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January 31, 2012 Get Retirement News  |  Advertise  |  Unsubscribe  |  Past Issues  |  Search

Employee Benefits Jobs

Onsite Participant Counselor - Retirement Services
for Diversified in TX

Senior 401(k) Administrator
for Whole Foods Market in TX

Section 125 Compliance Analyst
for Insperity in TX

401(k) Administrator
for Suburban Philadelphia Pension Consulting Firm in PA

Retirement Plan Specialist
for Transamerica in IA, OH

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Webcasts and Conferences

"403(b) Plans: Coverage and Nondiscrimination Testing" Web Seminar
Nationwide on February 23, 2012 presented by SunGard Relius

A New Arrow for the Pension Practitioners Quiver: Pension Risk Transfer Webinar
Nationwide on February 2, 2012 presented by Dietrich & Associates, Inc.


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How Will the Affordable Care Act Affect Small Businesses and Their Employees? (PDF)
"This fact sheet explains the changes that are likely to take place with reform, when they go into effect, and which businesses will be affected." (The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)


Self-Funding and Alternative Models for Health Benefit Financing   [Advert.]

Sponsored by World Congress

As employers struggle with increasing health care costs, rising premiums and instability in the market, explore creative approaches to financing benefits that deliver new opportunities to drive real savings. February 7-9, Washington, DC


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)

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)

The Double-Faceted Nature of Health Investments: Implications for Equilibrium and Stability in a Demand-for-Health Framework
"A number of behaviours influence health in a non-monotonic way. Physical activity and alcohol consumption, for instance, may be beneficial to one's health in moderate but detrimental in large quantities. We develop a demand-for-health framework that incorporates the feature of a physiologically optimal level." (National Bureau of Economic Research; paid subscription or individual purchase required to retrieve fulltext)

[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)

[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)

[Opinion]
Pharmacy Benefit Managers Have Emerged as Vocal Critics of Drug Industry's Reliance on Copay Cards, Coupons, and Other Tools
"The PBMs' leading trade group — the Pharma.ceutical Care Management Association — has taken the position that the practice represents an additional driver of costs to the health care system." (The Institute for HealthCare Consumerism)

Benefits in General; Executive Compensation

[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)

[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)

[Guidance Overview]
Headlines in Employee Benefits Law E-Alert, January 2012 (PDF)
The newsletter covers select compliance deadlines and reminders, and retirement plan, health and welfare plan, and general developments. (Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c.)

Corporate Governance: Proxy Advisory Guidelines and the Shifting Landscape of Benchmarking Executive Compensation
"Last year's introduction of say-on-pay regulations via Dodd-Frank helped to arm shareholders with the capacity to disapprove compensation policies, but the SEC's evolving compensation disclosure regulations and recent updates from proxy advisory firms' guidelines indicate that executive compensation remains a key issue." (Thomson Reuters)

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)

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)

Survey Reveals Work/Life Balance, Learning Opportunities Have Greatest Impact on Job Satisfaction
"The survey of workers also revealed differences by age: Respondents between the ages of 35 and 44 were most concerned with work/life balance (46 percent), and those between the ages of 18 and 34 indicated the greatest interest in opportunities to learn and grow (37 percent)." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business / CCH)

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)

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)

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)

Press Releases



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Jeanette Hull, News Editor
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Holly Horton, Business Manager

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