UNEMPLOYMENT
INSURANCE / SOCIAL SECURITY
| Issues and Answers | ||
| Can complying with an IRS tax withholding directive create liability? | |||
|
| Summary of State Law Changes | ||
|
| |||
|
| Test Your Human Resources Knowledge | ||
|
| Labor Law Journal Submissions | ||
|
| Human Resources Links | ||
|
| Labor Arbitrators' Awards and Biographies | ||
The Spencer’s Benefits Reports is a summary of the week's news items posted in the WHAT'S NEW pages of Spencer’s Benefits Reports Online. For questions regarding this email service, contact Customer Service at (800)449-9525.
Questions Answered Here--As a paid subscriber to Spencer’s Benefits Reports, you have access to the expertise of Spencer editors, who will try to answer any questions regarding material we have published in the Report. To Ask A Benefits Question, visit our web site.
The U.S. Master Pension Guide reflects the latest regulations, rulings and cases for qualified retirement plans, surveying the different type of plans from which an employer may choose, and describing the procedures for obtaining plan qualification.
Links within news stories display full text documents including legislation, regulations, court decisions, rulings and government reports.
The first time you click on a link you will be taken to the IRN login page, where you will need to enter your ID and password. Subsequent links will take you directly to the desired document.
Learn about a 7 day free trial will allow you to click on the links within the news stories and see the full text documents.
In Rev. Proc. 2008-29, the Internal Revenue Service provides inflation-adjusted dollar limits for health savings accounts (HSAs) and high deductible health plans (HDHPs) for 2009. The revenue procedure modifies and supersedes Rev. Proc. 2007-36…
A recent evaluation of 401(k) plan investment portfolios suggests that more than two-thirds of participants “have inefficient portfolios and/or inappropriate risk levels.” The evaluation, conducted by financial adviser Financial Engines also notes that nearly half of participants with company stock as a plan investment option hold high concentrations of company stock, and one-third of all active participants are not contributing enough to their 401(k) plans to receive the full employer match…
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has issued a notice in which the agency states that it intends to add a new calculator to its online Benefit Calculators Web site. The new feature, called the “Retirement Estimator,” will allow authenticated individuals to calculate estimates of potential retirement benefits in real-time, based in part on their SSA-maintained records and in part on user-entered information, such as the last year of Social Security earnings. The notice was published in the May 13 Federal Register…
In a new health care reform proposal that shares many elements with proposals from presidential candidates Sen. Hillary Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.), the Commonwealth Fund on May 13 outlined a series of steps “to achieve near-universal coverage”…
Charles E.F. Millard, the director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, has issued a statement applauding Delphi Corporation for maintaining its pension plans following the company’s bankruptcy. “Delphi management has assured us of their personal and institutional commitment to keep the Delphi pension plans upon emergence from bankruptcy,” Mr. Millard stated. “The PBGC will continue to work with Delphi and its creditors to achieve that goal”…
David M. Hirsch, the owner and president of Adventure World, Inc., in Shirley, Mass., has agreed to restore $5,856 to the company’s 401(k) plan to settle a lawsuit filed by the Department of Labor alleging that he violated his duty as a trustee under ERISA. The settlement was approved by the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, in Chao v. Hirsch (Civil Action No. 1:08-CV-10247-RCL)…
There currently are 1,961 health insurance mandates in the states, according to the Council for Affordable Health Insurance (CAHI), an advocacy group of insurance carriers in the individual, small group, health savings account, and senior markets. The report, Health Insurance Mandates in the States 2008, defined a health insurance mandate as a requirement that an insurance company or health care plan cover (or offer coverage for) health care providers, benefits, and patient populations. The report noted that while mandates make health care more comprehensive, they also make it more expensive…
In its May 2008 issue brief, Employer-Sponsored Coverage: Shape It Up? Ship It Out? the Alliance for Health Reform (AHR) summarized a September 2007 panel discussion among health care opinion leaders, including representatives of labor, researchers, economists, and major employers on the current and future role of employers in health care reform…
A couple may pursue their claims that their former employer violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and ERISA by terminating them in response to the health care costs incurred by their terminally ill son. This was the ruling of the Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Trujillo v. PacifiCorp (No. 06-8074)…
A recent Watson Wyatt retirement analysis confirms that the type and adequacy of employee benefits coverage in retirement strongly influences retirement age. The May 2008 analysis used the University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study (HRS), which surveys more than 22,000 Americans older than age 50 every two years. The study was supported by the National Institute on Aging…
On May 2, New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine signed into law legislation providing paid family leave benefits to employees caring for sick family members and newborn or newly adopted children. New Jersey becomes the third state in the nation to enact a paid family leave program. The state of California implemented its program in 2004, while the state of Washington passed legislation last year…
Former Secretaries of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) clarified two basic and different approaches to health care reform at a May 6 hearing before the Senate Finance Committee…
The following interest rates have been announced for use in the operation and administration of qualified pension plans…
Among smaller and midsize companies, the likelihood of offering health care coverage is associated with the age of the business, according to a May 2008 Issue Brief from the Kaiser Family Foundation…
Contrary to popular belief, the 26% increase in emergency department visits between 1996 and 2003 was not primarily attributable to uninsured persons, but to “disproportionate increases” in use by persons with family income exceeding 400% of the federal poverty level. This was the conclusion of a study, “Are the Uninsured Responsible for the Increase in Emergency Department Visits in the United States?” published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine from an abstract presented at the Fourth Mediterranean Emergency Medicine Conference. “Instead, the increase in emergency department use might be attributable to lack of ready access to primary care and other structural problems in the health care system…"
CCH® is the leading provider of information covering Human Resources, Employment and Labor Benefits, Pensions, Payroll, Safety, and Workers Compensation. For more information about our products and services, go to http://hr.cch.com/ or call 800-449-9525. This newsletter is copyrighted by CCH® and may be redistributed only for non-commercial purposes and only in its entirety, specifically including the CCH® headers, this paragraph and the CCH® copyright line. No other redistribution or re-purposing, including but not limited to use on a web site, intranet or extranet, is permitted without prior written permission of CCH®.
If you would like to unsubscribe from this newsletter click here. To check your email preferences or make changes to your email newsletters click here.
©2008, CCH. All Rights Reserved.
