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November 4, 2011 Get Retirement News  |  Advertise  |  Unsubscribe  |  Past Issues  |  Search

Employee Benefits Jobs

Retirement Plan Administrator
for Matthews Benefit Group, Inc in FL

Client Relationship Manager - Western Region
for Transamerica in AZ, CA, NV, OR, WA

Client Services Manager (Health & Welfare)
for TRI-AD in CA

Pension Administrator
for Cornerstone Group in RI

Fixed Income Business Analyst
for Prudential in NJ

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Webcasts and Conferences

"The New Form 8955-SSA: Who, What, When, and How" Web Seminar
Nationwide on December 6, 2011 presented by SunGard Relius

NTSAA 403(b) Advisor Summit
in Nevada on February 8, 2012 presented by American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA)

Participant Fee Disclosure - Ready or Not, Here It Comes! Webcast
Nationwide on December 1, 2011 presented by American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA)

Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program Webinar
Nationwide on November 29, 2011 presented by U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program Workshop
in California on November 16, 2011 presented by U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

Which Benefits Are Exempt From Which Health Care Reform Rules? Answering Your Questions About “Excepted Benefits”
Nationwide on December 1, 2011 presented by Thomson Reuters / EBIA


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[Guidance Overview]
MEWA Participating Employer Cannot Offset Contribution Overpayments
"A multiemployer welfare fund has won summary judgment in [an Eastern District of Missouri federal court] suit claiming a participating employer offset contributions by past overpayments in violation of [ERISA]." (PLANSPONSOR.com)


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.


Estimated Premium Impacts of Annual Fees Assessed on Health Insurance Plans (PDF)
17 pages; Oct. 31, 2011. 'One significant provision of the Affordable Care Act . . . is the imposition of fees on health insurance providers offering fully insured coverage beginning in 2014. . . . This report quantifies the impact . . . on private and public sector coverage." (Oliver Wyman)

The New Wave of Innovation: How the Health Care System Is Reforming (PDF)
"[M]any hospitals, physicians, employers, insurers, and states are also anticipating the changes ahead [of the Affordable Care Act's effective dates] and preparing for them now, and discovering new ways to improve access and quality, and control rising health care costs as they do." (Columbia Journalism Review via Commonwealth Fund)

Accountable Care Organizations in Medicare and the Private Sector: A Status Update
"[T]his paper provides an overview of ACOs, the key complaints about CMS' proposed regulations and their resolution in the final regulations, and the status of adoption of this new model for delivering health care by both Medicare and private health insurance plans." (Urban Institute)

2012 Medicare Premiums, Deductibles and Coinsurance
"The standard monthly Part B premium and deductible will both decrease by just over 13 percent. This is a dramatic change from between 2010 and 2011 when they both increased by slightly more than 4 percent . . . ." (The Segal Company)

Will The Supreme Court Carve Up Obamacare?
"Administration officials, along with insurance companies, insist that removing the mandate would undermine other provisions, including a requirement that insurers issue a policy to anyone who applies and a ban on higher premiums for people with preexisting conditions. Without the premiums of healthy people, insurers would raise their prices as more high-cost patients enrolled . . . ." (Businessweek)

Insurers Seek to Avoid 'Worst of All Worlds' in Supreme Court Health Care Case
"If the justices agree with the lower court and strip out the mandate, 'that would be the worst of all worlds for insurers,' says Paul Heldman, a health policy analyst with Potomac Research Group in Washington. 'You've got to have some way to ensure that healthy people are going to sign up for coverage to offset the cost of sicker people.'" (Bloomberg.com)

Health Insurers Plan to Pass Along New Tax to Patients
"Health insurers are not pulling any punches. They say they plan to pass new taxes under the 2010 health reform law directly to consumers through higher premiums." (NationalJournal.com)

Weighing Options When Trimming $2.6 Tril.lion in Annual Health Care Costs, When $26 Bil.lion Saves Just One Percent
"Last year, health insurance companies did rack up big profits, but it turns out that the combined profits of the country's five largest for-profit health insurance companies — United, WellPoint, Aetna, Humana and Cigna — were $11.7 bil.lion, only 0.5 percent of total health care spending." (Ezekiel J. Emanuel in the New York Times; free registration required)

Insurance Penalties for Smokers Draw Wide Support
"A solid majority — 59 percent — say that smokers should pay more for health insurance than nonsmokers. Nearly three-quarters of people in households with annual income of $100,000 or more a year say smokers should pay more." (National Public Radio)

Benefits in General; Executive Compensation

[Guidance Overview]
Considerations for Employers in Light of Evolving Same-S.ex Partner Rights and Prohibitions Against Se.xual Orientation Discrimination (PDF)
Includes Consideration for Employment Law Policies, Family and Medical Leave Inclusion Act, Bereavement and Funeral Leave, Health & Welfare Benefits, Retirement Benefits, and Considerations in the Collective Bargaining Process. (Epstein Becker Green via Employee Benefit Plan Review)

[Guidance Overview]
Milliman's Monthly Benefit News and Developments, November 2011 (PDF)
Highlights of recent legislative activity; regulatory round-up. (Milliman)

Michigan State House Approves Changes to Retirement Plans for State Employees
"[T]he Republican-controlled State House approved sweeping changes to retirement plans for state employees Thursday, including, effective Jan. 1, an end to guaranteed retiree health care for new employees." (Detroit Free Press)

Press Releases



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