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October 13, 2011 Get Retirement News  |  Advertise  |  Unsubscribe  |  Past Issues  |  Search

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Employee Benefits Jobs

401K Administrator
for CPEhr in CA

Health Consultant
for Segal in IL

401(k) Plans Administrator
for Valley Forge Pension Management in PA

Plan Acquisitions & Client Service Specialist
for Martin, Martin, Randall & Associates, Inc. in FL

Director, Business Process Management
for Prudential in NJ

Manager, Disability Claims
for Prudential in ME

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Webcasts and Conferences

An ERISA Foundation: Laying the Groundwork for Successful Fiduciary Oversight
Nationwide on November 3, 2011 presented by Pension Consultants, Inc.

Auditing Eligibility After Health Care Reform: Health Plan Compliance Issues (Including Health FSAs and HRAs)
Nationwide on November 10, 2011 presented by Thomson Reuters / EBIA

Participant Disclosure
Nationwide on December 6, 2011 presented by McKay Hochman Co., Inc.

Retirement Plan Electronic Disclosure Rules
Nationwide on November 30, 2011 presented by McKay Hochman Co., Inc.

The American Retirement Summit
in District of Columbia on November 3, 2011 presented by American Retirement Initiative


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[Guidance Overview]
Uniform Coverage Summaries for Health Insurance Consumers
"This brief explains the proposed federal rule that requires private health plans to provide a short, easy-to-read uniform summary of benefits and coverage to all health insurance applicants and enrollees." (The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)


Webcast: How Can Patient Centered Medical Home Lower Health Care Costs?   [Advert.]

Sponsored by IFEBP (International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)

Attend this International Foundation Webcast on October 27 to learn how Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) can lower hospitalization rates, overall health care costs, as well as improve patient health. Register Now!


Employees Face New Choices and Costs this Open Enrollment Season
"Wells Fargo & Co . . . , one of the largest U.S. employers, plans to cut costs by moving its workers into insurance plans that encourage them to spend less on health care." (The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)

Providers Share Experiences Achieving Meaningful Use, but Challenges Remain
"Providers at the forefront of adopting electronic health record systems and receiving incentive payments for the 'meaningful use' of EHRs have found successes in attesting to required EHR capabilities, but challenges remain, according to testimony submitted Oct. 5-6 to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology's meaningful use workgroup." (The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc.)

The Many Dimensions of Wellness
"As worksite wellness coordinators it is our challenge to integrate education and awareness of the multiple dimensions of wellness into health promotion programming. The physical dimension plays a key role in being well and is definitely the easiest dimension to encourage in a workplace." (Employee Benefit Adviser; free registration required)

HSAs: Health Insurance Plans with a Retirement Kicker
"As opposed to a Flexible Savings Account, there's no use-it-or-lose-it penalty. If you don't tap the [Health Savings Account] or use only a small portion of the balance, the money can be saved for subsequent years as it grows, tax-deferred. That can be a big help, come retirement time." (Bloomberg L.P.)

Business and Health Care Costs
"Hidden away on page 218 of our annual Employer Health Benefits Survey is a table that shows what employers think of the main strategies they have to control health care costs. More specifically, the table shows what the person in the firm responsible for its health benefits thinks, which is whom we survey. The short answer is, employer confidence in their own ability to control costs is not high." (The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)

Sick-Child Day Care Centers Let Parents Go to Work
"The services—including one in a hospital—accept children with sore throats, sniffles, earaches and other minor bugs who normally would be turned away or sent home from day care. Parents can drop off the child rather than stay home and lose a day or more in pay—or risk ticking off the boss." (Sun Sentinel)

Opinions on the Biggest Issues or Challenges Facing the Congressional Super Committee
"Kaiser Health News asked Henry J. Aaron of The Brookings Institution, Nina Owcharenko from The Heritage Foundation and Third Way's David Kendall what they view as the most substantive issue or challenge facing this panel, and what advice they might offer—specifically in regard to health care entitlement programs—to tackle it." (The Kaiser Family Foundation)

IOM Issues Report on Essential Health Benefits under Health Care Reform
"The report further notes that the EHBs should become more fully evidence-based, specific and value-based over time, as research yields more knowledge. Finally, the IOM recommends that HHS establish a National Benefits Council to address how the selection of EHBs should be altered." (Practical Law Company)

Benefits in General; Executive Compensation

Slide Show: Best Practices from Four of Fortune's Best Places to Work
"HR leaders from four of Fortune's 100 Best Places to Work share their tips and strategies on how to foster a productive and happy workforce. Representatives from KPMG, Intel, W. Baird & Co, and Microsoft discussed their company's best practices for work life balance, leveraging social media and corporate transparency." (Employee Benefit News)

Six Innovative Family-Friendly Workplace Practices
"As with using effective work-life practices, there is a definite business case for making your organization more family friendly: among our research sample, we noted that in addition to longer average employee tenures, firms that have this focus earned 49% more revenue in 2010 and were more likely to be profitable as well." (TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.)

Press Releases

MassMutual Rated #1 by Retirement Plan Advisors in 2011 Boston Research Group DCP Satisfaction and Loyalty Study
(MassMutual Retirement Services)

US Labor Department Sues Media, Pa., Company and Benefit Plan Trustees to Restore Assets to 401(k) Plan
(U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA))

US Labor Department Seeks to Recover More than $1.9 Million in Assets of A.B.D. Tank & Pump Co. Retirement Plan Misused by Company Owner
(U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA))

Pasadena, Calif.-Based Beauty Salon Owner Sentenced for Embezzling Nearly $90,000 from Employee 401(k) Plan
(U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA))

ICMA-RC Observes National Save for Retirement Week
(ICMA-RC)

Denver Paid Sick Days Law Would Benefit Employers, Employees, and Community
(Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR))

Vanguard Launches 401(k) Plan Service for Small Businesses
(Vanguard)

John Hancock Financial Network to Launch Cutting-Edge Retirement Income Program
(John Hancock Financial Network)

myStockOptions.com Expands Content On Job Loss To Help Terminated Employees With Equity Awards
(myStockPlan.com, Inc)



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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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