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[Guidance Overview] CMS Posts HIPAA Compliance Review Information (PDF)
2 pages. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Office of E-Health Standards and Services has issued a document to help health plans, health care clearinghouses and certain health care providers understand the types of information that may be requested of them for potential Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act security rule violations. The document details which personnel may be interviewed and which documents may be reviewed by the contractors responsible for conducting onsite investigations. (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services)

[Guidance Overview] Significant Changes in Family Medical Leave Act to Require Prompt Attention to Employer Leave and Benefits Policies (PDF)
10 pages. Excerpt: "Clearly the most significant impact of all new FMLA guidance with regard to employee benefits will be the 26-week caregiver leave entitlement and its effect on how employers administer their ongoing benefit plans - especially major medical health plans." (Benoit Diaz LLC)

Aetna Backs Off a Colonoscopy Change
Excerpt: "Bowing to critics who contended it was putting profits before patients, Aetna said Wednesday that it had suspended -- at least temporarily -- a plan to stop paying for routine use of a powerful anesthetic in a procedure to screen for colon cancer." (The New York Times; free registration required)

Google Releases Health Service Details
Excerpt: "Schmidt described the service as helping doctors and the increasing numbers of patients who use the Internet for their own medical research. He said surveys show more people trust what they find online than what they hear from physicians, and the service will give people control over their own health. For example, they will be able to store X-rays taken at any number of facilities all on one online account, accessible from any computer." (AP via The New York Times; free registration required)

Bill Would Require Paid Sick Leave in California
Excerpt: "California could become the first state in the nation to require paid sick leave for all workers under a bill introduced last week by Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco." (San Jose Mercury News)

A Bimonthly Look at State Innovations in Health Policy, February/March 2008
Excerpt: "Today, most states are actively promoting the use of information technology as a way to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of health care. 'E-health' describes any health care practice supported by electronic processes and communication; state e-health initiatives include health information exchanges and use of technology such as telehealth, e-prescribing, electronic medical records, and decision support tools. States are encouraging e-health activities in the private sector and in a wide variety of public programs, from public health agencies, Medicaid, and state employee health benefits plans to state-run mental health hospitals and prison systems." (The Commonwealth Fund)

New York State Ruling That Recognizes Out-of-Country Same-Sex Marriage Forces an Employer to Provide Domestic Benefits
Excerpt: "The Feb. 1 decision involved a les.bian couple who married in Ontario, Can.ada, in 2004, one year after the province legalized same-sex marriage. Patricia Martinez filed the case against her employer, Monroe Community College in Rochester, N.Y., after the school denied giving healthcare benefits to Lisa Golden, her spouse. Although g.ay couples may not legally marry in New York, the court ruled that their marriage should be recognized and that being denied benefits discriminated against the couple's se.xual orientation." (Human Resource Executive Online)

Southern Governors Target Small Employers and Uninsured
Excerpt: "Under the proposed program, employers would make a predetermined contribution toward the cost of an insurance policy for their employees. For those employers, the exchange would perform administrative functions similar to a human resources department at a larger corporation, according to the governor's office. By designating the exchange as the employer's health plan, the employer's contribution becomes tax-free, and the health benefits are tax-free to the employee. Industry observers say such an exchange could have a big impact on the state's uninsured population." (AISHealth.com)

More Health Plans Adopt 'Never-Event' Policies That Don't Reimburse for Treatment Needed to Correct Medical Errors
Excerpt: "The National Quality Forum (NQF) identified 27 medical events that are 'serious, largely preventable and of concern to both the public and health care providers.' Examples include an infant discharged to the wrong person, and death or serious disability resulting from a medication error." (AISHealth.com)

Obama and Clinton Clash in Debate on Health Care
Excerpt: "Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton clashed sharply over health care in a debate on Tuesday, accusing each other of misrepresenting their approaches to offering coverage for 47 million uninsured Americans." (Reuters Limited via Yahoo! News)

Health Care Spending Surge Seen in Next Decade
Excerpt: "U.S. health-care spending will devour an expanding share of the U.S. economy during the next decade, almost doubling to about $4.3 trillion in 2017, government officials forecast . . . ." (Reuters Limited via Yahoo! News)

Family-Friendly Work Benefits Falling Short for Working Moms
Excerpt: "On the one hand, today's high proportion of working mothers reflects legal and cultural triumphs for women, including laws that prevent discrimination on the basis of pregnancy and that require employers to grant maternity leave, and attitudes that women can be fire chiefs, corporate executives and even U.S. presidents. On the other hand, some analysts say, family-friendly policies have not kept pace with the movement of women into the workforce, leaving parents without sufficient time to bond with their infants and care for their children even as the economy now calls for two-income households." (San Francisco Chronicle)

Health Insurers Work to Address Issues Involving Retroactively Canceled Policies
Excerpt: "The health insurance industry has begun efforts to 'defuse a growing furor over retroactive policy cancellations that have saddled some patients with big medical bills and sparked lawsuits,' the Wall Street Journal reports. According to the Journal, health insurers 'say they have the right to rescind policies when policyholders don't disclose pre-existing medical conditions' or 'when they misrepresent information on their policy application,' but 'some policy rescissions can seem arbitrary and unfair.'" (Kaiser Family Foundation)

[Opinion] DOL 'Preempts' Congress on Auto-Enrollment
Excerpt: "The Department of Labor last week posted on its website Advisory Opinion 2008-02A expressing its opinion that, at least when it comes to ERISA preemption, Congress is?well?kind of irrelevant. The advisory opinion is in response . . . to Solicitor of Labor Eugene Scalia's questions on behalf of Sprint-Nextel's automatic enrollment cafeteria plan, which automatically defaults non-electing employees into a health plan. Importantly, the default plan requires employee cost sharing in the form of payroll deductions." (Baker & Daniels LLP)

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Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

[Guidance Overview] IRS Confirms New Position on Performance-Based Compensation, But Applies it Prospectively (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "The IRS, apparently recognizing the accounting and other implications of its earlier position, has stated that it will not apply the new ruling to disallow a deduction for compensation that otherwise satisfies the rules for performance-based compensation, provided that either (i) the performance period for such compensation begins on or before January 1, 2009, or (ii) the compensation is paid pursuant to an employment agreement that was in effect (without regard to future renewals or extensions, including automatic renewals or extensions) on February 21, 2008." (Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP)

[Guidance Overview] Attorneys Up in Arms About IRS Ruling That Nixes Corporate Deductions for Executive Compensation
Excerpt: "[A private letter] ruling was met with a firestorm of criticism, even outrage, by the pillars of our nation's legal community -- in excess of 90 law firms lodged protests with the I.R.S. in which they concluded that the agency's position was unwise and, as a matter of law, incorrect. These protests fell on deaf ears: The I.R.S. has now 'upped the ante.' It has 'upgraded' the position it adopted in the letter to 'published ruling' status. Thus, with the issuance of Revenue Rule 2008-13, the I.R.S. has unequivocally signaled its intentions with respect to this issue." (CFO.com)

This Employee Benefit Helps Environment, Encourages Home Ownership and Reduces Commuting Time
Excerpt: "The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA ?) today announced an innovative new employee benefit designed to encourage home ownership, reduce commuting time and help the environment. The association will provide a $25,000 forgivable three- year loan to assist with the down payment of a home closer to its Arlington headquarters. While some local governments entice employees to live in their jurisdiction, CEA is to its knowledge the first non-governmental entity to make this type and level of benefit available." (Business Wire via Human Resource Executive Online)

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Newly Posted Events

403(b) Learning Series Webinar
Nationwide on March 12, 2008
presented by Reish Luftman Reicher & Cohen

Form 5500 Update with Janice Wegesin
Nationwide on March 4, 2008
presented by ftwilliam.com

HR in a Multi-generational workforce
in Maryland on March 6, 2008
presented by Worldwide Employee Benefits Network -- Baltimore chapter

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Newly Posted Press Releases

President?s Council on Financial Literacy Supports Treasury Launch of New Curriculum
U.S. Department of Treasury

Retirement Practice White Papers Announced by Venture (k) Corp.
Venture (k) Corp.

Caruthers Benefit Systems, Inc. Is Open For Business
Caruthers Benefit Systems, Inc.

MJM401k and Fortress Complete Merger
MJM401k

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Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
( Post a Job | View All Jobs | RSS Feed )

Benefits Analyst
for Towers Perrin
in NY

Operations Manager
for Charles Schwab
in AZ

401K Technical Administrator
for Charles Schwab
in AZ

Senior IRA Operations Processor
for InspiraFS
in PA

ASPPA Educational Programs Advocate Request for Proposals
for ASPPA
in ANY STATE

DC/401(k) Plan Administrator
for San Diego TPA
in CA

Pension and Benefits Coordinator
for Monongalia General Hospital
in WV

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Handy Links:

• View Today's Active Message Threads
• Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
• Employee Benefits Library

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