pensions
in District of Columbia on October 11, 2011 presented by American Academy of Actuaries


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[Guidance Overview]
Medicare Part D Notice Deadline for Employer Plans: October 15
"In prior years, the annual notice deadline was November 15. However, changes in the law require that these notices now be issued before October 15. This Client Advisory will explain the steps employers should take to meet these new requirements." (Sherman & Howard L.L.C.)


American Health Care Congress and Exhibition   [Advert.]

Sponsored by World Congress

Bringing together the health care community to discuss strategies aimed at more efficient and effective operation of our health system post-reform. December 5-6, 2011, Anaheim, CA.


[Guidance Overview]
CMS Raises Threshold for Medicare Secondary Payer Reporting of HRA Coverage, Reverses Position on Termination Notice
"[T]he reporting threshold for all new or renewing HRA coverage will increase to $5,000 effective October 3, 2011. As a result, no reporting will be required for new or renewing HRA coverage if the annual benefit is under $5,000. However, the old ($1,000) threshold should be used for existing coverage until the employer's HRA benefit period is renewed." (Thomson Reuters/EBIA)

Health Care Brokerage and the ACA: Perspectives on Health Care from the ABA's HSA Council (PDF)
"The health care reform laws signed by President Obama will likely have a modest impact on consumer-driven health plans and their associated health care accounts (i.e., FSAs, HRAs, and HSAs)[.]" (American Bankers Association)

Safe Workplace Successes Can Lead to Well Workplace
"Mid-market employers that successfully drive down workers compensation premiums through safety programs can be just as successful in lowering health care costs through wellness programs, although the payback likely will take more time, experts say." (Business Insurance)

Employee Health Risks May Be Identified by Predictive Modeling
"Predictive modeling techniques used by health researchers to measure the likelihood of certain diseases or the effectiveness of wellness interventions eventually could be adapted to create an 'H-mod' for group health insurance similar to the 'ex-mod' that workers compensation insurers use to calculate workers compensation premiums." (Business Insurance)

Federal Preemption Cases on Upcoming Supreme Court Docket
"The high court also agreed last week to determine the amount of weekly disability benefits employers are liable for under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act. Under the federal law, compensation for disabled maritime workers is capped at twice the fiscal year's national average weekly wage as determined by the U.S. Secretary of Labor." (Business Insurance)

Vermont Edges toward Single Payer Health Care
"Proposed by the governor and passed by the Democratic-controlled legislature, the new program will replace the traditional insurance plans currently used in the state and the traditional fee-for-service reimbursements, giving the state a system different from its 49 counterparts and more like its neighbor to the north, (Can.ada)." (The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)

Increased Concentration of Health Plan Markets Can Benefit Consumers Through Lower Hospital Prices
"The long-term trend of consolidation among US health plans has raised providers' concerns that the concentration of health plan markets can depress their prices. Although our study confirmed that, it also revealed a more complex picture." (Health Affairs via RAND Corporation)

Consumers May Have More Control over Health Care Costs Than Previously Thought
"The historic RAND Health Insurance Experiment found that patients had little or no control over their health care spending once they began to receive a physician's care, but a new study shows that this has changed for those enrolled in consumer-directed health plans." (RAND Corporation)

Health Insurance for Active and Retired City Employees: Asheville, Denver, and Oklahoma City (PDF)
"Although all three cities offer retiree health care benefits and require retirees who are eligible for Medicare to enroll, only one city has begun to prefund retiree health obligations. The other two cities pay for retiree health on a pay-as-you-go basis, typical of American local governments." (Center for State and Local Government Excellence)

The Money Flow from Households to Health Care Providers
"[A chart] illustrates that the flow of money through health care in the United States is complicated, with many detours on the way from households, which ultimately pay for all of the nation's health care, to providers. Along the way are a number of pumping stations, employers among them." (The New York Times; free registration required)

New Survey Projects Higher Employee Health Premiums
"As companies struggle to control costs in a tough economy, the 2012 annual employee premiums are expected to jump on average 10.6 percent, to $2,306." (The New York Times; free registration required)

Few Employers Understand Specialty Pharmacy, According to Survey
"A national survey released . . . by the nonprofit Midwest Business Group on Health . . ., found that 25% of employers have little or no understanding of specialty pharmacy and 53% have only a moderate understanding." (Business Insurance)

U.S. Health Benefits Coverage Recommendations Coming October 7
"The Institute of Medicine, one of the national academies of science that advises U.S. policymakers, was tasked with recommending how U.S. health regulators should determine the basic health benefits for millions of Americans who will qualify for coverage sold through state-based insurance exchanges beginning in 2014." (Reuters via Business Insurance)

Data and Analytics Key for Effective Health Benefits Management
"The communication and engagement of health data to employees is vital because 'employees trust their employer much more than a health plan,' . . . ." (Business Insurance)

Reward and Risk: A Targeted Approach to Incentives for Health Management Programs
"Why don't employees participate in their employer's health and wellness programs, despite the widespread availability? What is the ideal incentive that will target members with precision and motivate them to choose better health? This white paper will discuss a proven approach to incentive programs which helps employers achieve high engagement in health management programs and significantly cut healthcare costs." (Carewise Health, Inc.; Free registration required to download white paper)

Pregnancy, Employers and the Law
"Most working women will become pregnant one or more times during their career. California's Fair Employment and Housing Act includes Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL) of up to four months unpaid leave and job protection for employees who are disabled due to pregnancy-related conditions. This includes time off needed for prenatal care, severe morning sickness, doctor-ordered bed rest, childbirth, recovery from childbirth or any pregnancy-related medical condition. The provisions apply to employers with five or more employees." (The Monterey County Herald)

Benefits in General; Executive Compensation

[Guidance Overview]
Presentation: Correcting 409A Failures with and without the IRS Formal Correction Programs (PDF)
"Notice 2008–113 . . . sets forth the IRS's program for correcting inadvertent operational (but not documentary) failures with reduced penalties. An employer correcting failures under 2008-113 will reduce penalties to zero in some cases, or a reduced penalty amount in others." (Ivins, Phillips & Barker)

[Guidance Overview]
Ricoh Hit with Class Action Suit over Unpaid Worker Expenses
"[A former executive] alleges Ricoh violated numerous provisions of California's labor code by failing to pay for expenses incurred on the job over a course of at least four years, including the cost of using personal vehicles for company business, parking expenses, and the use of personal mobile phones for business purposes . . . ." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

[Guidance Overview]
FASB's Accounting Standard on Disclosures for Employers that Contribute to Multiemployer Plans
"The updated disclosures will be required for fiscal years ending after December 15, 2011 for 'public entities' (publicly held companies) and for fiscal years ending after December 15, 2012 for 'non-public entities' (privately held companies). Early adoption is permitted." (The Segal Group, Inc.)

Documents for Company Plans that May Be Subject to ERISA Should Have Claims Procedures
"In Quigley v. Citigroup Supplemental Plan, 51 EBC 1065 (S.D.N.Y. 2011), the court held that 47 former employees must exhaust their administrative remedies before they can pursue their action/litigation alleging that their employer had short-paid their benefits under a supplemental executive retirement plan." (Michael S. Melbinger via Winston & Strawn LLP)

Employee Benefits Developments, September 2011
Various rulings, opinions, and cases are summarized. (Hodgson Russ LLP)

Accounting for the Cost of a Public Sector Worker in New Jersey (PDF)
"Much of the debate over the growing size of pensions relative to budgets has focused on whether public sector compensation costs are fair either in comparison to other municipalities or to the private sector. But this fairness debate, while important, obscures a more technical and far more fundamental question: why does the bill for public employee benefits appear to be a surprise to governments, beneficiaries, and taxpayers?" (Mercatus Center, George Mason University)

Press Releases



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