Benefit Services Specialist
for Northwestern Benefit Corporation of Georgia in GA

Account Manager
for National Retirement Services, Inc. in CA

Account Relationship Manager
for Beneco in AZ

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"Advanced Plan Design Workshop 2011" - A 3-part Web Seminar
Nationwide on November 14, 2011 presented by SunGard Relius

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

Section 105(h) Nondiscrimination Testing Demystified Webcast
Nationwide on November 17, 2011 presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans

New Paid Sick Leave Law for Some Philadelphia Employers
"The ordinance, effective July 1, 2012, amends the Philadelphia 21st Century Minimum Wage and Benefits Standard by requiring certain entities providing services to, or receiving financial aid from, the City of Philadelphia to provide paid sick leave to their full-time, non-temporary, non-seasonal employees." (Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP)

Upcoming Webcast: Section 105(h) Nondiscrimination Testing Demystified   [Advert.]

Health care reform has placed new emphasis on nondiscrimination rules. This upcoming International Foundation Webcast will address the regulations and some of the easiest ways to comply with the rules. Register now for this November 17 Webcast.

Wisconsin Adopts Federal Tax Treatment of Health Insurance for Adult Children
"Employers who have already imputed the income associated with the value of health insurance coverage for adult children under the 'old rules' and withheld corresponding Wisconsin income taxes may wish to change their withholding approach for the remainder of 2011." (Quarles & Brady LLP)

Mandated Health Insurance Coverage for Autism to Become Effective in New York State
The law is effective with respect to health insurance policies issued or renewed on or after November 1, 2012. (AP via Wall Street Journal)

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Rules Health Insurance Mandate is Constitutional
"News outlets are covering the appeals court decision in the Susan Seven-Sky vs. Holder challenge to the health law. The judges split two-to-one, with Reagan and Carter appointees in the majority and a George W. Bush appointee dissenting." (Kaiser Health News)

Healthcare Law Gets Boost from Federal Court
"Many observers believed the three-judge panel of the D.C. circuit, which includes two Republican appointees, would reverse the lower court and back the challenge to the law." (Los Angeles Times)

Health Care Shared Responsibility's Missing Link: Reconciliation with the Employer
"Proposed regulations regarding premium tax credits and Notices 2011-36 and 2011-73 regarding shared responsibility for employers spotlight a missing [link]: reconciliation with the employer." (Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP)

Governments Reap Benefits of Early Retiree Reimbursement Program
"[The Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight] approved more than $2.7 bil.lion in reimbursements to plan sponsors for eligible health costs for early retirees. This represents nearly 54% of the $5 bil.lion appropriated for the program. The largest share — approximately 46% — of the $2.7 bil.lion in ERRP reimbursements approved as of June 30, 2011, went to government entities. . . . In general, this distribution of reimbursements is consistent with the provision of retiree health benefits in the marketplace." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business / CCH)

Public Employers Search for Health Care Savings
"Fiscal conservatives say cities and local governments, suffering from a collapse in revenues from the recession that began in 2007, should cut spending on their employees. Conversely, public employees say one of the few upsides of working in the lower-paying public sector is that they are assured of benefits, such as healthcare." (Reuters)

Ohio Voters Say No to Mandatory Health Insurance Coverage
"Ohio voters [on Tuesday Nov. 8] overwhelmingly approved a state constitutional amendment voicing their displeasure with a federal law requiring most Americans to buy health insurance by 2014 or face fines." (The Columbus Dispatch)

Walmart Wants to Be Nation's Biggest Primary Care Provider
"In the same week in late October that Walmart announced it would stop offering health insurance benefits to new part-time employees, the retailer sent out a request for information seeking partners to help it 'dramatically ... lower the cost of healthcare ... by becoming the largest provider of primary healthcare services in the nation.'" (Kaiser Health News)

Insurance Industry Fights to Stop Autism Mandates Despite Mandate Passage
"The [new New York state] law could save families with autistic children as much as $50,000 per year, and schools and governments $13 mil.lion in special education and other expenses, but the cost will be passed onto employers and policyholders." (Employee Benefit News)

HHS Office for Civil Rights Announces Pilot Audit Program on HIPAA Security Rules
"[The HITECH Act] requires HHS to provide for periodic audits to ensure covered entities and business associates are complying with the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules and Breach Notification standards. To implement this mandate, OCR is piloting a program to perform up to 150 audits of covered entities to assess privacy and security compliance." (ERISAdiagnostics, Inc.)

Text of IRS Rev. Rul. 2011-29: Deductibility by Accrual-Basis Employers of Bonuses to Group of Employees When Allocations Not Yet Determined at Year-End (PDF)
"An employer can establish the 'fact of the liability' under section 461 for bonuses payable to a group of employees even though the employer does not know the identity of any particular bonus recipient and the amount payable to that recipient until after the end of the taxable year. . . Any change in a taxpayer's treatment of bonuses to conform with this revenue ruling is a change in method of accounting that must be made in accordance with sections 446 and 481, the regulations thereunder, and the applicable administrative procedures." (U.S. Internal Revenue Service)

Brown's Pension Overhaul Plan Draws Praise, Doubt from Analyst
"Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal to alter public pension benefits is courageous but legally dicey, and key pieces of it have not been fully developed, according to a new report from California's nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office." (Los Angeles Times)

Public Pension and Retiree Health Benefits: An Initial Response to California Governor's Proposal (PDF)
"In the short run, the hard truth is that state and local pension and retiree health contributions generally will have to increase — in some cases, substantially — to fund liabilities already accrued and earned by current and past employees. . . . Transitioning employees to hybrid or defined contribution plans . . . may result in a decrease in some systems' investment returns, thereby increasing employer costs in the near term. By enacting reductions in the retirement costs for future public employees, however, the Legislature can realize major long-run savings and also help 'soften the blow' of such near-term cost increases." (California Legislative Analyst's Office)

Voters in Ohio Reject Proposed Limits on Public Sector Employee Bargaining
"[On Tuesday Nov. 8, Ohio] voters repealed a new Republican-pushed law restricting the collective-bargaining rights of teachers, firefighters, police and other public workers." (USA TODAY)

Public School Teachers Aren't Underpaid
"[T]he evidence shows that public school teachers' total compensation amounts to roughly $1.50 for every $1 that their skills could garner in a private sector job. . . . While salaries are about even, fringe benefits push teacher compensation well ahead of comparable employees in the private economy. The trouble is that many of these benefits are hidden, meaning that lawmakers, taxpayers and even teachers themselves are sometimes unaware of them." (The Wall Street Journal)

Tax Reform Proposals Likely to Reduce 401(k) Account Balances
(Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI))

Lincoln Trust Purchase of Fringe Benefit Administrators Improves Economies of Scale and Expands Plan Offerings
(Lincoln Trust Company)

Diversified Ranks as the #1 Recordkeeper in 401(k) Plan Sponsor Satisfaction
(Diversified)