Retirement Planning Consultant
Transamerica Retirement Solutions
in OK

Director Transition Services
OneAmerica Financial / AUL
in IN

Employee Benefits Associate
Akerman LLP
in FL

Client Service Manager
The Newport Group
in FL, NC

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Qualified Health Plan (QHP) Series -- Open Q&A
June 25, 2014 WEBCAST
(Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS))

Federally-facilitated Small Business Health Options Program (FF-SHOP) Series III - Update and Issuer Q&A
July 15, 2014 WEBCAST
(Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS))

ERISA Update
July 16, 2014 WEBCAST
(Ohio State Bar Association)

View All Webcasts and Conferences

[Guidance Overview]

COBRA Meets Healthcare Reform
"There are no rules that require employers to explain the possible COBRA/Exchange coverage gap or differences in election periods and deadlines. Employers are left to decide whether to disseminate this information and, if so, how and when. While trying to avoid providing advice to employees, there are ways to present information and links that assist employees in accessing the needed information." (Nelson Mullins)  

[Advert.]

2014 Employee Well-Being Bootcamp for HR, Benefits and Wellness Professionals

The conversation on employee wellness begins with the fundamentals. Take a fresh look at the evolution of wellness, innovative initiatives, and building programs founded on reconciling business goals with employee health accountability. July 23-24, Boston.

Another Court Holds that ERISA Plan Anti-Assignment Provisions Trump Participant Assignments
"[T]he district court ... explained that Congress carefully considered assignment of both pension and welfare plan benefits, and consciously decided to prohibit pension plan assignments but remain silent on welfare benefits. The district court said that, having chosen to remain silent, Congress intended not to mandate assignability, but intended instead to allow the free marketplace to work out such competitive, cost effective, medical expense reducing structures as might evolve." [Neurological Surgery Associates, P.A. v. Aetna Life Insurance Co., No. 2:12-cv-05600-SRC-CLW (D.N.J. June 4, 2014)] (Seyfarth Shaw LLP)  

Small Businesses and Health Reform: Results From a Survey of Five States
"The survey was administered in ... Alabama, Colorado, Minnesota, New York, and Oregon. These states used a range of strategies to implement the ACA; combined with our survey results, these strategies provide a valuable window into how the ACA has already affected small businesses and give us a baseline to compare with future impact." (Mathematica Policy Research)  

What Kinds of Health Insurance Do Small Businesses Offer?
"[This survey] asked the businesses that offered health insurance about the kinds of coverage they offered; the percentage of the total premium cost ... paid by the employer; and whether they offered dental coverage, family coverage, or workplace wellness programs.... Alabama and Minnesota were the two outliers in terms of offering high-deductible plans -- only 8 percent of the small businesses in Alabama offered them, whereas almost half of those in Minnesota did. The majority of high-deductible plans offered had savings account features associated with them." (Mathematica Policy Research)  

Small Businesses' Decisions to Offer Health Insurance to Employees
"In all five states, the most common reason mentioned was that offering coverage helps retain employees; the second most common was that it helps employees stay healthy and productive; third was that it helps them recruit employees; and fourth, that the company has a responsibility to provide this benefit to employees. When asked to choose the most important reason, however, the greatest proportion of employers in all states except Colorado (from 30 percent in Alabama to 45 percent in Oregon) said it is the company's responsibility to do so[.]" (Mathematica Policy Research)  

[Advert.]

BenefitsLink app for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch now available!

Stay up-to-date while you're on the go with the BenefitsLink App -- now available for iPad, iPhone 5, and iPod touch.

Private Health Care Exchanges Enroll More Than Predicted
"Three million people signed up for workplace health coverage for this year through private exchanges ... That's roughly three times the number of people [one] firm had estimated last fall ... The growth was driven largely by smaller and midsize companies -- those with no more than 1,000 employees[.]" (The New York Times; subscription may be required)  

Did Health Spending Actually Decelerate in the First Quarter of 2014?
"Compared with the first quarter of 2013, [Bureau of Economic Analysis Quarterly Services Survey (QSS)] spending shows a growth rate of 2.9%. In contrast, QSS for the fourth quarter of 2013 was 4.9% higher than for the fourth quarter of 2012. For the third quarter, the growth rate was 3.9%. In fact, spending went negative from the fourth quarter of 2013 to the first quarter of 2014 at a rate of -1.8%." (Altarum Institute)  

[Opinion]

To Get More People Covered, Give Them More Affordable Choices
"Currently, most consumers shopping in the Exchanges are able to find the right coverage for them among the four metal tiers. Unfortunately, for some, even the lowest cost plans remain out of reach. These individuals would benefit from a new option with a lower price tag, especially as a variety of factors put pressure on premiums and discourage young and healthy individuals from signing up for coverage.... This new level of coverage could be available to small businesses and individuals of all ages with a lower premium than offered by current coverage choices." (America's Health Insurance Plans [AHIP])  

[Opinion]

Text of Comments by U.S. Chamber of Commerce to ERISA Advisory Council About Pharmacy Benefit Management Compensation and Fee Disclosure (PDF)
"As it relates to welfare plans, the Chamber has consistently maintained that the fee disclosure rules should not apply.... First, there is no demonstrated need for the application of fee disclosure rules to welfare benefit plans, including how this disclosure might additionally relate to PBMs. Secondly, promulgating fee disclosure rules for welfare plans generally and PBMs specifically will create unnecessary burden s on employers and will increase employer health plan costs, while providing little or no benefits to plan participants." (U.S. Chamber of Commerce)  

[Official Guidance]

Text of Final Regs Governing Practice Before the Internal Revenue Service, Amending Circular 230
"This document contains final regulations revising the regulations governing practice before the [IRS]. These final regulations affect individuals who practice before the IRS. These final regulations modify the standards governing written advice and update other related provisions of the regulations. These regulations are effective on June 12, 2014." (U.S. Department of the Treasury)  

How to Trigger Liability Insurance Coverage for an ERISA Claim of Independent Contractor Misclassification
"[T]he ERISA claim itself did not require any type of intentional misconduct, which is basically true across the board with most types of ERISA claims, and [the Court] held that the insurer therefore could not deny coverage for the ERISA claim based on an exclusion for dishonest or malicious acts. The Court found that the ERISA claim could, in essence, simply be a claim for negligent conduct ... and thus the insurer could not deny a defense to the insured based on such an exclusion, which would not reach a claim of negligence." [Euchner-USA Inc. v. Hartford Casualty Ins. Co., No. 13-2021-cv (2d Cir. June 10, 2014)] (Stephen Rosenberg of The McCormack Firm, LLC)  

Delayed Retirement Reduces Health Care Costs
"[C]ouples who decide to retire at 62 -- before they are eligible for Medicare -- are likely to spend an extra $17,000 per year for a total of $271,000 during retirement ... On the other hand, couples who can postpone retirement just a few years to age 67 could save about $10,000 per year, reducing their estimated costs for health care in retirement to $200,000." (InvestmentNews)  

Clawback Rules May Come Out in 2014, Go into Effect in Mid-2015
"Many open questions remain, including what compensation will be covered, to whom the clawback will apply, when the three-year look-back period will be triggered and whether companies will be allowed any discretion in determining whether certain employees or certain conduct or small amounts may be excluded from clawback requirements[.]" (Bloomberg BNA)  

Litigation Over Executive and Director Compensation Takes Another Turn for the Worse
"Last week ... lawyers filed an 'excessive compensation' lawsuit against the officers and directors of Facebook ... [In] addition to its obligatory and generalized claims of too much compensation, the lawsuit argues that the 'demand' requirement is excused... Since 1996, conventional wisdom, supported by economic efficiency, has led companies to provide stock awards to officers and directors under the same incentive plan. This lawsuit confirms our earlier warnings that companies need to rethink this approach." (Winston & Strawn LLP)  

CEO Pay Continues to Rise as Typical Workers Are Paid Less
"From 1978 to 2013, CEO compensation, inflation-adjusted, increased 937 percent, a rise more than double stock market growth and substantially greater than the painfully slow 10.2 percent growth in a typical worker's compensation over the same period. The CEO-to-worker compensation ratio was 20-to-1 in 1965 and 29.9-to-1 in 1978, grew to 122.6-to-1 in 1995, peaked at 383.4-to-1 in 2000, and was 295.9-to-1 in 2013, far higher than it was in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, or 1990s." (Economic Policy Institute)