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Welfare Plans
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Welfare Plans
Newsletter
April 15, 2003 - 8,101 subscribers
Today's sponsor: EBIA's Group Health Plans: Federal Mandates Other Than COBRA & HIPAA
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
Easy-to-use compliance guides written by experienced benefits attorneys Group Health Plans: Federal Mandates Other Than COBRA & HIPAA , covers QMCSOs, health coverage for adopted children, the Mental Health Parity Act, minimum hospital stays for newborns and mothers, the Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act, federal employment laws affecting group health plans (ADA, ADEA, USERRA, etc.), Medicare Secondary Payer, HMO nondiscrimination requirements, etc. Click above to order this or other EBIA publications!
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
The Impact of HIPAA on American Employers
Excerpt: "[E]mployers view compliance with HIPAA as one of their major human resources challenges for 2003. There are at least five major ways in which HIPAA may affect the role American employers play in providing health benefits in the future. These impacts can be arranged on a continuum of incremental to fundamental, in terms of the way they may change the organization and delivery of health benefits to employees (see Figure 1)." (Watson Wyatt)
Employers Gird For Medical Record Rules
Excerpt: "For now, the law affects just large employers-- roughly companies with more than 750 employees. Those are companies that spend $5 million or more a year on health insurance. But a year from now it will affect nearly all employers-- and all of them probably will start noticing changes Monday." (The Tampa Tribune)
Audio Report: Medical Privacy Rules Take Effect
Excerpt: "New federal regulations take effect, protecting the privacy of people admitted to the hospital and those who visit the doctor. The rules allow patients to see -- and to correct -- their medical records. NPR's Patricia Neighmond reports.' (Apr. 14, 2003) (National Public Radio)
How Is Marketing Information Handled Under HIPAA Privacy Rules?
Q: When is an authorization required from the patient before a provider or health plan engages in marketing to that individual? A: The HIPAA privacy rules expressly require an authorization for uses or disclosures of protected health information for ALL marketing communications, except in two circumstances: (1) when the communication occurs in a face-to-face encounter between the covered entity and the individual; or (2) the communication involves a promotional gift of nominal value. (SpencerNet)
Opinion: Your Health Records Might Not Be As Private As You Think
Excerpt: "Given our current national preoccupation with protecting our privacy, it's easy to assume that the new regulations provide absolute privacy for our medical records. This is not the case, nor should it be." (Mary Martin in the [Saint Paul] Pioneer Press)
DOL Technical Amendment Extends Mental Health Parity Regs to December 31, 2003 (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "On March 9, 2002, President Bush signed H.R. 3090 [which] included an amendment to section 9812 of the Code ... This legislation further extends MHPA's original sunset date under the Code to December 31, 2003.... Under H.R. 3090, the excise tax provision of MHPA is amended to apply to benefits for such services furnished on or after January 10, 2002 and before January 1, 2004." (U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)
Court Declines to Rule on COBRA Election Notice Deadline for Employer Acting as Plan Administrator
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: This case highlights yet again (but does not answer) the continuing question of whether an employer/plan administrator has 14 or 44 days after the date of the qualifying event within which to provide a COBRA election notice. In light of the uncertainty surrounding this issue, we think that the best course is to provide the election notice at the earliest practicable time, in order to start the qualified beneficiary's 60-day election period running as soon as possible." (EBIA Weekly)
Court Affirms Dismissal of Plan's Claim for Reimbursement Without State Common Fund Doctrine
Primax Recoveries Inc. v. Sevilla (7th Cir. 2003). Excerpt: "This case involved an insured ERISA plan that paid the medical expenses of a participant who was injured in a car accident--the plan then assigned the reimbursement rights to a third-party company (Primax). After the participant settled with the driver of the other car, the attorney sought to keep one-third of the recovery as payment under the state's 'common fund' doctrine." (EBIA Weekly)
ERISA Preempted Illinois Domestic Relations Law; Ex-Spouse Gets Group Life Insurance Payment (PDF)
9 pages. Excerpt: "Melton v. Melton (04/08/03, No. 02-2984, 7th Cir.) ERISA preempts Illinois state law with respect to determining the rightful beneficiary of group life insurance proceeds from decedent's employee benefits plan, and the named beneficiary has not waived her interest in the proceeds by terms of a divorce agreement." (FindLaw.com)
State Law Applied to Void Beneficiary Designation Where Acts Occurred Prior to ERISA Effective Date
Excerpt: "Hansmann v. Fidelity Investments Institutional Services Co. (04/10/03, No. 01-1499/1500/1866/1868, 6th Cir.) Relevant acts in an action for proceeds of an employer-sponsored stock investment plan occurred before the effective date of ERISA, and Mich. Comp. Laws Ann. section 552.101 voids a spousal beneficiary designation under a Basic Group Life Insurance Policy due to the annulment of a marriage." (FindLaw.com)
Overview: Final Regs on the Form M-1 Reporting Requirement for MEWAs
Excerpt: "All multiple employer welfare arrangements (MEWAs), and many entities claiming not to be MEWAs due to the exception for collectively bargained plans ... are required to file a Form M-1 with the DOL to provide information about a MEWA's or ECE's compliance with the following mandates in Part 7 of ERISA: ... The DOL emphasized the continuing importance of the Form M-1 as an enforcement tool ... because it serves as the only national registry of MEWAs operating in the U.S." (EBIA Weekly)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
BenefitsLink Search Engine Replaced
The saga continues! The previous search engine proved too slow and bogged down the server, after we tweaked it to provide more accurate results. I've replaced it with a new search engine that's wicked-fast. Plus we're now able to include in the searchable contents all of the Q&A columns on BenefitsLink, for the first time. Give it a whirl! (BenefitsLink.com)
Overview: Joint Tax Committee Recommends Pension, Compensation Changes
Excerpt: "In February, the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) published the results of its yearlong investigation into Enron. One topic covered in the report was Enron's compensation and benefits plans." (Watson Wyatt)
Financial and Estate Planning Gaining Favor as Perks for CEOs
Excerpt: "The perks many U.S. executives are bragging about in the steam room these days aren't the lifestyle luxuries of the past, such as country-club memberships and limousines. Now they're talking about more mundane benefits such as tax and estate advice." (The Wall Street Journal via SFGate.com)
Corporate Boards Taking Fresh Look at Virtually Every Aspect of CEO Pay
Excerpt: "Stunned by a tsunami of accounting scandals, bankruptcies and investor outrage over option abuses, many boards are taking a fresh look at almost every aspect of their leader's pay package. The result is a dramatic overhaul emerging in the form of smaller servings of options, wider use of restricted stock plus stricter stock-ownership and retention requirements." (The Wall Street Journal via SFGate.com)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Specialist/Vendor Management Practice
for Towers Perrin
in NY
Actuarial Benefit Consultant
for Fidelity Employer Services Company
in MA
Director Health Policy
for The ERISA Industry (a Washington DC based trade association)
in DC
Newly Posted Press Releases
( Post Yours! )
TIAA-CREF Strongly Supports Portman-Cardin Pension and Savings Reform
(TIAA-CREF)
Portman-Cardin Introduce Next Generation of Retirement Security Legislation
(American Council of Life Insurers)
401(k) is Most Common Retirement Plan in High-Tech Companies
(Culpepper and Associates, Inc.)
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
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- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research
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