Institutional Trust & Custody Relationship Manager
U.S. Bank
in CA

DB Administrator
Summit Benefit & Actuarial Services, Inc.
in ANY STATE

Retirement Plan Sales and Administration Specialist
UBS Institutional Retirement Group
in IL

Junior Plan Administrator
Established TPA firm
in FL

Compliance Consultant
DWC ERISA Consultants, LLC
in ANY STATE

Retirement Plan Administrator
Pension Firm in New York City
in NY

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Annual Legislative Update
December 4, 2014 in IL
(Worldwide Employee Benefits Network [WEB] - Chicago West Chapter)

Ethics: New Rules and Old Problems
December 9, 2014 WEBCAST
(SunGard Relius)

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Text of IRS FAQ on ACA Section 1341 Transitional Reinsurance Program: Deductibility of Payments by Self-Funded Plan Sponsors
"A sponsor of a self-insured group health plan that pays Reinsurance Program contributions may treat the contributions as ordinary and necessary business expenses, subject to any applicable disallowances or limitations under the Code. This treatment applies whether the contributions are made directly or through a third-party administrator or administrative-services-only contractor. If a plan pays Reinsurance Program contributions directly or through a third-party administrator, as may happen, for example, in the case of a multiemployer plan or a plan funded through a voluntary employees' beneficiary association, the employer or employers contributing to the plan would be permitted to deduct their contributions to the plan, subject to any generally applicable disallowances or limitations." (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])

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New Health FSA Contribution Limit Released for 2015 Plan Years
"[ Rev. Proc. 2014-61 ] did not provide any guidance or relief to plans that had already offered or completed annual enrollment and communicated the unadjusted limit to their employees. This did not change the treatment of amounts that an employer may permit to rollover from a prior year or any of the other relief such as gap periods that employers can elect to use or not use. It just increases the employee salary reduction contribution limit for the health flexible spending accounts by $50 for next year and employers are not required to use the maximum limit." (Winstead PC)

November 15 Deadline Quickly Approaching on ACA Transitional Reinsurance Fee (PDF)
"The entire reinsurance fee process takes place on Pay.gov. This process is separate from the Health Insurance Oversight System (HIOS) ... The applicable form became available on October 24, 2014.... [P]lan sponsors should act quickly to ensure compliance by the [November 15] deadline. In order to successfully complete the reinsurance fee submission, plan sponsors (or their representatives) need to: [1] Register on Pay.gov; [2] Fill out the Transitional Reinsurance Form; [3] Attach a supporting documentation file; and [4] Schedule a reinsurance payment." (Alston & Bird LLP)

Supreme Court Does Not Act Yet on Obamacare Subsidies Challenge
"The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday took no action on a closely watched case that challenges a key part of the Obamacare healthcare law and could limit the availability of federal health insurance subsidies for millions of Americans.... The high court could have announced on Monday whether or not it would hear the case. The next chance for the court to announce if it plans to take it up is Nov. 10." (Reuters)

Text of District Court Opinion: Collection Company's State Law Suit Against Insurance Company Was Preempted by ERISA (PDF)
"This action is one of many Plaintiff La Ley Recovery Systems-OB, Inc.... has brought on behalf of Dr. Olivio Blanco ... against several insurance companies[.] In all of the actions, Dr. Blanco provided chiropractic and/or other services to patients under a self-funded ERISA plan.... Dr. Blanco and the Clinic assigned its rights to Plaintiff -- essentially a collection company -- to pursue claims against the insurance companies.... If the right to payment derives from the plan as opposed to another independent legal duty, then the resolution of the dispute requires an interpretation of the plan and is therefore dependent on the ERISA plan.... [T]he Court finds ERISA completely preempts Plaintiff's claims and this Court has subject matter jurisdiction." [La Ley Recovery Systems-OB, Inc. v. UnitedHealthcare Ins. Co., No. 14-23764-CIV (S.D. Fla. Oct. 31, 2014)] (United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida)

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Self-Insured Health Plan's Reimbursement Provision Trumps State Law Make-Whole Doctrine
"This decision squarely follows McCutchen, with the added wrinkle of preemption analysis in the stop-loss context. Employers often purchase stop-loss insurance to help protect themselves from the financial risks of self-insuring. But stop-loss insurance does not pay participants' benefit claims and may not even reimburse the employer for all catastrophic claims ... The opinion notes that the circuit courts that have considered the issue have held that stop-loss insurance does not strip a self-insured plan of its uninsured status." [ Wausau Supply Co. v. Murphy , No. 13-CV-698-WMC (W.D. Wis. Sept. 22, 2014)] (Thomson Reuters / EBIA)

Employers Confront Growing Ebola Concerns (PDF)
"Under the ADA, an employer may request medical information or require a medical examination only if they're job-related and consistent with business necessity, or the employer has a reasonable belief that an employee will pose a direct threat because of a medical condition. According to the EEOC's pandemic guidance, an employer should look to the CDC or state/local public health authorities in assessing whether an illness is a direct threat.... Employers must carefully balance the employee's medical privacy protections under both the ADA and HIPAA against their duty to maintain a safe workplace for all employees. Sharing health-related information about an employee's medical condition should be cleared with HR and/or legal counsel." (Buck Consultants at Xerox)

Will Massachusetts Employers Be Required to Provide Paid Sick Days?
"When Massachusetts voters go to the polls on November 4, they will vote on whether to enact the so-called Massachusetts Paid Sick Days Initiative ('PSDI'). The PSDI would require all Massachusetts employers, regardless of size, to provide employees with up to forty hours of sick time each calendar year. For all but the smallest employers, this sick time would be paid." (Nixon Peabody LLP)

Top ACA Compliance Issues Facing Employers in 2015
"With 2015 just around the corner, employers are facing a new wave of requirements under the [ACA]. These requirements include the 'employer mandate' and additional reporting requirements under Sections 6055 and 6056 of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ... [Here are] recommendations on handling some of the most common questions being posed by employers in preparing for these rules." (Practical Law Company)

Health Plan 'Cadillac Tax' Frustrates Local Government Employers in New Hampshire
"Since the Cadillac tax's threshold is constant nationwide, it hits New Hampshire and the rest of New England harder than Southern states where costs are much lower.... Scott McGilvray, president of the National Education Association of New Hampshire, said many teachers' union contracts now include a clause that allows either side to reopen negotiations on health care if the Cadillac tax does go into effect." (Concord Monitor)

Employer-Based Benefits: Health Spending Up 3.9 Percent in 2013
"What is ... concerning is that the rate of growth in the share of health spending controlled by patients directly (often called 'out-of-pocket' costs) is slowing relative to the share controlled by insurers.... [T]he rate of growth of out-of-pocket spending has been dropping as the rate of growth of insurers' spending has increased. They are now about equal at four percent." (National Center for Policy Analysis Health Policy Blog)

Narrow Networks, Access to Hospitals and Premiums: An Analysis of Marketplace Products in Six Cities
"The report finds that nearly all insurers offering plans through the insurance Marketplaces in six cities include many highly ranked hospitals within their provider networks.... [A]lthough narrowing networks (i.e., limiting the amount of providers covered under a specific plan) generally led to more-competitive, lower-cost premiums, some plans with broader networks had low premiums and some plans with narrow networks had high premiums." (Urban Institute)

Amendment to San Francisco's Health Care Law Impacts Use of HRAs
"Employers using health reimbursement accounts (HRAs) to satisfy San Francisco's health care mandate may not be able to do so for much longer. The San Francisco Health Care Security Ordinance (HCSO) recently amended its rules to phase out the use of HRAs by 2017. The HCSO requires certain employers to spend a minimum amount of money each quarter on healthcare expenditures on behalf of their covered employees. Employers who use HRAs as a vehicle to meet such requirements must now take action to ensure compliance with the new changes[.]" (McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP)

Text of District Court Opinion: Plaintiff Not Entitled to Benefit Described on Distribution Election Form, Where Contrary to Plan Document
"[Plaintiff] argues that the Pension Election Documents should control over the Plan, given the contradictory language and her reliance on the summary documents. In doing so, she relies on a [2003] decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit [('Burstein')] ... Conversely, Defendant rests its case on the Plan language, citing to a recent Supreme Court case, Cigna Corp. v. Amara ... which, inter alia, held that disclosures set forth in the SPD could not be enforced pursuant to ERISA Section 502(a)(1)(B) as terms of the plan itself.... Burstein is no longer good law on the issue of which document controls the availability of benefits, given the Supreme Court's ensuing decision in Cigna." [Keiser v. Conagra Foods, Inc., No.4:13-cv-00159 (M.D. Pa. Oct. 27, 2014)] (U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania)

Center on Executive Compensation Criticizes Proposed ISS Equity Scorecard Over Unintended Consequences, Increased Uncertainty
"The impact of the changes is potentially significant, as the new scorecard (which will form the basis of ISS's recommendations for binding shareholder votes on stock plans) incorporates several criteria that up until now only had been part of ISS's recommendations for nonbinding say on pay votes. Under the new process, ISS will shift from a series of pass/fail stand-alone tests focused on the cost of the equity plan and so-called egregious practices to a more 'holistic' approach that takes into account cost, plan features and grant practices using a qualitative review." (HR Policy Association)

Text of Comments by SH&P to ISS on Proposed Equity Plan Scorecard Policy
"[Steven Hall & Partners is] very concerned about any approach which limits the ability of our clients to predict with certainty whether or not they are likely to secure a favorable vote recommendation from ISS before the proxy is filed.... An unexpected Against vote recommendation from ISS can be very disruptive, and requires a last minute mobilization of resources which is expensive, time-consuming and distracting. We believe shareholders would be better served by a process which permits companies to weigh plan design trade-offs in a thoughtful and deliberate way with full knowledge of how these choices will impact the ISS vote recommendation before making the decision which they believe to be in the best interests of shareholders. This would permit appropriate and timely engagement with shareholders, if required." (Steven Hall & Partners)

Trustees and Owner of DirecTV Installer Ordered to Restore More Than $6.48M to Pension Plans Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor

CPI-HR?s Korner Named to List of Most Influential Women in Benefit Advising CPI-HR

Houston Municipal Employees Pension System is Certified for Fiduciary Excellence Centre for Fiduciary Excellence [CEFEX]

Plan Now to Get Full Benefit of Saver?s Credit; Tax Credit Helps Low- and Moderate-Income Workers Save for Retirement IRS [Internal Revenue Service]

Aetna to Acquire Insurance Exchange Technology Provider bswift bswift

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