Guidance issued on accounting and disclosures for employee benefit plans regarding Medicare Act.

The AICPA staff, helped by industry experts, released two questions and answers, commonly referred to as Technical Practice Aids, on accounting and disclosures for single employer and multi-employer employee benefit plans related to the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (the Medicare Act).

* TPA 6930.09--Accounting and Disclosure Requirements for Single-Employer Employee Benefit Plans Related to the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003

* TPA 6930.10--Accounting and Disclosure Requirements for Multiemployer Employee Benefit Plans Related to the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 In May 2004, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued FASB Staff Position FAS 106-2, Accounting and Disclosure Requirements Related to the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003. The FASB FSP addressed when and how an employer that provides post-retirement prescription drug coverage should recognize the effects of the Act but did not address the accounting for the subsidy by the health and welfare plan itself. These TPAs provide accounting and disclosure guidance for both single employer and multiemployer plans relating to the effects of the Medicare Act.

Practitioners are encouraged to incorporate this guidance as soon as practicable. These Technical Practice Aids are available on the AICPA's Web site at www.aicpa.org/members/div/acctstd/general/recent_tpas.asp.

Interpretation on Applicability of SSARSs Issued

The Accounting and Review Services Committee has issued Interpretation No. 27 to Statement on Standards for Accounting and Review Services No. 1 [AR section 100]. The Interpretation, entitled "Applicability of SSARSs to Reviews of Nonissuers Who Are Owned By or Controlled By an Issuer," provides guidance on the appropriate authoritative standards an accountant should follow when engaged to review the separate financial statements of a subsidiary which itself is not an issuer (as defined in Section 3 of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934). The Interpretation is available at www.aicpa.org/download/members/div/auditstd/ SSARS_Interpretation_SSARS_Applicability.pdf.