Executive Compensation Product Advisor
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association [NRECA]
in VA

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

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Unsafe Safe Harbor 401(k) Plans - and Other Oddities
September 23, 2014 WEBCAST
(NIPA [National Institute of Pension Administrators])

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[Guidance Overview]

How ERISA, Tax, ACA and Federal Labor Laws Apply to Welfare Benefit Plans (PDF)
69 slides, presented on August 28, 2014. Topics: The Legal Overlay: [1]The Internal Revenue Code; [2] The Employee Retirement Income Security Act; [3] The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; and [4] The Labor Laws: USERRA, ADEA, FMLA, and ADA. (Ice Miller, for American Benefits Council)  

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[Guidance Overview]

San Francisco Bay Area Employers Face September 30 Deadline on Commuter Benefits Program
"Employers with 50 or more employees in any combination of nine San Francisco Bay Area counties have until Sept. 30, 2014, to come into compliance with the Bay Area Commuter Benefits Program (CBP).... [T]he CBP requires covered employers to select at least one of four commuter benefit options, notify employees of the selected benefit and how to take advantage of it, and register the selection with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (Air District). A covered employer that already is complying with a pre-existing commuter benefit ordinance in one of four local jurisdictions ... still must register for the CBP and indicate which option is being provided." (Davis Wright Tremaine LLP)  

Text of First Circuit Opinion: No Fiduciary Breach When Insurer Paid Death Benefit Into Retained Asset Account (PDF)
"[H]ere, unlike in [Merrimon v. Unum], the Plan did not state in haec verba that benefits would be paid by means of [a retained asset account (RAA)].... We do not believe that a legally significant difference exists where, as here, the Plan documents, instead of singling out RAAs as the exclusive method of payment, allowed the insurer to pay other than by a lump sum. ERISA section 404(a) does not require a fiduciary to don the commercial equivalent of sackcloth and ashes. What it does require is that the fiduciary not place its own interests ahead of those of the Plan beneficiary." [Vander Luitgaren v. Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada, No. 13-2090 (1st Cir. Aug. 26, 2014)] (U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit)  

Can an Employer Persuade an Employee to Work Instead of Taking FMLA Leave Because Her Job Is Really Important?
"[1] Don't Make an Employee Perform Substantive Work while on FMLA Leave. Not ever. Never.... [2] Don't Abandon Your Obligation to Return the Employee to the Same or Equivalent Position.... [Be] exceedingly careful when returning an employee to a different position upon their return from FMLA leave. Think virtually identical skills, effort responsibility and authority." (FMLA Insights)  

CMS Webinar Slides: FF-SHOP Bank Account Creation (PDF)
29 slides, presented on August 26, 2014. "Purpose: [1] To provide FF-SHOP issuers with an update on Exchange Assigned IDs. [2] To provide FF-SHOP issuers with an overview of the Vendor Management process in order to facilitate premium remittance payments to issuers for the 2015 plan year." (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS], U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS])  

Post-Hobby Lobby: Changes to Rules for Contraceptive Coverage Issued
"The government is proposing for comment two possible approaches to defining a qualifying closely held for-profit entity, although the comments are invited on other approaches as well. Under the first proposed approach, a qualifying closely held for-profit entity would be an entity where none of the ownership interests in the entity is publicly traded and where the entity has fewer than a specified number of shareholders or owners. Under a second, alternative approach, a qualifying closely held entity would be a for-profit entity in which the ownership interests are not publicly traded, and in which a specified fraction of the ownership interest is concentrated in a limited and specified number of owners." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)  

Health Plan Service-Provider Calls Terminally Ill Patients to Discuss End-of-Life Issues
"The hope of this program ... is to build a relationship over the phone, so [the individual] might be comfortable discussing his situation and his goals. Then he'll be empowered to communicate those things with others, including his family and his doctors.... It's paid for by insurers and federal privacy rules permit this for business purposes.... And when these conversations do happen, there's can be another byproduct: reduced costs. Research is finding that when patients fully understand aggressive care, many choose less of it." (Kaiser Health News)  

[Opinion]

Insurers Shoving 'Advanced Illness Counselors' on Us
"After an introductory letter that is routinely ignored, the counselors cold-call to try to convince you to accept their end-of-life counseling. Of course, this is 'at no cost to you' since your insurer pays for this service. The services are provided over the phone from offices in New Jersey -- a definition of personal care that only the insurers can understand. The clients of Vital Decisions are the private insurers, not the patients, nor the physicians, nor any other members of the health care team." (Physicians for a National Health Program [PNHP])  

[Guidance Overview]

Developments Impacting Benefits for Same-Sex Spouses
"Employers should continue to review their benefit plans and policies with respect to benefits extended to employees' same-sex spouses. Year-end amendments may be required for qualified retirement plans to comply with the IRS guidance on Windsor. The recent DOL guidance may require employers to change their policies with respect to FMLA-protected leave to care for a same-sex spouse with a serious medical condition. In addition, employers with self-insured plans may want to consider whether to extend spousal coverage to same-sex spouses in light of [Roe v. Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield] and other challenges that will likely follow." (McDermott Will & Emery)  

Tax Problems Sometimes Arise When Giving Employees Choice of Benefits
"If the employee gives up the right to receive additional 457(b) distributions in the future in exchange for an additional current health insurance subsidy, the IRS views this as an assignment of income and has stated on several occasions that such a choice would result in current taxable income to the employees who elect the additional health insurance subsidy -- even though they are not now receiving any cash and have elected to receive what appears to be a nontaxable benefit." (Focus on Public Benefits)  

New York Court Upholds Executive Pay Caps as State Updates EO 38 Guidance (PDF)
"On July 29, Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice Emily Pines ruled in Concerned Home Care Providers, Inc. v. New York State Department of Health [DOH] that the DOH has authority 'to regulate the financial assistance provided by the State in connection with public health care activities.' Upholding the DOH regulations, the court emphasized that the regulations do not cap the executive compensation or administrative expenses of entities that receive state funds or state-authorized payments, but only limit the amount of money coming from state sources that can be used for those purposes.... [On August 13], an Albany Supreme Court justice delivered a setback to the state in a third case questioning the legality of EO 38. In Leading Age New York et al. v. Shah, Judge George B. Ceresia Jr. denied the state's motion to dismiss a challenge to EO 38 by several statewide associations of health care providers, allowing the case to continue." (Buck Consultants at Xerox)  

Section 457A Is Bad, But Proposed Section 409B Would Spell Doom for Deferred Compensation and Stock Options
"[If] it became law, new [Internal Revenue Code] Section 409B would effectively eliminate deferred compensation and stock options for all U.S. taxpayers. Yes, that's right, stock options (and SARs) too. Unlike 409A or 457A, proposed Section 409B defines deferred compensation to include 'any plan that provides a right to compensation based on the appreciation in value of a specified number of equity units of the service recipient or stock options,' extending its intended reach to stock options, SARs, and potentially, certain other stock-based compensation awards." (Winston & Strawn LLP)  

ACA Raises Taxes on Insurers with Big Pay Packages
"On average, the insurers owed $1.3 million more in taxes per executive. So-called 'performance pay,' which is no longer deductible for health insurers, accounted for more than $204 million of the compensation awarded. Executive pay rose to an average of $5.4 million per person in 2013, up from $5.1 million in 2012." (Kaiser Health News)  

Inspira to Speak at Winning IRA Rollovers Conference in Boston
Inspira

Retirement Advisor Council Elects Board Members Ryan Mullen and Barbara Delaney
Retirement Advisor Council

Aon Active Health Exchange Expands Coverage Options to Include Wide Range of Elective Benefits in 2015
Aon Hewitt

Trinity Benefit Advisors is Latest Firm to Join United Benefit Advisors
United Benefit Advisors

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