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Welfare Plans
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April 8, 2003 - 8,085 subscribers
Today's sponsor: HIPAA Privacy Workbook for Group Health Plans
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
Struggling to Meet the April 14 HIPAA Compliance Deadline? Help is at Hand! The 325-page HIPAA Privacy Workbook for Group Health Plans is a practical tool that tells you what you need to know and do to comply. It will save you time and money by providing more than 50 model documents tailored for group health plans. Click on the banner for the 33-page table of contents, a sample chapter, and a list of model documents.
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Maryland General Assembly Votes to Allow Bethlehem Steel Retirees Into State-Backed Health Plan
Excerpt: "The General Assembly passed legislation last night to help Bethlehem Steel Corp. retirees who are not old enough for Medicare to obtain state-backed insurance coverage. Under the legislation, Bethlehem retirees between the ages of 55 and 64 would be able to obtain insurance under the Maryland Health Insurance Plan." (The Baltimore Sun)
Former Employee Entitled to COBRA Coverage by Sending in Check, Despite Having Declined Coverage (PDF)
10 pages. Excerpt: "Fink v. DakotaCare (03/31/03 - No. 02-1679 [8th Cir.]) Under COBRA amendments to ERISA, plaintiff was entitled to continuation coverage as her mother made a proper payment to an ERISA fiduciary in accordance with the plan in effect at the time the payment was made. Once she did so, it was up to the responsible ERISA fiduciary to apply that payment so that coverage was maintained." (FindLaw.com)
Disability Plan Administrator Not Required to Reverse Earlier Denial Despite Later SSA Determination (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "Arfalla v. Mutual of Omaha Ins. Co. (04/03/03 - No. 02-2651 [8th Cir.]) ERISA plan administrator's decision terminating long term disability benefits, made after ample reflection and judgment, was supported by evidence at the time claimant applied for benefits, and administrator is not bound by later determination of social security eligibility." (FindLaw.com)
In-House Physician Can Be Fired for Refusing to Disclose Employee Health Information
Excerpt: "A company may fire an in-house physician for refusing to disclose employees' health information, according to New York state's highest court, which overruled a lower court's decision that medical ethics were implicit in the physician's contract for 'employment at will.'" (Thompson Publishing Company)
IRS Private Letter Ruling Provides Overview of Tax Rules Relating to Long-Term Disability Plans
Excerpt: "Should employees allow themselves to be taxed on employer-paid group long-term disability insurance premiums? (Should employers give them a choice?) There is no 'right' answer for every situation, but a recent IRS private letter ruling (PLR) highlights one approach employers may use to give employees substantial flexibility to decide what is best for them-- and to change that decision on an annual basis." (Deloitte & Touche Human Capital Advisory Services)
HIPAA Countdown, or How I Spent Spring Break '03 (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "What follows is our take on the Top Ten HIPAA compliance priorities for time-crunched HR and benefits executives this spring: ..." (Gardner, Carton & Douglas)
Employer Liability Under HIPAA Privacy Rules for Business Associates
Q: Is an employer plan liable for, or required to monitor, the actions of its business associates? A: No. The HIPAA privacy rule requires employer plans to enter into written contracts or other arrangements with business associates that protect the privacy of PHI; however, plans are not required to monitor or oversee the means by which their business associates carry out privacy safeguards or the extent to which the business associate abides by the privacy requirements of the contract. (SpencerNet)
Employers' Benefits from Workers' Health Insurance
Excerpt: "Despite employers' role in the health insurance market, however, very little attention has been paid to employers' motivations for providing health insurance to workers. Why do employers offer health insurance to workers? Is it because workers want it? Because their unions demand it? Or do employers offer health benefits to workers because their productivity and profitability depend on it?" (Ellen O'Brien of Georgetown University, in The Milbank Quarterly)
Commentary: the New Consumerism in Health Care (PDF)
6 pages. Excerpt: "Only now are we getting around to the idea that works so well in every other part of our economy-- allowing individual consumers to spend their money on the services they value most." (The Galen Institute)
Analysis: FDA Cracks Down on Illegal Drug Imports
Excerpt: "In cracking down on imports, the FDA is only doing its job. Under U.S. law, it is illegal to import prescription drugs from other countries, including through Internet sites, without explicit FDA approval. The law was passed in 1988 to protect U.S. citizens from fake and contaminated imported medicines." (The Galen Institute)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Equity Compensation in a Post-Expensing World
There is a growing consensus that companies will soon have to expense stock options and that the best response to this is to rethink how stock options and other forms of equity compensation are used. The NCEO presents excerpts from its new book on what companies can and should do in the new environment. (National Center for Employee Ownership)
Joint Committee on Taxation Testifies on Enron Executive Compensation and COLI Arrangements (PDF)
42 pages. Presented by Mary M. Schmitt, Acting Chief of Staff of the Joint Committee On Taxation at a Hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance on April 8, 2003. (U.S. Congress, Joint Committee on Taxation)
Analysis: Labor Department Proposes New Rules for Classifying 'Exempt' Employees
Excerpt: "In an effort to clarify and modernize rules that have become the subject of confusion and litigation, the U.S. Department of Labor recently proposed a major update of the federal regulations that define 'exempt' employees for overtime purposes under the wage and hour law known as the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)." (Faegre & Benson LLP)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
401k Contribution Processor / Pension Assistant
for Preferred Pension Planning Corporation
in NJ
Marketing Specialist
for Principal Financial Group
in MD
Newly Posted Webcasts
( Post Yours! )
Teleweb Seminar: How to Communicate Bad News
on April 15, 2003
presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
USERRA and YOU - Military Reemployment & Pension Rights
on April 22, 2003
presented by SunGard Corbel
Newly Posted Conferences
( Post Yours! )
HIPAA Security Rule: The Next Steps For Your Organization
in ALL STATES
April 10, 2003
Health Resources Publishing
Investments Institute
in NY
May 5, 2003
International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
Kentucky Association of Healthplans v. Miller: Another Seachange?
in ALL STATES
April 24, 2003
ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits; Other Organizations
Newly Posted Press Releases
( Post Yours! )
Pan-American Life 401(k) Now Integrates with ASC Valuation System
(Pan-American Life)
Standard Insurance Company Adds Enrollment Feature to INFOLINE
(Standard Insurance Company)
Handy Links:
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- Employee Benefits Library
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