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October 5, 2011 Get Retirement News  |  Advertise  |  Unsubscribe  |  Past Issues  |  Search

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Employee Benefits Jobs

Education Consultant
for AXA Equitable in FL, TX

DC/DB Administrator
for NICHOLAS PENSION CONSULTANTS in CA

Senior Business/Technical Analyst
for Enterprise Iron Financial in ANY STATE

Client Relationship Manager
for 24 Hour Flex (a division of RPS Plan Administrators) in CO

Communications Writer/Designer
for UNITE HERE HEALTH in IL

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Webcasts and Conferences

2011 "Best Practices" Conference
in Massachusetts on December 8, 2011 presented by New England Employee Benefits Council

Countdown to Year End - What You Need to Do to Keep Your Plans in Compliance
Nationwide on October 25, 2011 presented by ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits


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[Guidance Overview]
Appeals Process Guidelines Issued under Early Retiree Reinsurance Program
"[E]mployers may appeal adverse reimbursement determinations [including] complete or partial denials of reimbursement requests; whether an individual listed by the employer as an early retiree for purposes of ERRP reimbursement actually meets the substantive criteria for that classification; whether a given diagnosis, procedure or other code . . . is acceptable . . . [and more]." (Practical Law Company)


Earn your CEBS (Certified Employee Benefit Specialist) Designation   [Advert.]

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[Guidance Overview]
Medicare Part D Notices Must be Distributed by October 15
"The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has posted revised model notices on its website, which reflects the new dates. CMS has not made any other changes to the notices.' (Snell & Wilmer L.L.P.)

[Guidance Overview]
Updated Version of IRS Form 8928 and Instructions
"To help keep excise tax risks to a minimum, cautious plan sponsors (and others who may be liable) should follow an approach to compliance designed not only to prevent errors but also to catch and correct mistakes that may occur." (Thomson Reuters/EBIA)

[Guidance Overview]
Seattle Paid Sick Time and Paid Safe Time Ordinance Adopted
"Minimum leave accruals vary by employer size and are based on an employee's hours worked. Employers may impose caps on an employee's usage and year-end carry over of accrued paid time, which vary depending on the employer's size. . . . The accrual rates and caps under the ordinance are [outlined in a chart]." (Littler Mendelson P.C.)

Opposition Mounts to Merger of Pharmacy Benefit Managers
"Opponents continue to protest—most recently at a U.S. House subcommittee hearing—that the merger of two of the three largest pharmacy-benefits managers would reduce consumer choice, increase costs and decrease overall satisfaction. The outlook for approval looks positive, however." (Human Resource Executive Online)

House to Consider Trade Measure Including Federal Health Premium Subsidies
"The House of Representatives next week is expected to consider Senate-approved trade legislation that includes a boost to federal health insurance premium subsidies for employees who lose their jobs due to foreign competition and older retirees in failed pension plans." (Business Insurance)

Top Five Unnecessary Health Care Costs
"What did the researchers say was the No. 1 most over-used activity by primary care physicians? Prescribing a brand-name cholesterol-lowering drug without trying a less expensive generic first, according to the research posted on-line by the Archives of Internal Medicine." (The Wall Street Journal)

Will San Francisco Mayor Veto Legislation That Helps Workers and Protects Consumers?
"After the Board of Supervisors . . . to bar San Francisco businesses from pocketing money they and their patrons set aside for employee health care, Mayor Ed Lee faces a tough but telling choice: Whether to heed business community demands that he veto legislation that has wide labor and consumer support." (San Francisco Bay Guardian Online)

Video/Transcript: Forecasting What 'Essential Benefits' Recommendations Influential Panel Will Make
"Jackie Judd talks . . . about recommendations an Institute of Medicine panel will make to help [HHS] determine just what 'essential benefits' insurers will have to cover in health law-mandated marketplaces." (The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)

What Factors Affect the Future of Class: The Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act
"[HHS] has promised to release in mid-October a detailed analysis of what can be done to shore up the program's financial structure, based on a review of legal and actuarial reports." (The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)

Wages Hit by Rise in Cost of Health Benefits
"Economists agree that, over the long term, money that would have gone toward higher wages has gone toward the cost of providing health benefits." (Journal Sentinel Inc.)

Surveys Find Health Care Premiums Have Substantially Increased, but Rate of Increase will Decelerate in 2012
"According to Mercer, the cost increase slowdown may be attributed to an overall decrease in the use of health services by employees. Mercer reports that some analysts believe the economic downturn in conjunction with generally higher deductibles and other forms of cost-sharing lead to less disposable income to use for non-urgent health services. Alternatively, the decrease in health care utilization may be the result of programs and services aimed at improving health." (Littler Mendelson P.C.)

Companies Turning to Technology to Help Keep Workers Well
"Consultant Limeade Inc. of Bellevue, Washington, provides social media-based wellness programs that allow employees to engage in healthy activities, take quizzes about health conditions such as diabetes or about nutritional food choices, and participate in challenges, including committing to eat five vegetables daily." (Workplace Management: free registration required)

Communicating with Employees about Preventive Services: Tips and Techniques (PDF)
"This [paper] outlines the current rates of select preventive services and recommends ways employers can enhance communications about preventive services in order to improve employee uptake." (National Business Group on Health)

Benefits in General; Executive Compensation

[Guidance Overview]
Tax-Free Treatment of Cell Phones all Without the Burdensome Recordkeeping
"Employers and employees should note, however, that cell phones and personal cell phone use that is not primarily for business purposes remains taxable." (Verrill Dana, LLP)

Adverse Tax Consequences for Certain Executives Covered by NDCPs as Result of DB Plan Funding Status
"Companies that sponsor nonqualified deferred compensation plans with associated rabbi trusts should identify the qualified pension plans within their control group and be aware of such plans' funded status. In addition, companies should review their nonqualified deferred compensation plans, rabbi trust agreements, and agreements with third-party service providers to determine how the funding restrictions could impact their deferred compensation plan administration." (Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP)

IRS Publishes Rules on Business Expenses
"The [IRS] has issued Revenue Procedure 2011–47 which provides rules for employees, volunteers, and partners who are reimbursed for lodging, meals, and incidental expenses, or meals and incidental expenses only, while traveling away from home." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

Comparing Wealth in Retirement: State-Local Versus Private Sector Workers
"The question of comparability of compensation in the state-local and private sectors was the focus of a recent Issue in Brief. The conclusion was that wages for workers with similar characteristics, education, and experience were higher in the private sector than the public, but benefits for state-local workers roughly offset the wage penalty." (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)

Benefits Managers Move from Traditional to Innovative Communication Strategies
"She proposed three things HR managers and employers can do to help their employees understand their benefits: . . . Put your benefits information online, outside your firewall." (Employee Benefit News)

Press Releases



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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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