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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.
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On November 3, House Minority Leader John Boehner (Ohio) released the text of a proposed substitute amendment to H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, and the next day the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a preliminary cost estimate of the Republican alternative…
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Two laws introduced in late October would extend the COBRA subsidy program created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)…
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The Internal Revenue Service has published a notice in which the agency requests applications for membership to serve on the Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities (ACT). The notice appeared in the November 3 Federal Register…
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The Department of Labor has obtained a court order that permanently bars Raymond Palombo of Riverside, Cal., from serving in a fiduciary or service provider capacity to any employee benefit plan governed by ERISA. The order was entered by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, in Solis v. Palombo (Civil Action No. 1:089-CV-2017)…
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On October 30, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released summaries of 2010 Medicare payment and policy changes that include a 21.2% reduction in the conversion factor for physician services provided on or after Jan. 1, 2010, rather than the 21.5% reduction projected in previous proposed regulations. The changes are scheduled to be published as final regulations later in November for services provided in calendar year 2010 by physicians, outpatient hospital departments, and ambulatory surgical centers…
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The Department of Defense (DOD) has issued final regulations that address double coverage payment procedures under the TRICARE rules to accommodate beneficiaries who are eligible under both Medicare and TRICARE, and who participate in Medicare’s outpatient prescription drug program under Medicare Part D. The final regulations appeared in the October 29 Federal Register…
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The average premiums and cost-sharing payments for enrollees in health exchanges under House bill H.R. 3962 (the Affordable Health Care for America Act) would be slightly higher than those for enrollees in the exchanges under the Finance Committee’s S. 796 (America’s Healthy Future Act), according to a November 2 letter to Rep Charles Rangel (N.Y.) from Congressional Budget Office (CBO) director Douglas W. Elmendorf…
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Relying on its own precedent, the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that a participant in a defined benefit plan could not pursue ERISA claims against the plan sponsor because the plan was “substantially overfunded.” The ruling came in McCullough v. AEGON USA, Inc., et al. (No. 08-1952)…
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A Republican health care reform substitute to be offered during House floor debate on H.R. 3962 will incorporate provisions already introduced in legislation, according to House Minority Leader John Boehner (Ohio)…
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The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has published interim final rules regarding the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act passed as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)…
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Rep. Earl Pomeroy (N.D.) has introduced the Preserve Benefits and Jobs Act of 2009 (H.R. 3936), which would amend ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code to allow time for pension plans to fund benefit obligations in light of the economic circumstances in the financial markets of 2008. The bill was referred to the House Ways and Means and Education and Labor committees…
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The cost of providing health care coverage is much higher for state and local governments than it is for employers in private industry, according to research from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The survey, New Health Participation and Access Data from the National Compensation Survey, found that in state and local governments, the average per-employee health care cost was $6,430 in 2008, compared with $3,527 for the private industry…
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The Affordable Health Care for America Act, H.R. 3962, which was sent to the House floor on October 28, includes substantial reforms to the Medicare program, including the following measures…
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In Notice 2009-86, the Internal Revenue Service extends to plan years beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2013, the time by which a governmental plan must comply with final regulations on distributions from a pension plan upon attainment of normal retirement age. Those regulations were issued on May 22, 2007. Thus, the 2007 regulations will be effective for a governmental plan (as defined in IRC Sec. 414(d)) for plan years beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2013, but in the case of nongovernmental plans, the regulations were effective as of the date of publication…
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This is another in a series of regular health care reform updates from Spencer’s Benefits Reports…
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation has announced that it has assumed trusteeship of the underfunded pension plan maintained by Pueblo International LLC, a retail holding company based in Pompano Beach, Fla. The plan covers more than 1,400 former workers and retirees of the company…
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The Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment that recovers $25,284 owed to the Benes Communications, Inc., 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan. The consent judgment was entered by the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, in Solis v. Robert Feige (Civil Action No. 08-CV-10556-RGS)…
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About 6 million additional individuals would obtain coverage through an employer health care plan under H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, according to a preliminary analysis by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Joint Committee on Taxation. H.R. 3962 is expected to be considered by the full House this week…
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The Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 (H.R. 2647), which was signed by President Barack Obama on October 28, would expand provisions in the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for qualifying exigency leave and military caregiver leave to recent veterans of the Armed Forces. The Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 had applied only to families of active-duty military members, not to recent veterans (those receiving medical care within five years of being active-duty members)…
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In an October 26 letter to the Internal Revenue Service, the American Benefits Council urged the IRS to clarify the treatment of a partial rollover to an individual retirement account of a distribution from a qualified retirement plan that includes after-tax contributions. In Notice 2009-68, the IRS updated the safe harbor IRC Sec. 402(f) notice, which describes the tax rules applicable to eligible rollover distributions from retirement plans…
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In Disaster Relief Announcement (DRA) 09-20, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation waives certain penalties and extends certain deadlines for entities affected by recent severe storms and flooding in Georgia. The relief provided by the announcement applies to entities such as plan administrators and contributing sponsors located in any of the affected counties in the Georgia…
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