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Helping Employees with Digestive Health Conditions and Reducing Healthcare Costs

"Treating members with digestive health conditions can reduce overall population healthcare costs for employers.... One in four employees live with chronic, debilitating digestive issues ... Digestive issues drive significant costs, year over year  ... Traditional healthcare is complex for patients and employers ... Virtual digestive care gives employees convenience, confidentiality, and hope ... Stress, anxiety, and GI symptoms have a cyclical relationship; gut-brain interventions can help."

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Overview and State-by-State Digest of Recent Significant Reforms to Retirement Systems (PDF)

76 pages. "Since [2009], nearly every state passed meaningful reform to one or more of its pension plans. Although the global market crash and recession affected all plans, differing plan designs, budgets, and legal frameworks across the country defied a single solution; instead, each state met its challenges with tailored changes specific to its unique circumstances."  MORE >>

Fourth Circuit Court to Hear Challenge to Healthcare Reform's Employer Mandate

"The parties will address whether the Anti-Injunction Act applies to the employer mandate (after the Supreme Court's decision that it did not apply to the dispute involving the individual mandate), whether the employer mandate exceeds Congress' powers under the Commerce, Necessary and Proper, and Taxing and Spending clauses of the Constitution, and the impact of the Equal Protection, Free Exercise of Religion, and Establishment Clauses on the employer mandate and other insurance mandates, such as the requirement to cover preventative care, including contraceptive drugs. Importantly, Liberty University's claims regarding Congress' power to enact the employer mandate under the Commerce, Necessary and Proper and/or Taxing and Spending clauses of the Constitution apply to all employers -- both secular and religious."

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Will Individuals Pay or Play? The Impact of Healthcare Reform on Employees

"For many individuals, the decision may come down to the cost of the tax vs. the cost of insurance on an annual basis, at least initially.... Employers should bear in mind the impact on employees and their families when exploring benefit strategies. However, many employers also have a golden opportunity to communicate to employees how PPACA will impact them individually, and the role the employer's group health plan (or lack thereof) will factor in to employee's individual decisions."

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New, Free Daily Publication: The Message Boards Digest

Subscribe to the new, free Message Boards Digest, sent daily by email. You'll get a summary of all new topics on the BenefitsLink message boards, including the number of times each topic has been viewed, and how many replies it has received. (Some topics are included in the BenefitsLink newsletters, but many are not.) Subscribe now!

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New 'Digest of EEO Law' Issued by EEOC

"The [EEOC] today announced the latest edition of its federal sector Digest of Equal Employment Opportunity Law, which is available online. The Digest now includes hyperlinks so that stakeholders can easily access the full decisions which have been summarized. This quarterly publication, prepared by EEOC's Office of Federal Operations, features a wide variety of recent Commission decisions and federal court cases of interest. The current edition also includes a special year-end selection of notable EEOC decisions for fiscal year 2015 (which ended Sept. 30, 2015)."  MORE >>

AARP Data Digest: Health Coverage Among 50-64 Year-Olds in 2003 (PDF)

8 pages. Excerpt: The aging of the population focuses attention on how those in midlife get health insurance. Because medical problems and health costs commonly increase with age, having health coverage takes on growing importance. This Data Digest provides an overview of health coverage among persons ages 50 through 64 in 2003. The information primarily comes from analysis of the March 2004 Current Population Survey.

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Gag Clause Attestations: Digesting the Changes for 2026

"As employers, brokers, and advisors work through their fourth quarter compliance checklists, we cannot forget to include submission of GCPCAs as a necessary 'to-do.' It should surprise no one that this year, there are important changes to take notice of before the submission process begins."  MORE >>

FTC Pharma Merger Digest May Offer Policy Clues

"The summary includes remarks by FTC Chair Lina Khan, questioning whether additional considerations beyond traditional horizontal overlap theories should be analyzed when evaluating deals in the pharmaceutical context -- including more closely examining remedies, potential innovation and prior bad acts by the parties to a deal.... The topics discussed broadly fell into several categories ... [1] concentration in the pharmaceutical industry, [2] remedies in pharmaceutical mergers, and [3] examination of prior bad acts in merger review. This article discusses and analyzes these topics."

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Digesting the New Proposed Exception to the 'One-Bad-Apple Rule' for MEPs and PEPs

"In late March 2022, the [IRS] withdrew regulations proposed in 2019 and issued new proposed regulations under Sections 413(c) and (e) of the Internal Revenue Code, which provide for an exception to Section 413's 'unified plan rule' -- commonly referred to as the 'one-bad-apple rule' -- for multiple employer and pooled employer plans.... Compliance with the new proposed regulations is deemed to be good faith compliance with Code Section 413(e) until final regulations are issued, which now provides plan administrators of MEPs and PEPs wishing to utilize the exception the ability to do so before the new proposed regulations are final."

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Long 401(k) Investment Menus Prove Hard to Digest

Excerpt: In theory, it would seem employees are better off having a wide range of fund offerings in a plan. Funds focused on alternative assets such as commodities, real estate, Treasury inflation-protected securities and emerging-markets stocks can potentially balance risk and add value to a diversified portfolio inside a retirement plan.  MORE >>

Benefits & Compensation Digest Web Exclusive on Prepaid Legal Services Plans (PDF)

2 pages. Excerpt: Prepaid legal services plans covered under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) are considered employee welfare benefits plans and must comply with Department of Labor (DOL) regulations.

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Data Digest: Wealth Variation Among Boomers and Retirement Wealth Adequacy (PDF)

6 pages. Excerpt: [N]umerous reports suggest that boomers or subsets of boomers ... have accumulated an average (mean) of about $50,000 in their retirement accounts (DeVaney and Chiremba, 2005) or less (Goodman and Orszag, 2005). Medians -- the value at which half the population falls above and half below -- are generally used rather than means to characterize wealth distributions because wealth is so skewed toward the top.

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COBRA Meets Healthcare Reform

"There are no rules that require employers to explain the possible COBRA/Exchange coverage gap or differences in election periods and deadlines. Employers are left to decide whether to disseminate this information and, if so, how and when. While trying to avoid providing advice to employees, there are ways to present information and links that assist employees in accessing the needed information."

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Kentucky: Healthcare Reform's Epicenter?

"If health reform bends the cost and health curve, Kentucky could be the envy of neighboring states, most of which continue to oppose everything ACA. Years will pass before ACA impact can be quantified, but Kentucky seems uniquely suited to measure its progress."  MORE >>

Healthcare Reform Designed to Fight Obesity, First Lady Says

"One of the driving goals behind healthcare reform is curbing obesity among children in the U.S., according to First Lady Michelle Obama ... The First Lady argued that healthcare reform alone would not be enough to curb the [obesity] epidemic, but that regular checkups and healthy relationships between doctors and patients would also be integral. Increased availability of affordable healthcare coverage, which will include access to health savings accounts and flexible spending accounts, has been the driving force behind the reform."

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A Landmark Shift in Healthcare: Insights on PBM Reform

"New laws and court decisions, settlements with the Federal Trade Commission, and a proposed [DOL] rule are leading to a sweeping transformation that is already under way in the U.S. healthcare system. Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) are now facing the same transparency and accountability requirements that employers and health plans are subject to.... [T]hese changes could fundamentally reshape how PBMs, employers, pharmacies and insurers manage prescription drug costs."  MORE >>

Senate HELP Committee Eyes Healthcare Reform to Enhance Affordability

"[H]ospitals, insurers and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) all are under scrutiny by Congress in efforts to curb the growth in healthcare costs. The Senate Health, Labor Education and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a July 31 hearing to examine ways to make healthcare more affordable for consumers and other purchasers, and the discussion focused on various stakeholder groups."  MORE >>

Healthcare Reform: Does Finger Point at You?

"Even though it's apparent the increased cost for insurance has been shifted on the shoulders of working Americans, CEOs and the benefits managers charged with designing coverage plans outside of the health insurance exchanges are beginning to question and identify future strategies that reconcile healthcare offerings with financial goals of the business.... [I]nstead of looking for a scapegoat and pointing blame, insurance entities and the companies they provide for are learning how to move from denial and deception to reshape the healthcare conversation into benefits and even expanded employee coverage they can both boast about."

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Many Businesses Cautiously Eyeing Healthcare Reform Legislation

Excerpt: Despite the acknowledged need for change and the possibility of new business opportunities from a reformed health-care system, apprehension remains. Some finance executives fear that health reform will cost their companies more money, because they suspect that insurers will raise their rates to offset any potential new taxes or pricing restrictions. Others are concerned that reform may require complicated changes or restrictions to their plans. Still others worry that expanding coverage will increase the federal deficit and have an indirect effect on their businesses by causing inflation.

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