If this HTML newsletter is not readable or the links do not work, please request the plain text version via e-mail to tessr@bsg.com.

A free monthly newsletter for plan sponsors and employee benefits 
professionals published by The Benefit Services Group, Inc.

Despite Rising Costs, Employer Health Care Benefits Are Increasing
EXCERPT: "Despite rapidly rising health care costs, many employers provide generous health care benefits, according to the Society for Human Resource Management's newly-released SHRM® 2002 Benefits Survey. The survey of 551 HR professionals included 187 benefits offered by employers and tracked trends in recent years."  Full Article...
4/11/02—Society for Human Resource Management

Defined Contribution (“DC”) Health Plans Outline of Legal Issues
EXCERPT: "The Term 'Defined Contribution Health Plan' is being used to describe various arrangements through which employers offer employees some choice over spending a defined amount of health care dollars contributed by the employer. . . One of the major issues that will affect whether DC health plans are a viable alternative for employers is the tax treatment of these arrangements."   Full Article...
4/29/02—Groom Law Group

Battle Over Contraceptive Coverage Heats Up
EXCERPT: "Because federal legislation mandating contraceptive coverage has yet to pass, supporters are tackling the issue on a state-by-state and even company-by-company level."   Full Article...
5/8/02—USA Today via Society for Human Resource Management

Privacy Rule Revisions Would Extend Time To Rewrite Business Associate Contracts
EXCERPT: "Covered entities would have an additional year, until April 2004, to revise their existing contracts with 'business associates,' under proposed amendments to HIPAA's privacy rules issued in the March 27, 2002, Federal Register (67 F.R. 14775). The proposal also would clarify that group health plans may disclose enrollment or disenrollment information to plan sponsors without amending the plan documents."   Full Article...
April 2002—Thompson Publishing Group, Inc.

DOL's Final Electronic Distribution Rules Encompass COBRA Notices 
EXCERPT: "Plan administrators will be able to furnish COBRA notices electronically to plan participants and beneficiaries inside and outside of the workplace under final rules issued April 9 by the Pension and Benefit Welfare Administration (PWBA) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). Final rules on electronic communication and recordkeeping by pension and welfare benefit plans (67 F.R. 17264) finalize and expand earlier interim and proposed rules that allowed ERISA plans to electronically disclose, and retain, certain plan records and documents."
Full Article...
May 2002—Thompson Publishing Group, Inc.

Ten Companies Honored for Securing Worker Financial Futures 
EXCERPT: "The Principal Financial Group® announced today that ten outstanding U.S.-based companies—selected from more than 1,000 nominations—have been crowned by a blue-ribbon panel of experts as The Principal® 10 Best Companies for Employee Financial Security. Judges selected winning companies based on the breadth of their benefits offerings—how well they cover major life events such as retirement and disability; and the depth of their benefits offerings—how much the company contributes in terms of matches or premiums. The judges also considered the overall commitment to employee financial security as demonstrated by how the company aligns its benefits to the specific needs of its employees and how the company helps employees understand and utilize their benefits."   Full Article...
5/9/02—The Principal Financial Group

Fraudulent Plans Target Employers 
EXCERPT: "Health care plans that sound too good to be true may be just that, particularly in this era of soaring health costs. Officials report that health plan fraud is on the rise across the country, and is particularly rampant in Texas and Florida. The usual scam involves sellers who purport to offer cheap coverage, but disappear with premium payments before claims are paid."   Full Article...
May 2002—Employee Benefit News

Columnists Discuss Possible Successors To Managed Care 
EXCERPT: "Although the U.S. health care system looked as bleak in the early 1990s as it does now, '[t]aking the steps required to restrain costs ... will be even harder today than it would have been then,' David Wessel writes in his 'Capital' column in the Wall Street Journal."  Full Article...
5/9/02—KaiserNetwork.org

Women Take the Lead in Making Family Health Insurance Decisions
EXCERPT: "When it comes to health insurance, women are the primary decision makers in their families, according to a new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), a nonprofit California health care philanthropy."   Full Article...
5/8/02—insure.com

IRS has suspended the 5500 and Schedule F reporting requirements for cafeteria plans, educational assistance plans, and adoption assistance plans. Employers whose group health plans are exempt from reporting requirements (e.g., fewer than 100 participants, or a government or church plan) but who have been filing Form 5500 & Schedule F solely for their cafeteria plans, need no longer file either Schedule F nor Form 5500 for the welfare plan arrangement. 

The suspension of the Schedule F filing applies to all plan years, including years prior to 2001. The IRS says specifically that plan sponsors who did not file in prior years should not request relief for failure to file. The exemption does not apply in instances where Form 5500 was required independent of the existence of a fringe benefit plan. 

This notice does not affect the filing requirements for ERISA plans, including health flexible spending accounts. Form 5500 must still be filed for health flexible spending accounts with more than 100 participants (however, no schedule F is required).

The IRS announcement, Notice 2002-24, is available online, as is the IRS press release. 

Want to read more? See:
http://benefitslink.com/articles/
schedF020412.shtml
http://www.flexben.com/
legislation.htm#5500

Stress at Work
Problems at work are more strongly associated with health complaints than are any other life stressor— more so than even financial problems or family problems. 
—St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Co.

Health care expenditures are nearly 50% greater for workers who report high levels of stress.
—Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine

Job stress has become a common and costly problem in the American workplace, leaving few workers untouched.  Studies show that stressful working conditions are actually associated with increased absenteeism, tardiness, and intentions by workers to quit their jobs—all of which have a negative effect on the bottom line. 

To find out more about job stress, its affect on the bottom line and building a plan to alleviate it, download or order a printed copy of the NIOSH report, Stress at Work, by visiting the NIOSH Web site.

Excerpted from NIOSH's Stress at Work.

The preceding is not intended to be and is not offered as legal advice. We are prohibited from the practice of law. Compliance is the responsibility of the employer or Plan sponsor and affected employees, who should seek their own legal counsel regarding questions about information presented in this newsletter.

PlanAhead Direct is a monthly newsletter provided free of charge to select BSG® client representatives and associates. View and search back issues at www.bsg.com/news/index.htm. 

If you would like to change your subscription address, or request a plain text version, please e-mail your request to tessr@bsg.com.

Copyright 2002 The Benefit Services Group, Inc. BSG® is a registered trademark of The Benefit Services Group, Inc.

W226, N887 Eastmound Dr., Suite F
Waukesha, WI 53186
tel 262-521-5700
fax 262-521-5710
www.bsg.com