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March 30, 2012 Get Retirement News  |  Advertise  |  Unsubscribe  |  Past Issues  |  Search

Employee Benefits Jobs

Pension/Benefits Administration Specialist
for Associated Benefit Planners, Ltd. in PA

401(k) Relationship Manager
for Industry Leading Financial Services Firm in CA

Employee Benefit Operations Administration Analyst
for HCL America Inc in NC

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Webcasts and Conferences

Sales RockStar Offers More Sales Opportunities than Ever
Nationwide on March 30, 2012 presented by Davidson Marketing Group -- FutureOffice Network

2012 Spring Conference
in Arizona on May 3, 2012 presented by Western Pension & Benefits Conference - Phoenix Chapter

Spousal and Domestic Partner Issues in Pensions and Retirement Income Webcast
Nationwide on April 12, 2012 presented by American Bar Association (ABA)

A Case Study in Ethics
in Florida on April 16, 2012 presented by ASPPA Benefits Council of Central Florida


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[Guidance Overview]
Dismissal of ERISA Action Against Health Plan TPAs
"[The judge] held that although pleaded as such, the breach of fiduciary duty claims [against Aetna for allegedly wrongfully refusing to pay for chiropractic expenses] were in actuality claims for benefits, and that such claims could be brought only against the benefit plans themselves or the named plan administrator. Since none of the defendants was a plan administrator, but merely rendered 'third-party administrator' or claims processing services, they could not be sued under ERISA." (Epstein Becker Green)


National Employee Benefits Day Is April 2, 2012   [Advert.]

Sponsored by IFEBP (International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)

National Employee Benefits Day acknowledges trustees, administrators, corporate benefits practitioners and professional advisors for their dedication to providing quality benefits and the important role they play in their colleagues' well-being. Make your plans now!


Supreme Court Oral Arguments Day 3, Afternoon Session: Does Medicaid Expansion Coerce the States?
"In the afternoon, the Justices listened to arguments from both sides on whether the Medicaid expansion part of the Affordable Care Act is coercion because it forces the states to either accept the expansion to the program or risk revocation of all federal funding for Medicaid." (Miller Johnson)

Supreme Court Oral Arguments Day 3, Morning Session: Is Health Care Salvageable if the Individual Mandate is Dropped?
"At the end of the morning's argument, the Court did not seem to favor any of the three mutually exclusive options offered by the parties. But one common theme did emerge: the Court resisted taking on the onerous task of going provision-by-provision through the Act to determine which parts stand or fall with the individual mandate. Instead, the Court seemed to prefer to leave that task to Congress." (Miller Johnson)

Ohio Spent $96 Mil.lion on Unused Paid Time Off in 2010-11
"The payouts are late-career incentives for hardworking employees who have jobs where it's difficult to take time off, such as prisons or health care centers, said ... a spokeswoman for the Ohio Civil Service Employee Association, which represents 30,000 workers." (MarionStar.com)

Higher Insurance Costs Loom for Employees Who Fail to Meet Health Goals
"Companies desperate to cut the cost of health insurance — which has risen 145 percent in Iowa on average since 1999 — are moving toward rewarding and punishing employees based on how healthy they are, or whether they meet wellness goals. That's a shift from rewarding employees for participating in wellness programs, benefits experts say." (DesMoinesRegister.com)


9th Annual World Health Care Congress: Strategy, Innovation and Execution   [Advert.]

Sponsored by World Congress

The 9th Annual World Health Care Congress, April 16-18 in Washington, DC. Register now, save $300 with code RDR697. To register, call 800-767-9499 or learn more at www.worldhealthcarecongress.com.


How Much of the Health Reform Law Will Stand If the Individual Mandate Is Stricken?
"Chief Justice Roberts asked questions that were critical of both sides, making his final disposition unclear. On the one hand, he asked questions that appeared to support the states' case. The individual mandate was the central motivator during legislative efforts to get votes he said, supporting the 'intent of Congress' arguments. Ancillary provisions were added in some cases to acquire votes for the measure's principal core elements, he said. On the other hand, Roberts acknowledged there are PPACA provisions unrelated to the individual mandate, and that it would be quite a step to declare clearly constitutional parts of the law unconstitutional." (Thompson)

Justices Grapple with What Parts of PPACA Should Be Retained, If Insurance Mandate Found Unconstitutional
"Paul Clement, arguing on behalf of the 26 states challenging the law, urged the Court to invalidate the entire law. Deputy Solicitor General Edwin Kneedler, speaking on behalf of the government, urged the Court to remove only two other provisions — guaranteed issue and community rating — and keep the rest of the law, including the Health Insurance Exchanges, intact. H. Bartow Farr, assigned by the Court to advocate on behalf of the view that, if the mandate is unconstitutional, the rest of the law, including the guaranteed issue and community rating provisions, should remain intact." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business / CCH)

Webcast Replay and Transcript: Deconstructing the Supreme Court's Historic Health Law Arguments
"After six hours of historic arguments on the health law, the Supreme Court now begins its deliberations. What were the key moments in the debate, and how might they affect the outcome?" (Kaiser Health News)

Justices Wrestle with Whether Health Care Overhaul Should Be All or Nothing
"The law imposes new taxes on medical-device makers, calls for the establishment of insurance exchanges, permits parents to carry adult children on their health policies until the age of 26, and even requires restaurants to post the calorie content of menu items. It also greatly expands Medicaid, the joint program of the federal and state governments, to provide health insurance to individuals and families who currently earn too much to qualify for the program but not enough to afford health insurance. The Obama administration contends many of these programs can stand on their own, without the insurance mandate, and has urged the court to keep them in place." (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

Health Insurers Push Back on Consumer Rebate Letter
"[T]he industry and the Obama administration are at odds over proposed language in the letter that goes with the checks as well as who gets notification. The administration may require insurers to send notices about rebate rules even to customers who aren't getting a rebate." (Kaiser Health News)

International Perspectives on Patient Engagement: Results from the 2011 Commonwealth Fund Survey
"An international survey of adults with complex health care needs found wide variations in the degree to which patients are engaged in their own care, from self-managing a health condition to actively participating in treatment decisions. Across countries, engaged patients reported fewer medical errors, higher care ratings, and more positive views of the health system as a whole." (The Commonwealth Fund)

High-Profit, Low-Profit Organizations Spend the Same on Health Care
"In the U.S., the average health care cost per covered employee in 2010 was $9,531, according to data from the 2010–2011 SHRM Benchmarking Database." (Society for Human Resource Management)

[Opinion]
How Did the Challenge to the Affordable Care Act Ever Make It to the U.S. Supreme Court?
"The media played a major role, fanning political passions by quoting every challenge — including the absurd claim that the bill called for 'death panels.' As Rachel Maddow observed Monday night: this case was 'built up as the Super Bowl of American partisan politics.' Thus, the Supreme Court was left with little choice: it had to hear 'The Case of the Century.'" (The Health Care Blog)

[Opinion]
Civics Lessons from the Supreme Court
"Americans who chose to listen to, or read the transcripts of, three days of oral argument at the Supreme Court this week were treated to a challenging civics lesson on federalism, liberty and the limits and potential of government authority. Three points in particular struck [the editorial board at the Washington Post]." (The Washington Post; free registration required)

[Opinion]
Why the Supreme Court Justices Won't Be Crudely Political When They Rule on Obamacare
"Indeed, as commentators consider what kind of decision the court will hand down in June, they have been increasingly tempted to apply a simple 'it's all politics' template: Liberal justice[s] will favor the individual mandate, conservatives will oppose it, case closed. But that's hardly ever the right way to look at the court, and it's certainly wrong now." (Brookings)

[Opinion]
American Benefits Council Letter Opposing H.R. 1946, Preserving Our Hometown Independent Pharmacies Act of 2011 (PDF)
"[The council opposes] H.R. 1946 because its principal impact is likely to be to increase costs to our employer members and their employees for prescription drug benefits. Indeed, permitting price fixing by pharmacies in their dealings with health plans appears to be the primary aim of H.R. 1946." (American Benefits Council)

Benefits in General; Executive Compensation

[Guidance Overview]
New Foreign Financial Asset Reporting Requirement with Deadline of April 17, 2012
"The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) requires certain U.S. taxpayers holding foreign financial assets, including an interest under a foreign pension or deferred compensation plan and foreign equity awards, to report those interests beginning with this tax filing season. Taxpayers who fail to meet their obligation to file Form 8938 are subject to significant penalties.... Note that FATCA reporting requirements are separate from FBAR reporting of foreign financial accounts[.]" (McDermott)

[Guidance Overview]
Should Section 457(f) Apply to Deferred Compensation Plan of For-Profit Subsidiary of Tax-Exempt Organization?
"[T]he provisions of Code Section 457 (and the related Treasury Regulations, which [are not cited] here) as well as a Private Letter Ruling generally support the conclusions that no part of Code Section 457, including Section 457(f), should apply to the for-profit subsidiary of a tax-exempt entity. But it takes more than a few steps, and a modicum of hand wringing, to reach that conclusion. Wouldn't it be great if the forthcoming regulations were to confirm this explicitly? Perhaps they will." (Verrill Dana)

[Guidance Overview]
Presentation on Code Section 409A: Revisiting the Basics (PDF)
Topics discussed included: Arrangements subject to, and excluded from, Section 409A requirements; Section 409A election timing rules; Section 409A payment restrictions and related exceptions; A brief summary of available relief for Section 409A compliance errors. (Morgan Lewis)

Press Releases



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