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Previous Month ~ Week of September 1, 1996~ Following Week

9/6: Summer 1996 issue of Investment Quarterly, published by Halseth Capital Management, Inc. (fiduciary investment advisory service to qualified pension plans).

9/6: ERISA Audit Report for August 1996, from Reish & Luftman
- ERISA 502(l) Penalty -- Trap for the Unwary
- Handling the Audit of a Takeover Case

9/5: Another good site for IRS forms was suggested by Christopher Trapatsos of Benefits Management, Inc.

9/5: Does your firm publish an informative newsletter with benefits information for clients or prospective clients? Publish it on BenefitsLink!

9/4: Tools for Plan Administrators, from Pension Solutions, Inc.
- On-line Maximum Loan Amount Calculator
- On-line Loan Repayment (Amortization) Schedule Calculator

9/4: Information for Plan Sponsors from Pension Solutions, Inc.
- Final Rules and Legislation
- Technical Bulletins

9/4: "What's ERISA," you ask? No, the question is who is ERISA. Turns out she's an attractive coed at the University of Hawaii. May I introduce Ms. Erisa A. Cristobal!

9/4: When an Employer Acts as Fiduciary, by Howard S. Denburg (The New York Law Journal, May 17, 1996)

9/4: Does Recent TAM Put a Clamp On Split Dollar Insurance?, by Aaron L. Danzig and Thomas J. Archer (The New York Law Journal, August 23, 1996)

9/4: Health Care Coverage: Too Restrictive? Insurers, Managed Care Payors More Involved in Decisions, by Richard V. Caplan and Barbara A. Ryan (The New York Law Journal, April 1, 1996)

9/4: H.R. 3448 (Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996), Public Law 104-188 (became law 08/20/96)

9/4: H.R. 3103 (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996), Public Law 104-191 (became law 08/21/96)

9/4: H.R. 831 (to permanently extend the deduction for the health insurance costs of self-employed individuals), Public Law 104-7 (became law 04/11/95)

9/4: Medical Savings Accounts: a Policy Analysis, from the Urban Institute (March 1996)

9/4: New Sanctions for Tax-Exempt Organizations, from the Hay Group, Inc.
Excerpt: The Taxpayer Bill of Rights (P.L. 104-168) (the Act), which President Clinton signed into law on July 30, 1996, provides a strong, new incentive for executives and trustees of tax-exempt organizations to investigate and document the reasonableness of the compensation and benefits packages provided to organization insiders. The Act, in addition to enhancing the rights of taxpayers in their dealings with the Internal Revenue Service, also gives the IRS a new weapon to use against tax-exempt organization insiders who receive excessive compensation and benefits and the organization managers who approve these packages. This provision is retroactive--applying to all such arrangements entered or modified after September 13, 1995.

9/4: Analysis of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, from Thompson Publishing Group

9/4: Analysis of the Pension and Benefits Provisions in the Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996, from Thompson Publishing Group

9/4: QUESTION: When an employee has dependent family members who are eligible for--but not covered under--a company's group health plan, is the employer required to notify those dependents of their COBRA rights? ANSWER

9/4: QUESTION: An employer has only 10 "permanent" employees. However, it hires a large number of "temporary" employees who are not offered group health coverage and are not covered under the health plan. At any given time, there could be as many as 100 employees in total but only the 10 "permanent" employees are provided with health coverage. Does this employer have to offer COBRA to the 10 "permanent" employees when one of them has a qualifying event? ANSWER

9/4: QUESTION: How do you calculate the COBRA premiums for a flexible spending (medical reimbursement) account? I understand that when someone is covered by such an account, I have to offer COBRA coverage when a qualifying event occurs. I also understand that the amount of COBRA coverage equals the total amount elected for the year less prior reimbursements. But I do not quite understand what to charge the qualified beneficiary. It appears that the qualified beneficiary might end up paying more than the amount of the COBRA election. ANSWER

9/4: QUESTION:An employer maintains a self-insured plan subject to COBRA coverage. Under COBRA, the employer has to make a conversion option available at the end of COBRA coverage, if such a conversion option is otherwise available under the plan. Suppose the employer terminates the conversion option. Is the plan still required to make the conversion option available?ANSWER

9/1: Worldwide pension and benefits developments are reported in the online Watson Wyatt Global News

9/1: Welcome to new sponsor Benefit Strategies, Inc. of Bloomfield Hills MI -- owner David R. Hoisington offers comprehensive solutions to employee and executive benefit plan problems, focusing on problems faced by companies with 500 to 6,000 employees.

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