SHARPEN THOSE NO. 2S

Risk managers and benefit managers must build an extensive base of knowledge to meet their daily professional challenges. How much information have you amassed in your tenure? We've culled some need-to-know information, newsy nuggets and professional history from 30 years of issues. So test yourself by completing the appropriate quiz. The answers are at the bottom of page 127.
BENEFIT MANAGERS QUIZ
1. Which company's disability benefits policy led to the passage of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978?
a) General Electric Co.
b) Ford Motor Co.
c) International Business Machines Corp.
d) None of the above
2. What is the basic annual per participant premium the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. charges employers with fully funded pension plans?
a) $20 b) $16
c) $19 d) $100
3. Which White House aide directed the Clinton administration's ill-fated health care reform drive?
a) Leon Panetta b) Ira Magaziner
c) Gene Sperling d) Michael McCurry
4. What did Section 89 do before it was repealed?
a) Set non-discrimination rules for health care plans
b) Set non-discrimination rules for pension plans
c) Expand COBRA penalties
d) Set new rules for federally qualified health maintenance organizations
5. What is the one medical condition that allows an individual to qualify for Medicare before age 65?
a) Epilepsy
b) Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
c) End Stage Renal Disease
d) Cancer
6. About how many people under age 65 are uninsured for health care expenses?
a) 20 million b) 40 million
c) 50 million d) 60 million
7. What is the most common vesting schedule defined benefit pension plans use?
a) Five-year cliff
b) Seven-year cliff
c) Seven-year graded
d) Five-year graded
8. Which benefit consulting firm did Mellon Bank Corp. acquire?
a) Kwasha Lipton
b) A. Foster Higgins & Co. Inc.
c) Buck Consultants Inc.
d) Coopers & Lybrand
9. Which country spends the most per capita on health care?
a) Canada
b) United States
c) Germany
d) France
10. Which Secretary of Treasury at one time proposed abolishing 401(k) plans?
a) Robert Rubin
b) Lloyd Bentsen
c) Donald Regan
d) James Baker
11. What did the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act of 1980 do?
a) Imposed withdrawal liability on employers leaving underfunded multiemployer pension plans
b) Allowed small unions to establish their own pension plans
c) Allowed unions to establish cash balance pension plans
d) Exempted multiemployer pension plans from PBGC insurance premiums
12. How many tax-favored medical savings accounts can be established under federal legislation passed last year:
a) 100,000 b) 500,000
c) 750,000 d) no limit
13. A 1996 law limits the period of time an employer can deny coverage for a new employee's pre-existing medical condition. What is that period?
a) 12 months b) 6 months
c) 3 months 4) 1 month
14. Which employer tried but failed to win Labor Department approval to reinsure its group term life insurance program through its Vermont captive?
a) Carnation Co. b) CSX Corp.
c) Exxon Corp. d) Microsoft Corp.
15. Which U.S. senator led the drive to impose stiff excise taxes on pension plan reversions?
a) Edward Kennedy
b) Howard Metzenbaum
c) James Jeffords
d) Barbara Boxer
16. Which employer established so-called follow-on pension plans after its massively underfunded plans were terminated?
a) LTV Corp.
b) Inland Steel Co.
c) General Motors Corp.
d) Chrysler Corp.
17. What does dual choice refer to:
a) Giving employees a choice of defined benefit and defined contribution plans
b) A requirement -- no longer in effect -- that said employers in certain situations had to offer HMO coverage to employees
c) Giving employees at least two investment options in their 401(k) plans
d) Giving employees in HMOs a point-of-service option
18. Beginning next year, what is the minimum inpatient coverage health care plans must offer after a normal vaginal delivery?
a) 24 hours b) 36 hours
c) 48 hours d) 96 hours
19. When did Congress pass the Family and Medical Leave Act?
a) 1990 b) 1991
c) 1992 d) 1993
20. How much federal withholding tax is imposed on employees' lump-sum pension distributions unless those payouts are directly rolled over into an IRA or a new employer's pension plan?
a) 5% b) 10%
c) 15% d) 20%
RISK MANAGERS QUIZ
1. What is the only casualty coverage that risk retention groups cannot write?
a) Workers compensation
b) Directors and officers liability
c) Surety coverage
d) Medical malpractice
2. Which U.S. catastrophe caused the second-highest amount of insured damage?
a) Hurricane Hugo
b) Hurricane Andrew
c) Northridge earthquake
d) Los Angeles riots in 1992
3. Who established the National Insurance Consumer Organization?
a) Edward Kennedy
b) Joan Claybrook
c) J. Robert Hunter
d) John Dingell
4.Which U.S. state passed the first legislation authorizing captive insurance companies in 1972?
a) Hawaii b) Tennessee
c) Vermont d) Colorado
5. Which broker set a record for an insurance brokerage acquisition in 1979 when it paid $54 million to buy R.B. Jones Corp., the ninth-largest U.S. insurance broker based on 1977 revenues of $26 million?
a) Marsh & McLennan Inc.
b) Alexander & Alexander Services Inc.
c) Johnson & Higgins
d) Fred S. James
6. Which company purchased retroactive or backdated liability insurance coverage after a disastrous fire at one of its locations in 1980?
a) Beverly Hills Supper Club
b) K-Mart Corp.
c) MGM Grand Hotels
d) Sears, Roebuck & Co.
7. Who was the first winner in the Business Insurance Risk Manager of the Year award?
a) Thomas Hallett
b) Howard Weber
c) Spencer Traver
d) Robert Spencer
8. When did the Internal Revenue Service issue its first formal ruling that premiums paid to a wholly owned captive insurance company are not tax-deductible as a business expense?
a) 1967
b) 1972
c) 1977
d) 1987
9. Who was the first elected insurance regulator in California?
a) Roxani Gillespie
b) Linda Kaiser
c) John Garamendi
d) Charles Quackenbush
10. Which was the first U.S. state to implement an open rating law for workers compensation risks?:
a) Florida b) Oregon
c) New York d) New Jersey
11. What was the predecessor organization of the Risk & Insurance Management Society Inc.?
a) American Assn. of Insurance Management
b) American Society of Insurance Management
c) Public Risk & Insurance Management Assn.
d) National Insurance & Risk Assn.
12. Which U.S. president vetoed a federal product liability reform measure?
a) George Bush b) Lyndon Johnson
c) Bill Clinton d) Jimmy Carter
13. EMLICO, a long-time General Electric Co. insurer, moved to which captive domicile after redomesticating from Massachusetts?
a) Bermuda b) Barbados
c) Cayman Islands d) Bahamas
14. BMW North America Inc. vs. Gore was a decision handed down by the Supreme Court that involved:
a) Whether punitive damage awards can be so excessive as to be unconstitutional
b) How much outside business a captive must write in order for its parent to be able to deduct premiums paid to the subsidiary
c) The percentage of damages that plaintiffs attorneys can take in a case
d) The liability of asbestos producers
15. What manufacturer of insulation products offered a $10,000 reward in 1980 for certificates of insurance proving that the company had insurance to cover asbestos claims?
a) Fibreboard b) Johns-Manville
c) Keene Corp. d) Owens-Corning
16. When did ACE Insurance Co., formed by 34 member companies in 1985 to provide $100 million in insurance limits excess of $100 million, pay its first claim?
a) 1985 b) 1987 c) 1990
d) It has yet to pay a claim
17. Which U.S. broker was the first to purchase an interest in a Lloyd's of London broker in 1980?
a) Alexander & Alexander Services Inc.
b) Fred S. James & Co. Inc.
c) Corroon & Black Corp.
d) Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc.
18. When was a settlement agreement announced in the antitrust litigation brought in 1988 by state attorneys general against insurance industry trade groups and several insurers?
a) 1992 b) 1993
c) 1994 d) 1995
19. When did the Factory Mutual System announce that it would abandon its 140-year-old premium deposit plan, which required buyers to pay up to five times their annual premium cost in advance for a three-year policy?
a) 1977 b) 1980
c) 1983 d) 1987
20. Which U.S. congressman championed the cause of gutting the McCarran-Ferguson Act?
a) Jack Brooks b) Fortney Stark
c) Henry Waxman
d) Daniel Rostenkowski
ANSWERS TO BENEFITS QUIZ
1. a) General Electric Co.
2. c) $19.
3. b) Ira Magaziner.
4. a) Set non-discrimination rules for health plans.
5. c) End Stage Renal Disease.
6. b) 40 million.
7. a) Five-year cliff.
8. c) Buck Consultants Inc.
9. b) United States.
10. d) James Baker.
11. a) Imposed withdrawal liability on employers leaving underfunded multiemployer pension plans.
12. c) 750,000.
13. a) 12 months.
14. b) CSX Corp.
15. b) Howard Metzenbaum.
16. a) LTV Corp.
17. b) A requirement -- no longer in effect -- that said employers in certain situations had to offer HMO coverage to employees.
18. c) 48 hours.
19. d) 1993.
20. d) 20%.
ANSWERS TO RISK MANAGEMENT QUIZ
Here are the answers to the risk management quiz:
1. a) Workers compensation.
2. c) Northridge earthquake.
3. c) J. Robert Hunter.
4. d) Colorado.
5. b) Alexander & Alexander Services Inc.
6. c) MGM Grand Hotels.
7. b) Howard Weber.
8. c) 1977.
9. c) John Garamendi.
10. b) Oregon.
11. b) American Society of Insurance Management.
12. c) Bill Clinton.
13. a) Bermuda.
14. a) The high court ruled on whether punitive damage awards can be so excessive as to be unconstitutional.
15. c) Keene Corp.
16. c) 1990.
17. d) Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc.
18. c) 1994.
19. c) 1983.
20. a) Jack Brooks.