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January 2005
Welcome to Prairie Post, Blue Prairie
Group's monthly e-Newsletter about Human Resource and Institutional Retirement & Investment issues.
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In this issue...
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Innovative Trends in
401(k)
Plans
- The Place for
Lifestyle Funds in a 401(k) Plan
- Monitoring
401(k) Investment Past, Present and Future
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The Fiduciary Duty to Ask
for Help
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It
Wasn't Broken, But Congress Fixes “Dependent” Definition
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Linking the Delivery of
Health Care with Disability Benefits
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Cost Not Sole Driver for Health
Plans -- Use of Performance Measures to Determine Quality
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More Companies Offer
Employees Wellness Programs
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Intangibles Complicate
Work-Life Benefit Programs' Return-on-Investment Measurement
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Innovative Trends in 401(k) Plans |
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The brutal bear market
beating in recent years has led to significant innovations in 401(k) plans
offered by small to mid-size employers. One of the driving forces for
these innovations is a re-emergence of trustee awareness with regard to
their fiduciary liability.
Click to read the full article
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The Place for Lifestyle Funds in a 401(k)
Plan |
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A new study
conducted by Ernst & Young LLP and ExecuNet revealed that
personalized financial counseling is critical to help employees
effectively manage retirement planning. The survey of human
resource and employee benefits professionals found that
financial education alone is not enough to influence a change
in employee behavior.
Click to read the full article
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Monitoring 401(k) Investments: Past,
Present and Future |
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Too many plan committees focus
only on quantitative measures and primarily on past performance ... the average
return of the mutual fund. However, that is changing. From an ERISA perspective,
the long-term impact of the mutual fund scandals will be an increased and
ongoing focus on qualitative issues, including the ethics of the mutual fund
manager and their impact on performance.
Click to read the full article
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The Fiduciary Duty
to Ask for Help
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This article
explains the requirement that fiduciaries seek expert advice
when they are not qualified to fulfill their ERISA obligations,
as well as factors that should be considered when choosing an
advisor or consultant to help select and monitor investments.
Click to read the full article
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It Wasn't Broken, But Congress Fixes “Dependent” Definition
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Though not the
monumental benefits administration headache it first seemed,
the new tax code definition of “dependent” could require many
employers to modify their dependent care assistance plans,
401(k)
plans and other benefit programs that use the tax code
definition -- and there is little time to waste.
Click to read the full article
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Linking the Delivery of Health Care with Disability Benefits
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For years,
employers have integrated disability management with worker's
compensation to control disability costs. But dovetailing
disability and health care benefits 'is where the money is,'
says Barton Margoshes, M.D., vice president and chief medical
officer for Cigna Group Insurance, a division of
Philadelphia-based Cigna Corp. 'Health care and disability are
inextricably linked,' he says.
Click to read the full article
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Cost
Not Sole Driver for Health Plans -- Use of Performance Measures
to Determine Quality
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When it comes to health care,
we all want to have the highest-quality choices at the most-reasonable prices
possible. Yet, quality and price don't always go hand-in-hand. Cheaper doesn't
always buy you better. Nor does choosing the most expensive option mean you're
getting the best quality. As businesses are forced to shift more health-care
costs to employees, how does an employer go about evaluating the quality of plan
choices -- what doctor to see, which hospital to use.
Click to read the full article
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More
Companies Offer Employees Wellness Programs
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The number of companies
offering health and wellness programs to their employees has risen, as has the
number of programs, according to the American Management Association's (AMA)
2004 Survey on Corporate Health and Wellness Programs. The number of companies
offering educational programs on self-care topics is higher in all seven
categories surveyed, including smoking cessation, exercise and fitness, and
cholesterol management.
Click to read the full article
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Intangibles
Complicate Work-Life Benefit Programs' Return-on-Investment
Measurement
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Benefit
managers are eager to show the value of work-life programs, but
they are struggling to put a number on some intangible returns.
The greatest challenges in ROI calculation appear to be
singling out the effects of one benefit and measuring
subjective and emotional factors.
Click to read the full article
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The articles have been carefully chosen from a variety of high-quality sources including government, research and academic institutions.
If you would like to publish your news, original articles, or best practices via
this e-Newsletter, please contact us at info@blueprairiegroup.com or call us toll free at
1-866-274-1899.
Please note: Blue Prairie Group checked each
of these links before sending you this e-Newsletter. However, some links
are only available for a limited period of time, so, you may occasionally
find that a link has expired. If this happens, we apologize for any
inconvenience.
Disclosure Statement:
Blue Prairie Group, L.L.C. does not endorse and disclaims any and all responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, completeness, legality, or reliability of the material. All articles are copyrighted to their publishers.
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