News Archives 2006

Wal-Mart & Sam's Club Implements Inventory Information Approval System
Effective 1/1/2007, Wal-Mart and SAM'S CLUB® will have completed implementation of an Inventory Information Approval System, as defined by the recent IRS Revenue Ruling 2006-69. Under the new program, the CB Payment card (unfortunately, SmartFlex has not yet implemented this technology) can be used to make a purchase at any Wal-Mart or Sam's Club store that accepts Visa, and the purchase will automatically be separated into FSA-eligible and non-eligible categories. Only the FSA-eligible items will be processed on the participant's payment card and another form of payment will be required for non-eligible items. As a result, receipts are not needed to verify purchases at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club when the CB payment card is used.

The new Wal-Mart and Sam's Club systems comply with the record keeping requirements required by the IRS. Detailed transaction information will be retained for a period of 5 years. Should the need arise to access this information to comply with an inquiry, CB will facilitate access to this information on behalf of our clients.

Creative Benefits has been working with Wal-Mart to implement and test this new functionality for the past several weeks and is very excited to offer this new feature to our customers. As always, we remain committed to providing you with the most substantiation choices to support your business. If you have any questions about this new program, please contact your Client Services team.

Beginning January 1, 2007, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (including vans, pickups, or panel trucks) will be: 48.5 cents per mile for business miles driven (up from 44.5 cents in 2006); 20 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes (up from 18 cents in 2006); and 14 cents per mile driven in service to a charitable organization. The primary reasons for the higher rates were higher prices for vehicles and fuel during the year ending in October. The mileage rate for charitable miles is set by statute. For more information, see Revenue Procedure 2006-49.

Taylor replaced a mostly DAS environment with a Compellent Technologies Storage Center array. "This was a major deal," he says, and not necessarily representative of typical budgeting at the company. He says dramatic price decreases for storage arrays made the transition feasible. "When I first got onboard, they told me to look into it [a SAN] and it was over $300,000," says Taylor.

"Now we're down to $70,000." Creative Benefits also evaluated other vendors' arrays, with Compellent and Network Appliance (NetApp) Inc. emerging as its two finalists. In the end, functionality and price were the decisive factors. "The NetApp had a lot of whistles and stuff," says Taylor, "but, boy, each one of them costs."
<< Read the entire article here.>>

This marks the fourth consecutive year CB has been awarded this honor.

sponsored by the Employers Council on Flexible Compensation. Jody presented a session on Claim Adjudication and Debit/Payment Cards. This conference is the industry source for Third Party Administrators nationwide.

This repeat honor will be recognized in a reception held on August 2 at the Town and Country Resort in San Diego. Jody Dietel, CEO/COO says, "We're thrilled at the partnerships we've developed--all contribute to our growth and the continued success of Creative Benefits. The San Diego Business Journal's support of our firm is greatly appreciated."

Susan's charge is to support our brokers, consultants and other business partners in a more effective way. In previous positions, Ms. Ghirardi was a broker for Driver Alliant and a Vice President, Sales for Aetna.

21 CB staff members are gathering on Saturdays for expert instruction that will fulfill the educational requirements for the certification in Flexible Compensation offered by the Employer's Council on Flexible Compensation. In addition to providing a broad based curriculum for Flexible Benefits, Transit & Parking, COBRA and HIPAA, this course focuses on ethics and integrating CB's core values into the daily work processes.

The promotions reflect functional responsibility areas.

Jody L. Dietel, CFCI has been named Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer. Jody will continue to oversee all client operations and provide executive oversight. Rock J. Hall, CPA, CFC has been named Chief Financial Officer and continues with oversight for the company's financial operations and internal controls. John D. Hettinger has been named Chief Technology Officer and continues in his capacity as chief architect for the company's technology advances.

Creative Benefits celebrates another record-breaking year.
Jody Dietel, CEO says, "The best is yet to come. Our partnership of clients, brokers, consultants and staff makes this an engaging and enjoyable journey. We're making significant technology enhancements in the next few months--it's a very exciting time at CB."

This group works to enhance the use of payment card technology in the health care administration industry.

Using the SmartFlex payment card for purchases at Walgreens has become even easier. Effective March 1, 2006, Walgreen's expands their partnership to include the SmartFlex payment card. This partnership eliminates the need to submit receipts for many Walgreens purchases. Read the PDF here.

This teleweb covered the topic of Cafeteria Plan Election Changes and was presented with Thomas P. McCormick, Esq., Founder and Chairman of EBIA. More than 500 attendees participated in this event.

Using the Benny card for purchases at Walgreens has become even easier. Effective January 1, 2006, a new partnership between Walgreens and the Benny card eliminates the need to submit receipts for many Walgreens purchases. Read the PDF here.

Creative Benefits, Inc. is proud to announce SHRMs award of the SPHR designation to Darrell Taft, Manager of Human Resources.  Certification grants recognition to professionals who have met a stated level of training and work experience.  The SPHR designation stands for "Senior Professional in Human Resources" and is awarded after the successful completion of a rigorous exam covering Strategic Management, Workforce Planning and Employment, Human Resource Development, Compensation and Benefits, Employee and Labor Relations, and Occupational Health, Safety and Security. Darrell also holds a Master of Arts degree from San Diego State University, and the CFC (Certified, Flexible Compensation) designation awarded by the Employers Council on Flexible Compensation.

Join me in congratulating Darrell.

Jody L. Dietel, CFCI
President
Creative Benefits, Inc.

Creative Benefits, Inc. is proud to announce SHRMs award of the SPHR designation to Kris Saunders, Director of Client Services.

Kris also holds the CFCI designation from the Employers Council on Flexible Compensation.

Kris' attainment of the designation adds further credibility to her role as an executive with Creative Benefits, with primary responsibility for directing the services we provide to our clients.

Join me in congratulating Kris.

Jody L. Dietel, CFCI
President
Creative Benefits, Inc.