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May 16, 2012 Get Retirement News  |  Advertise  |  Unsubscribe  |  Past Issues  |  Search

Employee Benefits Jobs

Sr Relationship Manager
for Principal Financial Group in CA

Benefits Analyst I
for Milliman in WA

Benefits Analyst II
for Milliman in WA

Technical Support Specialist
for Milliman in TX

Retirement Products/ Account Executive
for MetLife in MO

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Webcasts and Conferences

"Participant Disclosures: Working with the New DOL Rules" - Encore Presentation
Nationwide on May 30, 2012 presented by SunGard Relius


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[Official Guidance]
Text of Official Corrections to Interim Final CMS Regs for Health Insur.ance Issuers Implementing Medical Loss Ratio Requirements (PDF)
8 pages; the clarifications are more than typographical errors. "This document corrects technical errors that appeared in the interim final rule published in the Federal Register on December 1, 2010, entitled 'Health Insur.ance Issuers Implementing Medical Loss Ratio ... Requirements under the [PPACA]' and in the correction notice published in the Federal Register on December 30, 2010, entitled 'Health Insur.ance Issuers Implementing Medical Loss Ratio ... Requirements Under the [PPACA]; Corrections to the Medical Loss Ratio Interim Final Rule With Request for Comments.' ... We believe that it is unnecessary to provide for a public comment period or to delay implementing these corrections, as they clarify provisions of a final rule that has been subjected to notice and comment procedures and do not make any substantive changes to it." (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services)


DATAIR! More Choices – Better Guidance – Less Cost   [Advert.]

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Documents, SPDs, Amendments, Administrative Forms
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[Official Guidance]
Text of Official Corrections to Final HHS Regs on Standards for Reinsurance, Risk Corridors, and Risk Adjustment (PDF)
"This document merely corrects technical and typographic errors in the Health Insur.ance Premium Stabilization final rule that was published on March 23, 2012 and becomes effective on May 22, 2012. The changes are not substantive changes to the standards set forth in the final rule." (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)

[Guidance Overview]
HHS Notice Addresses Rules for Insurers That Meet or Exceed Medical Loss Ratio Standards
"The extended notice requirement will hopefully reduce confusion that may have otherwise occurred when some individuals received rebates and others, in different insur.ance plans, did not. Importantly, the electronic disclosure rules for providing SBCs, which are referenced in the extended notice requirements for MLRs, were recently addressed in DOL frequently-asked-questions[.]" (Practical Law Company)

[Guidance Overview]
Recent Case Highlights Split of Authority on Whether Corporate Agreements Can Amend Employee Benefit Plans
"In Sterling Chemicals v. Evans, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit found that a paragraph in an asset purchase agreement satisfied the technical requirements for an employee benefit plan amendment, [and even though] it did not state it was intended to amend the plan....[the language] did, in fact, serve to amend the benefit plan.... [T]he First and Sixth Circuits have held that a corporate agreement cannot amend an employee benefit plan without explicitly setting forth the intent to do so. Last month, the Supreme Court of the United States declined to review the Sterling decision, so the question of whether and how a corporate agreement may amend an employee benefit plan will continue to be an issue that employers must consider when drafting and reviewing corporate agreements." (McDermott Will & Emery)

[Guidance Overview]
FAQs on Summaries of Benefits and Coverage Address Electronic Distribution and Coverage Example Calculator
"Although the latest FAQs do not delay the fast-approaching compliance date for providing [Summaries of Benefits and Coverage, or "SBCs"], plans, plan sponsors and insurers may nonetheless welcome the first-year policies provided in the new guidance. In particular, the rule permitting partial SBCs for plans with multiple insurers may be helpful in preparing initial SBCs, though the FAQ also underscores challenges for later years when information from separate insurers must be combined in the same SBC. In addition, plans and insurers may want to document their SBC compliance efforts in case they wish to use the Departments' one-year good faith compliance policy." (Practical Law Company)


Same-Gender Marriage Rulings: Impacts on Employee Benefit Plans   [Advert.]

Sponsored by Lorman and BenefitsLink.com

Learn how to administer benefit plans in accordance with varying state laws, and discuss best practices for offering benefits to civil union and other same-sex partners. Audio conference June 6 - discount for BenefitsLink readers!


[Guidance Overview]
IRS Notice 2012-31 Addresses 'Minimum Value' Determination for Employer-Sponsored Health Plans (PDF)
"Basing minimum value on benefits generally offered in the large-employer market, which entails recognizing that those plans do not have to offer essential health benefits, is an important distinction that will help large-employer plans meet the minimum value threshold.... The guidance asks for comments on any other benefits (such as wellness benefits) that should be reflected in the calculation of minimum value.... The IRS guidance does not provide any further clarification on how the employer contributions to an HSA or HRA would be adjusted. If the full value is not reflected, a plan could fail to meet the minimum value threshold." (Buck Consultants)

[Guidance Overview]
Whether or Not Constitutional, ACA Is Creating Turbulent Times for HSAs and HRAs (PDF)
At page 4. "Health savings accounts (HSAs) avoid many of the regulatory requirements under the ACA because they are not generally considered to be health plan coverage. By way of direct regulation, the ACA did increase the penalty for using HSA funds for non-medical purposes to a 20 percent excise tax (plus applicable income taxes) and requires a prescription for OTC drugs. More dramatically, however, is the potential for collateral damage to HSA viability as a result of ACA's regulation of the underlying high deductible health plan (HDHP) coverage, especially in the fully insured market. Some of this concern has been allayed recently when the agencies indicated that a portion of an employer's contribution (but not salary reductions) to an HSA could count toward the actuarial valuation requirements for the underlying HDHP plans." (Employers Council on Flexible Compensation)

New Online Resource Page by HHS: the 'Health System Measurement Project'
"The web-based tool ... will allow policymakers, providers, and the public to develop consistent data-driven views of changes in critical U.S. health system indicators.... The Health System Measurement Project brings together datasets from across the federal government that span topical areas, such as access to care, cost and affordability, prevention and health information technology. It presents these indicators by population characteristics, such as age, se.x, income level, insur.ance coverage, and geography." (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)

RAND Study of Effect of Health Care Reform on Enrollment and Premiums, Either With or Without the Individual Mandate (PDF)
The authors predict the effects of a possible Supreme Court decision invalidating the individual mandate while keeping the other parts of the law intact, and the effects of such a decision on health insur.ance coverage overall and for subgroups based on income. They also estimate where people will obtain insur.ance in scenarios with and without the mandate. Finally, they estimate how the elimination of the individual mandate will affect insur.ance premiums. (RAND)

Colorado Creating Online Price List of Health Care Procedures
"[14] states have or are setting up searchable databases designed to help people shop and compare health care options based on price and quality. Colorado is launching its All Payer Claims Database this fall. [The project] is the result of 2010 legislation and is expected to have data from most of the claims in the state in 2013." (Kaiser Health News)

Health Care Costs for American Families in 2012 Exceed $20,000 for the First Time
"The annual Milliman Medical Index (MMI) measures the total cost of healthcare for a typical family of four covered by a preferred provider plan.... The 2012 MMI cost is $20,728, an increase of $1,335, or 6.9% over 2011. The rate of increase is not as high as in the past, but the total dollar increase was still a record." (Milliman)

Three Ways to Make Corporate Wellness a Game for Employees
"Incorporating gaming techniques into company wellness programs greatly boosts engagement, a key ingredient for wellness program success.... Games have the power to engage people at a deep level and shift their priorities toward the behaviors rewarded by the games. For this reason, businesses increasingly are using games to train employees. [Three ways that company-sponsored wellness programs can use and benefit from gaming techniques are:] 1. Allow for autonomy and voluntary participation.... 2. Make it contextual, relevant and social.... 3. Start with a light touch; build in depth." (Society for Human Resource Management)

Resource Page on Implementation of Health Insur.ance Medical Loss Ratios by the States, Updated May 11, 2012
"The N.H. insur.ance department released its first health insur.ance premium rate report in April 2012, a study mandated by legislation enacted two years ago. According to the report, premiums grew 14 percent between 2009 and 2010, driven primarily by claims costs, as well as new medical technologies and the growth in outpatient facility costs." (National Conference of State Legislatures)

[Opinion]
Looking at Single-Payor Health Care Efforts in Vermont, Montana and California
"In May 2011, [the Vermont governor] signed the single-payor bill into law, which laid the groundwork for creating a publicly funded health system in which the state would act as the main insurer by 2017. [Montana's Governor] also asked the federal government for a waiver this past September so Montana could set up its own single-payor health system based on what is used by its northern neighbor, Saskatchewan, although no waiver has been granted. Even California lawmakers proposed a bill in January that would have established a single-payor healthcare system, although it was ultimately defeated." (Becker's Hospital Review)

Benefits in General; Executive Compensation

Delaware Court Dismisses 162(m) Claims and Denies Plaintiff's Request for Fees
"In Freedman v. Adams, a 'shareholder' brought derivative claims against the board of directors of XTO Energy alleging breaches of fiduciary duty and waste due to the board's alleged failure to structure over $40 mil.lion of executive bonuses over a three-year period in a manner that would have made them deductible under Code Sec. 162(m). Apparently, the board get religion after the lawsuit was filed and approved a Section 162(m) plan for cash bonuses shortly thereafter. However, the Delaware Chancery Court rejected all claims relating to Code Section 162(m)[.]" (Winston & Strawn LLP)

Same-S.ex Partner Benefits Bill for Federal Employees Is Up for Consideration
"[The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is moving forward with a same-s.ex measure] for federal employees. The committee will hold a markup session for the 2011 Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act (S. 1910) ... which opens retirement, health, transportation and other benefits to same-s.ex domestic partners of government workers." (Government Executive)

GAO Testimony on Unemployed Older Workers Facing Long-Term Joblessness and Reduced Retirement Security
Testimony by Director, Education, Workforce, and Income Security, before the Senate Special Committee on Aging, May 15, 2012. "This testimony discusses the status of unemployed older workers. The most recent recession, which began in 2007 and ended in 2009, was the worst since the Great Depression, and has been characterized by historically high levels of long-term unemployment. While it is crucial that the nation help people of all ages return to work, long-term unemployment has particularly serious implications for older workers (age 55 and over). Job loss for older workers threatens not only their immediate financial security, but also their ability to support themselves during retirement." (Government Accountability Office)

Employee Ownership Update for May 15, 2012
NCEO Executive Director Loren Rodgers discusses the appointment of 22 new employee ownership research fellows at Rutgers, the Employee Ownership 100 update, employees voting against executive pay, a creative approach to stock purchase plans, and multinationals setting up employee ownership plans in Zimbabwe. (National Center for Employee Ownership)

Press Releases



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