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[Official Guidance]
IRS Posts New Q&As on COBRA Premium Subsidy Issues
Excerpt: "On June 4, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) posted 19 new questions-and-answers on issues related to administration of the COBRA premium subsidy provisions under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Issues addressed include involuntary terminations, special election periods and payroll tax credit processing." (Thompson)


[Guidance Overview]
Pennsylvania Senate Backs Expansion of Mini-COBRA for State Residents
Excerpt: "The mini-COBRA policy will become effective as soon as Rendell signs the bill. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, also known as the federal stimulus act, provides a 65 percent federal subsidy for COBRA premiums. The benefit will not apply to workers who left their jobs before the bill's enactment." (The Philadelphia Inquirer)


[Guidance Overview]
Paid Parental Leave Passes House of Representatives
Excerpt: "The U.S. House of Representatives [on Thursday June 4] took a significant step toward improving paid parental leave benefits for federal employees who are new parents. The Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act of 2009 (H.R. 626), which passed the House this evening by a 258 to 154 vote, responds to the needs of tens of thousands of working families in the federal government by providing four weeks of paid parental leave for the birth, adoption, or fostering of a child." (U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform)


Key Health IT Definition Expected Soon
Excerpt: "The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology's number-two man, Charles Friedman, told industry members that an official definition of the term 'meaningful use' of health information technology is 'in the works' and they should expect its release 'in the not too distant future.' " (Kaiser Health News)


How Safe Are Your Medical Records?
Excerpt: "Stealing medical data has become more attractive to hackers and identity thieves as banks and individuals have become more sophisticated about protecting credit-building information." (Forbes.com)


How The White House Hopes to Control Health Care Costs
Excerpt: "Senate sources confirm that the president argued in favor of a genuinely major Medicare reform -- a reform that could make Medicare the nation's most important laboratory for health care reforms." (Washington Post; free registration required)


Debate Over Taxing Health Benefits Picks Up
Excerpt: "Meanwhile, the idea of a cap on employer-provided health benefits is gaining traction on Capitol Hill. Ways and Means Chairman Charles B. Rangel, D-NY, has opposed the tax cap, but CQ reports that Democrats on the committee 'hold a thin line of resistance.'" (Kaiser Health News)


Untapped Opportunities for Actuaries in the Health Industry
Excerpt: "In 2006 and 2007, two separate surveys, as well as interviews with actuaries in senior level positions in the health industry, pointed out a significant risk to our profession: actuaries with health actuarial technical skills, and especially those with comprehensive health care knowledge, are in short supply." (Society of Actuaries)


[Opinion]
Keeping the Health Insurance Companies Honest
Excerpt: "Health reform will fail unless we get serious cost control -- and we won't get that kind of control unless we fundamentally change the way the insurance industry, in particular, behaves. So let me offer Congress two pieces of advice: Health reform will fail unless we get serious cost control -- and we won't get that kind of control unless we fundamentally change the way the insurance industry, in particular, behaves. So let me offer Congress two pieces of advice: 1) Don't trust the insurance industry. 2) Don't trust the insurance industry." (Paul Krugman in the New York Times)


[Opinion]
Obama's Voodoo Health Economics
Excerpt: "It's true that premiums are increasing rapidly. But the White House report incorrectly blames health costs. The real cause is the declining share of care paid for out of pocket (down to 15% today from 33% in 1975). Auto-insurance premiums would also skyrocket if coverage suddenly included oil changes and tune-ups." (The Wall Street Journal)

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Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

[Official Guidance]
Text of IRS Notice 2009-49: Receiving Bailout Funds Doesn't Trigger Change in Control Under Sec. 409A (PDF)
Notice 2009-49 provides that, if the Treasury Department (or an entity acting on its behalf) acquires preferred stock, common stock, warrants to purchase common stock or other types of equity of a financial institution or other entity pursuant to the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, then such acquisition is not a change in control event with respect to which a payment can be made under a nonqualified deferred compensation plan pursuant to § 409A(a)(2)(A)(v) of the Internal Revenue Code. (Internal Revenue Service)


[Guidance Overview]
Updated Guidance Issued by SEC on New Executive and Directory Compensation Proxy Disclosure Rules (PDF)
6 pages. Excerpt: "The staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on January 24, 2007, issued interpretive guidance on the new executive and director compensation proxy disclosure rules. The guidance was updated on August 8, 2007, July 3, 2008, and further updated on May 29, 2009. The guidance is in the form of questions and answers of general applicability to the disclosure rules, as well as interpretive responses regarding particular situations. The guidance replaces staff interpretations issued in previous years, and is drafted in a manner that facilitates periodic future updates. The interpretative guidance is briefly summarized below . . . ." (Frederick W. Cook & Co., Inc.)


[Guidance Overview]
Fiduciary Exception Eclipses ERISA Fiduciary's Claim of Attorney Client Privilege
Excerpt: "This opinion involves consideration of the dimensions of the fiduciary exception to attorney-client and work product privileges. The issue arose in the context of district court review of plaintiffs' objections to a magistrate judge's ruling on a motion to compel." (Attorney Roy F Harmon III in the Health Plan Law blog)


New 457A Tax Rules Overview: Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plans
Excerpt: "Unlike Section 409A, Section 457A does not allow conditions relating to the purpose of the compensation (such as performance conditions) to constitute a substantial risk of forfeiture. Therefore, deferred compensation arrangements that an employer has already determined to be exempt as a 'short-term deferral' arrangement under Section 409A on the basis of a performance-based vesting condition may need to be reexamined to see whether they present issues under Section 457A." (McGuireWoods LLP)


GM Retirees Face An Uncertain Future
Excerpt: "As a last resort, pensions are somewhat guaranteed by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., a federal outfit. Pensions for retirees 65 and older are guaranteed for up to $54,000 a year. Coverage is lower for younger retirees." (BusinessWeek)


Retirement When Union Pension Collapses
Excerpt: "Gregg Trunell, 43, began planning for an early retirement even before he began his career. Over the years, he and his wife put the maximum amount into their 401(k) plans, thousands more into IRAs and set 2011 as a target date for retiring. But now all bets are off. Trunell's union pension fund took a hit when the stock market plunged." (National Public Radio)

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Press Releases

Great-West Launches New Target Date Funds
Great-West Retirement Services

ACLI Submits Comments To IRS On 403(b) Prototype Plan Proposal
American Council of Life Insurers

Indiana Pensioners Being "Ripped Off" in Chrysler Case
Inside INdiana Business

Equity Methods Enhances Option Navigator?
Equity Methods

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