National Disability Employment Awareness Month Includes All Americans with Disabilities - Disability.gov

Image via WikipediaBy Guest Blogger Assistant Secretary of Labor for Disability Employment Policy Kathleen Martinez

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM). This year’s theme for NDEAM is – Talent Has No Boundaries: Workforce Diversity Includes People with Disabilities.

America has been celebrating the contributions of workers with disabilities for 55 years, with a weeklong celebration beginning in 1945. Today our celebration has been expanded to a month and emphasizes the contributions and creativity of people with different types of disabilities from all sectors of the country.

This year, we have a lot to celebrate. President Obama is creating change that we can believe in for jobseekers and workers with disabilities. On July 26^th, the 20^th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the President signed a landmark Executive Order that calls on all federal government executive departments and agencies to hire more people with disabilities. He did not stop there. He is making each agency accountable by requiring them to create goals and action plans for increasing the number of people with disabilities hired and retained in federal jobs.

In addition, my office (the Office of Disability Employment Policy) worked with the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs on a recent issuance inviting input on how they could strengthen the affirmative action requirements of the regulations implementing Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The issuance proposes for the first time that federal contractors, who create 22 percent of the available jobs in America, would be held to benchmarks for hiring qualified workers with disabilities. Until now, it was enough for employers to make attempts to hire qualified workers with disabilities, even if their efforts never resulted in actual job offers. These new initiatives are incredible opportunities for jobseekers with disabilities, opening up thousands of jobs to qualified workers.

I know that job seeking when you have a disability can be very challenging, especially if you are at the beginning of your career or have been out of the workforce for a long period of time. My office hears from constituents who must make extensive, ongoing efforts to find a job. Many of you have had negative experiences from interviewing with employers who do not understand how a person with a disability can be a contributing employee in their business.

One of the most important strategies for successful jobseekers with disabilities is to constantly bear in mind that attitudes about workers with disabilities are different from employer to employer. It can be crucial to career success to continue setting up job interviews even when you have just had a really negative one. Keep a positive attitude and be open to trying a variety of options in order to have a successful job search.

When the job offer is made, many people with significant disabilities are so grateful to have an opportunity for employment that they fail to insist on an adequate salary and benefits package and opportunities for career advancement. What you negotiate for yourself in that short period of time in which you decide on a job offer can have an impact on your career years into the future. Therefore, it is important to practice these skills before you need them.

I challenge each American with a disability to set a career goal during October. For those of you who are currently employed, this may encompass getting additional training to improve your skills, applying for a promotional job opportunity or seeking to join the ranks of management. For others who are not currently employed, your goal might be to engage in career networking, restart a job search, complete career interests and aptitudes testing or retrain for a new type of career. Be creative and see how you can improve your current career situation.

Your local One-Stop Career Center has employment staff that can assist you with all aspects of your career planning, and I encourage you to check it out.

For more information on the One-Stop Career Center nearest you, go to http://www.servicelocator.org or call 1-877-US2-JOBS (1-877-872-5627) or TTY for people with hearing or speech disabilities: 1-877-889-5627.

In addition, for more information on Office of Disability Employment Policy's (ODEP) employment policy efforts across the country, explore our website: www.dol.gov/odep.

PHI – Training | Fall Prevention Awareness

Uniquely designed for adult learners, the Fall Prevention Awareness training curriculum helps home health aides reduce falls and minimize injury to their clients by increasing their awareness of the risk factors for common falls and by enhancing their communication skills.

Specifically, participants build on their existing knowledge and skills by strengthening their “observe, record, report” skills and by developing communication skills that help them address with their clients how to reduce the risk of falling.

This curriculum — a joint project between PHI and NCOA — consists of two three-hour in-service trainings. In addition, each session includes optional pre- and post-testing as well as warm-up and closing activities that can add an additional hour to the training. A complete facilitator guide and handouts for all sessions can be downloaded below.

This project was funded by the U.S. Department of Labor Education and Training Administration.

Download:

• Introduction
  Cover, Table of Contents, Introduction (pdf 180 KB)
• Session 1: Recognizing Risk Factors for Falling
  Five activities plus ten handouts (pdf 777 KB)
• Session 2: Enhancing Skills to Address Risk Factors
  Seven activities plus nine handouts (pdf 341 KB)
• Appendix A
  Session 1 Review: Game Materials (pdf 112 KB)
• Appendix B
  Pre/Post-Tests: Sessions 1 and 2 (pdf 63 KB)
• Appendix C
  Workshop Evaluation Form (pdf 1.2 MB)
• Appendix D
  Simulation Scenarios (pdf 88 KB)

Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans-Notice of Meeting

Image via WikipediaPursuant to the authority contained in Section 512 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. 1142, the 153rd open meeting of the Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans will be held on October 4, 2010. The meeting will take place in C5515--Room 3, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210. Public access is available only in this room (i.e. not by telephone). The meeting will run from 12 p.m. to approximately 5 p.m.
The purpose of the open meeting is to discuss reports/recommendations for the Secretary of Labor on the issues of

(1) Healthcare Literacy,
(2) Disparities for Women and Minorities in Retirement, and
(3) Employee Benefit Plan Auditing and Financial Reporting Models.

Descriptions of these topics are available on the Advisory Council page of the EBSA web site at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/aboutebsa/erisa_advisory_council.html.
Full Meeting Notice

Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans; Nominations for Vacancies

Section 512 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 88 Stat. 895, 29 U.S.C. 1142, provides for the establishment of an Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans (the Council), which is to consist of 15 members to be appointed by the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) as follows: three representatives of employee organizations (at least one of whom shall be a representative of an organization whose members are participants in a multiemployer plan); three representatives of employers (at least one of whom shall be a representative of employers maintaining or contributing to multiemployer plans); one representative each from the fields of insurance, corporate trust, actuarial counseling, investment counseling, investment management, and accounting; and three representatives from the general public (one of whom shall be a person representing those receiving benefits from a pension plan). No more than eight members of the Council shall be members of the same political party.

Members shall be persons qualified to appraise the programs instituted under ERISA. Appointments are for terms of three years. The prescribed duties of the Council are to advise the Secretary with respect to the carrying out of his or her functions under ERISA, and to submit to the Secretary, or his or her designee, recommendations with respect thereto.

The Council will meet at least four times each year. The terms of five members of the Council expire on November 14, 2010. The groups or fields they represent are as follows:

(1) Employee organizations (representing an organization whose members are participants in a multiemployer plan);

(2) employers (representing employers maintaining or contributing to multiemployer plans);

(3) accounting;

(4) insurance; and

(5) the general public.

The Department of Labor is committed to equal opportunity in the workplace and seeks a broad-based and diverse ERISA Advisory Council. Accordingly, notice is hereby given that any person or organization desiring to recommend one or more individuals for appointment to the Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans, to represent any of the groups or fields specified in the preceding paragraph, may submit recommendations to Larry Good, ERISA Advisory Council Executive Secretary, Frances Perkins Building, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Suite N-5623, Washington, DC 20210, or to good.larry@dol.gov.

Recommendations must be submitted on or before September 17, 2010. Recommendations may be in the form of a letter, resolution or petition, signed by the person making the recommendation or, in the case of a recommendation by an organization, by an authorized representative of the organization. Recommendations should include the position for which the nominee is recommended and the nominee's full name, mailing address, phone number, and e-mail address. The recommendation also must state that the candidate will accept appointment to the Council if offered. Nominees will be contacted to provide information on their political affiliation and their status as registered lobbyists. Nominees should be aware of the time commitment for attending meetings and actively participating in the work of the Council. Historically, this has meant a commitment of 15-20 days per year.

FR Doc 2010-18897

``Add Us In'' Program

AGENCY: Office of Disability Employment Policy, Department of Labor. Announcement

Type: New Notice of Availability of Funds and Solicitation for Grant Applications. The full announcement is posted on http://www.grants.gov.

Funding Opportunity Number: SGA 10-05.

Key Dates: The closing date for receipt of applications is September 1, 2010 via http://www.grants.gov. Funding Opportunity Description: The U.S. Department of Labor (``DOL'' or ``Department''), Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) announces the availability of approximately $2.3 million to fund up to four cooperative agreements with consortia ranging from $500,000 to $625,000.

The objectives of this new initiative, Add Us In, are:
(1) To increase the ability of targeted businesses to employ adults and youth with disabilities;
(2) to develop and evaluate replicable models, strategies and policies that would ensure that youth and adults from targeted populations with disabilities have access to a broader range of employment and mentoring opportunities; and
(3) to form and strengthen connections between targeted businesses, diversity-serving organizations, youth-serving organizations and disability-serving organizations, building a national and local network of experts skilled in serving individuals with disabilities.

These objectives will be accomplished through the competitive funding of consortia tasked to design, implement, and evaluate innovative systems models that support integrated employment opportunities for people with disabilities within targeted businesses.

For the purposes of this solicitation, the target population consists of members of the following groups: African American, Asian American (including Asian Americans of West Asian decent, e.g., India, and Asian Americans of East Asian decent, e.g., Japan and Korea), Latino or Hispanic American, federally recognized Tribes and Native American communities (including American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and other Native Pacific Islanders (including American Samoan Natives)), Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) individuals, and women.

A targeted business is a for-profit enterprise such as a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, or joint venture of any kind, regardless of size, physically located in the United States or its trust territories which is at least 51 percent owned, operated and controlled on a daily basis by a United States citizen (or citizens) who are members of a target population.

The full Solicitation for Grant Application is posted on http:// www.grants.gov under U.S. Department of Labor/ODEP. Applications submitted through http://www.grants.govor hard copy will be accepted. If you need to speak to a person concerning these grants, you may telephone Cassandra Mitchell at 202-693-4570 (not a toll-free number). If you have issues regarding access to the http://www.grants.gov Web site, you may telephone the Contact Center Phone at 1-800-518-4726.
FR Doc 2010-18762

Administration Announces Regulations Requiring New Health Insurance Plans to Provide Free Preventive Care

The Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor, and the Treasury issued new regulations today, requiring new private health plans to cover evidence-based preventive services and eliminate cost sharing requirements for such services.  The new rules will help Americans gain easier access to services such as blood pressure, diabetes, and cholesterol tests; many cancer screenings; routine vaccinations; pre-natal care; and regular wellness visits for infants and children.

"Today, too many Americans do not get the high-quality preventive care they need to stay healthy, avoid or delay the onset of disease, lead productive lives, and reduce health care costs," said HHS Secretary Sebelius.  "From the Recovery Act to the First Lady's Let's Move Campaign to the Affordable Care Act, the Administration is laying the foundation to help transform the health care system from a system that focuses on treating the sick to a system that focuses on keeping every American healthy."

Chronic diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, are responsible for 7 of 10 deaths among Americans each year and account for 75 percent of the nation's health spending - and often are preventable.  Nationally, Americans use preventive services at about half the recommended rate.  An estimated 11 million children and 59 million adults have private insurance that does not adequately cover immunization, for instance.  Cost sharing, including deductibles, coinsurance, or copayments, has been found to reduce the likelihood that preventive services will be used. 

"Getting access to early care and screenings will go a long way in preventing chronic illnesses like diabetes, heart disease, and high-blood pressure," said First Lady Michelle Obama.  "And good preventative care will also help tackle an issue that is particularly important to me as First Lady and as a mother - and that is the epidemic of childhood obesity in America today.  These are important tools, and now it's up to us to use them."

"One of the best ways to improve the quality of your life - and control health care costs - is to prevent illness in the first place," said Dr. Jill Biden. "Focusing on prevention and early treatment makes more sense than trying to play catch-up with a potentially deadly disease. Quite simply, these preventative services will save lives."

Under the regulations issued today, new health plans beginning on or after September 23, 2010, must cover preventive services that have strong scientific evidence of their health benefits, and these plans may no longer charge a patient a copayment, coinsurance or deductible for these services when they are delivered by a network provider.  Specifically, these recommendations include:

* Evidence-based preventive services: The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel of scientific experts, rates preventive services based on the strength of the scientific evidence documenting their benefits.  Preventive services with a "grade" of A or B, like breast and colon cancer screenings, screening for vitamin deficiencies during pregnancy, screenings for diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure, and tobacco cessation counseling will be covered under these rules. 

* Routine vaccines: Health plans will cover a set of standard vaccines recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices ranging from routine childhood immunizations to periodic tetanus shots for adults.

* Prevention for children: Health plans will cover preventive care for children recommended under the Bright Futures guidelines, developed by the Health Resources and Services Administration with the American Academy of Pediatrics.  These guidelines provide pediatricians and other health care professionals with recommendations on the services they should provide to children from birth to age 21 to keep them healthy and improve their chances of becoming healthy adults.  The types of services that will be covered include regular pediatrician visits, vision and hearing screening, developmental assessments, immunizations, and screening and counseling to address obesity and help children maintain a healthy weight. 

* Prevention for women: Health plans will cover preventive care provided to women under both the Task Force recommendations and new guidelines being developed by an independent group of experts, including doctors, nurses, and scientists, which are expected to be issued by August 1, 2011.

Today's announcement builds on other provisions in the Affordable Care Act that support prevention, including the creation of a first-ever National Prevention, Health Promotion and public Health Council tasked with developing a national strategy and a Prevention and Public Health Fund to invest in prevention initiatives and, this year, policies to increase the number of primary care professionals to help ensure access to these services.  The Affordable Care Act also helps make it easier and more affordable for Americans enrolled in Medicare or Medicaid to access critical preventive screenings and services.

More information on the Affordable Care Act's new rules on preventive care can be found at: http://www.healthcare.gov/law/about/provisions/services/index.html.

The regulations can be found at: http://www.healthcare.gov/center/regulations/prevention/regs.html.

Disability.gov: Countdown to the 20th Anniversary of the ADA: Day 25 - Disability Statistics

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By Guest Blogger Cherise J. Hunter, Research Analyst, Office of Disability Employment Policy, U.S. Department of Labor

Did you know that a VERY important announcement is made the first Friday of EVERY month? It is publicized on virtually every news network and is often viewed as a major indicator of the status of the U.S. economy by politicians, researchers, economists and everyday citizens alike. It is the release of the nation’s unemployment rate - which, by the way, currently stands at 9.9 percent. It is released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and represents the most comprehensive measure of national employment and unemployment. These measures are obtained from a survey called the Current Population Survey (CPS), conducted monthly by the U.S. Census Bureau for the BLS.


Unfortunately, the CPS was not originally designed to capture whether or not the person being surveyed has a disability (although certain questions address the issue). However, since June 2008, the Census Bureau has asked six new questions, the purpose of which is to identify whether the person who is surveyed has a disability and the nature of the disability. The six survey questions are:

• Is {person} deaf or does {person} have serious difficulty hearing?
• Is {person} blind or does {person} have serious difficulty seeing even when wearing glasses
• Because of a physical, mental or emotional condition, does {person} have serious difficulty concentrating, remembering or making decisions?
• Does {person} have serious walking or climbing stairs?
• Does {person} have difficulty dressing or bathing?
• Because of a physical, mental or emotional condition, does {person} have difficulty doing errands alone such as visiting a doctor's office or shopping?

This information is vital for the disability community because it provides a primary source of data on employment status and characteristics of the labor force, emerging trends and changes in the employment rate of individuals with disabilities. What do the current numbers reveal? Well, according to the April 2010 CPS (not seasonally adjusted), the employment rate of the civilian noninstitutional population with disabilities, ages 16 to 64, was 28.9 percent compared to 70.0 percent for persons without disabilities. The unemployment rate for individuals with disabilities was 15.5. One of the most striking statistics involves the participation rate. Only 34.5 percent of individuals with disabilities ages 16 to 64 are participating in the labor force compared to 77.3 percent of persons with no disability!

Evaluating and researching this data will take time. But stay tuned! In addition, to the disability labor force status data released every month at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t06.htm, a CPS supplement is currently being planned by the Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) and BLS to delve further into disability employment data in order to better explain what these numbers really mean for people with disabilities and employers.

For More Information
To learn more about the CPS disability statistics, visit
http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsdisability.htm. To find data from June 2008 through May 2010, visit http://www.bls.gov/webapps/legacy/cpsatab6.htm and select one or more questions from the data table on the page, then scroll down to click the "Retrieve data" button.

Department of Labor Semi-Annual Regulatory Agenda

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This document sets forth the Department's semiannual agenda of regulations that have been selected for review or development during the coming year. The Department's agencies have carefully assessed their available resources and what they can accomplish in the next 12 months and have adjusted their agendas accordingly.

The agenda complies with the requirements of both Executive Order 12866 and the Regulatory Flexibility Act. The agenda lists all regulations that are expected to be under review or development between April 2010 and April 2011, as well as those completed during the past 6 months.

National Survey of Public Attitudes Towards People With Disabilities

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This survey will assess public attitudes towards people with disabilities with a focus on workplace relations. The survey will inform ODEP's policies to promote the employment of people with disabilities as it assesses the attitudes of individuals and develops ways of changing those attitudes to improve the employment rate and overall well-being of people with disabilities in the workplace. The study will also provide direction for the development of intervention programs that can be adopted in a corporate environment to promote acceptance and integration of people with disabilities in the workplace. For additional information, see related notice published in the Federal Register on January 14, 2010 (75 FR page 2162).

The Department of Labor (DOL) hereby announces the submission of this public information collection request (ICR) to the http:// www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain or by contacting Darrin King on 202- 693-4129 (this is not a toll-free number), e-mail: DOL_PRA_ PUBLIC@dol.gov. Interested parties are encouraged to send comments to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attn: OMB Desk Officer for the Department of Labor--Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), Office of Management and Budget, Room 10235, Washington, DC 20503, Telephone: 202-395-7316/Fax: 202-395-5806 (these are not toll-free numbers), E-mail: OIRA_submission@omb.eop.gov within 30 days from the date of this publication in the Federal Register. In order to ensure the appropriate consideration, comments should reference the OMB Control Number"Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. chapter 35). A copy of this ICR, with applicable supporting documentation including, among other things, a description of the likely respondents, proposed frequency of response, and estimated total burden may be obtained from the RegInfo.gov Web site at http:// www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain or by contacting Darrin King on 202- 693-4129 (this is not a toll-free number), e-mail: DOL_PRA_ PUBLIC@dol.gov.

Interested parties are encouraged to send comments to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attn: OMB Desk Officer for the Department of Labor--Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), Office of Management and Budget, Room 10235, Washington, DC 20503, Telephone: 202-395-7316/Fax: 202-395-5806 (these are not toll-free numbers), E-mail: OIRA_submission@omb.eop.gov within 30 days from the date of this publication in the Federal Register. In order to ensure the appropriate consideration, comments should reference the OMB Control Number.
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DoL, AoA Listening Session on Reauthorization of the Senior Community Service Employment Program

SAVE THE DATE! – Monday, April 26th

Assistant Secretary of Labor (DOL - Employment and Training Administration), Jane Oates, and Assistant Secretary for Aging (HHS – Administration on Aging) Kathy Greenlee, will be conducting a joint listening forum via webinar format on Monday, April 26th from 1:00 to 3:00 EDT.  The purpose of the webinar will be to solicit input on reauthorization of Title V of the Older Americans Act, Senior Community Services Employment Program (SCSEP), and other senior workforce issues.  Additional details including how to access the webinar will follow early next week.   

Medical News: Administration Issues Mental Health Parity Rule - in Psychiatry, General Psychiatry from MedPage Today

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By Emily P. Walker, Washington Correspondent, MedPage Today

Under a proposed rule released by the Obama administration, patients in a group insurance plan who are being treated for mental illness or substance abuse may no longer be charged more than if they were receiving medical or surgical care.

The Department of Health and Human Service (HHS), the Department of Labor, and the Internal Revenue Service issued an interim rule last week containing specific language necessary to enforce the bipartisan mental health parity law passed by Congress in 2008.

The law -- called the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act -- states that if a group health plan covers the treatment of mental illness or drug or alcohol abuse, the limits and financial requirements for these services can be "no more restrictive" than those that apply to medical and surgical benefits.

That means an insurance plan cannot charge higher copayments, deductibles, and out-of-pocket expenses for mental health services than for treatment of physical illnesses.
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S. 1788: A bill to direct the Secretary of Labor to issue an occupational safety and health standard to... (GovTrack.us)

Al Franken via last.fm

A bill to direct the Secretary of Labor to issue an occupational safety and health standard to reduce injuries to patients, direct-care registered nurses, and all other health care workers by establishing a safe patient handling and injury prevention standard, and for other purposes.

Sponsor: Sen. Al Franken [D-MN]

Text

Introduced Oct 15, 2009
Referred to Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions

Updates

Publication of Model Notices for Health Care Continuation Coverage

The Department of Labor (the Department) created these model notices to cover an array of situations in order to deal with the complexity of the various scenarios facing dislocated workers and their families. In an effort to ensure that the notices included all of the information required under ARRA while minimizing the burden imposed on group health plans and issuers, the Department created several packages. Each package is designed for a particular group of qualified beneficiaries and contains all of the information needed to satisfy the content requirements for ARRA's notice provisions. The packages include the following disclosures: A summary of ARRA's premium reduction provisions. A form to request the premium reduction. A form for plans (or issuers) who permit qualified beneficiaries to switch coverage options to use to satisfy ARRA's requirement to give notice of this option. A form for an individual to use to satisfy ARRA's requirement to notify the plan (or issuer) that the individual is eligible for other group health plan coverage or Medicare. COBRA election forms and information, as appropriate.

S. 3730: ‘Retooling the Health Care Workforce for an Aging America Act of 2008’

Sponsor: Sen. Herbert Kohl [D-WI]
Dec 10, 2008: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

TITLE I--AMENDMENTS TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT

Subtitle A--Health Professions Education Related to Geriatrics
Sec. 101. Geriatric education centers.
Sec. 102. Improving geriatric training for physicians, dentists, and behavior and mental health professionals.
Sec. 103. Geriatric academic career awards.
Sec. 104. Geriatric Career Incentive Awards.
Sec. 105. National Center for Health Workforce Analysis.

Subtitle B--Improved Nursing Services
Sec. 121. Comprehensive geriatric education nursing grant program.

TITLE II--AMENDMENTS TO THE WORKFORCE INVESTMENT ACT OF 1998
Sec. 201. Core services.
Sec. 202. Individual training accounts.
Sec. 203. Collaboration between State boards and the veterans agencies of the States.
Sec. 204. Collaboration between Department of Labor and Department of Veterans Affairs.
Sec. 205. Training opportunities for direct care workers.

TITLE III--AMENDMENTS TO THE OLDER AMERICANS ACT OF 1965
Sec. 301. Family caregiver training.
Sec. 302. Redesignations in provisions for multigenerational and civic engagement activities.
Sec. 303. National Resource Center on Volunteers, Students, and Seniors.

TITLE IV--AMENDMENTS TO THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT
Sec. 401. Demonstration program for personal or home care aides, nurse aides, and home health aides in long-term care settings.
Sec. 402. Medicare family caregiver information and referral.
Sec. 403. Medicaid assessment of family caregiver support needs.

TITLE V--STUDIES AND REPORTS
Sec. 501. Studies and reports.
(a) IOM Study and Report on Mental Health Workforce Needs
(b) GAO Study and Report on the Needs of the Aging Network

(c) GAO Study and Report on the Direct Case Workforce in Long-Term Care Settings
(d) GAO Study and Report on NIH Spending and Grants

Meeting - Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans

The Working Groups assigned by the Advisory Council to study the issues of (1) The ``spend down'' of retirement assets, (2), phased retirement, and (3) hard to value assets/target date funds will hold a public meeting on November 5, 2008. The meeting will take place in C5515, Room 3, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210. The purpose of the open meeting on November 5, which will start at 1 p.m., is for Working Group members to discuss their recommendations for the reports to be presented by the Advisory Council to the Secretary. The 144th open meeting of the full Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans will be held on November 6, 2008. The meeting will run from 9:30 a.m. to approximately 4:30 p.m., with a break for lunch. The purpose of the open meeting is for the chairpersons of the three Advisory Council Working Groups to submit their findings and recommendations on their individual study topics for the full Advisory Council's review, acceptance, and presentation to the Secretary of Labor.

Investment Advice--Participants and Benficiaries; Hearing

The Department of Labor will hold a hearing on the Department's proposed regulation under provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA, or the Act), and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (Code), relating to the provision of investment advice to participants and beneficiaries of self-directed individual account plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs). DATES: The hearing will be held on October 21, 2008, beginning at 8 a.m., EST. Persons interested in presenting testimony and answering questions at the public hearing must submit requests and certain other information (as discussed below), by 3:30 p.m., EST, October 16, 2008.

Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008

SUMMARY: This document is a request for comments regarding issues under sections 101 through 104 of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA). The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Treasury (collectively, the Departments) have received inquiries from the public on a number of issues under these provisions and are welcoming public comments in advance of future rulemaking. DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before December 9, 2008. Background The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) was enacted on May 21, 2008 (Pub. L. 110-233). Title I of GINA amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), the Public Health Service Act (PHS Act), the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (Code), and the Social Security Act (SSA) to prohibit discrimination in health coverage based on genetic information. Sections 101 through 104 of GINA apply to employment-based health coverage, individual market health insurance, and Medicare supplemental (MedSupp or Medigap) coverage. The new requirements were added to Part 7 of Subtitle B of Title I of ERISA, Title XXVII of the PHS Act, Subtitle K of the Code, and section 1882 of the SSA. GINA prohibits group health plans and health insurance issuers (that is, insurance companies or health maintenance organizations (HMOs)) in the group market from using genetic information to adjust premium or contribution amounts for the group covered under the plan. Plans and issuers in the group market are still allowed to increase the premium rate for an employer based on the manifestation of a disease or disorder of an individual enrolled in the plan, but they are prohibited from using the manifested disease or disorder of one individual as genetic information about other group members to further increase the premium. In the individual market, health insurance issuers are prohibited from using genetic information to determine individual eligibility or premium rates, although they are allowed (to the extent consistent with other provisions of law) to use information about a manifestation of a disease or disorder to determine eligibility or premium rates for an individual who is covered or would be covered by a policy. Individual market health insurance issuers are also prohibited from using genetic information in imposing a preexisting condition exclusion, although a manifestation of a disease or disorder in an individual can be the basis for an exclusion. In the MedSupp market, GINA prohibits issuers from denying or conditioning the issuance or effectiveness of a policy (including the imposition of any exclusion of benefits based on a preexisting condition) or discriminating in the pricing of the policy based on an individual's genetic condition. However, if otherwise permitted under section 1882 of the Social Security Act, the issuer can still impose such limitations based on a manifested disease of an individual who is covered or would be covered under the policy. GINA also prohibits group health plans and health insurance issuers in the group, individual, and MedSupp markets from requesting or requiring an individual or family member of an individual to undergo a genetic test. Plans and issuers are not precluded from obtaining and using the results of a genetic test to make a determination regarding payment, but they may only use the minimum amount of information necessary.

Labor Surplus Areas by State

SUMMARY: The purpose of this notice is to announce the annual list of labor surplus areas for Fiscal Year (FY) 2009. DATES: Effective Date: The annual list of labor surplus areas is effective October 1, 2008, for all states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Prohibited Transaction Exemption For Services Provided in Connection With Abandoned Individual Accounts

SUMMARY: This document amends PTE 2006-06 (71 FR 20856, Apr. 21, 2006), a prohibited transaction class exemption issued under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). Among other things, PTE 2006-06 permits a ``qualified termination administrator'' (QTA) of an individual account plan that has been abandoned by its sponsoring employer to select itself to provide services to the plan in connection with the plan's termination, and to pay itself fees for those services. In response to changes to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code) enacted as part of the Pension Protection Act (PPA) of 2006, PTE 2006-06 is amended to require, as a condition of relief under the exemption, that benefits for a missing, designated nonspouse beneficiary be directly rolled over into an inherited individual retirement plan that fully complies with Code requirements. This amendment also conforms to the Department's final rule amending regulations concerning the Termination of Abandoned Individual Account Plans at 29 CFR 2578.1 (the QTA Regulation), and the Safe Harbor for Distributions from Terminated Individual Account Plans at 29 CFR 2550.404a-3 (the Safe Harbor Regulation), which appears elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register. The amendment to the class exemption affects plans, participants and beneficiaries of such plans and certain persons engaging in such transactions. DATES: Effective Date: The class exemption is effective November 6, 2008.

Statutory Exemption for Cross-Trading of Securities

SUMMARY: This document contains a final rule that implements the content requirements for the written cross-trading policies and procedures required under section 408(b)(19)(H) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA or the Act). Section 611(g) of the Pension Protection Act of 2006, Public Law No. 109-280, 120 Stat. 780, 972, amended section 408(b) of ERISA by adding a new subsection (19) that exempts the purchase and sale of a security between a plan and any other account managed by the same investment manager if certain conditions are satisfied. Among other requirements, section 408(b)(19)(H) stipulates that the investment manager must adopt, and effect cross-trades in accordance with, written cross-trading policies and procedures that are fair and equitable to all accounts participating in the cross-trading program. This final rule affects employee benefit plans, investment managers, plan fiduciaries and plan participants and beneficiaries. DATES: Effective Date: This final rule is effective February 4, 2009.