Managing Benefits Plans
Managing Benefits Plans is the result of combining two newsletters into one, stronger report. Managers who oversee the enrollment, communications, and administration of employee benefits are the best subscribers to MBP. Titles include: HR Mgr., VP Benefits, Benefits Director, Personnel Director, Controller, CFO, et al. The goal of MBP is to provide readers objective, original data that can help them control the cost of their benefits plans without sacrificing quality. Structuring, maintaining, and enhancing successful employee benefits packages with the latest techniques and technical solutions available are covered in each issue. MBP also shows readers the latest trends in plan design, cost-cutting tactics, and much, much, more.
October 2008 - Table of Contents
The senior policy advisers of the 2008 presidential nominees spelled out the sharp differences between their candidates’ tax policies on employer-provided pensions and benefits during a recent debate at the Tax Policy Center.
Many firms with defined benefit plans may be waiting for federal tax and benefit policies to encourage them to embrace phased retirement programs, but there are steps employers with or without DB plans can take now.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. v. Glenn will cause a major shift in the way federal courts are likely to render benefit decisions. The bottom line: Expect the federal courts to rule in favor of plaintiffs rather than in favor of plan administrators, Scott M. Riemer of Riemer & Associates recently predicted.
When you get right down to it, benefits managers’ efforts to restrain the growth in health benefits costs have met with mixed results. As a consequence, more MBP readers, with the full support of their CEOs, are moving beyond a pure cost focus and are now relying increasingly on programs that directly raise the health and productivity of their workforces.
The Department of Labor released a much anticipated proposed regulation in late July that will make it easier for 401(k) and 403(b) participants to assess the fees included in their plan investments.
Employer-Based Health Insurance Rates Up 100 Percent Since 1996, Survey Finds
Health insurance premiums for employer-based insurance have risen by more than 100 percent since 1996, and employers paid for the bulk of the increases, the Agency for Research and Healthcare Quality announced recently.
The introduction by two national health care accrediting organizations of proposed standards to gauge the effectiveness of health and wellness programs may make it easier for employers to match a program to their workforce, analysts recently told us.
Employee Benefits Costs Now Hit 44.7% of Payroll, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Finds
Managing Flexible Benefits, Portland, Ore., Oct. 8-10. Contact: WorldatWork, 877-951-9191; fax: 480-483-8352; e-mail: info@worldatwork.org; www.worldatwork.org
Contain benefits costs with a carve-out mental health program
Issue: A health care company in Florida thought it might be able to control its mental health costs with better oversight.
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