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The Spencer’s Consumer-Driven Health Report is a summary of the week's news items posted in the WHAT'S NEW pages of Spencer’s Consumer-Driven Health Report Online. For questions regarding this email service, contact Customer Service at (800)449-9525.
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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.
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Sixty-eight percent of health savings account (HSA) holders contributed to their HSA in 2006, while 32% did not, according to research recently conducted by UnitedHealthcare. The study, Health Savings Accounts: A Year-Long Look at Adoption, Usage, and Funding Patterns, also found that the percentage of HSA owners who contributed to their accounts increased to 86% when their employer also contributed to the account. In addition, 88% had account balances greater than zero at the end of the year, carrying over an average of $900 for future use…
On September 23, the House (H.R.6983) and the Senate (H.R. 6049) passed virtually identical versions of the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008. The House version was a stand-alone bill that included revenue offsets, and the Senate version (without revenue offsets) was included as part of a tax bill, the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008…
The Medicare Part B standard monthly premium for 2009 has been set at $96.40, the same as the current rate, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced. This is the first year since 2000 that the standard premium did not increase over the prior year. Other Medicare premiums, deductibles, and coinsurance will increase in 2009…
No vitally important employee benefits issue is as hidden in the presidential candidates’ health reform proposals (see News, Sept. 15, 2008, Candidates' Health Care Reform Proposals Take Different Paths) as is ERISA preemption. However, the proposals from Sens. John McCain (Ariz.) and Barack Obama (Ill.) will dramatically affect how employer-provided health care benefits operate in relation to ERISA…
The November 15 deadline is fast approaching for sponsors of group health plans to provide their Medicare-eligible beneficiaries with a notice advising the beneficiaries whether or not the employer coverage for prescription drugs is actuarially equivalent (creditable coverage) to the Medicare Part D drug coverage. Retirees need to know this because the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit is voluntary, requires an additional premium, and imposes a premium penalty for each month that the retiree delays enrollment in Part D, other than when enrolled in an actuarially equivalent retiree (or active employee) prescription drug plan, including COBRA continuation of coverage for Part D-eligible beneficiaries whose primary insured is no longer employed.(see Report 324.4.-9)…
The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has extended the deadline for filing Form 5500 and Form 5500-EZ annual report/returns due to damage from Hurricane Ike in Texas and Louisiana. President George W. Bush has declared 29 counties in Texas and 14 parishes in Louisiana as disaster areas due to damage caused by the hurricane. The extension applies to plan administrators, employers, and other entities located in areas directly affected, as identified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)…
In the September 18 Federal Register, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published interim final regulations that revise the agency’s existing rules governing the Medicare Advantage (MA) program (Medicare Part C) and the prescription drug benefit program (Medicare Part D). The interim final regulations implement provisions of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA), which became law on July 15, 2008…
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