What's New on BenefitsLink - Week of 2/24/97

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3/2: Summary of pension and benefit provisions of the Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996, from the Bureau of National Affairs.

2/27: Welcome to new sponsor Interval Software, makers of Fast-Flex Pro, the complete, painless cafeteria benefit plan and 401k savings plan administration solution for your PC or network. This is the flexible spending plan software that does it all! Tracks employee account balances, prints reimbursement checks, interfaces with any payroll system, automates discrimination testing, enrollment and reporting. Downloadable version is online, providing full functionality for groups of up to 25 employees!

2/27: Traipse over to The Dilbert Zone for a laugh or two. And some people wonder why I'm a sole proprietor <grin> -- DRB.

2/26: Department of Labor press release: Statement by Cynthia A. Metzler, Acting Secretary of Labor and Chairman of the PBGC Board, on the Death of PBGC Executive Director Martin Slate [02/24/97]

2/26: Medicare Quality and Getting Older: A Personal Essay, an article from the RAND web site

2/26: Washington Outlook on Risk Management and Employee Benefits, from Sedgwick Noble Lowndes (January 1997)

2/26: Tax-Exempt Organizations Look at 401(k) Plans, from Milliman & Robertson, Inc. (Nov. 1996)

2/26: The 1996 Form 5500 and its variations are available on the DOL Web site, in Adobe "PDF" format suitable for printing on laser printers.

2/26: Department of Labor Amicus Briefs arguing that ERISA does not preempt negligence or medical malpractice claims (outside the context of benefit denials) against HMOs and other managed care programs where the patient's health care is paid for through an employer-sponsored health plan covered by ERISA are online at the DOL's Web site. The briefs address preemption of such claims under ERISA § 514(a), 11 U.S.C. § 1144(a), which preempts all state laws that "relate to" an ERISA plan. The Secretary's briefs also address whether such claims can be removed from state court to federal court under a doctrine of federal question jurisdiction known as "complete preemption," a concept which is distinct from preemption of a state claim under § 514(a).

2/26: A Look at Employers' Costs of Providing Health Benefits, prepared by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of the Chief Economist (July 31, 1996)

2/26: The U.S. Department of Labor has a new service to help Americans determine their rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Callers to a toll-free number--1-800-959-FMLA--will receive a brief explanation of the law, as well as an opportunity to receive more detailed information through the mail.

2/26: View online the full text of the Entrepreneur's Guide to Equity Compensation, published by the nonprofit organization Foundation for Enterprise Development.

2/25: PBGC Executive Director Marty Slate died in his sleep last night. Details here.

2/25: Benefit Headlines for the Week Ending February 21, 1997, from the Association of Private Pension and Welfare Plans web site:
- Council on Economic Development Releases Social Security Reform Proposal
- Survey Shows Employer Health Care Costs Up 3 Percent
- Archer Still Sees Comprehensive Tax Reform as Legislative Priority

2/24: Vanishing Jobs, from Mother Jones magazine. "Some business leaders are concerned, but politicians seem strangely deaf to what is likely to be the most explosive issue of the decade. ... Will there be a job for me in the new Information Age?"

2/24: The End of Social Security as We Know It?, from Mother Jones magazine. "The stakes are staggering: According to the Wall Street Journal, under even the most moderate privatization plans, $60 billion a year would flow into mutual funds managed by Wall Street, instead of going into the Social Security Trust Funds. The looming battle over Social Security will make the struggles over welfare, Medicare, and Medicaid look like minor skirmishes."

2/24: A plan with two participants was last amended in 1990. The accountant who did the contract administration for the plan advised the plan sponsor that a TRA '86 restatement was needed, but the sponsor took no action. The plan sponsor has switched the administration work to a third party administrator (TPA) and is now restating the plan to comply with TRA '86 and subsequent changes. Are there any pitfalls to using the IRS' walk-in CAP program to re-qualify the plan for the intervening years? Is there a standard penalty that the IRS imposes in this situation? There may also be operational problems. Can those also be corrected in CAP? For the answer to these questions, see Q&A for Plan Defects: Correction/VCR/CAP, from Reish & Luftman!

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