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Previous Month ~ June 1996 ~ Following Month
- 6/27: ESOP Report for June 1996, from the law firm of Reish & Luftman: "Using VCR and CAP to Correct Defects in ESOPs"
- 6/27: Blair Brininger, P.C. ERISA Newsletter for May 1996
- 6/25:QUESTION: Many Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) include up to three face-to-face visits with a counselor to assess mental health/chemical dependency issues. Many employers also include enrollment in an EAP if an employee enrolls in a medical and/or dental plan. Are EAPs subject to COBRA? Check the COBRA Q&A Column to find out!
- 6/25: A company has evaluated and graded 48 HMOs; see the National Committee for
Quality Assurance (NCQA)
home page at http://www.ncqa.org/
- 6/24: Food for thought?
- The Establishment Strikes
Back --- Medical Savings Accounts and Adverse Selection, by Peter
Ferrara of the Cato Institute (4/96)
- Medical Savings Accounts:
Answering The Critics, by Michael Tanner, director of health
and welfare studies at the Cato Institute (5/25/95)
- Whose Pension Is It Anyway? Economically Targeted Investments And
The Pension Funds , by Cassandra Chrones Moore of the Competitive
Enterprise Institute (9/1/95). Excerpt:
"The 'new ethic of stewardship,' touted by Secretary of Labor
Robert B. Reich in an attempt to justify 'economically targeted
investments' (ETIs), is a highly questionable effort to promote the use of
private pension funds for risky public purposes. Under the common law,
trustees, in addition to being generally prudent in the discharge of their
duties, must act solely in the interest of the participants with the
exclusive purpose of obtaining tangible benefits for them and their
beneficiaries. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1974
sought to safeguard private pension funds by codifying those duties. Reich
now seeks to undermine the statute by proposing that trustees invest in
ETIs, which might have some 'ancillary' or 'collateral' benefits for the
economy as a whole. Clearly, such an approach contravenes both the letter
and the spirit of ERISA."
- 6/23: Announcing the hypertext version of Publication 571, Tax-Sheltered Annuity Programs for
Employees of Public Schools and Certain Tax-Exempt Organizations.
If you are a participant in a 403(b) program, you will find this
information very helpful. The hypertext format makes for much easier
reading than the IRS-published hard copy. Brought to you by
BenefitsLink.
- 6/22: QUESTION: If a qualified beneficiary (QB) elects COBRA
coverage (within the 60-day election period), the first COBRA premium
payment is not due for 45 days. If the QB's FIRST month's premium is not
due for 45 days, when is the SECOND
month's premium due? Check the COBRA Q&A Column to find out!
- 6/19: Gary S. Lesser/GSL Galactic Consulting Retirement Plan Illustration Service is now online!
- 6/14: Agreement Among Republicans May Propel Stalled Health Care Reform Bill, Excerpted from the Employer's Health Benefits Bulletin, June 1996, Thompson Publishing Group.
- 6/14: Introducing the COBRA Q&A Column, moderated by attorney Paul Hamburger!
- 6/13: DOL issues Interpretive Bulletin 96-1; Participant Investment Education
The interpretive bulletin sets forth the views of the
Department of Labor concerning the circumstances under
which the provision of investment-related information to participants
and beneficiaries in participant-directed individual account pension
plans will not constitute the rendering of ``investment advice'' under
the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended
(ERISA). It is intended to assist plan sponsors, service
providers, participants and beneficiaries in determining when
activities designed to educate and assist participants and
beneficiaries in making informed investment decisions will not cause
persons engaged in such activities to become fiduciaries with respect
to a plan by virtue of providing ``investment advice'' to plan
participants and beneficiaries for a fee or other compensation.
- 6/12: Educational Assistance Exclusion Riding Fast Track to Reinstatement, from the Employer's Guide to Fringe Benefit Rules, Thompson Publishing Group (6/96)
- 6/10: Supreme Court rules in favor of employer in Lockheed v. Spink case in which employee said it was a breach of fiduciary duty under ERISA for Lockheed to amend its pension plan to provide enhanced early retirement benefits only for persons who were willing to waive any employment-related legal claims they might have against Lockheed.
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