A recent U.S. Court of Appeals decision underscores the importance to plan administrators of maintaining proper procedures for the distribution of summary plan descriptions (SPD’s) under ERISA. Each participant in a plan which is subject to ERISA must be furnished an SPD satisfying ERISA’s content requirements within 90 days after he or she becomes a participant ...
Mobile TeleSystems, Russia's leading mobile communications operator and one of the largest mobile operators in Eastern Europe, has acquired a 57.7% stake in Ukrainian Mobile Communications (UMC), the second largest Ukrainian mobile operator, for €194.2 million. In November 2002 Mobile TeleSystems signed a purchase agreement for 57.7% of UMC's shares. Under the agreement, Mobile TeleSystems was to acquire the 16 ...
Now that the 60-day deadline for filing new legislation without suspension of the rules has passed, for all practical purposes all legislation that will be offered this session has now been filed. Bills that could impact Texas employers generally, are listed by bill number and contain author, the committee the bill has been referred to, and any action that has been taken. House of Representatives H.B ...
The Department of Labor (“DoL”) has issued final rules that implement the pension blackout provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Act”). These rules require plan administrators of individual account plans to deliver advance notice of blackout periods and will be effective for blackouts which begin on or after January 26, 2003 ...
Florida West Coast Employee Benefits Council This outline looks at the privacy regulations as modified by the August 14, 2002, final modifications and how they apply to group health plans. This outline also considers the impact of the guidance issued by the Office of Civil Rights of the Department of Health and Human Services on December 4, 2002 ...
Florida West Coast Employee Benefits Council The following chart attempts to summarize some of the types of group health plans and which of the HIPAA privacy notice and administrative requirements apply to the plan. No one should rely on this as legal advice. In every situation, the application of the rules requires careful analysis of one's own counsel who is familiar with your particular situation ...
I. Why now? The rapidly increasing cost of health care, with the resulting increase in the cost of employer-provided health benefit plans, has caused employers to search for ways to contain their health plan expenses. Rising costs, along with general employee dissatisfaction with the lack of choice of health care providers under many plans and the perceived lack of quality within many of the networks available to employees, has created an environment ripe for new ideas ...
The Internal Revenue Service previously announced that in order for qualified retirement plans to be in compliance with the requirements of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (“EGTRRA”), those plans must make the necessary good faith amendments by the later of (i) the last day of the plan year in which the EGTRRA changes apply, or (ii) the end of the GUST remedial amendment period for the plan. For most plans, the EGTRRA changes apply for the 2002 plan year ...
The Department of Labor (“DoL”) has issued rules that implement the pension blackout provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Act”). These rules require plan administrators of individual account plans to deliver advance notice of blackout periods and will be effective for blackouts which begin on or after January 26, 2003 ...
ALI-ABA Pension, Profit-Sharing, Welfare, and other Compensation Plans; Washington, DC Many of the defined contribution health plans being marketed involve a higher deductible indemnity type of coverage either with or without a network of managed care providers (the “Policy”) accompanied by a “personal care account” or “PCA” which is funded either by employer, employee or both contributing to the PCA ...
A SUMMARY OF THE FINAL REGULATIONS ON THE STANDARDS FOR PRIVACY OF INDIVIDUALLY IDENTIFIABLE HEALTH INFORMATION ISSUED DECEMBER 28, 2000 AS MODIFIED BY THE FINAL REGULATIONS ISSUED ON AUGUST 14, 2002 CAVEAT: This outline summarizes the HIPAA Privacy Regulations as modified. No one should rely on this as legal advice. In every situation, the application of the rules requires careful analysis of a counsel who is familiar with your particular situation. I ...
The deadline for compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 final regulations regarding standards for electronic claims transactions, October 16, 2002, is quickly approaching ...
Most of the attention about the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (Act), signed into law by President Bush on July 30, 2002, has been focused on the reform of public accounting firms and the financial reporting obligations of publicly held companies. However, the Act has other provisions that potentially impact a much broader range of employers ...
A reference guide to articles, speeches and presentations created by Allen Cummings ...
Most of the attention about the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (Act), now awaiting President Bush’s signature, has been focused on the reform of public accounting firms and the financial reporting obligations of publicly held companies. However, the Act has other provisions that potentially impact a much broader range of employers. The legislation will be implemented at various times following the President’s signature, but employers should begin preparing for the following changes: 1 ...
Earlier today, the Texas Supreme Court gave a green light to company required arbitration programs. In Re Halliburton Company And Brown & Root Energy Services, No. 00-1206 (Tex. May 30th, 2002). The underlying case arose when both the district court and court of appeals refused to order a case brought under the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act to arbitration ...
University of Texas Oil, Gas and Mineral Law Institute Introduction This paper does not cover pooling from A to Z. If you are interested in a more basic treatment of pooling, see Smith and Weaver, "Texas Law of Oil and Gas," Lexis 2000, Section §4.8. Rather, this paper will first examine selected recent cases, which to some extent involved exercise of the pooling authority under the oil and gas lease ...
University of Houston Law Foundation 2002 Oil and Gas Short Course Introduction The proposal for and conduct of operations are the primary souce of disagreement and litigation under AAPL Model Form Operating Agreement Form 610. This Model Form Operating Agreement has been in use in sustantially the same form since the first Form 610-1956 ...
On April 29, 2002, the United States Supreme Court decided that the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") does not require non-union employers to make an exception to their seniority system as a reasonable accommodation for a disabled employee. US Airways, Inc. v. Barnett, No. 00-1250 (April 29, 2002). This is the latest in a series of Supreme Court decisions narrowing the reach of the ADA ...
IRS SUSPENDS 5500 FILING REQUIREMENTS FOR CAFETERIA PLANS, EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE PLANS, AND ADOPTION ASSISTANCE PLANS The Internal Revenue Service announced, in Notice 2002-24, that plan sponsors of cafeteria plans, educational assistance plans, and adoption assistance plans are excused indefinitely from the requirement to file Schedule F to Form 5500 for such plans. Thus, an employer whose health plan would not require the filing of a Form 5500 (e.g ...
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (“OSHA”) new recordkeeping regulations became effective on January 1, 2002. OSHA, however, has agreed to refrain from enforcing the regulations during the first 120 days of the rule, or until May 1, 2002 ...
There is a multi-million dollar market segment that petroleum and energy product companies may not have considered previously -- namely sales to the U.S. Government. The principal federal government agency for the purchase and management of energy products is the Defense Energy Support Center (DESC), a part of the Defense Logistics Agency, with headquarters at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia ...
Introduction President of Mexico Vicente Fox has announced that one of the priorities of his administration will be the development of the energy sector. He is well aware of the current needs for investment in this sector, particularly in power generation and non-associated gas exploration and production. He is also aware that the government will not have the necessary funds to match the anticipated growth of energy demand ...
Department of State: DOS is now requiring all male nonimmigrant visa applicants between the ages of 16 and 45, regardless of nationality and regardless of where they apply, to submit Form DS-157 in addition to the usual Form DS-156 Nonimmigrant Visa Application. Posts may also require women to submit the form at their discretion. ∙ Jerusalem is the first post to require all applicants age 16 to 45, regardless of gender, to submit form DS-157 in addition to form DS-156 ...
ERISA requires plan fiduciaries to discharge their fiduciary duties solely in the interests of the participants and beneficiaries of the plan, and imposes personal liability on plan fiduciaries who fail to do so. While these obligations have existed under ERISA for over 25 years, Enron has brought them into sharp focus and caused many employers to revisit the structure of, and the fiduciary responsibilities imposed on employees under, their 401(k) plans and other retirement plans ...
