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[Guidance Overview]
Second Circuit Upholds Three-Year Limitation Period in Plan Document
Excerpt: "In an era when lawsuits appear to be targeting fiduciaries, one of the areas that is becoming more important for fiduciaries is the practice of implementing steps to reduce litigation risk. One such practice which has been challenged and upheld in the courts is the inclusion of a limitation period in the documents governing the plan. The limitation period provision limits the period of time during which a participant or beneficiary can bring suit. The idea behind such limitation periods is to protect fiduciaries so that they are not subjected to a risk of lawsuit any longer than they have to be under the law." (ERISA Fiduciary Guidebook)


[Guidance Overview]
ERISA Litigation: Issue Exhaustion for ERISA Plans (PDF)
Pages 2-3 of 7 pages. Excerpt: "ERISA plan sponsors are advised to ensure SPDs and/or Explanations of Benefits (EOBs) require plan participants to exhaust all issues through the administrative claims review process before filing suit in court. In Vaught v Scottsdale HealthCare Corp. Health Plan, 546 F.3d 620 (9th Cir. 2008), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that Vaught could challenge the plan's denial of benefits in district court based on a theory that he had not previously raised in his requests for internal review." (Miller & Chevalier Chartered)


Leaders in House Seek to Tax Rich for Health Plan
Excerpt: "House Democrats will ask the wealthiest Americans to help pay for overhauling the health care system with a $550 billion income tax increase, the chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee said Friday. The proposal calls for a surtax on individuals earning at least $280,000 in adjusted gross income and couples earning more than $350,000, said the chairman, Representative Charles B. Rangel of New York." (The New York Times; free registration required)


Investing in Workplace Breastfeeding Programs and Policies: An Employer's Toolkit
Excerpt: "Employers can create tailored workplace breastfeeding programs and policies. The National Business Group on Health's new toolkit [71 pages] covers the essential information employers need to understand the components of breastfeeding programs, get started and measure success. Valuable resources include breastfeeding program options, employer case studies and materials for employees." (National Business Group on Health)


Obesity Data Released by Both Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Excerpt: "The AHRQ has released a statistical brief that presents trends in health care expenditures for adults age 18 and older in the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population by body mass index (BMI) categories. The brief compares, for the adult population, 2001 and 2006 total numbers of persons, total health care expenditures, and percentages of the population and total expenditures by BMI category." (International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)


National Compensation Survey: Health Plan Provisions in Private Industry in the United States, 2008 (PDF)
Excerpt: "This bulletin presents estimates of the detailed provisions of employer-provided health plans in private industry in 2008. Under the NCS program, information on the incidence and provision of benefits is published in several stages. An earlier summary provided data on the incidence of (access to and participation in) selected benefits and detailed provisions of paid holidays, life insurance plans, and some other benefit plans, as well as on employer and employee shares of contributions to medical care premiums and their average amounts. Similar data for civilian, private industry, and State and local government workers for March 2009 will be issued later this year." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)


[Opinion]
The Massachusetts Health Mess: Massachusetts Shows How ObamaCare Would Really Work
Excerpt: "For 15 years Massachusetts has also imposed mandates known as guaranteed issue and community rating -- meaning that insurers must cover anyone who applies, regardless of health or pre-existing conditions, and also charge everyone the same premium (or close to it). Yet these mandates allow people to wait until they're sick, or just before they're about to incur major medical expenses, to buy insurance. This drives up costs for everyone else, which helps explain why small-group coverage in Massachusetts is so much more expensive than in most of the country. Mr. Romney argued -- as Democrats are arguing now -- that the individual mandate would make that problem disappear, since everyone is always supposed to be covered." (The Wall Street Journal)


[Opinion]
ERIC and NBGH Urge Supreme Court to Consider Petition to Overturn San Francisco Health Ordinance
Excerpt: "The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) and the National Business Group on Health (NBGH), Washington, D.C.-based trade associations that represent America's major employers, [on July 10, 2009,] urged the Supreme Court to grant the petition by the Golden Gate Restaurant Association asking the Court to review the decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association vs. City and County of San Francisco." (The ERISA Industry Committee)


[Opinion]
American Benefits Council Amicus Brief to U.S. Supreme Court in GGRA v San Francisco (PDF)
25 pages. Excerpt: "The American Benefits Council . . . and the HR Policy Association . . . submit this amicus brief urging this Court to review the Ninth Circuit's decision in Golden Gate Restaurant Association v. City and County of San Francisco, et al., 546 F.3d 639 (9th Cir. 2008) . . . . The Decision held that the San Francisco Health Care Security Ordinance . . . is not preempted by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ('ERISA'). The Decision disregards Supreme Court precedent and conflicts with the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit's decision on an issue of national importance." (American Benefits Council)

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Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

[Guidance Overview]
Washington, D.C., Recognizes Same-S.ex Marriages from Other Jurisdictions
Excerpt: "This Management Alert identifies some of the employee benefits issues facing employers with employees in the District of Columbia in light of the new law, and outlines how these issues may be addressed." (Seyfarth Shaw LLP)


[Guidance Overview]
IRS Employee's Obligation to Repay Nonqualified Moving Expense Reimbursement Did Not Prevent Its Taxation
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: This information letter highlights several issues affecting moving expense fringe benefits. First, it reminds us that some moving expense reimbursements are taxable, and that employers must report them as such. Second, it highlights the claim of right doctrine, which can cause amounts to be considered taxable even if they are subject to a contingency that may require them to be repaid. Third, it suggests that if an amount is subject to a repayment obligation, taxation under the claim of right doctrine may be avoided if repayment actually occurs or the repayment obligation is sufficiently acknowledged in the year the amount would otherwise be taxable (acknowledgement alone may not be sufficient in some circuits). Finally, the letter notes that the tax effect of income inclusion may be mitigated by a later itemized deduction." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)


[Guidance Overview]
SEC Proposal on TARP 'Say on Pay' Votes; Non-TARP Companies Should Also Take Heed (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "The SEC proposals would implement Section 7001 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA),2 which amended Section 111 of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA),3 to require any recipient of financial assistance under TARP to solicit nonbinding shareholder approval of 'the compensation of executives, as disclosed pursuant to the compensation disclosure rules of the Commission (which disclosure shall include the compensation discussion and analysis, the compensation tables, and any related material).' Although the SEC proposals apply only to TARP recipients, other non-TARP companies should also be interested in these proposals." (Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP)


[Guidance Overview]
'Annual Compensation' Mystery for TARP Companies
Excerpt: "The determination of 'annual compensation' for purposes of the TARP rules comes into play in at least two key situations: (1) determining covered employees, and (2) determining the maximum long term restricted stock grant that a company can award to a covered employee (which is limited to a maximum of 1/3 of the employee's 'annual compensation'). While the TARP rule provides a definition of the term 'annual compensation,' the ambiguity of that definition makes it difficult to answer a question that many TARP recipients may be struggling with: Is it permissible to include the actuarial increases in pension plans and above market earnings on deferred compensation in the calculation of annual compensation when determining the maximum award of long term restricted stock?" (Michael Melbinger via Winston & Strawn LLP)


Small Business Benefits: Cost-Effective Strategies for Maximizing ROI (PDF)
16 pages. Excerpt: "Since 2002, MetLife has tracked and analyzed small business employer and employee attitudes toward workplace benefits through its annual MetLife Study of Employee Benefits Trends. While traditionally, small business employees (except where indicated small business is defined as employers with 2 - 499 employees) express less satisfaction with their workplace benefits overall than their large-company counterparts, this may be due to the fact that smaller employers simply haven't offered as wide an array of benefits as larger employers. It's not that small business employers don't want to offer a wider array of benefits. They may simply lack the ability to do so cost-effectively given their resources." (METLIFE, INC.)

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Webcasts and Conferences

Acquisitions, Divestitures, and Second-Stage ESOP Transactions
in Missouri on October 6, 2009
presented by National Center for Employee Ownership

Administrative Issues for S Corporation ESOPs
Nationwide on November 18, 2009
presented by National Center for Employee Ownership

An Ownership Tale
Nationwide on September 9, 2009
presented by National Center for Employee Ownership

Challenges & Solutions for Mature ESOP Companies
in Missouri on October 7, 2009
presented by National Center for Employee Ownership

Communicating Your ESOP
Nationwide on November 5, 2009
presented by National Center for Employee Ownership

Don't Do That With Your ESOP
Nationwide on September 15, 2009
presented by National Center for Employee Ownership

Fiduciary Implications of Stock Drop Lawsuits in 401ks and ESOPs
Nationwide on October 14, 2009
presented by National Center for Employee Ownership

Handling the ESOP Repurchase Obligation
in Missouri on October 8, 2009
presented by National Center for Employee Ownership

Health Care Reform: What It Means for Employers and Employees
Nationwide on July 28, 2009
presented by Buck Consultants, an ACS Company

Legal Issues Affecting S Corporation ESOPs
Nationwide on November 17, 2009
presented by National Center for Employee Ownership

Mid-Sized Retirement & Pension Plan Management Conference
in Illinois on October 4, 2009
presented by University Conference Services

Minimizing Cynicism
Nationwide on October 7, 2009
presented by National Center for Employee Ownership

Navigating the 409A Deferred Compensation Plan Rules
Nationwide on November 12, 2009
presented by National Center for Employee Ownership

Running an Effective Board
Nationwide on October 15, 2009
presented by National Center for Employee Ownership

Transferring Ownership to Employees in Business Transitions
in Colorado on September 15, 2009
presented by National Center for Employee Ownership

Using ESOPs as an Acquisition Strategy
Nationwide on November 4, 2009
presented by National Center for Employee Ownership

Valuation for S Corporation ESOPs
Nationwide on November 19, 2009
presented by National Center for Employee Ownership

( Click to post your webcast or conference )

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Press Releases

ERIC and NBGH Urge Supreme Court to Consider Petition to Overturn San Francisco Health Ordinance
ERIC (ERISA Industry Committee)

Lockstone Advisors, LLC Announces New Partner
Lockstone Advisors, LLC

( Click to post your press release )

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Employee Benefits Jobs

Senior Plan Consultant
for Scholz, Klein & Friends Enlightened Retirement Group, Inc.
in TX

ERISA Compliance Team Member
for Sentinel Financial Group
in MA

( Click to post your job opening | View all jobs | RSS feed of all jobs )

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EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com (Sponsor)

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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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