Investment Consultant
for Multnomah Group, Inc. in OR

Conversion Consultant
for Aspire Financial Services in FL

Retirement Plan Regional Sales Manager
for Mutual of Omaha in CA

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"Cross-Tested/Safe Harbor 401(k) Plan Design and Troubleshooting" Workshop - Seattle
in Washington on September 13, 2012 presented by SunGard Relius

"Cross-Tested/Safe Harbor 401(k) Plan Design and Troubleshooting" Workshop - Columbus
in Ohio on September 19, 2012 presented by SunGard Relius

COBRA, Affordable Care Act And Fiduciary Education Workshops
in Idaho on September 20, 2012 presented by U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program Webinar
Nationwide on September 13, 2012 presented by U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program Workshop
in California on September 5, 2012 presented by U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

COBRA Compliance Workshop
in Utah on August 29, 2012 presented by U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

CFDD

 

[Official Guidance]

Text of Revised CCIIO Guidance on Required Cost-Free Provision of Contraceptive Services by Health Plans and Insurers (PDF)
"This bulletin was originally issued on February 10, 2012, to describe the temporary enforcement safe harbor. In reissuing this bulletin, CMS is not changing the February 10 policy; it is only clarifying three points: (1) that the safe harbor is also available to non-profit organizations with religious objections to some but not all contraceptive coverage, as clarified herein; (2) that group health plans that took some action to try to exclude or limit contraceptive coverage that was not successful as of February 10, 2012, are not for that reason precluded from eligibility for the safe harbor, as clarified herein; and (3) that the safe harbor may be invoked without prejudice by non-profit organizations that are uncertain whether they qualify for the religious employer exemption, as clarified herein. Organizations that have already completed the certification or issued the notice from the February 10, 2012 bulletin are not required by this revised bulletin to recertify or reissue the notice." (Center for Consumer Information & Insur.ance Oversight)

DATAIR’s FlexPlus System – Makes Administration Profitable   [Advert.]

Proposals, Testing, Claims Processing, Debit Cards and more!
Plus CafeDocs/SPDs and 5500s/SARs
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[Guidance Overview]

DOL Updates Employer Model CHIP Notice
"The US Department of Labor (DOL) has updated its model notice that employers with group health plans may use to notify eligible employees about premium assistance available through their state Medicaid or Children's Health Insur.ance Program (CHIP). Employees must receive this information before the start of the plan year. Employers may use the DOL model or create their own notices, which must include program contact information for the states where employees reside. As revised July 31, the DOL notice now contains information for 38 states—two fewer than the initial 2010 model listed." (Mercer)

[Guidance Overview]

Nursing Mothers and the Workplace—What Employers Should Know
"If your workforce includes nursing mothers, you'll want to be familiar with the requirements below.... For plan years starting on or after August 1, 2012, the Affordable Care Act requires most health plans to cover eight new preventive services for women—including breastfeeding support, supplies, and counseling—with no cost-sharing. Note that group health plans that have maintained grandfathered status are not required to cover these services. Additionally, the Affordable Care Act's amendments to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) may require you to provide break time for employees who are nursing so they can express their milk. We've summarized the basic provisions of the law below; additional guidance is available from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)." (hr360)

[Guidance Overview]

Seattle's New Paid Leave Law
"All employers who employ more than four full-time employees (in any city or state) and have at least one employee who performs work within the City of Seattle must soon comply with Seattle's Sick/Safe Leave law. The new law goes into effect on September 1, 2012. All employees, regardless of whether they are temporary, part-time or full-time have the right to paid sick/safe leave under this law if they work in Seattle on an 'occasional basis,' or more than 240 hours within a calendar year. The location of the employer's business is not relevant." (Jackson Lewis LLP)

[Guidance Overview]

Health Care Reform's New Research Fees: What Employers Need to Know
"This alert ... discusses the annual fees that will be imposed on health insur.ance issuers and plan sponsors of self-funded plans to help support clinical effectiveness research. The fees must be reported on Form 720, Quarterly Federal Excise Tax Return, and paid for plan or policy years ending on or after October 1, 2012 and before October 1, 2019. For health insur.ance issuers and plan sponsors of self-funded plans with calendar-year policy or plan years, the first Form 720 and payment is due July 31, 2013." (Snell & Wilmer L.L.P.)

The Rising Cost of Commuting: Developing a Transportation Benefits Plan   [Advert.]

Learn how to help your employees pay for their rising commuting expenses, with tax-free dollars. Join us to discuss solutions to the rising costs of commuting. Discounted pricing for BenefitsLink readers.

Reinsurance Fees to Hit Health Plans in 2014
"As employers tackle health care reform's cost and compliance issues, a new fee slated to apply to insurers and third-party administrators from 2014 to 2016 is raising concerns. The fee will fund a temporary reinsurance program to help stabilize insur.ance premiums against the impact of covering individuals with high claims costs." (Mercer)

State Legislation and Actions Challenging Certain Health Reforms, 2011-2012 (Updated Aug. 10, 2012)
"In response to the federal health reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA or just ACA), and separate state reform initiatives, some members of at least 47 state legislatures proposed legislation to limit, alter or oppose selected state or federal actions.... As of mid-August 2012, 20 state legislatures had enacted laws and measures related to challenging or opting out of broad health reform including the [PPACA]." (National Conference of State Legislatures)

Ryan Health Tax Credit Idea Fills in Blank for Romney
"[Rep. Paul] Ryan, pegged four days ago as Romney's running mate in the U.S. presidential election, had advocated moving away from the employer-based system and adopting a set of capped tax credits that Americans would get to cover their healthcare costs. 'At the heart of the problem is the federal tax exclusion for employer-provided health coverage,' Ryan wrote in a 2010 policy document.... The tax exclusion for employer-provided healthcare costs the U.S. Treasury in the range of $100 bil.lion and $200 bil.lion a year. That makes it one of the biggest tax breaks[.]" (The New York Times; free registration required)

Safeguarding Patient-Generated Health Data on Mobile Devices
"This paper discusses the factors that should be considered when protecting patient-generated health information created on or shared through mobile devices. It also recommends strategies for securing patient health information on mobile devices and implementing technical safeguards to ensure general device security." (Center for Democracy and Technology)

[Opinion]

What the Affordable Care Act Means for Transgender People
"Every day, transgender Americans face discrimination, disrespect, and hostility from both medical center staff and insur.ance providers, pushing many at-risk patients to delay medical care or put it off altogether. But if all goes as planned, the Affordable Care Act will transform medical care for transgender people." (The Nation)

Relative Total Shareholder Return: Myths and Realities (PDF)
"[T]he seven myths are: 1. RTSR plans provide an incentive to beat the competition. 2. TSR is a good measure of executive performance. 3. Measuring TSR on a relative basis levels the playing field by removing overall market movements and industry economics from the evaluation of executive performance. 4. It is too hard to set valid multi-year financial goals. 5. RTSR plans are better than stock options. 6. All percentiles are created equally. 7. The accounting expense will be no more than the value of the share at grant, and may be less, reflecting the uncertainty of achieving the performance hurdles." (Aon Hewitt)

Tis the Season—To Review and Update Your Compensation Committee Charter!
"This issue is fresh again as Committees decide whether to add to their Charter's duties and responsibilities relating to the Dodd-Frank Act provisions on executive compensation and governance, and other best practices, including the adjustment or recovery of incentive awards or payments if the performance measures upon which such incentive awards or payments were based are restated or otherwise adjusted in a manner that would reduce the size of an award or payment, consistent with Section 10D of the Exchange Act (per Dodd-Frank Act Section 954)." (Winston & Strawn LLP)

Executive Compensation Tax Deductions Cost Treasury $30.4 Bil.lion Over 2007-10
"An exception to [Internal Revenue Code section 162(m)] allows corporations to deduct qualified performance-based compensation. This exception has a major weakness: While it requires that shareholders approve the performance-based compensation to preserve deductibility, corporations are only required to provide shareholders with general information. Thus, shareholders are asked to, and usually do, approve compensation plans without knowing the potential payouts from the plans or whether the performance conditions are challenging." (Economic Policy Institute)

New IRS Rule on Business Aircraft Could Cost Companies Big Bucks
"The [IRS] rejected what is called 'the primary purpose of the trip' method for identifying whether expenses were incurred for entertainment, amusement, or recreational purposes. The result is that a business will pay dearly if even one passenger is aboard a business flight for entertainment purposes." (CFO)

Reinhart Employee Benefits Update, August 2012 (PDF)
Articles include: HHS Releases Additional FAQs on Medical Loss Ratio Requirements; HHS Issues Audit Protocol for HIPAA Compliance as Mandated by HITECH Act; DOL Revises Mailing Address and Electronic Filing Method for Plan Fiduciaries to Report Disclosure Failures by Covered Service Providers; IRS Issues FAQs on Notice Requirements for Benefit Restrictions for Single-Employer Defined Benefit Plans; DOL Issues Revised Guidance Regarding Participant-Level Fee Disclosures. (Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c.)

Retired Teachers Will Get Less As Michigan Legislature Overhauls Pensions, Health Care
"State lawmakers passed a bill Wednesday that will mean higher costs or reduced pensions for most of the nearly 450,000 employees and retirees of Michigan's public schools.... The plan would pre-fund retiree health care costs, give many school employees the option of making larger pension contributions or receiving reduced pensions, and require most public school employees to pay 20% of their health care coverage. Retirees younger than 65 as of next Jan. 1 also would have to pay 20% of their health care premiums, while older employees would maintain their current 10% share, according to a fiscal agency analysis." (Detroit Free Press)

Boomers Need Health Care Costs Reality Check
"When it comes to retirement planning, experts say most boomers overlook the cost of health-care. In fact, a new study from the Society of Actuaries shows nearly half of Americans between the ages of 45 and 70 years have no financial plans in place to protect themselves against outliving their assets and the rising cost of health care." (Reuters via FoxBusiness.com)

Eye-Popping Retiree Medical Tab Seen
"Even if employees are healthy, medical costs are likely to take up a large and growing percentage of their retirement budget. So say experts who have crunched the numbers and come up with some frightening estimates of just how much Medicare premiums, drug costs and the occasional illness will set back working Americans. A healthy moderate-income couple of 45-year-olds can expect to spend $1.7 mil.lion on health care over their retirement years[.]" (Employee Benefit News)

The Importance of Being Unimportant: A Look at the Value Gained From a Low-Cost Dental Benefit
(International Foundation (of Employee Benefit Plans, or IFEBP))

Inspira Joins WMSI's Automatic IRA Rollover Program
(Inspira)

MassMutual Retirement Names Three Relationship Managers
(MassMutual Retirement Services)