05/10/2012    11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Domestic Partner Benefits: Crossing the Minefield

Presenters:
Michael DelTergo (Law Office of Michael DelTergo)

The growing trend toward employers providing domestic partner benefits to their employees shows no sign of abating. As more employers consider adopting LGBT-friendly benefit policies, they confront questions regarding eligibility, verification issues, plan amendments, tax compliance, civil rights issues, compliance with ever-changing state and municipal law, and even new requirements for companies seeking certain government contracts. Companies that have adopted domestic partner policies will have to deal with eligibility, compliance, and tax reporting issues that they did not have before. Moreover, the domestic partnership landscape has been changing constantly as more municipalities add domestic partner registries and impose new requirements on contractors, and as more states recognize gay marriage. This session covers:

• How various states and municipalities recognize domestic partnerships;
• Federal law treatment of domestic partner benefits;
• State law treatment of domestic partner benefits;
• Tax and reporting requirements;
• Policy creation and communication;
• Special situations affecting government contractors;
• Verification and audit issues; and
• Civil rights issues.

Even in companies that have adopted policies to provide coverage for domestic partners, some plans contain terms that limit eligibility in order to control costs, limit benefits to DPs that have the attributes of traditional marriage, or to comply with government mandates. Consequently, a plan’s eligibility criteria may exclude the partners of some LGBT employees and/or the dependents of an employee’s partner. When that happens, there exists the potential for disputes between the LGBT community and the employer, resulting in negative publicity, pressure from government actors and special interest groups, and threats of legal action. This session will include case studies that discuss how such disputes may arise, who the various third-party actors are, legal considerations, and how potential PR disasters can be managed.

05/10/2012    11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Benchmarking a 401(k) Plan

Presenters:
Dorann Cafaro (Fiduciary Benchmarks)

This presentation will discuss what benchmarking is and the importance of benchmarking qualified plans. Who needs to benchmark and why? It will detail how to benchmark a 401(k) plan. Are there any consequences to fiduciaries if they do not meet ERISA rules? We will discuss benchmarking ties to value and services. What is driving a benchmarking focus? What has changed in fee disclosure legislation, litigation and regulation?

How do go about benchmarking? We will look at the requirements of data collection and the building of the correct comparison group. We will discuss the different providers and how their fees are paid. How does each service provider compare to his or her benchmark? We shall discuss the unique factors in fee disclosure for investment options. We will walkthrough how to build a benchmark report reviewing what you need to look for to make sure you have a statistically viable, defendable documentation of fee disclosure. Then we look at an actual benchmark report uncovering all the nuances that are important for documenting reasonableness as required by 408(b)(2). How do you benchmark for value and services rendered? You will learn how to uncover hidden fees. You will learn how to review investment options’ fees looking for how they are paid, to whom and whether the payment structure is in the best interests of the participant. We will discuss investment disclosure issues that may change how your plan handles fee payments in light of participant fee disclosure under 404(a)(5). Finally we will consider why benchmarking a plan is an insurance policy for potential litigation.

05/10/2012    12:30 pm - 1:30 pm

Building Your Success: Best Practices For the Biggest Benefits Challenges

Presenters:
Jennifer Benz (Benz Communications)

Many employers communicate to their workers about health care benefits during open-enrollment season. Such an initiative is appropriate at a time when employees need information to make health care coverage decisions. But, this effort should be only a small part of an employers’ benefit communication street. Communication needs to be two-way, and it needs to be year-round. In this program, Jennifer Benz will discuss best practices in benefits communication, including how to leverage social media and your corporate website for benefits communication.

Jennifer will ask, how do the best companies make their benefits a success? How can you use what they already know to make your company’s benefits successful as well? In this fast-paced presentation, she will lead the audience through the case studies that are making headlines: rolling out the newest results-based wellness incentives, driving health care consumerism, launching dynamic benefits websites and mobile tools and making the most of health care reform.

She’ll share stories from the leading Fortune 500 companies, from their benefits strategy to plan design to communications. She’ll show the audience how they can turn their biggest challenges into their biggest success.

Attendees will gain strategic insights and practical, usable tips on a variety of benefits topics including: Wellness plan design and incentives, best practice benefits communication, including the latest social media and mobile strategies, promoting health care consumerism, retirement savings and financial wellness. Attendees will also learn why having a website on the Internet is a requirement and how to effectively leverage social media to engage people year-round.

05/10/2012    1:30 pm - 2:30 pm

Why is the DOL Knocking on MY DOOR?”

Presenters:
Dale Vlasek (McDonald Hopkins LLC)
Colin Fitzpatrick Smith (The Retirement Company, LLC)

With the DOL (Department of Labor) having hired nine hundred agents whose sole purpose is to audit qualified retirement plans, proactive preparation is key.

So, our efforts in this session will be directed towards preparing, in advance, for the likely possibility of a visit (soon) from the DOL.

We will describe in detail what will trigger an appearance by the auditors, from a complaint raised by a plan participant to failure to promptly direct deferrals from their compensation towards the plan to the lack of an Investment Policy Statement (IPS).

We will also touch on the topic regarding the importance of having an Investment Committee, having regular Investment Committee meetings and having the Plan follow the directions provided by the Investment Committee consistently.

We will expand on the definition of what are ‘reasonable’ fees charged to the Plan by its providers….from investments to recordkeeping and from accountancy to attorneys.

We will address the requirements for disclosure to Plan Sponsors by July 1 and the subsequent reporting regulations for plan participants on October 1.

And we will provide you with a checklist of what must be done and reported to whom.

We will be offering suggestion-solutions from both a legal perspective utilizing the more than quarter century of experience by Dale Vlasek of McDonald Hopkins and the quarter century of experience from Colin Fitzpatrick Smith of The Retirement Company, LLC. from an investment-fiduciary perspective.

We will provide you with access to the types of questions that may be posed to you by the Department of Labor when they arrive and the adverse consequences to everyone involved in your plan….from you to plan trustees and to your fellow plan participants.

And we will be able to answer any questions or address any concerns you might have during and after the webinar.

05/10/2012    2:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Lessons from Tussey v. ABB, Inc.-Best Practices to Avoid/Handle 401(k) Benefit Claims or Litigation

Presenters:
Sherrie Boutwell (Boutwell Fay LLP)

Plan sponsors and fiduciaries have been hit by a barrage of class action and other lawsuits from retirement plan participants. A federal district court has just issued its decision following a trial in the case of Tussey v. ABB, Inc. holding the employer, each member of the plan committee individually and Fidelity Investments liable for a variety of ERISA violations with respect to revenue sharing, plan fees, plan investment selections, and float payments resulting in a nearly $40 million dollar verdict against the collective defendants. In addition, the Employee Benefits Security Administration of the United States Department of Labor has recently issued new 401(k) fee disclosure regulations that become effective in July of 2012 which can be expected to increase participant attention to (and possibly concerns regarding) their 401(k) plans. Fortunately, there are steps that can be taken to help protect you, your company (and, if you are a service provider, your clients) from 401(k) plan benefit claims and litigation. This webinar will feature a case study approach based on the decision in Tussey and others to help you formulate strategies to avoid and protect against lawsuits in your 401(k) plan and wil include the following:

· Lessons from the Federal Court’s ruling in Tussey v. ABB, Inc.

· Update on current ERISA and 401(k) litigation cases and enforcement actions

· Effect of recent non-ERISA class action cases on ERISA cases

· Fiduciary risk management strategies

· Fiduciary insurance overview

· Best practices for responding to participant claims and inquiries

· Best practices for handling Department of Labor investigations

05/10/2012    3:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Health Plan Dependent Eligibility Audits: Getting the Savings While Avoiding the Risks

Presenters:
Christine A. Williams (Perkins Coie Llp)

Dependent eligibility audits are commonly used by employer-sponsored health plans to verify that employees have enrolled only eligible dependents. Identifying ineligible dependents and removing them from coverage, either retroactively or prospectively, can reduce health plan costs and provide evidence of good plan management. In addition, employers that perform services for governmental agencies are often subject to expense audits that include review of health plan costs. If the employer cannot provide proof of dependent eligibility to the government auditors, the employer may find itself with a reduction in its reimbursement or subject to penalties for inaccurate claims.

There are no hard and fast rules for dependent eligibility audits, and employers and insurers can design an eligibility audit program in many ways—for example, audits can be done on a regular schedule or randomly; employees may or may not be given an amnesty period to remove ineligible dependents voluntarily; ineligible dependents can be removed from coverage prospectively as of a date set by the health plan or retroactively to the date of enrollment. But the health care reform law placed new limits on retroactive cancellation of coverage, which the law refers to as "rescission," and employers need to understand the new rescission rules in order to avoid triggering penalties. The new rules apply to grandfathered and non-grandfathered health plans, insured and self-funded plans, and impose notice and external review requirements. In addition, plans should review and many will need to revise their eligibility language to state eligibility rules as clearly as possible and to advise employees that enrolling ineligible dependents is prohibited and constitutes fraud or misrepresentation of material facts.

This program will address common dependent eligibility audit design issues and provide detail on the new health care reform limitations on retroactive cancellation of coverage.

05/10/2012    3:30 pm - 4:30 pm

Value Based Insurance: Why it's Important, Its Prevalence, Employer Goals and Market Barriers

Presenters:
Erin O'Connor (Cammack Larhette Consulting)

This session will provide an overview of why and how value based insurance design (VBID) can help employers lower healthcare costs while at the same time maximizing care for their employees. As employers face increased pressure to control health costs, they're turning to VBID as a viable and effective option for cost-savings. VBID attempts to align patient costs with the value of the health services provided. It uses both incentives to reduce the barriers to high-value services and disincentives to discourage low-value services. The reduction of barriers leads to increases in patient compliance and decreases in costs. Both private and public employers are embracing VBID to save money and provide better care for their employees. In addition, VBID was included in the 2010 healthcare reform law and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services featured it in their National Quality Strategy.

Attendees will also learn about two models of collaborative care used to achieve high-quality and high-value healthcare: Patient Centered Medical Homes (PCMH) and Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). PCMH is a team-based approach to healthcare delivery in which accessible, comprehensive, longitudinal care leads to maximized health outcomes. A team of health professionals, led by a personal physician, takes responsibility for providing all of a patient's healthcare needs, including arranging care with outside specialists and providers. An ACO is a payment and delivery model that ties provider reimbursement with both quality metrics and cost reductions. The ACO, often a group of healthcare providers, is accountable to the patient and to the third-party payer.