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BenefitsLink Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter
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Cost-Controlled 'Global Payment' Health Plans Gain Ground
"In just three years, a new way of paying for medical care has spread rapidly across Massachusetts, and now more than 1.2 mil.lion people are covered by plans that put providers on a budget in an effort to restrain health spending. This means that about one in five Massachusetts residents are being treated by doctors working under these new cost-conscious arrangements, a Globe survey of insurers found . . . ."
(The Boston Globe)
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Saving Company Retiree Health Plans
"Bankrup.tcy judges usually let companies terminate such plans, figuring the move will make it more likely that creditors will be paid and that the company's chances of turning itself around will be enhanced if it can shed millions or even billions of dollars in retiree obligations at the stroke of a pen. Retirees, who are unsecured creditors, always are vulnerable."
(The Wall Street Journal)
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[Opinion]
The Quiet Triumph of Obama Care
"[E]vidence is emerging that the ACA is already improving life for millions of average Americans. It is promoting long-overdue fundamental changes in our dysfunctional medical system. Moreover, because those reforms are starting to directly address heightened economic insecurities of average families — the personal financial conditions that will largely determine this year's election outcomes . . . ."
(Washington Monthly)
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[Opinion]
The End of Health Insurance Companies
"Here's a bold prediction for the new year. By 2020, the American health insurance industry will be extinct. Insurance companies will be replaced by accountable care organizations — groups of doctors, hospitals and other health care providers who come together to provide the full range of medical care for patients."
(The New York Times; free registration required)
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Benefits in General; Executive Compensation
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[Official Guidance]
Second Quarter Update to the 2011–2012 IRS Priority Guidance Plan (PDF)
"The second quarter update to the 2011–2012 plan reflects 14 additional projects that have become priorities and/or guidance we have published during the period from October 1, 2011 through December 31, 2011 of the plan year. In addition, the update reflects one project we have closed without publication because the statute was subsequently repealed."
(U.S. Internal Revenue Service)
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[Guidance Overview]
Reminder of ISO and ESPP Reporting Deadlines
"This is a reminder to companies issuing incentive stock options and sponsoring employee stock purchase plans about the January 31 deadline to report certain information to participants and the February 28 deadline to file returns with the IRS."
(McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP)
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Negotiating Executive Employment Agreements: Compensation and Benefits (PDF)
"The terms of an executive employment agreement, including the types of compensation and benefits included in the agreement, can have significant tax and securities consequences for the employer. In addition, under certain circumstances, the employer must publicly disclose the employment agreement, which may subject the employer to scrutiny."
(Practical Law Publishing Limited and Practical Law Company, Inc. via Proskauer Rose LLP)
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FUTA Reminders for 2012
"The taxable wage base under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act remains $7,000 for 2012. In addition, all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, have received certifications for the maximum additional credit allowable based on the 12-month period ending on October 31, 2011."
(Wolters Kluwer Law & Business / CCH)
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Comparing the Compensation of Federal and Private-Sector Employees
"Employees of the federal government and the private sector differ in ways that can affect compensation. Federal workers tend to be older, more educated, and more concentrated in professional occupations than private-sector workers."
(U.S. Congressional Budget Office)
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Union Membership, 2011
"In 2011, 7.6 mil.lion employees in the public sector belonged to a union, compared with 7.2 mil.lion union workers in the private sector. The union membership rate for public-sector workers (37.0 percent) was substantially higher than the rate for private-sector workers (6.9 percent)."
(U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
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Local Ohio Businesses Keep Employees Happy with Wide Range of Perks
"Companies in the Dayton area work to keep their employees happy, offering benefit packages that include health and disability insurance, 401(k) retirement plans, and paid vacation and holidays. Some businesses take it a step further, showering their staff with luncheons, treats in the break room, and free trips to sporting events and amusement parks."
(Cox Ohio Publishing)
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Press Releases
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Holly Horton, Business Manager
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