Employee Benefit News back issues from October 2008:
Knowing which way the wind blow: Ten key trends to assess the present, forecast the future of 401(k) plans.(Features)
Oct 01, 2008 ... Byline: Steve Smith and Laura White In the ever-changing retirement plans landscape, it can be challenging to keep pace with current trends in 401(k) plans, let alone try to predict what lies ahead. Yet plan sponsors need to anticipate where this market is heading in ...
Corrections.(Correction notice)
Oct 01, 2008 ... Byline: Editorial Staff A Sept. 1 EBN article, "Employer communication and education can help to make hospitals safer for patients," incorrectly reported the cost of medical errors. It should have stated that more than 1.5 million Americans are injured each year by drug-related ...
Making suckers out of the government, employees.(Benefits Corner Office)
Oct 01, 2008 ... Byline: Lydell C. Bridgeford In a new report from the Government Accountability Office, congressional investigators say 1.6 million businesses did not send taxes to the Internal Revenue Service regarding employees' wages, Social Security and Medicare payments - essentially ...
Go green: Three R's of conservation apply to HR/benefits.(Benefits Corner Office)
Oct 01, 2008 ... Byline: Kim Glinsky The language used to promote conservation and improving the environment - reduce, reuse and recycle - can also impart important lessons for HR/benefits professionals in creating a thriving, resilient and diverse workforce. In fact, amid a slowing ...
Blocking cost increases key to scoring touchdowns during renewal season.(Benefits Corner Office)
Oct 01, 2008 ... Byline: Molly Bernhart Fall may be the beginning of football season, but there's no time to relax on the couch and crack open a cold one. This is a time for action, as benefit managers tackle plan renewals and the challenges of impending open-enrollment. At a recent ...
We raise our glass: Farnan, Power, Cutlip-Spivey receive HR honors for jobs well done.(Career Focus)
Oct 01, 2008 ... Byline: Kelley M. Butler Farnan named San Diego HR Professional of the Year Mitchell International, Inc., a provider of information, workflow and performance management solutions to the property and casualty claims and collision repair industries, recently announced ...
CEBS introduces new curriculum for GBA designation.(Career Focus)
Oct 01, 2008 ... Byline: Kelley M. Butler Under the direction of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, the Certified Employee Benefit Specialist program has unveiled a new curriculum for its Group Benefits Associate designation. The redesigned courses reflect the current, ...
Giving benefits the YouTube treatment.(Features)
Oct 01, 2008 ... Byline: Lydell C. Bridgeford The YouTube revolution and growth in broadband Internet access have not been lost on the HR/benefits community. Online videos can reach a mass audience. For that reason, more large employers are creating online videos for their intranets. ...
Two of a kind: Industry associations join together to create special interest group for public-sector HR.(Career Focus)
Oct 01, 2008 ... Byline: Kelley M. Butler Realizing that two is better than one, the Human Resources Outsourcing Association and the International Public Management Association for Human Resources recently announced that they have joined forces to create a special interest group to promote and ...
Moving beyond cookie-cutter retirement messages: Help employees turn their 401(k) into an individual pension plan.(Retirement Planning)
Oct 01, 2008 ... Byline: Phil Fragasso While participating in a 401(k) plan is arguably the most important step the employee can make in ensuring financial security in retirement, it is only the first step of many. It is critically important to recognize that a 401(k) plan is the means and not ...
Small portion of workers own an IRA.(Retirement Planning)
Oct 01, 2008 ... Byline: Leah Carlson Shepherd While IRAs are likely to be the largest non-Social Security asset in retirement for many Americans in the next generation of retirees, only 10% of taxpayers eligible to contribute to an IRA actually do so, according to recent research from the ...
Is your retirement plan 404(c) and 404(a) compliant?(Retirement Planning)
Oct 01, 2008 ... Byline: Philip J. Fogli Beginning with Enron and WorldCom in the early part of this decade, lawsuits involving retirement plans have become more common. While these initial legal troubles surrounded employer stock held in 401(k) accounts, this litigious environment has expanded ...
Younger workers hurt when boomers can't afford to retire.(Retirement Planning)
Oct 01, 2008 ... Byline: Jane White The first wave of baby boomers is scheduled to retire in 2011 - the same year my daughter graduates from college. Will a big percentage of the 4 million college graduates wind up jobless because my generation's 3.4 million baby boomers can't afford to retire? ...
Save for Retirement Week pushes to stock the national piggybank.(Retirement Planning)
Oct 01, 2008 ... Byline: McLean Robbins Mark your calendars today because Oct. 19-26 is the third annual "National Save for Retirement Week," sponsored by the National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators. Although NAGDCA is an association of government-only ...
Shut out of buyouts2:10:12 PM IRS, Treasury slam the door on pension transfers to private firms.(Defined Benefit Retirement)
Oct 01, 2008 ... Byline: Lydell C. Bridgeford For now, federal regulators at the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service have shot down a proposal that would allow financial institutions and investment firms to acquire frozen defined benefit plans. "The concept is that ...
Pension funds' ability to invest in commodities threatened.(Defined Benefit Retirement)
Oct 01, 2008 ... Byline: Lynn Gresham Anxious to find regulatory levers that could lower fuel prices, Congressional Democrats are looking at curbing oil investments by speculators, including pension fund managers. At press time, there were several bills pending in the House and ...
More patients heading to the emergency room.(Features)
Oct 01, 2008 ... Byline: Leah Carlson Shepherd A mounting trend in costly ER visits should raise some eyebrows among HR/benefits professionals who are working to reduce their company's medical expenses. Emergency room visits increased from 34.1 per 100 individuals in 1996 to 40.5 per ...
Conducting expat profiling: Selectivity key when sending employees overseas.(Quallity of Life)
Oct 01, 2008 ... Byline: McLean Robbins Despite technological advances that allow employees to virtually connect with other offices around the world, the necessity of sending workers overseas still remains. In today's hyperconnected society, it is often easy to forget that cultural and ...
New retirement campaign message: Have no fear, 65 is here.(Retirement Planning)
Oct 01, 2008 ... Byline: Editorial Staff From wire reports Based on the premise that knowledge is power, retirement product provider Symetra Financial this fall announced the launch of a national awareness campaign for employees approaching retirement, designed to educate and inform ...
Maternity program savings: $52,000 per stay; healthy triplets: priceless.(Success Stories)
Oct 01, 2008 ... Byline: Leah Carlson Shepherd When employees have pregnancy complications, the medical costs can be eye-boggling for employers. With a pregnancy management program, employees can get personalized advice from a nurse who teaches them how to avoid the scary and expensive ...
New rules for IRS voluntary compliance program.(Laws and Regs)
Oct 01, 2008 ... Byline: Frank Palmieri The IRS recently issued new procedures to enhance the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System. Most HR and legal practitioners have become accustomed to the more user-friendly IRS, and the ability to correct qualified retirement plan defects under the ...
Good Card Bad Card.(Feature)
Oct 01, 2008 ... Byline: McLean Robbins In every great epic, there can't be a hero without a villain. Superman needed Lex Luthor. Batman needed the Joker. And - in a retirement benefits battle of good versus evil - a debit card that makes it easier for seniors to receive and access Social ...
All this and a tooth cleaning, too: Dental spa services grow in popularity among consumers, practitioners.(Feature)
Oct 01, 2008 ... Byline: Kelley M. Butler It would seem like a no-brainer that most people would much rather get a massage, a manicure/pedicure or facial than go to the dentist. But what if consumers - especially the most dentist-phobic among us - could combine all of the above? ...
Belt tightening: Downward business cycle may influence how employers invest in wellness.(Health Care)
Oct 01, 2008 ... Byline: Lydell C. Bridgeford The down economy is affecting employers' bottom lines across all aspects of business, which means expenses are getting squeezed. Benefits surely are no exception, even ones that yield a positive return on investment, like health management and ...
Some employers using screeners to reduce imaging costs.(Health Care)
Oct 01, 2008 ... Byline: Leah Carlson Shepherd X-rays, MRIs, sonograms and other types of medical imaging cost nearly $100 billion each year. Targeting this slice of rapidly rising health care costs, employers are using radiology benefit managers to minimize spending on unnecessary diagnostic ...
E-prescribing poised for growth, but challenges remain.(Health Care)
Oct 01, 2008 ... Byline: Editorial Staff From wire reports E-prescribing could reduce the nation's health care costs by $29 billion annually, according to a recent report by eHealth Initiative - nothing to sneeze at, considering the sizeable share of the nation's health care tab ...