[Guidance Overview]
Early Retirement Supplements Treated As a Protected Benefit Due to Careless Drafting
"In the Savani [unpublished Fourth Circuit] case, the accrued benefit was defined by cross references to the relevant sections of the plan as the normal retirement formula reduced by a prior plan offset, plus any 'applicable supplements.' Including the supplements in the definition of accrued benefit' proved fatal to the ability of the employer to subsequently eliminate the supplements."
(Employee Benefits Counsel)
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[Guidance Overview]
Supervisor Liability and FMLA Leave
"A supervisor may be held individually liable for FMLA violations, according to a recent [Third Circuit] appeals court ruling. As federal appeals courts are split on the issue, this decision doesn't settle the question of individual liability for supervisors, but it does underscore an HR leader's role in the fulfilling the need for training and oversight of administering leave requests."
(Human Resource Executive Online)
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[Guidance Overview]
Final Rules on Reinsurance, Risk Adjustment and Risk Corridors Programs
"HHS has issued final regulations addressing the following three programs, which are intended to address potential adverse selection and premium stabilization issues that may arise following implementation of the insurance exchanges under health care reform: Transitional reinsurance program. Permanent risk adjustment program. Risk corridors program."
(Practical Law Company)
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Obesity: The Economic Case for Action
"[F]or the first time in U.S. history, our children's generation will live shorter lives than their parents. This epidemic is taking an enormous toll on our nation's fiscal health too: Obesity is one of the leading contributors to rising health care expenses in America, costing an additional $168 bil.lion each year."
(The Hill)
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How Health Care Reform Has Dramatically Increased the Cost of Insurance for Young Workers
"In Wisconsin, [the health care reform law's architect, MIT economist Jonathan Gruber] reported that people purchasing insurance for themselves on the individual market would see, on average, premium increases of 30 percent by 2016, relative to what would have happened in the absence of Obamacare. In Minnesota, the law would increase premiums by 29 percent over the same period."
(Forbes)
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A Scorecard of What The Health Law Has Delivered, Or Not
"Kaiser Health News consulted the agencies implementing the law to track how some of these new programs are going, and compared that data to the original projections of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and the Obama administration."
(Kaiser Health News)
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As Supreme Court Hears Arguments Over Health Care Reform, What Employers Are Watching
"Even if the entire law is struck down ... employers will have to figure out how to deal with the measures already in place. What's the tax effect of premiums for adult children that were mandated under the law, but might now be considered taxable income to somebody? What happens when an employer reinstates coverage limits that were lifted while the law was in effect? Nobody knows[.]"
(Forbes)
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A Chart: The Impact of ACA Market Reforms Without a Mandate
"While [recent] studies differ on the magnitude of the impact of severing the mandate, they all find that doing so would result in a dramatic rise in the uninsured population and increases in health insurance premiums[.]"
(AHIP Coverage)
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White House Position Paper: The New Health Care Law at Two Years (PDF)
"The Affordable Care Act builds on ongoing State efforts to strengthen the health care system, and provides States with new tools, flexibility, and resources to provide their residents the health care benefits and consumer protections they need and deserve at an affordable price. In the nearly two years since President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law, States have taken action to implement health reform."
(The White House)
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How the Health Law Could Survive Without a Mandate
"[A]ccording to a new study by the RAND Corp., [without the mandate] 12.5 mil.lion fewer people would gain insurance coverage, premiums would rise by 2.4 percent, and total government spending would go up slightly. That's because unless healthy people can be somehow persuaded to buy insurance, only the sick will sign up. That raises costs because everyone paying in is also collecting benefits."
(NPR)
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Statement of the National Partnership for Women & Families on the U.S. Supreme Court's Recent FMLA Ruling"
"'[The] decision in Coleman v. Maryland Court of Appeals is a deep and bitter disappointment. By the narrowest of margins, the Court ruled that millions of state workers all across this country will have no meaningful recourse if their employers deny them medical leave under [FMLA]. This effectively puts state workers and their families at risk when workers become pregnant or illness strikes. It is an appalling and dangerous ruling that simply cannot stand[.]'"
(Wolters Kluwer Law & Business / CCH)
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Six Keys to Long-Term Care Coverage
"Some 70 percent of people over 65 will require long-term care services — including assisted living, nursing home or home care — during their lifetime.... Costs, on average, range from $4,000 to $8,000 per month. For consumers who can't afford to self-insure against big costs like that, there are few alternatives. Medicare doesn't cover such expenses, and individuals with more than $2,000 in assets can't qualify for Medicaid assistance. Here are some tips on how to buy a long-term care policy or make the most of an existing one[.]"
(Reuters)
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Health Industries Weigh In on Supreme Court Case
"Insurers have chosen not to defend the massive dividend for their industry that many believe makes the law most vulnerable. The 'individual mandate' requires almost everybody to buy health insurance or pay a fine — a major concession the [health industry] lobby got at the bargaining table. But insurers are not taking a stand on whether the mandate is an unconstitutional abuse of federal power, as the law's opponents contend."
(Kaiser Health News)
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The Health Care Law and Cost Control
"The new law ... includes a number of key provisions designed to help make health care more affordable — and help address the drivers of health care costs. The new health care law is already making a difference. Many Americans are seeing lower costs, and health care spending growth in 2009 and 2010 decreased to record lows."
(HealthCare.gov)
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10,000 More Employees Join Chicago Mayor's Wellness Plan
"[The mayor] hopes to save $20 mil.lion in 2012 — and $240 mil.lion over four years -- by riding herd over costly, but controllable problems like diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and asthma."
(Chicago Sun-Times)
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Health Insurance Rate Hikes in Nine States Deemed Excessive by HHS
"[Two] insurers have requested rate increases as high as 24 percent.... [after review] by independent experts ... HHS determined that the rate increases were unreasonable, because the insurer would be spending a low percentage of premium dollars on actual medical care and quality improvements, and because the justifications were based on unreasonable assumptions."
(U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)
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Benefits in General; Executive Compensation
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[Guidance Overview]
FATCA Creates New Issues for Cross-Border Stock and Other Incentive Compensation Plans (PDF)
"When a multinational company implements product deployment, research, sales expansion and manufacturing on an international basis, it may want a unified approach to compensation incentives covering both U.S. and other foreign executives. This means a U.S. citizen or resident who works outside the U.S. and is in an incentive program designed by a non-U.S. employer can face surprising, often serious tax problems. A non-U.S. citizen who is assigned to the U.S. but stays in their home country incentive plan may also have U.S. tax problems. And now, new issues are arising from the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act."
(Pillsbury)
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Chart: Employer Costs for Legally Required Benefits in December 2011
"The average cost for legally required benefits was $2.33 per hour worked in private industry (8.1 percent of total compensation) in December 2011. Social Security comprises the largest legally required benefit cost component at $1.34 per hour or 4.7 percent of total compensation. Legally required benefits such as Social Security and Medicare are often directly linked to wages; therefore, higher paid occupations or industries will typically show higher cost estimates for this compensation component."
(Bureau of Labor Statistics)
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IRS Releases Data Book for Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2011 (PDF)
"The IRS devotes significant resources to meeting the special needs of tax-exempt organizations, qualified retirement benefit plans, and Government entities in complying with tax laws.... Table 22 summarizes IRS activities, such as issuing technical guidance, to assist tax-exempt entities and facilitate their compliance with Federal tax laws. Table 23 provides information about applications for determination of tax-exempt status for employee retirement plans."
(Internal Revenue Service)
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Sixth Annual Study of Employee Benefits: Today & Beyond
"Prudential has surveyed a representative cross-section of benefits plan sponsors, benefits plan participants, and brokers/consultants across the United States and compiled the findings in ... the Sixth Annual Study of Employee Benefits: Today & Beyond. This study is a valuable reference that benefits providers and brokers/consultants can rely on to see the real challenges and trends we believe will shape the delivery of employee benefits programs for the next five years."
(Prudential)
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Press Releases
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