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April 24, 2012 Get Retirement News  |  Advertise  |  Unsubscribe  |  Past Issues  |  Search

Employee Benefits Jobs


Webcasts and Conferences

Ethics in Employee Benefits
Nationwide on May 9, 2012 presented by National Institute of Pension Administrators

Digital Signatures and the New Age of Communications
Nationwide on May 30, 2012 presented by National Institute of Pension Administrators

Managing Participant Loans
Nationwide on June 5, 2012 presented by National Institute of Pension Administrators


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[Official Guidance]
Text of CCIIO Technical Guidance 2012-002: Questions and Answers Regarding the Medical Loss Ratio Regulation (PDF)
"[Question:] Are self-funded plans subject to the MLR reporting and rebate requirements? [Answer:] A self-funded plan (sometimes referred to as a self-insured plan) is not a health insur.ance issuer, as defined by Section 2791(b)(2) of the PHS Act, and thus is not subject to the MLR requirements. It does not matter if the self-funded plan is subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) or if it is a non-ERISA plan." Other Q&As provide MLR guidance on the following topics: Applicability of the Medical Loss Ratio to Certain Types of Plans; Employer Groups of One; Counting Employees for Determining Market Size; Individual Association Policies; Offering Policyholders a "Premium Holiday"; Reinsurance and Reporting; Exchange User Fees; States With a Higher Medical Loss Ratio Standard; "Mini-Med" Experience—Application of the Adjustment; [and] Form of Rebate. (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Center for Consumer Information & Insur.ance Oversight)


Prevention & Wellness Conference: Sustainable Improvements in Population Health   [Advert.]

Sponsored by World Congress

Develop a plan for engaging, efficient and measurable wellness and prevention. Improve population health outcomes through prevention initiatives based on data and best practices from leading corporations, health plans and wellness thought leaders.


[Guidance Overview]
Summary of Proposed IRS Regs on Comparative Effectiveness Fee Charged to Health Plans (PDF)
"The rules provide helpful guidance on the life counting requirement for determining the amount of the fee, especially given the short time frame for compliance. However, some of the nuances are sufficiently subtle to create potential compliance pitfalls." (Bryan Cave)

Official Report on Medicare: Text of the 2012 Annual Report of the Boards of Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insur.ance and Federal Supplementary Medical Insur.ance Trust Funds (PDF)
"The financial outlook for Medicare is ... uncertain because some provisions of current law that are designed to reduce costs may not be sustained. The clearest example of this issue is the sustainable growth rate ... formula for physician fee schedule payment levels. The projections in this report assume that, as required by current law, CMS will implement a reduction in Medicare payment rates for physician services of more than 30 percent at the start of 2013. However, it is a virtual certainty that lawmakers, cognizant of the disruptive consequences of such a sudden, sharp reduction in payments, will override this reduction just as they have every year since 2003." (The Boards of Trustees, Federal Hospital Insur.ance and Federal Supplementary Medical Insur.ance Trust Funds)

Official Summary of the 2012 Annual Reports of the Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees
"The long-run actuarial deficits of the Social Security and Medicare programs worsened in 2012, though in each case for different reasons. The actuarial deficit in the Medicare Hospital Insur.ance program increased primarily because the Trustees incorporated recommendations of the 2010-11 Medicare Technical Panel that long-run health cost growth rate assumptions be somewhat increased. The actuarial deficit in Social Security increased largely because of the incorporation of updated economic data and assumptions. Both Medicare and Social Security cannot sustain projected long-run program costs under currently scheduled financing, and legislative modifications are necessary to avoid disruptive consequences for beneficiaries and taxpayers." (Social Security Administration)

What It Says: The 2012 Medicare Trustees Report (PDF)
"According to the 2012 Trustees Report, expenditures from Medicare's HI Trust Fund exceeded revenues by $27.7 bil.lion in 2011. Without a policy change that would increase revenues or reduce expenditures, the accumulated surplus in the HI Trust Fund will be depleted by 2024, the same as last year's projection; after that, the HI Trust Fund would rely on the annual revenues from Medicare payroll taxes, which are projected to cover 87 percent of annual expenditures." (National Academy of Social Insur.ance)


Strategies to Access, Interpret and Get Results From Your Company's Health Care Data   [Advert.]

Sponsored by Lorman and BenefitsLink.com

Learn how to simplify plan performance management by using data-driven strategies to better understand and predict with greater accuracy what's going on in your health plan. Live audio conference, May 10. Special discount for BenefitsLink readers!


Trustees Issue Warnings on Medicare, But Make No Changes to Solvency Projections
"Overall, the outlook for the Medicare program which covers nearly 50 mil.lion elderly and disabled people was only slightly worse than findings from last year. Once again, trustees forecast that Medicare's hospital fund would begin to run out of money beginning in 2024, but many experts place little importance on the trustees' projection since the program's insolvency has been forecast from as little as two years away to as many as 28 years since 1970." (Kaiser Health News)

Illinois Organizations Team Up to Promote Employee Wellness Contest
"Two of Illinois' powerhouses—Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois ... and the Illinois State Council of the Society for Human Resources—are teaming again for the Third Annual WOWIEs' Award, to recognize excellence in employee wellness programs among Illinois businesses. The WOWIE Awards honor Illinois-based organizations or companies that take a creative approach to inspire employees to make healthy, active choices during working hours." (BlueCross BlueShield Association)

Deloitte Health Care Reform Memo, April 23, 2012
Describes recent developments in various health plan and health insur.ance matters at the federal and state levels. This issue includes a discussion of the proposed IRS regs on fees to be paid by health insur.ance plans to fund the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. (Deloitte)

Employment-Based Health Benefits: Trends in Access and Coverage, 1997-2010 (PDF)
"Both the offer rate (the percentage of workers offered a health benefit) and the coverage rate for employment-based health benefits declined between 1997 and 2010. Between 1997 and 2010, the percentage of workers offered health benefits from their employers decreased from 70.1 percent to 67.5 percent, and the percentage of workers covered by those plans decreased from 60.3 percent to 56.5 percent." (Employee Benefit Research Institute)

Employers Try Health Gaming and the Power of Social Responses
"Many companies, both new and established, have recently entered the market with health-related games that incorporate a social component, whereby people collaborate, compete and support one another in reaching a specific goal. In addition to startups, employers and health insurers have worked to capitalize on this popular trend." (iHealthBeat)

Report on State Employee Health Benefits, Updated April 23, 2012
The update provides links to the various states' web sites describing their programs' premiums and benefits for 2012 (in a chart entitled "List of State Employee Health Plan Agencies with Links"). (National Conference of State Legislatures)

ML Strategies Health Care Reform Update, April 23, 2012 (PDF)
Read this week's update on health care reform legislation, regulations, and initiatives. (ML Strategies, LLC)

Present Law and Background Relating to Tax Treatment of Cost of Over-the-Counter Medicine as Medical Care Expense
Scheduled for a Public Hearing before the Subcommittee on Oversight of the House Committee on Ways and Means on April 25, 2012. "Specifically the summary discusses the law before and after the enactment of section 9003 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ... which provides that any exclusion from income for such reimbursement or use of HSA funds only applies to the cost of over-the-counter medicine if the medicine is prescribed by a physician. This document also discusses issues related to the tax treatment of the cost of over-the-counter medicine as a cost of medical care and provides selected data on over-the-counter medicine." (Joint Committee on Taxation)

California Lawmakers Considering Tax-Free HSA Contribution Bill
"California is one of three states that don't currently follow the Internal Revenue Code for HSA tax benefits. Alabama allows pre-tax contributions only if made through a cafeteria plan; New Jersey generally prohibits all pre-tax employee contributions and doesn't allow a deduction. Wisconsin recently amended its tax code to allow tax-free HSA contributions. If enacted, the state tax exclusion or deduction would apply to tax years beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2013." (Mercer)

Benefits in General; Executive Compensation

[Guidance Overview]
JOBS Act FAQs Address Pay-Related Disclosures
"Since the enactment of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act on April 5, the SEC staff has been busy posting FAQs to assist companies in interpreting the new law. The most recent round includes guidance on the act's scaled pay disclosure provisions. These 17 FAQs also clarify the definition of 'emerging growth company' and address other questions of general applicability." (Mercer)

Analyze Compensation Programs to Reveal Business Risks
"The new corporate governance environment and legislative imperatives have ratcheted up complexity and transparency to a new level, placing much greater demands on the HR function and the board's compensation committee. In addition, companies face continued changes in proxy disclosure rules, which provide investors and other stakeholders with a far more detailed understanding of the committee's decision-making processes." (PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP)

Preparing for a Future that Includes Aging Parents
"Experts say any serious plan for caring for aging parents must begin—not with discussions about money—but with a legal document designating someone as having 'power of attorney.' That paperwork grants authority to another individual to handle decisions if a loved one can't make them as a result of illness or memory loss.... Once the legal paperwork is done, families can turn to an array of sources for legitimate advice on boosting savings, buying appropriate insur.ance and maximizing home equity. For example, many employers offer workplace benefits that include free financial planning services." (NPR)

Press Releases



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