ISCEBS 18700 W. Bluemound Rd P.O. Box 209 Brookfield, WI 53008-0209 Phone: (262) 786-8771 Fax: (262) 786-8650 iscebs@iscebs.org

1st Quarter 2002

Executive Summaries

Health & Pension

• Replacement Ratios and Phased Retirement - A New Tune on an Old Fiddle by Fred Munzenmaier and Jeff Paciero
  
• A New Millennium for Retirement Plans: The 2001 Tax Act and Employer Flexibility by Martha Priddy Patterson
• Retirement Plan Sponsorship by Small Employers by Patrick J. Purcell and Paul J. Graney
• The Inequality of Distributions From Retirement Plans as a Result of Differing Life Expectancies by Janet Trewin and Anthony P. Curatola
  
• The Next Big Thing in Health Benefits: Consumer Choice by Jack Bruner
• HIPAA's Privacy Rule: What Is It, and How Does It Affect You? by Melinda Balezentis and Steve Halterman, CEBS
• The Decade of the Employee: The Workforce Environment in the Coming Decade by Steven A. Nyce and Sylvester J. Schieber

Replacement Ratios and Phased Retirement - A New Tune on an Old Fiddle

by Fred Munzenmaier and Jeff Paciero

Results from the fifth iteration of the Aon Consulting/Georgia State University 2001 Retirement Income Replacement Ratio Study are presented. Based on those results, the authors describe an innovative new retirement plan design that would appeal to younger workers, help older employees meet replacement ratio needs through a phased retirement approach and eliminate certain incentives created by traditional defined benefit plans that work against employer goals.

A New Millennium for Retirement Plans: The 2001 Tax Act and Employer Flexibility

by Martha Priddy Patterson.

Passage of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (EGTRRA) in 2001 marks the first time that Congress has changed the law to increase employers' flexibility in designing and funding tax-favored plans. This article describes EGTRRA's provisions and shows why they have the potential to change the financial security of individuals and, consequently, of the nation. It also raises concerns that the act's ten-year sunset provision may limit that potential.

Retirement Plan Sponsorship by Small Employers

by Patrick J. Purcell and Paul J. Graney

This article analyzes recent data on the sponsorship of pensions and retirement savings plans by small employers. It describes the characteristics of small firms and their employees that account in part for the lower rate of retirement plan sponsorship among small employers, and it summarizes the various retirement plans that Congress has authorized to encourage more small employers to sponsor retirement plans.

The Inequality of Distributions From Retirement Plans as a Result of Differing
Life Expectancies

by Janet Trewin and Anthony P. Curatola

Using the Roth IRA as the basis of analysis, this article highlights and helps quantify the inequality of financial well-being during retirement that arises from men's and women's different life expectancies. The authors then determine how much women's contributions, investment returns and age of beginning distributions would need to increase in order to establish parity in retirement income between the genders.

The Next Big Thing in Health Benefits: Consumer Choice

by Jack Bruner

Consumers are the only ones who can affect all decision points that drive health care cost and quality. As a result, consumers' health and financial security depend on their taking more responsibility for their health care decisions and having the tools and information needed to do so successfully. This article explains the five key decision points that drive health care cost and quality, how technology aids marketplace innovations, and how employers can help advance consumer choice in order to push the health care system to deliver better care and keep inflation in check.

HIPAA's Privacy Rule: What Is It, and How Does It Affect You?

by Melinda Balezentis and Steve Halterman, CEBS

This article discusses the implications for stakeholders of the privacy rule under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, on which the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services first released guidance on July 6, 2001. Although guidance will continue to evolve, the authors urge organizations to initiate the implementation of policies to ensure compliance by the actual effective date of 2003. (Small health plans have until 2004 to comply.).

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The Decade of the Employee: The Workforce Environment in the Coming Decade

by Steven A. Nyce and Sylvester J. Schieber

After reviewing how demographics have shaped labor markets in the past, the authors document how demographics are likely to change and project how those changes will affect labor markets over the coming decade. Their analysis suggests that the prospects of the U.S economy in the coming decade will depend largely on its ability to manage the depletion of workers so that the growing demand for goods and services does not outpace the relatively stable size of the labor force.

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Full text copies of these articles are available through the INFOSOURCE™ Document Delivery Service. Article reprints are also available in quantities of 100 or more. For information, call the Publications Department at (888) 33-IFEBP. You can order your subscription (reprints and back issues) online. Four issues for $100 (or $75 for CEBS registrants).