FMLA Update
Please respond to the recent Federal Regulatory Alert and provide comment on the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) proposed rule clarifying many aspects of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993 that have proven burdensome for both employers and employees. It is imperative that the DOL hear from HR professionals in order to strengthen the FMLA by preserving the integrity of the Act's leave protections.

On Monday, February 11, 2008, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published a proposed rule to clarify many aspects of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993. The proposed regulations:  http://www.shrm.org/government/regulatory_published/CMS_024538.pdf

SHRM has developed two (2) sample comment letters for you to use in responding to the draft rule.  Members should limit their submissions to only one (1) comment letter. To submit a comment to the DOL go to http://www.shrm.org/government/fmlacomments/ and follow the instructions provided. At-Large" members of SHRM affiliated chapters, who are not SHRM members” will also have an opportunity to file a comment letter with the DOL by accessing the website of the National Coalition to Protect Family Leave (NCPFL), of which SHRM chairs by clicking http://www.protectfamilyleave.org/ and following the accompanying instructions for filing a comment with the Department of Labor.  At-Large members must first log on to the NCPFL website by inputting User ID: fixfmla    Password: thisyear at the upper right-hand corner of the website, then click Support FMLA Revisions.

Comments are due by Friday, April 11. If you haven’t already done so, please consider submitting a comment today that addresses the proposed FMLA revisions and issues associated with the new military family leave law.  For those of you who have, many thanks for doing so!
House Passes Mental Health Parity Act  On March 6, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1424, the "Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007," by a vote of 268-148. The bill, sponsored by Representatives Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) and Jim Ramstad (R-MN), expands the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 to establish parity (treatment and financial requirements) between coverage for mental illnesses and substance abuse and medical/surgical benefits. Last year, the Senate unanimously passed a less onerous mental health parity bill, S. 558 by Senators Kennedy (D-MA) and Enzi (R-WY), is strongly supported by SHRM, as well as major health plan providers, employers, and the mental health community. Now, the House and Senate will work on merging their respective bills and produce a single, compromise mental health parity bill.
E-Verify, Immigration Reform
Citing similar frustrations expressed by governors in other states over the failure of the U.S. Congress to enact comprehensive immigration reform legislation, Rhode Island Governor Donald L. Carcieri (R) issued an Executive Order on March 27, 2008 to address political pressure over illegal immigration.  The move mirrors a similar action taken in January by Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty (R), and represents a growing trend by state governments to require employers to use the E-Verify employment verification system. Immigration issues are being debated in 50 states. SHRM believes E-Verify is inadequate and unreliable, thereby putting employers at risk.

The Rhode Island Executive Order requires state agencies and "all companies, contractors and vendors doing business in the State of Rhode Island to use the federal E-Verify program" to ensure that their employees are legally eligible to work in the state.  In justifying his actions, Carcieri noted that "Rhode Island is setting an example for others to follow.  This will encourage the private sector to comply."  The text of the Executive Order, http://www.governor.ri.gov/documents/Immigration_Exec_Order_08-01.pdf

There are now several bills pending in the RI Legislature that would require all employers to use E-Verify, the current, voluntary employment verification system managed by the Federal government, including H. 7107 and S.  2091, which would require all RI nongovernmental employers to apply and participate in E-Verify if accepted. It would penalize employers who do not comply with fines up to $5,000.  RI SHRM will continue to strongly oppose this legislation. E-Verify is not reliable, it does not detect document fraud and identity theft, it is a paper-based system not equipped to handle a massive influx of new users and it is due to expire in November. Additionally RI SHRM believes it would create an ineffective system for mulit-state employers.

Conversely, HB 8031 is a resolution pending in the House Judiciary Committee expressing the displeasure of the House with E-Verify.  RI SHRM will support this resolution, which calls for a federal solution to remedy the new employee verification process. SHRM and the HR Initiative coalition have endorsed the concept of a secure, reliable, economic, and truly electronic national employment verification system, and we are actively promoting new legislation that was recently introduced in the U.S. Congress, H. R. 5515 New Employee Verification Act (NEVA). SHRM and the HR Initiative coalition believe this new system could eradicate virtually all unauthorized employment – thereby eliminating a huge incentive for illegal immigration. For more information on H. R. 5515 refer to http://republicans.waysandmeans.house.gov/showarticle.asp?ID=289

Lt. Gov. Roberts Hosting Community Meetings on the Healthy Rhode Island Reform Act of 2008
During April and May, Lt. Governor Roberts will be hosting community meetings across the state to review the details of her legislative package – the Healthy Rhode Island Reform Act of 2008. All of these meetings are open to the public and begin at 6:30 p.m.  For further information about a meeting in your community, please visit the http://www.ltgov.ri.gov/healthyri/

Health Insurance Co-payment Bills Pass in House and Senate H. 7507 Sub A which would require small employer health insurance carriers to reimburse hospitals for certain uncollected member co-payments and deductibles and would also place conditions upon the variation of adjusted community rates applied to small employer carriers – was passed by the House on 3/27/08.  A similar Senate bill - S. 2414 , was passed in the Senate on 3/19/08 and has been referred to House Corporations. 

Many of the Health Care Reform Proposals Under Review- RI General Assembly

H. 7352 and S. 2484  - Part I of the Healthy Rhode Island Reform Act of 2008 – which would establish the Healthy Rhode Island Strategic Plan and Chronic Care Management Program and is still under review in the House and Senate. 

H. 7465 and S. 2481 – Part III of the Healthy Rhode Island Reform Act of 2008 – would create a health care quality and value (“all-payer”) database,  S. 2481 was heard by Senate Committee on 2/27/08 and is under review.  SHRM RI supports evidence-based medicine initiatives which rely on the employer, payer, and provider to collect data on outcomes to support the most effective forms of care and encourage their use through refinement of the benefit design. 

H. 7910 and S. 2472 – Part IV of the Healthy Rhode Island Reform Act of 2008 - would create the Rhode Island Health Insurance Access Hub Act of 2008 to facilitate the purchase of affordable health care to eligible persons and groups. Both bills were heard and are under review for further study. 

S. 2686 , and S. 2686 – Part V of the Healthy Rhode Island Reform Act of 2008 – would establish an individual mandate and employer “pay or play” proposal. 

H. 7399   - Part VI of the Healthy Rhode Island Reform Act of 2008 – which would amend the definition of dependent on health insurance policies and would not require that a child between 19 and 25 be a student to be considered a dependent, was heard on 3/11 by the House Corporations Committee, who recommended this measure be held for further study. 

H. 7493 and S. 2286 - Part VII of the Healthy Rhode Island Reform Act of 2008 - would establish a regional health insurance market between Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut to expand opportunities for regional insurers to offer insurance in Rhode Island. 

H. 7466 and S. 2222 – Part VIII of the Healthy Rhode Island Reform Act of 2008 – would create a joint nine-member legislative task force to study all aspects of health care reform relating to the Healthy Rhode Island Reform Act of 2008 with the purpose of making a comprehensive study of all aspects of health care reform and reporting back to the General Assembly no later than 6/4/09.  H. 7466 was heard by the House Health, Education and Welfare Committee on 3/26 and is scheduled for hearing again on 4/9.  S. 2222 was passed by the Senate on 3/27 and has been referred to the House Health, Education and Welfare Committee.

Rhode Island Health Information Exchange Act of 2008 -  H. 7409 and S. 2679 , which would establish safeguards and confidentiality protection for health information exchange, was heard on 3/26/08 and both bills are being held for further study. 

Mandated Health Benefits Review – S. 2279 would create an independent committee to review the cost-effectiveness, medical efficacy and social need for mandated health insurance benefits and would take effect 1/1/09.  S. 2191 would require a mandated benefit review by the RI Health Insurance Commissioner on any mandated benefit introduced after 1/1/08 contingent on the review being paid for by the state health care providers.  A hearing on both of these bills was held on 2/13/08 by the Senate Health & Human Services Committee, who recommended the measures be held for further study
Health Insurance Premium Increase Cap – H. 7491 which would limit the percentage increase amount that certain contracts for health insurance would be allowed to increase annually and would take effect on 1/1/09, was heard on 3/11/08 and is being held for further study.

Funding for Coordinated Health Planning – S. 2466 , would allocate matching funds of $250,000 for the continuation of the Coordinated Health Planning and Accountability Advisory Council from funds attached to the 2% annual tax on gross premiums on insurance contracts. 

RI SHRM opposes the following bills:
The component of S. 2686 that would require employers (with more than 10 employees) to pay a “health security assessment” per employee (excludes employees with less than 90 days of employment or who normally work less than 30 hours per week and temporary employees hired for less than 5 months, seasonal employees, or employees with alternative group or non-group health insurance coverage not provided by the employer or who are enrolled in Medicare or participate in a government-sponsored medical assistance program).  The assessment would be equivalent to 8% of the taxable wage base, and employers would be able to deduct from the assessment owed for each employee an amount equal to their average expenses per employee for providing health insurance coverage or other health care benefits to employees.  The assessment would be utilized to subsidize the cost of providing affordable health insurance coverage to uninsured Rhode Islanders. 

Fair Share Health Care Fund (H. 7181 ) –  which would establish the Fair Share Health Care Report and would require employers of 1,000 employees or more to file annual reports relating to the portion of total employees’ health care costs paid by the employer. 

Conferences: RI SHRM was well represented at the Legislative and Employment Conference in Washington DC last month. Joining Government Affairs Director Cindy Butler, SPHR were Linda Lulli, SPHR, Government Affairs and Public Policy Chair, RI Business Group on Health,
Denise Lefavier, PHR, President, SRIHRC and Elissa O’Brien, SPHR, SHRM Labor Relations Panel. The team visited with staff members of RI Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and Representatives Patrick Kennedy and James Langevin to discuss supporting and sponsoring H.R. 5515 the New Employee Verification Act, the new proposed regulations for FMLA and opposing the ADA Restoration Act.

Please register for SHRM RI’s 10th Annual Legislative and Employment Conference and our
3rd Annual Luncheon with our Legislators at the Marriott Hotel in Providence on Thursday, May 1. We are pleased that Lt Governor Elizabeth Roberts, RI Health Commissioner Christopher Koller, Michael Aitken from SHRM Government Affairs and Frank Alvarez, from Jackson Lewis LLC will be our key speakers. We appreciate the support of all of our sponsors, Jackson Lewis LLC, Cornerstone Group, HR Xpress, Inc. and Coventry Credit Union. For more information and to register please access http://www.shrmri.org/legconf2008.html