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February 5, 2003 - 7,947 subscribers
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Backers of 'Single Payer' Health System Renew Effort in Congress
Excerpt: "Supporters of a plan to have the U.S. government take over financing of the nation's healthcare system renewed their call on Tuesday, as lawmakers introduced a new version of a plan that has been circulating for more than a decade." (Reuters Health via Medscape; one-time registration required)
Executive Summary of the United States National Health Insurance Act
Excerpt: "The bill would create a publicly financed, privately delivered health care program that uses the already existing Medicare program by expanding and improving it to all U.S. residents, and all residents living in U.S. territories. The goal of the legislation is to ensure that all Americans, guaranteed by law, will have access to the highest quality and cost effective health care services regardless of one's employment, income, or health care status." (Physicians for a National Health Program)
Text of Conyers Bill to Provide Single-Payer Health System (PDF)
25 pages. Excerpt: "A bill to provide for comprehensive health insurance coverage for all United States residents, and for other purposes." (U.S. House of Representatives)
Old Data Systems Are Healthcare Burden
Excerpt: "When President Bush took aim last week at bloated medical bills, he blamed lawyers, bureaucrats, and insurance companies for driving up costs. But there is a hidden culprit he did not mention: woefully outdated back-office technology. The medical system has invested heavily in new ways to heal patients, but it has neglected the nuts-and-bolts business of managing bills and records." (The Boston Globe)
Kaiser Permanente To Make Patient Records Available Online
Excerpt: "Kaiser Permanente, the country's largest not-for-profit HMO, on Feb. 4 will announce plans to automate its system of patient medical records -- a move that could 'set a new standard for American medicine,' the Wall Street Journal reports." (KaiserNetwork.org)
HMO Can Charge Co-Pay Amount in Excess of Drug's Actual Cost, If Disclosed
Alves v. Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Inc., No. 02-1817 (1st Cir. 2003). Excerpt: "The gist of the plaintiffs' claim is that whenever the copayment exceeds the actual cost of the prescribed medicine to the plan, the excess represents money wrongly taken from the beneficiary, comprising a violation of the terms of the plan, a breach of fiduciary duty and/or affirmative misrepresentation." (U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, Affirming District Court Decision for HMO)
Businesses Sore About Medical Leave
Excerpt: "It was the Labor Department's 1996 ruling that counted the common cold, flu, earaches, headaches and other routine ailments as 'serious health conditions' that put many employers in a swivet over benefits offered under the Family and Medical Leave Act.... The Bush administration has been ... talking to business groups, AARP, unions and women's advocacy groups about what works and doesn't work with the regulations." (Washington Post)
Congress Moves To Make Comp Time An Option
Excerpt: "Legislation scheduled to be introduced [February 5, 2003] by Sen. Judd Gregg, New Hampshire Republican, is intended to respond to surveys of workers who say they want more time off, even if they must sacrifice some pay." (The Washington Times)
U.S. Chamber Survey Says Workers Receive More Job Benefits
Excerpt: "The United States Chamber of Commerce today reported that employee benefits comprised more than a third of company payroll costs in 2001, up slightly from the previous year. The Employee Benefits Study surveyed 400 companies and revealed that medically related payments were the most expensive and the most common benefits offered." (PRNewswire via International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)
Child Care Arrangements: Spring 1999 Detailed Tables from the Census Bureau
Excerpt: "Primary Child Care Arrangements Used by Employed Mothers of Preschoolers: 1985 to 1999." (U.S. Census Bureau)
Investing in Child Care: Challenges Facing Working Parents and the Private Sector Response (PDF)
64 pages. Originally published April 15, 1998; report no. 3110. Excerpt: "[In 1997] President Clinton ... asked me to bring together a group of business and labor leaders to look at child care problems facing working parents, and to identify best practices in the private sector and in public-private partnerships. The following report is the result of the group's work." (U.S. Department of the Treasury)
Self-Payers Negotiating Own Prices with Doctors
Excerpt: "Health insurance carriers have haggled for reduced rates with doctors for decades. Increasingly, individual patients are realizing they can do the same thing." (Business First of Columbus via bizjournals.com; one-time registration required)
Canadian Online Pharmacy Calls for Boycott of GlaxoSmithKline Products
Excerpt: "A Canadian online pharmacy is calling for a boycott of GlaxoSmithKline's over-the-counter products to protest the drug giant's decision to stop supplying medicines to companies who resell them to bargain-hunting Americans." (AP via Lycos News)
Unions Slow to Accept Consumer-Directed Health Care as Solution to Rising Costs
Excerpt: "'The union perception of [CDH] is that it is a potential take-away,' says Ronald Bachman, a principal with the Atlanta office of PricewaterhouseCoopers. 'But it doesn't have to be.' A CDH plan designed with a lower deductible, or a health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) that covers the deductible, might be more palatable to union leaders, he says." (Inside Consumer-Directed Care via AISHealth.com)
Doctors Generally Unaware of Medicine Costs When Prescribing, Study Finds
Excerpt: "Doctors often do not know how much prescription drugs cost and how much patients pay for them, leading them to unknowingly prescribe more expensive drugs that contribute to increased health care costs or cause patients not to fill prescriptions because of price, according to a study in the January issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine, Long Island Newsday reports." (KaiserNetwork.org)
Bill to Promote Association Health Plans Seen as Aid to Small Businesses
Excerpt: "Federal lawmakers, energized by President Bush's call for health care reform, plan to reintroduce a bill that lets national organizations offer health coverage to small businesses in an effort to reduce escalating premium costs." (The Washington Times)
Bush Proposal for Association Health Plans Has Both Friends and Foes
Excerpt: "Small business organizations strongly support so-called association health plans, or AHPs. But resistance to President Bush's proposal is growing among many large health insurers, as well as regulatory and political groups like the National Assn. of Insurance Commissioners, the National Conference of State Legislatures and the National Governors Assn." (Managed Care Week via AISHealth.com)
Opinion: Bush Administration Has Done Little To Curb Medical Errors
Excerpt: "The Bush administration 'may be right' to support legislation to place caps on damages in medical malpractice lawsuits but has 'taken few steps to prevent the errors and deaths that cause victims to sue in the first place,' Roll Call Contributing Editor Morton Kondracke writes in an opinion piece." (KaiserNetwork.org)
Doctors Follow Different Practices for Care, Slow To Conform To Standards
Excerpt: "Many physicians are 'slow' to adopt standard care-management practices, 'reflecting a large gap between medical knowledge and clinical practice,' a problem that many researchers and large health care purchasers consider a 'critical factor in both cost and quality woes infecting the health care system,' according to a study published in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Wall Street Journal reports." (KaiserNetwork.org)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Wall Street Journal Reports Sprint Forced Out 2 Execs Over Tax Shelter for Stock Option Income
Excerpt: "The Sprint executives are now facing potentially heavy financial losses and tax challenges by the IRS, according to the report. There is not any indication that LeMay and Esrey did anything illegal." (Reuters via New York Times; one-time registration required)
Retention Bonuses for BlueCross BlueShield Execs Might Violate Maryland State Law
Excerpt: "Retention payments for executives of CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield if the company is sold appear to violate the 'anti-bonus' law passed last year by the Maryland legislature, a consultant to the insurance commissioner testified yesterday." (The Baltimore Sun)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Employee Benefits Sales Representative
for Great West Life & Annuity
in MI, TX
Account Manager - Insurance Benefit Plan
for Pension Parameters, Inc.
in NY
401k Analyst
for CPI
in PA
Benefits Administrator
for Craford Benefit Consultants
in CA
OmniPlan - OmniPlus Consultant
for DC Specialists
in ALL STATES
Newly Posted Webcasts
(Post Yours!)
Briefing on Single Payer Proposal with Representative John Conyers
on February 4, 2003
presented by Physicians for a National Health Program
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)
Employee Benefits Update
in ALL STATES
February 11, 2003
American Bar Association's Joint Committee Employee Benefits, Others
Handy Links:
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- Employee Benefits Library
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