Mercer Select US -

The content you are trying to access is available only to members of certain Select membership offerings.

For an overview of Mercer Select and all of its membership offerings, click here. If you're interested in additional Select membership offerings, contact your Mercer consultant or Customer Service.

Using "Acting as"

The "Acting as" feature on Mercer Select allows Mercer employees to see Select in the same way as Mercer clients and contacts who are members of one or more of the Select offerings. Simply use the pulldown menu on the top of every Mercer Select page, choose which of the common membership roles you want to play, and view the content in the same way as a member of that offering (or group of offerings).

Like some Mercer Select members, you may encounter content that is available only to certain membership offerings. In this case, you will be directed to a screen with a message explaining what steps you can take to view the content. As a Mercer employee, all you'll have to do is switch your role back to the Acting as Consultant role to see the content.

If your clients and contacts encounter Select content they can't access, you may be able to give them access by making them members of additional Select membership offerings. Please contact Select customer service for help.

You can gain access to all Mercer Select content - including internal-only content - by setting your "Acting as" role to "Consultant."

For an overview of Mercer Select and its membership offerings, go to our Overview.

HRadio – Sept. 23, 2008

This week’s lineup:

News highlights

Director compensation unaffected by economic downturn (Diane Doubleday) – Begins at 4:27

Bucking the trend in retirement plan offerings (Ellen Lodwick) – Begins at 7:48

Interest grows in cross border health care (Arnold Milstein & Amy Bergner) – Begins at 10:58

Total time: 18:55

Click to play the complete HRadio program (Scroll down to play individual features)

You need the latest Flash Player and JavaScript enabled to view this content. Contact the MGTI service desk for assistance.

[Download mp3] [Subscribe via iTunes]

News highlights

New HIPAA privacy guidance on communications with a patient's family, friends, or others (18 Sep 2008)

Background GRIST: CMS releases 2009 Medicare premiums, coinsurance and deductibles (19 Sep 2008)

Background GRIST: ADA changes cleared for president's signature (17 Sep 2008)

IRS eases rules for new preapproved retirement plans (Select News, 18 Sep 2008)

Background GRIST: IRS answers FAQs on governmental retirement plan filings as Cycle C deadline nears (16 Sep 2008)

Background GRIST: IRS representatives offer informal guidance on 409A issues for SERPs (18 Sep 2008)

Director compensation unaffected by economic downturn

Despite the generally weak economy and weakening corporate performance, corporate director pay has continued to increase. Diane Doubleday talks with Richard Klein about results of a recent Mercer survey and shifts in the risks and rewards of serving on corporate boards.

Click to play this feature

You need the latest Flash Player and JavaScript enabled to view this content. Contact the MGTI service desk for assistance.

[Download mp3]

Mercer study shows growth in US director compensation has been unaffected by economic slowdown (Mercer, 10 Sep 2008)

Bucking the trend in retirement plan offerings

Do defined contribution plans really deserve the accolades that sparked a dramatic increase in these offerings over the last 30 years? Ellen Lodwick reports on a new publication from the National Institute on Retirement Security that finds employers offering a defined benefit plan can save as much as 46 percent in plan costs over the expenses associated with defined contribution plans.

Click to play this feature

You need the latest Flash Player and JavaScript enabled to view this content. Contact the MGTI service desk for assistance.

[Download mp3]

A better bang for the buck: The economic efficiencies of defined benefit pension plans (National Institute on Retirement Security, August 2008)

Interest grows in cross-border health care

Global health care sourcing, also known as medical tourism, started as an individual response to high health care costs in the U.S. Amy Bergner talks with Mercer Thought Leader Dr. Arnold Milstein about the reasons employers are now looking into this option for their U.S. employees.

Click to play this feature

You need the latest Flash Player and JavaScript enabled to view this content. Contact the MGTI service desk for assistance.

[Download mp3]

Medical tourism: Health care in the global economy (Physician Executive, November/December 2007)

Medical Tourism: Consumers in Search of Value (Deloitte, 2008)

Background GRIST: Legal issues in global offshoring of health benefits (18 May 2007, US Premium)

For more information

Weekly Highlights (22 Sep 2008)

Mercer Select Research request form

Global