|
How Wal-Mart May Have Just Changed the Game on Health Care
"Wal-Mart's decision to directly contract with six leading hospital ... could be a real game changer.... Essentially, when the 1.1 million employees and dependents enrolled in the company's health plan need [certain heart, spine and transplant] procedures, Wal-Mart will steer them to six 'centers of excellence' around the nation, including Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic, at no additional cost to them. It could be a major step toward other firms directly contracting with hospitals of their choice, potentially reshaping referral patterns."
(CaliforniaHealthline)
|
Must Car Accident Victim Repay Health Plan Despite Terms of Settlement?
[Oral arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court will be held November 27 in U.S. Airways, Inc. v. McCutchen,] where the employer-sponsored plan fronted the payment of health care costs a participant incurred in an automobile accident, on the condition that the participant repay any monies recovered.... This decision could increase ERISA health care plan (and disability plan) benefit costs, administrative costs and legal costs, at the same time health care plans are adjusting for health care reform costs, so it merits watching."
(Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP)
|
Best Practices for Health Savings Accounts
"[N]ot all HSAs are created equally. High fees and lackluster investment options are frequent drawbacks and can offset, if not downright negate, the tax benefits.... Here are some tips to bear in mind. Make Sure an HDHP Is a Good Fit.... Conduct Due Diligence on the HSA.... Understand the Consequences When Venturing Beyond Your Employer's HSA.... Consider Paying Health-Care Expenses Out of Pocket.... Let Needs Drive Asset Allocation."
(Morningstar)
|
CalPERS Approves Long-Term Care Premium Increase of 85%
"CalPERS Board of Administration today approved an 85 percent premium increase for early purchasers of its Long-Term Care Insurance Program policies. The increase, to be spread over two years, is being implemented to help stabilize the Program's underlying Long-Term Care Fund and will take effect July 2015. Members who opt to cover the increase in a single year will pay only 79 percent."
(California Public Employees' Retirement System)
|
|
In Health Care Spending, Americans Who Make the Least Contribute the Greatest Share of Income (PDF)
"[A]fter accounting for the tax treatment of employer sponsored health insurance, 58 percent of all spending was publicly financed, and 42 percent was privately financed ... On average, low-income families contributed the greatest share of their income to private spending, with more than 10 percent going toward out-of-pocket payments and an additional 6 percent going toward insurance premiums. As a point of comparison, out-of-pocket payments for families in the highest income quintile were less than 1 percent of their total income, and premiums before taxes were less than 5 percent of total income."
(Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)
|
Insurance Costs Will Decrease for Small Business Under ACA, Urban Institute Study Says
"The analysis, from the Urban Institute's Health Insurance Policy Simulation Model, found that if all provisions of the ACA were implemented in 2012, the number of Americans covered by employer-sponsored insurance would increase by 2.7 percent (from 151.5 million to 155.6 million) and costs-per-person for small businesses with fewer than 50 workers would decrease by 7.3 percent."
(Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)
|
Impact of the ACA's 'Cadillac Insurance Tax' in Massachusetts: Thousands of Dollars in New Taxes for Middle-Class Workers
"Given that Massachusetts has long been a state with high premiums (ranking at or near the top in the nation), it is worth exploring what the average person is likely to pay in additional federal taxes during the first decade after the provision goes into effect. This brief takes a snapshot of the future impact of the tax on individual workers in Massachusetts. [It includes] an overview of the potential impact on a small business owner, a police officer, and a middle school teacher."
(Pioneer Institute)
|
Determining Full-Time Status Under Health Care Reform
"Given the complexity of identifying full-time employees, the IRS has provided safe harbor methods for determining whether an employee is full-time. The basic rule is that if an employee is not reasonably expected to work full-time when hired, the employee's status as a full-time employee will be determined by looking back at hours worked over a 'measurement period'.... Although the safe harbors are complicated and technical, if followed correctly they will enable employers to determine, in advance, whether certain employees could potentially trigger a penalty under the pay-or-play mandate."
(Precept Group)
|
|
Benefits in General; Executive Compensation
|
[Guidance Overview]
NYSE And NASDAQ Propose New Compensation Committee Listing Standards
"The NYSE and NASDAQ have now proposed amendments to their respective listing standards relating to compensation committees of listed companies pursuant to Rule 10C-1.... The SEC will accept comments for a 21-day period, after which the SEC will decide whether to approve the listing standards as proposed or require the exchanges to make changes. There are differences between the two proposals, so the SEC also may ask the exchanges to sync up their approaches in some respects."
(DrinkerBiddle)
|
ISS Releases 2013 Draft Policies for Comment
"Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) released certain 2013 draft proxy voting policies for public comment. The draft voting policies for US companies address: Board response to majority-supported shareholder proposals.... Management say-on-pay proposals.... Say on golden parachute proposals.... Environmental and social non-financial performance compensation-related proposals."
(Practical Law Company)
|
Social Security Yearly Income Cap Will Rise in 2013: Impact on Stock Compensation and Nonqualified Deferred Compensation
"If your compensation for the year has already surpassed the taxable maximum for Social Security and you want to exercise nonqualified stock options, you can do so without paying Social Security tax on the income recognized at exercise. Alternatively, if your income for the year is under the taxable maximum, then exercising NQSOs before the end of 2012 will let you benefit from the current 2% rate cut before the rate almost certainly goes back up to 6.2% in 2013."
(myStockOptions.com)
|
Non-Employee Director Compensation Across Industries and Size, 2012 Edition (PDF)
"[D]irector compensation levels vary primarily based on company size, while the structure of compensation is influenced by both company size and industry.... The financial services sector pays the highest portion of total compensation for board service in cash (56% of total compensation), while technology companies pay the lowest portion in cash (34% of total compensation).... Equity compensation continues to shift toward full-value stock awards determined under annual fixed-dollar formulas, and away from options and fixed-share grants."
(Frederic W. Cook & Co., Inc.)
|
Press Releases
|
|
|
BenefitsLink.com, Inc.
1298 Minnesota Avenue, Suite H
Winter Park, Florida 32789
Phone (407) 644-4146
Fax (407) 644-2151
Lois Baker, J.D., President
David Rhett Baker, J.D., Editor and Publisher
Holly Horton, Business Manager
Copyright © 2012 BenefitsLink.com, Inc. but feel free to forward this newsletter if done without modification in any way.
All materials contained in this newsletter are
protected by United States copyright law and may not be
reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed,
published or broadcast without the prior written
permission of BenefitsLink.com, Inc., or in the case of
third party materials, the owner of that content. You
may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or
other notice from copies of the content.
Links to Web sites other than those owned by
BenefitsLink.com, Inc. are offered as a service to
readers. The editorial staff of BenefitsLink.com, Inc.
was not involved in their production and is not
responsible for their content.
Useful links:
|