Compensation Analyst
Western & Southern Financial Group
in OH

Human Resources Coordinator
Western & Southern Financial Group
in OH

Retirement Planning Consultant
Transamerica Retirement Solutions
in WI

Technical Editor - Tax Specialist [Qualified Retirement Plans]
Thomson Reuters
in TX

Sr. Retirement Compliance
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association [NRECA]
in VA

Enrolled Actuary DB/Cash Balance Administrator
Phoenix Arizona TPA
in AZ, IL

Benefits Administrator
Benefit Outsourcing Solutions
in MI

Pension Analyst
Hooker & Holcombe, Inc.
in CT

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How to Launch a Successful Financial Wellness Program
May 15, 2014 WEBCAST
(International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)

401(k) Plan Workshop 2014 - Dallas
June 4, 2014 in TX
(SunGard Relius)

PPA Pre-Approved Plans Workshop - Corbel Document - Portland
June 4, 2014 in OR
(SunGard Relius)

Retirement Plan Boot Camp
June 5, 2014 in PA
(PEBA [Penjerdel Employee Benefits and Compensation Association])

The Journey to High-Quality Health Care: New Business Models Emerge
June 10, 2014 WEBCAST
(Deloitte)

One-Day Healthcare Reform Training & Certification Event
June 17, 2014 in FL
(Constangy, Brooks & Smith, LLP)

Fiduciary Governance
June 25, 2014 in IL
(Worldwide Employee Benefits Network [WEB] - Chicago Downtown Chapter )

401[k] Plan Duties and Liability Update: What You Need to Know and Do
July 9, 2014 WEBCAST
(Lorman Education Services)

ACOPA Actuarial Symposium
August 15, 2014 in IL
(ASPPA College of Pension Actuaries [ACOPA])

View All Webcasts and Conferences

[Guidance Overview]

Agencies Revise COBRA and CHIPRA Notices, Announce Special Marketplace Enrollment for COBRA Beneficiaries
"Although the revised general notice contains only a few brief references to the Marketplace alternative, the revised election notice devotes multiple pages to this topic.... The revised COBRA election notice also discusses the potential advantages of electing Marketplace coverage instead of COBRA coverage.... In view of these potential advantages of Marketplace coverage, why would anyone still choose to elect COBRA coverage? ... First, the individual may not qualify for the premium subsidies or cost-sharing reductions.... Alternatively, an individual who has satisfied a substantial portion of an annual deductible or out-of-pocket maximum under an employer plan may wish to elect COBRA coverage for the remainder of that plan year to avoid having to satisfy a new deductible or out-of-pocket maximum for that same year. Finally, an individual may miss a special enrollment deadline for Marketplace coverage, but still be eligible to elect COBRA coverage." (Spencer Fane)  

[Advert.]

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Sign-up for our 3rd Annual ftwilliam.com Customer Conference, August 3-5 in downtown Chicago! Earn CE credits while learning about the latest industry news and trends, interacting with your peers, and learning more about your ftwilliam.com software tools.

[Guidance Overview]

DOL Model COBRA Election Notice Substantially Revised
"Though much of the language tracks with the 2004 version, parts of the revised initial notice are new or rearranged. For example, the updated initial notice includes two new paragraphs of text ... referencing coverage options under the exchanges that may be available to individuals who lose their group health coverage, as well as special enrollment options ... Also, certain language regarding the duration of COBRA continuation coverage has been shortened." (Practical Law Company)  

[Guidance Overview]

Some Open Questions Answered by New IRS Guidance on Medical FSAs
"[By] allowing participant-by-participant choices regarding the carryover of any unused amounts, the new guidance on carryovers provides more flexibility to employers than current IRS rules on grace periods.... The correction procedures for debit cards in the proposed cafeteria plan regulations may be applied to any improper medical FSA payments-not just those using debit cards. The memo also clarifies that a third-party administrator may apply the correction procedures on the employer's behalf." (Miller Johnson)  

[Guidance Overview]

IRS Clarifies Rules for Correcting Improper Payments from Health FSAs (PDF)
"Once the debit card is deactivated, the correction procedures generally may be applied in any order, as long as application is consistent for all participants. However, forgiveness of improper payments as uncollectible business debts is generally permitted only after the other correction methods have been pursued.... An employer cannot simply choose to 'forgive' the improper payment. If it typically pursues legal action to recover other business debts above a certain dollar threshold as part of its business practice, it may have to similarly take legal action if the amount of improper payment exceeds that threshold." (Buck Consultants)  

[Guidance Overview]

Keeping Your Wellness Program in Shape
"Even if a participant continues to 'fail' to meet the desired health outcome ... year after year, the participant must be able to continue obtaining the reward, or avoiding any surcharge, by completing an appropriate [reasonable alternative standard (RAS)] .... [Some] wellness program designs ... offer participants a 'menu' of options to obtain a specific health plan reward or avoid a surcharge. In these designs, some methods are outcome-based and some methods are participatory and/or activity-based. These designs often offer employees increased flexibility, but should be reviewed for HIPAA compliance." (Quarles & Brady LLP)  

Employers Eye Moving Sickest Workers to Insurance Exchanges
"Here's how it might work. The employer shrinks the hospital and doctor network to make the company plan unattractive to those with chronic illness. Or, the employer raises co-payments for drugs needed by the chronically ill, also rendering the plan unattractive and perhaps nudging high-cost workers to examine other options. At the same time, the employer offers to buy the targeted worker a high-benefit 'platinum' plan in the marketplaces. The plan could cost $6,000 or more a year for an individual. But that's still far less than the $300,000 a year that, say, a hemophilia patient might cost the company." (Kaiser Health News)  

Obamacare Countdown for Large Employers - Part 1
"The ACA has always had inherent opportunities and strategies for employers to remain profitable. However, each of these opportunities and strategies requires planning and preparation. With the latest round of rules, employers ran out of time to plan in some big ways, and they are now stuck with whatever they have done -- or not done." (ReTHINKING obamacare)  

Medicare Advantage Plans: Take Another Look
"The number of Medicare beneficiaries in Medicare private plans reached an all-time high this year of nearly 16 million beneficiaries, 6.3 million higher than the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) had projected in 2010 soon after the [ACA] was enacted. The CBO now projects Medicare Advantage enrollment will reach 22 million beneficiaries by 2020, more than double the number projected shortly after the ACA was enacted." (Kaiser Family Foundation)  

Health Insurers on Illinois Obamacare Exchange Must Adapt to Compete with Blue Cross
"Five of the six insurers on the Illinois Health Insurance Exchange face a moment of truth as they decide whether to continue offering plans on the online marketplace ... Just under 18,000 combined signed up for their plans, compared with an estimated 200,000 enrollees who flocked to plans sold by Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Illinois. The entire state exchange attracted about 217,500 enrollees ... Now the rival insurers are weighing whether to lower prices and redouble their marketing efforts to be more competitive." (Crain's Chicago Business)  

House Committee Hearing: 'PPACA Enrollment and the Insurance Industry', May 7, 2014
"The following issues may be examined at the hearing: [1] What does the industry believe the final enrollment total will be in the PPACA exchanges? [2] Are there any states facing unique risk pools or payment problems? [3] What has the industry's experience been with HealthCare.gov and the other systems the administration was responsible for creating? [4] What can consumers and patients expect to experience regarding networks, doctor choices, and future premiums under the PPACA?" [Includes testimony submitted on behalf of Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, America's Health Insurance Plans, Aetna, Cigna, Health Care Service Corporation, and Wellpoint, Inc.] (Energy & Commerce Committee, U.S. House of Representatives)  

D.C. Council Approves Broad New Tax on Insurance to Cover Cost of City's Health Insurance Exchange
"To cover its $28 million annual budget, the District's exchange would have to levy a whopping 17 percent tax on every health plan sold on its Web site. As an alternative, Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) on [May 6] proposed and the council unanimously endorsed legislation granting the District's exchange board broad new power to tax any health-related insurance product sold in the city -- regardless of whether it's offered on the exchange." (The Washington Post; subscription may be required)  

Broker Private Exchanges Still Fall Short of Government Exchanges
"On average eHealth had 29% fewer Obamacare plans than the government exchanges.... On average the lowest available premium was 6.5% higher on eHealth than on the government exchanges.... Although the government exchanges averaged a more comprehensive list of plans than the private broker exchanges, the results of this study show that the inventory of private exchanges has become more competitive than was the case for 2013." (HealthPocket)  

HHS Report of Issuers of Stand-Alone Dental Plans: Intent to Offer in FFE States (PDF)
"[This table] lists the number of issuers that intend to offer stand-alone dental plans (SADPs) in states that are expected to have a Federally-facilitated Exchange (FFE), including State Partnership Exchanges, based on the current Exchange Blueprint Approvals. This information is current as of April 15, 2014.... The numbers represent the number of issuers that intend to offer SADPs: [1] in the individual and small group markets statewide; [2] statewide, but only in the individual market; and, [3] statewide, but only in the small group market." (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS], U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)  

Insurers Say Most Obamacare Customers Paid First Premiums
"As many as 90 percent of WellPoint customers have paid their first premium by its due date, according to testimony the company prepared for a congressional hearing [on May 7]. For Aetna, the payment is in the 'low to mid-80 percent range,' the company said in its own testimony. Health Care Service Corp., which operates Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in five states including Texas, said that number is at least 83 percent." (Bloomberg)  

House of Representatives Approves ACA Exemption for Expatriate Insurance Plans
"The new exemptions are intended to apply only to those insurance plans sold to Americans working overseas and non-U.S. persons working in America. The law defines an expatriate as someone who spends at least six months working outside of the country. It also clarifies that the expatriate plans must comply with laws that existed before the ACA went into effect." (Littler)  

[Opinion]

Text of Comments on Proposed Regs Regarding Calculation of UBTI for VEBAs (PDF)
"[U]nless Q&A-5 is revised, VEBAs which have been operating in a permissible manner will find that their investment income which was earned during the current year in which the regulation is promulgated, and perhaps even prior to the date that the regulation is enacted, will be subject to tax. I respectfully request that Q&A-5 be revised to provide that the effective date of the regulation be the first taxable year STARTING (not ENDING) on or after the date of publication of the final regulation[.]" [The author was the principal author of the 1980 proposed VEBA regulations.] (Russell E. Greenblatt, Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP)  

Compensation Costs for Private Industry Workers Up 1.7 Percent in Year Ending March 2014
"Wages and salaries increased 1.7 percent for the current 12-month period ending March 2014, unchanged from March 2013. The increase in the cost of benefits was 1.8 percent for the 12-month period ending March 2014. In March 2013, the increase in the cost of benefits was 2.0 percent." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)  

Evaluating Total Unfunded Public Employee Retirement Liabilities in 20 California Counties
"[T]hese 20 counties combined have a population of 29.3 million, constituting 77% of Californians. Their total unfunded pension liability ... is $37.2 billion. Their total unfunded retirement liabilities, ... including pension obligations bonds and unfunded healthcare liabilities, is $72.3 billion. As a percentage, their total funded ratio just for pensions (assets as a percent of liabilities) is 74%. Their total retirement funding percentage, taking into account pensions, healthcare, and pension obligation bonds, is only 60%. This total obligation, $7,369 per household vs. $3,932 if you only include pension funds, is a daunting amount." (California Policy Center)  

Why Commonality is Relatively Easy to Prove in ERISA Class Actions
"[In] general, breaches of fiduciary duty related to an ERISA plan affect all participants and beneficiaries in the same manner ... The only real trick in this regard is for the plaintiffs to make sure they account for any aspects of the breach in question that might render only some participants (for instance, those in the plan during a certain time period) and not others subject to the violation, and to then draw appropriate lines around the makeup of the class so as to laser out any plan participants who were not affected and harmed by the particular conduct in question. Do this, and commonality exists." (Stephen Rosenberg of The McCormack Firm, LLC)  

Update on the Simon Property Group 162(m)/Excessive Compensation Lawsuit
"Last year ... a disappointing ruling ... [was issued by] the Delaware Chancery Court.... [T]he transcript of the bench ruling, the Court's interpretation of the facts, and its willful refusal to distinguish between base salary and a time-vested RSU award may suggest a shift in some Delaware courts' attitudes toward executive compensation lawsuits. Apparently, the parties recently settled the case, with the following commitments by the company: ..." (Winston & Strawn LLP)  

Series of Limited Scope 409A Audits Underway
"The IRS has launched an audit initiative aimed at compliance with the rules for nonqualified deferred compensation plans under Code section 409A....The IRS will assess what further steps, if any, to take after the results of these audits are in. While IRS agents have sometimes raised section 409A issues on audits, this appears to be the first systematic IRS initiative to review compliance with the complex regulatory scheme under Code section 409A.... [This] article [outlines] some actions that employers may consider to prepare for a potential audit on section 409A issues." (Groom Law Group)  

Retirement Plan Administrators Enrich Retirement Readiness Initiatives with SunGard’s WealthStation MyRetirement
SunGard

Fidelity Reports 48 Percent Boost in Health Savings Account Openings in 2013
Fidelity Investments

TRA Appoints a New National Sales Manager
The Retirement Advantage [TRA]

Manning & Napier Enhances Defined Contribution Offerings with Dedicated Distribution Channel
Manning & Napier, Inc.

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