Pension Administrator
for Suffolk County, NY company in NY

Defined Benefit Actuary
for Charles Schwab in OH

Account Manager
for ING in NY

401(k) Plan Specialist
for Hanson McClain in CA

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Best Practices in Employee Benefit Plan Audits
in California on May 24, 2012 presented by Western Pension & Benefits Conference - Orange County Chapter

Keeping Your 403(b) Compliant - Clean-up on Aisle Three
Nationwide on June 26, 2012 presented by National Institute of Pension Administrators

Webinar: ERISA Budget Accounts: Revenue Sharing in Retirement Plans
Nationwide on May 22, 2012 presented by Nixon Peabody LLP

CFDD

Eighth Circuit Addresses Standard of Review in Long-Term Disability Insur.ance Dispute (PDF)
"Standard's [disability insur.ance] policy language reserving the power to 'resolve all questions . . . [of] interpretation' indicates the administrator has discretionary power to construe ambiguous terms. Thus, our standard of review is for abuse of discretion.' (Hankins v. Standard Insur.ance Company, 8th Cir., May 14, 2012). (Justia.com)

Preparing (and Surviving) a HIPAA Audit · May 24 Webcast   [Advert.]

Now is the time to revisit your HIPAA policies and procedures! This webcast will explain what a HIPAA audit is likely to entail and offer practical tips to ensure employers and business associates are prepared. Register Now.

ML Strategies Health Care Reform Update, May 14, 2012 (PDF)
Weekly update on federal and state health care reform legislation, regulations and initiatives. (ML Strategies)

Federal Guidance and Regulation of State Health Benefit Exchanges
"[Information on the Final Rule that implements] standards for states related to reinsurance and risk adjustment, and for health insur.ance issuers related to reinsurance, risk corridors, and risk adjustments consistent with the ACA. These programs will lessen the impact of potential adverse selection and stabilize premiums in the individual and small group markets as insur.ance reforms exchanges are implemented, starting in 2014. The rule becomes effective May 23, 2012." (National Conference of State Legislatures)

Arizona Now Allowing Some Religious Employers' Health Plans to Opt Out of Contraceptive Drug Coverage Mandate
"[The new law] applies only to 'religiously affiliated' employers, which are defined as non-profit groups that primarily employ and serve individuals of the same religion or religiously motivated organizations with articles of incorporation clearly stating that religious beliefs are central to the organization's operating principles." (The Arizona Republic)

President's Support of Same-S.ex Marriage Has No Legal Effect on Employers' Decisions to Offer Benefits to Workers' Domestic Partners
"Last year, a little more than half of employers offered health benefits for domestic partners.... That's up from a little less than one-third in 2010. The biggest factors driving that change are employers' views on whether such benefits help them attract and retain desirable workers." (NPR)

Proposals to Raise Military Retirees' Health Care Premiums Rejected
"The [Armed Services Committee] advanced the fiscal 2013 National Defense Authorization Act ..., approving a 1.7 percent pay raise for military service members next year as well as limiting increases to enrollee pharmacy co-pays under the TRICARE program.... But the panel rejected the administration's recommendations to raise premiums for military retirees based on their retirement pay, among other fee hikes." (Government Executive)

Does Employer-Provided Health Insur.ance Cause 'Hours Lock'? New Evidence on Women Diagnosed with Breast Cancer
"Employment-contingent health insur.ance creates incentives for ill workers to remain employed at a sufficient level (usually full-time) to maintain access to health insur.ance coverage. [The authors'] study employed married women, newly diagnosed with breast cancer, comparing labor supply responses to breast cancer diagnoses between women dependent on their own employment for health insur.ance and women with access to health insur.ance through their spouse's employer." (The National Bureau of Economic Research; paid subscription or individual purchase required to retrieve full text)

Some States Mandating Better Coverage of Oral Medications Used for Cancer Treatment
"In contrast to conventional IV chemotherapy, which often kills both cancer and healthy cells alike, many of the new oral oncology drugs target specific biologic processes in cancer cells and block their growth. In addition to being highly effective, they're convenient, especially for patients who live far from a treatment facility.... Health plans, however, have been slow to adjust to the change. People who get traditional IV chemotherapy on an outpatient basis often pay a flat co-payment that covers the drug as well as the cost of administering it. Annual out-of-pocket costs are also typically capped. Oral anti-cancer medications, on the other hand, are generally considered a pharmacy benefit. Instead of a co-payment, plan members often pay a percentage of the drugs' cost—up to 50 percent in some cases—with no annual out-of-pocket limit." (Kaiser Health News)

Many Businesses Offer Health Benefits to Same-S.ex Couples Ahead of Laws
"'There's been a steady growth for a long time,' says ... a partner at Mercer. In the early days, some employers worried that adding coverage for domestic partners could make their costs skyrocket by attracting people with higher-than-average health risks, ... but 'that did not happen.' ... In the Mercer survey, coverage of same-s.ex partners was most common in the West, with 79 percent of large employers offering such benefits. It was least common in the South, at 28 percent. Big differences were also noted within industries. Among manufacturing firms, for example, the coverage rate ranged from a high of 96 percent for pharma.ceutical companies to 18 percent for machinery and heavy equipment makers." (Kaiser Health News)

Deloitte Health Care Reform Memo, May 14, 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 ACA Primary Care Provisions and a chart of the provisions by section number. (Deloitte)

Managing Disability Risks in an Environment of Individual Responsibility (PDF)
"As employer-sponsored retirement benefit programs have shifted from DB plans to [DC Plans], and as people have become more responsible for their own retirement planning, the responsibility to secure disability benefits has also shifted to employees/retirees. In the employment relationship context, the shift away from providing disability benefits through DB plans to providing the disability benefit through the use of employer-offered insur.ance has produced differences with respect to coverage, waiting periods, and gaps in coverage." (2012 ERISA Advisory Council)

Massachusetts May Impose 'Luxury Tax' on the State's Most Pricey Hospitals
"The penalty is not included in the Senate's version of health-care reform, which instead calls for a special commission to determine acceptable and unacceptable factors contributing to price variation. [One state senator] has said the House's fee could 'force those folks that are higher cost to make decisions that aren't well-thought-out.' But [a state representative] said steps must be taken to address the differences in how hospitals are paid." (lowellsun.com)

Health Care Reform: What Employers Should Be Considering Now
"As employers anxiously await the Supreme Court's decision on health care reform (expected by late June), there are many things employers should be thinking about now. The Supreme Court will most likely make one of four decisions on health care reform. [This article describes] how each of those possible decisions may affect employers." (Faegre Baker Daniels)

Innovation in the Health Care Sector Continues
"The Galen Institute held a conference ... in which speakers from more than a dozen companies described the investments they are making in better health, better health care services, and more efficient care delivery. They demonstrated that the best solutions to the problems in our health sector come not from remote Washington bureaucrats trying futilely to re-engineer our health sector through costly, cumbersome, and confusing rules and regulations, but from innovators who are listening to doctors, patients, and consumers." (Galen Institute)

Provisions in Health Reform Law and Regs Will Reduce Access to Health Savings Accounts
"[1] ObamaCare's essential health benefits package contains new restrictions on deductibles and cost-sharing, which will prevent at least some current HSA plans from being offered. [2] ObamaCare's medical loss ratio regulations also impose new restrictions that studies show will hit HSA plans particularly hard, and could force individuals to change their current form of coverage. [3] The ObamaCare statute does not specify that cash contributions made to an HSA will be counted towards the new federal actuarial value standards. And a February bulletin released by HHS in advance of upcoming rulemaking indicates that under the Administration's approach, not all contributions into an HSA will count towards the new minimum federal standards—meaning some HSA policies will not be considered 'government-approved.'" (National Center for Policy Analysis)

Slippery-Slope Logic, As Applied to Health Care Reform
"The idea is that while Policy X may be acceptable, it will inevitably lead to the terrible Outcome Y, so it is vital that we prevent Policy X from ever being enacted. The problem is that such arguments are often made without any evidence that doing X makes Y more likely, much less inevitable.... Justice Scalia is arguing that if the court lets Congress create a mandate to buy health insur.ance, nothing could stop Congress from passing laws requiring everyone to buy broccoli and to join a gym." (The New York Times; free registration required)

Many Experience Challenges Regaining Employment and Face Reduced Retirement Security
"The number of workers age 55 and over experiencing long-term unemployment has grown substantially since the recession began in 2007. This raises concerns about how long-term unemployment will affect older workers' reemployment prospects and future retirement income.... GAO examined (1) how older workers' employment status has changed since the recession, (2) what risks unemployed older workers face and what challenges they experience in finding reemployment, (3) how long-term unemployment could affect older workers' retirement income, and (4) what other policies might help them return to work and what steps the Department of Labor has taken to help unemployed older workers." (Government Accountability Office)

Reinhart Employee Benefits Update, May 2012 (PDF)
Items include: Summary of Description of Material Modifications for Calendar-Year Plans; HHS Announces Proposed Regulations to Establish Health Plan Identifiers for Health Plans; IRS Publishes Proposed Regulations Imposing Fees to Fund Patient-Centered Outcomes Research; CMS Releases Guidance on Medical Loss Ratio Regulations; Ninth Circuit Rejects Claim for Equitable Relief Following SPD and Plan Document Discrepancies. (Reinhart)

Independent Contractor Misclassification: How Companies Can Minimize the Risks
"This white paper ... examines the risks posed to private businesses and governmental entities that have business models reliant upon the use of [independent contractors, or "ICs"] and other contingent workers.... address[es] how those risks typically arise and the costly consequences those risks may pose to companies and organizations using ICs.... [and] discusses the steps businesses can take to avoid or minimize IC misclassification liability, including restructuring, re-documenting, and re-implementing their business models, voluntary or government-sponsored reclassification, or redistribution of ICs through the use of a knowledgeable workforce management or staffing firm." (Pepper Hamilton LLP)

Current Challenges and Best Practices Concerning Beneficiary Designations in Retirement and Life Insur.ance Plans (PDF)
"The complexity of the rules under ERISA may, in some cases, lead to beneficiary designations that do not accurately reflect the participant's intent, and can frequently result in disputes over who is entitled to ERISA plan benefits following the death of the participant.... [E]ven when the beneficiary designation correctly indicates the participant's intent, beneficiaries may be unaware of what to do to obtain the benefit or to determine the benefit to which they are entitled.... The Council is examining this topic and intends to draft recommendations to the Secretary of Labor for consideration." (2012 ERISA Advisory Council)

The Board Institute Launches New Fiduciary Evaluation Tool
(The Board Institute)

The IRI Fact Book, 11th Edition Unveiled
(Insured Retirement Institute (IRI))

Titleist Asset Management, LTD. Names Loretta N. Heffron, MBA, AIF, CRPS, As Executive Vice President Of Retirement Plan Services
(Titleist Asset Management, Ltd.)