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Advanced COBRA: Top Compliance and Litigation Traps
Nationwide on September 27, 2012 presented by Thomson Reuters / EBIA

401(k) Litigation and the Aftermath of Fee Disclosure
in California on September 18, 2012 presented by Western Pension & Benefits Conference - San Diego Chapter

DROs, QDROs, and Divorced Participants Live Web Seminar
Nationwide on September 6, 2012 presented by Erisafile Inc.

First Dates, Deadline Dates and Safe Harbor Dates: Rules to Remember When Creating a Plan 2012 Live Web Seminar
Nationwide on September 20, 2012 presented by Erisafile Inc.

Ethics for Retirement Plan Professionals Live Web Seminar
Nationwide on September 27, 2012 presented by Erisafile Inc.

Professionalism for Retirement Plan Professionals Live Web Seminar
Nationwide on September 27, 2012 presented by Erisafile Inc.

403(b) Plans - New Plan Documents, Compliance Programs, and EPCRS Procedures 2012 Live Web Seminar
Nationwide on October 1, 2012 presented by Erisafile Inc.

Taking the Mystery Out of Retirement Planning - A Focus on Women & Retirement Webcast
Nationwide on September 11, 2012 presented by U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

 

[Guidance Overview]

Guidance on Full-Time Employee Status
"A relatively small employer may be surprised to find it is classified as a large employer for purposes of the shared responsibility penalties. The shared responsibility penalties generally apply to an employer with 50 or more full-time and full-time equivalent employees in the preceding calendar year. Note that, although part-time employees are included as fractional employees in calculating the large-employer 50-employee threshold, part-time employees are ignored for purposes of determining the actual shared responsibility penalties." (Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP)

[Advert.]

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Public Employer Retiree Health Costs Rising
"State and local governments in New York will have to come up with an additional quarter of a trillion dollars to pay the entire tab for retiree health care, according to a new report. The $250 billion bill for retiree health coverage is up from $210 billion two years ago, said the study issued by the Empire Center for New York State Policy on Wednesday. Referred to as 'other post-employment benefits,' or OPEB, the unfunded obligations represent a troubling strain on budgets." (The Wall Street Journal)

A View of the U.S. Health Care System
Infographic describing health care system satisfaction, costs, and opinions of ACA by consumers, physicians and employers. (Deloitte)

Essential Tactics for CO-OP Prosperity (PDF)
"Even before the first member is enrolled, consumer operated and oriented plans (CO-OPs) will invest thousands of hours in developing the operational infrastructure that will provide healthcare coverage for their members. Conventional approaches to managing cost such as contract negotiations with network providers for competitive unit costs and implementing medical management models to curb excessive utilization are important starting points for controlling the cost of claims. However, recent changes to the nation's healthcare system have created a few additional items for CO-OPs to consider as they prepare for October 2013 and enrolling their first members." (Healthcare Town Hall)

District Court Judge Says Michigan Health Care Claims Tax Not Pre-Empted by ERISA
"The Self-Insurance Institute of America Inc. challenged the law, arguing that it is barred by a provision in ERISA that pre-empts state and local laws and rules that relate to employee benefit plans. But U.S. District Court Judge Julian Abele Cook of the Eastern District of Michigan disagreed. The Michigan law 'does not mandate any particular benefit structure or bind administrators to certain benefit structures,' he wrote ... In addition, the law 'does not act exclusively on ERISA plans or single them out for different treatment but rather treats them the same as other entities' that make payments to health care providers, Judge Cook wrote." (Business Insurance; free registration required)

[Advert.]

SWBA / IRS Employee Benefits Conference for Practitioners and Plan Sponsors

Staying up to date in the challenging world of employee benefits has never been more critical for benefits professionals and plan sponsors. Changes in regulations, technology, workforce and the economy continue to influence company benefits. Stay informed.

Employers May Avoid Hiring Smokers as Health Care Reform Kicks In
"Under a provision of the ACA, smokers can be charged up to 50 percent more than nonsmokers for health insurance.... [A] 2011 survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation [revealed that] premiums for employer-sponsored coverage averaged just over $5,000 annually for an individual. Every employee who smokes ... costs the employer more than $10,000 in additional expenses that are 'totally unnecessary.' Although only anecdotal evidence is available, some employers are deciding that the best way to avoid such costs is to not hire smokers at all." (Law.com)

Another Study Confirms Most Employers Plan to Keep Health Plans
"The latest health care survey conducted by consulting firm Towers Watson has found that the vast majority (88%) of the 440 midsize to large companies surveyed claimed that they had no plans to drop health care coverage in the near future.... A majority of employers (58%) expect that they will trigger the excise tax in 2018 if they do not make changes to their current benefit strategy. As a result, 83% of employers are planning to take steps to control their costs to avoid the tax." (Littler Mendelson LLC)

Amicus Brief of American Benefits Council, ERIC and SHRM Objecting to Grant of Equitable Relief in ERISA Reimbursement Claim (PDF)
"Instead of granting equitable relief that was an 'appropriate' means to enforce the terms of the plan, the court below granted equitable relief to rewrite the terms of the plan.... By contrast, enforcing written plan reimbursement provisions does not produce unjust or inequitable results. It merely enforces a rational and fair contractual bargain. The participant here received a clear benefit (immediate payment of his medical bills), and he knew that in exchange for that benefit he would have to reimburse the plan if he ultimately recovered monies from the third party who was responsible for his injuries." [U.S. Airways v. McCutchen, On Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, USSC No. 11-1285] (American Benefits Council, ERISA Industry Committee, and Society of Human Resource Management)

The Defined Contribution Private Exchange in Action (PDF)
"Employers looking to improve predictability and control when it comes to the cost of their health coverage programs don't have to cease offering benefits altogether. Thanks to the burgeoning defined contribution private exchange model, employers can continue to offer their employees competitive benefit packages—in fact, they can offer more choices than ever before—while controlling their costs." (Bloom Health)

Wide Variation in Episode Costs Within a Commercially Insured Population Highlights Potential to Improve the Efficiency of Health Care
"[E]pisode costs for a set of major medical procedures varied about 2.5-fold, and for a selected set of common chronic conditions, episode costs varied about 15-fold. Among doctors meeting quality and efficiency benchmarks, however, costs for episodes of care were on average 14 percent lower than among other doctors. Some markets exhibited much higher variation in episode costs, but there was essentially no correlation between average episode costs and measured quality across markets. The overall analysis suggests that changing incentives through payment reforms could help to improve performance[.]" (HealthAffairs)

Psychological Counseling Is a Medical Examination under the ADA, Rules the Sixth Circuit
"The Sixth Circuit noted that according to the EEOC's guidance, psychological tests designed 'to identify a mental disorder or impairment' are 'medical examinations,' while those tests that 'measure personality traits such as honesty, preferences, and habits' are not. Application of this guidance is not simple or a matter of labels, as 'personality' tests that reveal symptoms of diagnosable mental illness still may be medical examinations.... [The Court concluded that] the employer intended that the plaintiff would explore her possible affliction with depression or similar mental-health impairment so that she could receive appropriate treatment. 'This uncovering of mental-health defects at the employer's direction,' the court ruled, 'is the precise harm that [the ADA] is designed to prevent absent a demonstrated job-related business necessity.'" (Ballard Spahr)

Compensation for CFOs Increased in 2011
"Compensation for Chief Financial Officers of S&P 500 companies rose 5.9% in 2011 ... CFOs received a median $2.75M in total direct compensation (salary plus actual short-term incentive payout plus grant-date expected value of long-term incentives). CFOs of S&P 100 companies received a somewhat more modest increase of 5.5% to a median $4.34M, while those at the remaining companies ('Other 400') rose 6.1% to a median $2.56M." (Mercer)

[Opinion]

Fourth Circuit Unfairly Limits Scope of ERISA Anti-Retaliation Statute
"While ERISA protects employees who report wrongdoings by their employers across most of the country, folks in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th federal court circuits are not protected when they report issues 'internally'—that means to their employers. Folks in all the other federal circuits are protected.... [T]he only way to now fix the problem is to amend ERISA so that it clearly protects people who file what are called 'internal reports'; that is, when a person files a report or sends an email to his or her supervisor or executive management that says, 'Hey, I think we have a problem here'." (Winston-Salem Journal)

ExpertPlan Announces Strategic Alliance With Redhawk Wealth Advisors
ExpertPlan

Wellness Programs Save Employers $1 to $3 for Every Dollar Spent
International Foundation (of Employee Benefit Plans, or IFEBP)

Towers Watson Enhances its Talent Management Processes Capabilities with Latest Release of Talent|REWARD® Software Solution
Towers Watson