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July 18, 2012 Get Retirement News  |  Advertise  |  Unsubscribe  |  Past Issues  |  Search

Employee Benefits Jobs

Defined Benefit Data Analyst
for Diversified in MA

Implementation & Prop Analyst
for The Standard in OR

Retirement Plan Relationship Specialist
for Index Funds Advisors, Inc. in CA

Regional Group Sales Manager
for AUL/OneAmerica Financial Partners, Inc. in TX

Installation Administrator
for Transamerica Retirement Services in OH

Retirement Plan Service Specialist
for Envoy Financial in CO

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Webcasts and Conferences

401(k) Rekon Advisor Symposium - Schaumburg
in Illinois on August 16, 2012 presented by 401(k) Rekon

Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program Webinar
Nationwide on August 15, 2012 presented by U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)


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[Official Guidance]

CCIIO Technical Guidance: Questions and Answers Regarding the Medical Loss Ratio Reporting and Rebate Requirements (PDF)
"[An] issuer must provide notice of rebate to all subscribers enrolled in the group. This means that all subscribers enrolled in the group during the MLR reporting year except those who are no longer enrolled at the time the issuer provides the notice of rebate will receive a notice of rebate.... a notice of MLR information with the first 'plan document' that the issuer provides to enrollees on or after July 1, 2012.... Examples of plan documents include policies, summary plan descriptions, benefits summaries, and group contracts." [CCIIO 2012-0005] (Center for Consumer Information & Insur.ance Oversight)


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Judge Rejects ACA Contraception Suit Filed by 7 States
"Seven attorneys general trying to block the federal health care law's requirement for contraception coverage saw their lawsuit dismissed Tuesday by a federal judge who said they didn't have standing to file it. U.S. District Court Judge Warren K. Urbom ruled that the states failed to prove they would suffer immediate harm once that part of the law is enacted. The Nebraska federal judge also noted that President Barack Obama's administration has agreed to work with religious groups to try to address their concerns." (Sacramento Bee)

The Cost of Dropping Health Insur.ance in 2014
"In the health reform debate, we do a lot of crystal ball gazing over whether employees will keep offering health insur.ance in 2014, or send employees to the new health insur.ance marketplaces where some could purchase subsidized coverage. The companies would face a $2,000 per employee fine for not providing coverage, but that's a whole lot less than the cost of providing health insur.ance. Truven Health Analytics recently ... looked at health plan data for 33 large companies, including universities, retailers, those in financial and manufacturing industries. It found that moving employees into the exchanges would save employers a little—but also cost workers a lot. 'In no case could there be a win-win for the employer and the employee,' says Ray Fabius, Truven's chief medical officer. 'Someone ends up paying more.'" (The Washington Post; free registration required)

With Much PPACA Guidance Still to Come, Employers Must Be Nimble
"Employers need to be prepared to act quickly when regulatory guidance is issued on new health care rules that go into effect in 2014 under the Obama administration's health care overhaul, as there are a number of uncertainties that the federal government must still clear up by then ... For example, ... government guidance on the definition of a 'full-time' employee has yet to be released, and it is possible that the term could be defined to include employees who work as few as 30 hours a week ... Another area of uncertainty ... involves PPACA imperatives that employers meet health plan affordability requirements based on employee household income." (Bloomberg BNA)

[Opinion]

What's Wrong with the Health Care Media?
"How many times have you heard that 26-year-olds can be covered by their parent's health insur.ance as a result of health reform? Quite a few times I suspect. How about the fact that seniors can get free checkups? Yes, that too. How about the fact that health reform really isn't paid for? That half the dollars needed to pay for it will require Medicare cuts so draconian that Congress is unlikely to ever let them take place? Hmm ? You don't remember reading about that? What about the fact that families at the same income level will get vastly different subsidies under the reform—differences that amount to $10,000 a year or more? Ahh—You didn't read about that either? Here's the problem. The first two facts—the ones you hear about often—are trivial. The second two facts—the ones you never hear about—are deadly serious." (John Goodman's Health Policy Blog)


Understanding the Impact of Health Care Reform on Employers   [Advert.]

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This seminar will give you the information you need to move forward in addressing the issues, and insight into upcoming changes. Learn about the latest developments including what is currently being enforced. Discounted pricing for BenefitsLink readers.


[Opinion]

Text of Written Statements to ERISA Advisory Council on Managing Disability Risks in an Environment of Individual Responsibility
Links to text of written statements by invited witnesses: David Stapleton (Mathematica Policy Research), Lou Mazawey (Groom Law Group), Richard Shea (Covington & Burling), Steve Mitchell (UNUM), Carey Burnell (United Steelworkers) and Donald Fuerst (American Academy of Actuaries). (2012 ERISA Advisory Council)

[Opinion]

Will Small Business Owners Kill Their Companies to Thwart Obamacare?
"We've reached the bluster point on healthcare reform. Many small-business owners were holding their breaths and praying the Supreme Court would overturn President Barack Obama's landmark healthcare reforms. Now that the Court has upheld healthcare reform, entrepreneurs have moved on to spluttering threats about how they plan to gum up the works in 2014, when healthcare-reform provisions compel them to either offer health insur.ance to workers or pay a penalty." (Forbes)

[Opinion]

Text of Comments by National Business Group on Health to IRS Regarding Proposed Regs on Funding of Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund (PDF)
"Many National Business Group on Health ['NBGH'] members offer health benefits that consist of multiple components.... Because these components may be available simultaneously to plan participants, [NBGH] believes that fees under Code Sections 4375 - 4377 should apply to an entire package of benefits available to any given participant and not separately to individual components of group health coverage.... [NBGH recommends] allowing plan sponsors flexibility in correcting inadvertent errors, such as by allowing corrections for a certain period without penalty or allowing an exemption from applicable penalties in the case of de minimis errors." (National Business Group on Health)

Benefits in General; Executive Compensation

[Official Guidance]

Text of Questions and Answers from IRS on the Additional Medicare Tax
The new items are Q&A 7 through Q&A 20. Excerpt: "The Additional Medicare Tax applies to individuals’ wages, other compensation, and self-employment income over certain thresholds; employers are responsible for withholding the tax on wages and other compensation in certain circumstances. The IRS has prepared these questions and answers to assist employers and payroll service providers in adapting systems and processes that may be impacted." (Internal Revenue Service)

[Guidance Overview]

IRS Issues Guidance Regarding Increased Medicare Tax Effective January 1, 2013
"Effective January 1, 2013, employers must withhold an additional Medicare tax of 0.9% from the wages of employees who earn $200,000 or more. The IRS issued Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to help employers implement this new tax. The FAQs state that the employer must withhold the additional tax beginning with the pay period in which it pays wages in excess of $200,000 to an employee. The tax applies only to the wages over the $200,000 threshold. There is no requirement to notify employees once the employer begins withholding the additional tax[.]" (Haynes and Boone, LLP)

[Guidance Overview]

SEC Adopts Compensation Committee and Adviser Independence Rules
"While the final rules do not require a company to have a compensation committee, the new independence criteria, as well as the requirements relating to the consideration of a Compensation Adviser's independence and requirements relating to the responsibility for the appointment, compensation, and oversight of Compensation Advisers, are equally applicable to any board committee performing the functions typically performed by a compensation committee. In formulating the new independence standards, the exchanges are instructed to consider relevant factors, which must include ... The sources of compensation, including consulting, advisory, or other fees paid by the issuer to such member of the board of directors. Whether the board member is affiliated with the company, any subsidiary of the company, or an affiliate of a subsidiary of the issuer." (Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP)

Gradual Recovery in State Revenues Not Sufficient to Keep Pace with Costs for Pensions and Retiree Health Care
"[This report examines] the financial condition of six heavily populated states -- California, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Texas and Virginia. While each state varies in detail, a common thread runs through the analysis, supported by information available for states generally.... Certain large expenditures are growing at rates that exceed reasonable expectations for revenues ... The most important demographic force of the next two decades, the aging of our society, is upon us. The first wave of baby boomers is at retirement age. The medically expensive elderly population that is eligible for Medicaid will swell, as will the number of state and local government retirees to whom health benefits were promised. In addition, pension costs will rise as a result of earlier pension underfunding and failure to recognize liabilities, and investment earnings that have fallen below assumed rates of return." [The chairmen of the Task Force Chairmen are Richard Ravitch, a former lieutenant governor of New York, and Paul A. Volcker, a former chairman of the Federal Reserve.] (State Budget Crisis Tax Force)

Is This the End of Group Long Term Care?
"Leading insur.ance carriers have withdrawn from the group long-term care insur.ance market, prompting employers to think twice about implementing new programs—are we witnessing the death throes of worksite LTC?" (Employee Benefit Advisor; free registration required)

Bureau of Labor Statistics Reports Greater Benefits Availability Among Larger Employers
"Access to employer-provided benefits was greater in medium and large private industry establishments than in small establishments in March 2012, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Access, or availability of a benefit, was 57% for medical care in small establishments (those with fewer than 100 employees), compared with 89% in large establishments (those with 500 employees or more). In private industry, retirement benefits were available to 50% of workers in small establishments, 79% of workers in medium size establishments (those employing between 100 and 499 workers), and 86% of workers in large establishments." (Employee Benefit Adviser)

Employee Medical, Retirement, and Leave Benefits, March 2012
"Access to employer-provided medical and retirement benefits was greater in medium and large private industry establishments than in small establishments in March 2012. The rate of access to medical care benefits in small establishments (1 to 99 workers) was 57 percent, compared with 82 percent in medium-size establishments (100 to 499 workers) and 89 percent in large establishments (500 or more workers)." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

[Opinion]

Corporate Governance and the Problem of Executive Compensation: The International Response to Pay Ratios
"Different from the usual requirements, [Dodd-Frank] went beyond the computation of executive compensation and required the disclosure of a comparative metric. The SEC must adopt rules that require the disclosure of pay ratios. In effect, companies had to reveal the ratio between the compensation paid to the CEO and that paid to the median employee. The metric provides another basis for determining the reasonableness of compensation. It is also company specific. The metric, therefore, gives shareholders a mechanism for assessing the fairness of the amount paid within a particular company. Changes in the metric from year to year may also provide valuable information on the relative fairness of CEO compensation." (TheRacetotheBottom.org)

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