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October 20, 2003 - 8,548 subscribers
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More Labor Conflicts Expected Over Health Care Costs
Excerpt: "Several labor experts said this week's strikes are part of a growing trend, one that increasingly pits cost-conscious employers against workers seeking to hang on to their most important benefit." (AP via SFGate.com)
Cost of Private Health Insurance Lost in National Healthcare Coverage Debate
Excerpt: "By leaving buses idled and supermarkets struggling to stay open, striking transit and grocery workers have sent a message across Southern California: The growing cost of private health insurance has become a serious problem. But angry as it is, the message has been nearly drowned out in Washington by a chorus of other health-care coverage concerns. As a result, lawmakers have given little attention in recent years to the cost of private insurance plans." (Los Angeles Times; one-time registration required)
Competition from Wal-Mart Fuels Labor Strife Over Employee Benefit Costs
Excerpt: "Eager to stay competitive against Wal-Mart, Albertsons, Vons (owned by Safeway) and Ralphs (owned by Kroger) have demanded a two-year wage freeze for current workers ... and greater employee contributions for health coverage. Those employees now pay no health insurance premiums, while Wal-Mart employees often must pay premiums of $200 a month and deductibles of up to $1,000 a year, if they qualify." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Employers Looking At Cost of Family Health Coverage
Excerpt: "Many employers already charge workers more for family coverage. Now, they are considering additional steps as health insurance costs rise at the fastest in a decade." (USA Today)
District Court Rejects Argument That ERISA Prohibits Subrogation By Group Health Plans (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "The thrust of this decision is that funds may still seek recovery under section 502(a)(3)(C) of ERISA if the suit does not impose personal liability on the participant which means that the funds to be recovered are still identifiable and are preserved in a separate fund and are not in the direct possession of the participant. In addition, ... a plan might be better off seeking recovery under state lien laws, rather than under ERISA ..." (David Livingston, Ph.D. of TIC International Corporation)
Groom Law Group Files Brief Urging U.S. Supreme Court to Grant Cert in ERISA Preemption Case
Excerpt: "The Supreme Court is considering whether to grant certiorari in Aetna Health Inc. v. Davila to address the Fifth Circuit's adoption of a self-described 'narrow' test for complete preemption. In Davila, a plan participant brought a state law tort action (pursuant to the Texas Health Care Liability Act) against the plan's third party administrator ('TPA') for what amounted to a routine benefit claim denial." (Groom Law Group)
Senate Adopts Amendment Expanding FMLA for Family Members of Active Duty Military Personnel
Excerpt: "During the Senate's consideration of the $87 billion spending package for rebuilding Iraq (S. 1689), the Senate adopted by unanimous consent an amendment offered by Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) radically altering the benefits available under the Family and Medical Leave Act." (HR Policy Association)
Employers Urged To Provide Benefits For Religious Diversity
Excerpt: "But as multiculturalism blossoms, complaints of religion-based bias in the workplace are spiraling.... The trend spells trouble for productivity in the workplace, according to separate research from the Tanenbaum Center. Employees who experience religious discrimination report adverse effects on work performance; many consider quitting." (BenefitNews.com)
Labor Dept. Rule Repeal May Affect Paid Leave Programs
Excerpt: "States may no longer use unemployment insurance (UI) funds to offer employees paid leave following the birth or adoption of a child, the Labor Department (DOL) has ruled.... the ruling is ... a 'symbolic step backwards,' asserts Jodi Grant, director of work and family programs for the Washington, D.C.-based National Partnership for Women and Families ..." (BenefitNews.com)
Opinion: Importing Prescription Drugs-- the Fairness Doctrine
Excerpt: "The real problem, the one the drug companies do not want to confront, is not safety but equity.... Americans pay more than their fair share for drugs compared with the rest of the industrialized world. We are, in short, paying the research and development bill for so-called single-payer nations such as France and Germany, and Canada, too." (Steve Bailey in the Boston Globe)
HIPAA Privacy Rule Creates Wide Confusion; Doctors, Hospitals and EMS Sometimes Overreact
Excerpt: "The law's rules, or misinterpretations of them, have angered doctors and patients and led some members of Congress to wonder whether their quest to protect patients' privacy went too far." (USA Today)
Many Small-Business Owners Backing Association Health Plans
Excerpt: "Supported by President Bush, association health plans would become reality under the Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2003. The bill was approved in June by a margin of 262-162 in the House of Representatives.... The problem, [said the assistant state director of the Ohio office of the National Federation of Independent Business], is a powerful lobby of big-business interests opposes the bill. It includes the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and major health insurance carriers." (Business First of Columbus [Oh.] via bizjournals.com; one-time registration required)
Exercise Equipment Bought to Treat Obesity Is Deductible
Excerpt: "The cost of home exercise equipment purchased on a doctor's recommendation as part of treatment for a taxpayer's obesity is a deductible medical expense under Code Section 213, the IRS ruled in Information Letter 2003-0202." (Thompson Publishing Group)
Increased Generics Use Credited for Decrease In Rx Costs
Excerpt: "The best news, says Aon, may be that prescription drugs costs are on a downward trend.... Analysts attribute the slide to wider use of generic drugs and overall decreased drug utilization due to higher copays." (BenefitNews.com)
An Illusion of Health Insurance
Excerpt: "Vanguarde left at least 75 other Floridians with more than $400,000 in unpaid medical bills, according to the Florida Department of Financial Services. Regulators in at least two other states - Colorado and Pennsylvania -have also issued cease and desist orders against the company, for selling insurance without being authorized by those states. But Vanguarde is only the tip of the iceberg ..." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Opinion: Pull the Plug on the Private Health Insurance System
Excerpt: "According to an August report in the New England Journal of Medicine, the United States spends $1,059 per person on health administration costs, compared to $307 per person in Canada, which has a national health-care program." (Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times)
Medicare Drug Coverage Carries Huge Fiscal Toll
Excerpt: "Congressional budget planners had designated $400 billion over the next 10 years for prescription-drug benefits. But then last summer, the Congressional Budget Office reckoned the version passed by the Senate would actually cost $432 billion, and the House version $425 billion. The excess cost is particularly a problem in the Senate, which has somewhat tougher budget rules." (Christian Science Monitor)
Audio Report: Medicare Drug Benefit Deal in Limbo
Excerpt: "Congress nears a self-imposed deadline to approve a Medicare prescription drug plan, but there's no sign a deal is ready. The Senate and House have passed bills adding a drug benefit for seniors, but the plans are vastly different. Major sticking points include how to offer coverage across income ranges, and whether the plan should compete with private health plans. Hear NPR's Julie Rovner." (National Public Radio)
Opinion: Unhealthy Rx for Medicare
Excerpt: "In June, both houses passed slightly different Medicare reform bills. Each would create a massive Medicare drug entitlement, instead of targeting help to poor seniors who need it. Anybody turning age 65 -- including a retiring Bill Gates or Donald Trump -- would be handed a taxpayer-financed drug benefit." (Robert Moffit and Derek Hunter in the Washington Times)
November Consumer Reports Helps Consumers Decide Whether They Need To Buy Long-Term Care Insurance
Press release. Excerpt: "CR's investigation of 47 policies reveals that for most people long-term-care insurance is too risky and too expensive. And CR found that long-term-care insurance is so complicated it can stymie the most conscientious consumer." (Consumer Reports)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
2004 Individual Grant Competition Announced
Excerpt: "The Actuarial Foundation's AERF Committee and the Society of Actuaries' Committee on Knowledge Extension Research (CKER) announce the 2004 Individual Grants Competition to support the advancement of knowledge in actuarial science. Grants will be funded through the AERF Committee and CKER.... The AERF Committee gives preference to projects relating to current policy issues or having direct applications, and those that further the basic or continuing education of actuaries." (The Actuarial Foundation; the Society of Actuaries)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Director, Benefits Administration
for Mount Carmel Health
in OH
Defined Contribution Analyst
for Standard Insurance Company
in OR
Accountant - Compensation/Benefits
for Road Commission for Oakland County
in MI
Client Services Consultant
for American United Life Insurance Company
in LA, NM, OK, TX
Senior Benefits Counsel
for INTEL at the forefront of technology
in CA
Pension Analyst
for Coble Pension Group, L.L.C.
in AZ
Newly Posted Webcasts
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Critical Issues in Establishing Employee Ownership
on October 29, 2003
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