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April 12 and 13, 2004 - 8,852 subscribers
Today's sponsor: HIPAA Solutions Rx

(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)

Is Your Organization Impacted By HIPAA?
Your answer is probably not a simple "yes" or "no", more likely it is "How
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(This is not an advertisement for legal services)

(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Handling Suspicious Requests for FMLA Leave
Excerpt: "Suspicious medical-leave requests are a headache for employers. But they should not assume that they have no rights to gather information. They do, and it can pay off." (Workforce.com)

Rich Work/Life Offerings Bring Employers Good Fortune
Excerpt: "When it comes to making Fortune magazine's '100 Best Companies to Work For' list, work-life offerings go a long way. Woven through the motley tapestry of this year's honorees is a common thread: rich work-life benefits." (BenefitNews.com)

Massachusetts Pursues Bulk Purchasing To Lower Drug Benefit Costs
Excerpt: "While other states have approved bulk purchasing of pharmaceuticals in some fashion, the Massachusetts initiative would be the largest undertaking to date and might generate the most savings." (BenefitNews.com)

White Paper: the Facts About Drug Importation-- Risks to Consumers, States and Retirees (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "Between 2002 and 2003, drug imports to Canada rose dramatically from other countries noted for their high rates of drug counterfeiting." (The Galen Institute)

Consumer-Driven Health Plans: Proceed with Caution
Excerpt: "Results so far show that CDHPs - defined here as high-deductible plans including a health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) - help reduce overuse of health care resources while encouraging consumers to seek needed care. But experts admit more time is needed to assess the long-term consequences of consumer-driven health care. Much depends on how these plans are designed and whether consumers will fully engage." (BenefitNews.com)

Experts Urge Health Plans To Refine Cost-sharing
Excerpt: "Cost-sharing has been criticized as a 'blunt instrument,' a sort of rubber mallet for beating down surging health insurance costs. Many experts agree that when employers raise health plan premiums and copayments, the sickest and poorest members suffer most." (BenefitNews.com)

Medicare Web Site to Shine Light on Drug Prices
Excerpt: "Economists and federal officials say the information, intended to help Medicare beneficiaries, could also be immensely useful to other consumers, as well as to private insurers and employers who provide drug coverage to employees and retirees." (New York Times; one-time registration required)

Medicare Drug Law's Cost Impact Debated
Excerpt: "There remains sharp disagreement over how the new drug coverage should be run and whether it is better to have the government use its clout to bargain over prices or turn the negotiating over to private companies." (Washington Post; one-time registration required)

Republican Senator Eyes Cheap Drugs from Canada
Excerpt: "The bill -- introduced Thursday by Sen. Charles E. Grassley, the Iowa Republican who heads the Senate Finance Committee -- would immediately open the door for American consumers to buy the cheaper pres.cription drugs, while requiring the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to establish a new system for drug importation." (Washington Times)

Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Here Comes Politically Correct Executive Pay
Excerpt: "Directors increasingly scrutinize their leader's compensation through the eyes of irate shareholders, workers and regulators." (Wall Street Journal via SFGate.com)

Businesses Rethinking Use of Peer Comparisons In Setting Exec Pay
Excerpt: "[W]ith corporate scandals about excessive executive compensation, boards are wondering whether they're placing too much emphasis on peer-group reviews, which can sometimes lead to pay raises without regard to company results." (Wall Street Journal via SFGate.com)

Opinion: Here Comes the Annual CEO Pay Parade
Excerpt: "Every year about this time, the nation's leading newspapers and business magazines begin competing to see who can appear most outraged about how much the top corporate chief executive officers (CEOs) were paid during the previous year." (Alan Reynolds in the Washington Times)

Acceptance of G.ays Rises Dramatically in Single Generation
Excerpt: "G.ays and les.bians have experienced a dramatic rise in acceptance over the last two decades, according to a Los Angeles Times poll... Six in 10 say they are sympathetic to the g.ay community, displaying an increasing inclination to view same-sex issues through a prism of societal accommodation rather than moral condemnation... A key exception is same-sex marriage -- supported by only one in four." (Los Angeles Times via Yahoo! News)

Opinion: There Will Be Plenty of Us Old Folks
Excerpt: "I don't know if this should gladden me or make me feel guilty, but by the time I join the ranks of the aged (barring an accident or an act of God), my fellow geezers and I will populate the Earth in numbers undreamed of in the not-so-distant past." (Billings [Mont.] Gazette)

Some Glitches on BenefitsLink.com Web Site Due to Server Changeover
We apologize for certain broken pages that you'll encounter on BenefitsLink.com; we're working to fix them right now. Over the weekend the site was upgraded to a more secure operating system, by moving the files to a new server. Various configuration settings need to be upgraded; looks like we missed some on Friday before the changeover. Thanks for your patience and your participation on BenefitsLink! --Dave Baker (BenefitsLink.com)

Newly Posted Events

"Who's The Employer?" Speciality Workshop
in Massachusetts on May 19, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

Participant Loans Specialty Workshop
in Michigan on June 18, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

Participant Loans Specialty Workshop
in Ohio on June 4, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

Participant Loans Specialty Workshop
in New York on May 20, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

"Who's The Employer?" Specialty Workshop
in Minnesota on June 18, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

"Who's The Employer?" Specialty Workshop
in Wisconsin on June 3, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

"Who's The Employer?" Specialty Workshop
in California on May 19, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

Participant Loans Specialty Workshop
in Illinois on June 4, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

Participant Loans Specialty Workshop
in California on May 21, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

"Who's The Employer?" Specialty Workshop
in Michigan on June 18, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

"Who's The Employer?" Specialty Workshop
in Ohio on June 4, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

"Who's The Employer?" Specialty Workshop
in New York on May 20, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

Participant Loans Specialty Workshop
in Missouri on June 16, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

Participant Loans Specialty Workshop
in Pennsylvania on May 21, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

Participant Loans Specialty Workshop
in North Carolina on May 13, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

"Who's The Employer?" Specialty Workshop
in Illinois on June 4, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

"Who's The Employer?" Specialty Workshop
in California on May 21, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

"Who's The Employer?" Specialty Workshop
in Texas on May 13, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

Participant Loans Specialty Workshop
in Mississippi on June 17, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

Participant Loans Specialty Workshop
in Washington on May 26, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

Participant Loans Specialty Workshop
in Texas on May 14, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

"Who's The Employer?" Specialty Workshop
in Missouri on June 16, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

"Who's The Employer?" Specialty Workshop
in Pennsylvania on May 21, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

"Who's The Employer?" Specialty Workshop
in North Carolina on May 13, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

Participant Loans Specialty Workshop
in Missouri on June 17, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

Participant Loans Specialty Workshop
in California on May 27, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

Participant Loans Specialty Workshop
in Georgia on May 14, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

"Who's The Employer?" Specialty Workshop
in Missouri on June 17, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

"Who's The Employer?" Specialty Workshop
in Washington on May 26, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

"Who's The Employer?" Specialty Workshop
in Texas on May 14, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

Participant Loans Specialty Workshop
in Indiana on June 17, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

Participant Loans Specialty Workshop
in Ohio on June 3, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

Participant Loans Specialty Workshop
in Massachusetts on May 19, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

"Who's The Employer?" Specialty Workshop
in Indiana on June 17, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

"Who's The Employer?" Specialty Workshop
in California on May 27, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

"Who's The Employer?" Specialty Workshop
in Georgia on May 14, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

Participant Loans Specialty Workshop
in Texas on May 13, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

Participant Loans Specialty Workshop
in Minnesota on June 18, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

Participant Loans Specialty Workshop
in Wisconsin on June 3, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

Participant Loans Specialty Workshop
in California on May 19, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

"Who's The Employer?" Specialty Workshop
in Mississippi on June 17, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

"Who's The Employer?" Specialty Workshop
in Ohio on June 3, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel

17th Annual Employee Benefits Conference
in Ohio on June 17, 2004
presented by Cincinnati Bar Association - Employee Benefits Committee

Social Security Reform: Solutions Inside the Box
in District of Columbia on April 16, 2004
presented by American Academy of Actuaries

Employer of Choice 2004
in Nevada on June 8, 2004
presented by American Strategic Management Institute
Newly Posted Press Releases

Employees Undervalue Stock Option Grants by 30-50 Percent, Watson Wyatt Study Finds
(Watson Wyatt)

McHenry to Speak on Mutual Fund Revenue Sharing
(McHenry Consulting Group)

Hewitt Study Shows Companies Revamping Executive Long-Term Incentive Programs
(Hewitt Associates LLC)

Senate Approval of Pension Legislation
(White House)

PBGC Will Pay Pensions at Johnston Industries
(Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC))

PBGC Protects Pensions at Sound Shore Medical Center
(Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC))

Putnam Agrees to Pay $55 Million to Resolve SEC Enforcement Action Related to Market Timing by Portfolio Managers
(U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission)

Treasury And IRS Issue New Pension Interest Rate For Defined Benefit Plans
(U.S. Department of Treasury)

Actuaries Applaud Pension Interest Rate Fix; Offer Help with Unresolved Pension Issues
(American Academy of Actuaries)

ALPA Reaction to Senate Passage of Pension Funding Equity Act
(Air Line Pilots Association)

Ten Million Working Americans Denied Relief
(International Brotherhood of Teamsters)

Social Safety Nets Don't Hurt Democratic Economies, Book Says
(University of California, Davis)

My PAA Online Self-Service Center Provides Secure Alternative to Paper-Based Filings and Payments
(SRA International, Inc.)

Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

Sales Manager (401k Retirement Services)
for ADP Retirement Services - Pacific West region
in CA

Sr. ERISA Consulting Specialist
for ADP Retirement Services
in CA

Technical Product Specialist
for Pyramid Digital Solutions
in AL

Support Analyst
for Pyramid Digital Solutions
in AL

Premium Only Plan Underwriter
for ADP Retirement Services
in NJ

Fund Administrator
for Large Chicago-area Multi-Employer Pension, Welfare and Annuity Fund
in IL

Premium Only Plan Wholesaler
for ADP Retirement Services
in NJ

Paralegal-Legal Affairs
for American Express
in NY

Employee Benefits Specialist/Benefits Consultant
for Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP
in CO

Project Manager
for The Paragon Consulting Group, Inc.
in CA

Seniore Benefits Associate
for EngenderHealth
in NY

Retirement Specialist
for The Horton Group
in IL

Benefits Manager
for Virginia Tech
in VA

Consulting Pension Actuary
for MassMutual Financial Group
in MA

Retirement Plan Administrator
for MVP Plan Administrators, Inc.
in NC

401k/Defined Contribution Administrator
for The LAMCO Group, Inc.
in FL

National Accounts Benefits Consultant
for Standard Insurance Company
in OR

Senior Health & Welfare Consultant
for Charles W. Cammack Associates, Inc.
in NJ, NY

ERISA Compliance Consultant
for American United Life Insurance Company
in IN

Retirement Services Education Manager
for SunTrust Bank
in VA

Client Management Consultant - Retirement Plans
for CapTrust Financial Advisors
in NC

(Reprinted from 4/9/04 newsletter, in case you had trouble opening the pages over the weekend or on Monday:)

Associate Administrator
for Independent Pension Consultants, Ltd.
in MN

Pension Administrator
for Benetech, Inc.
in CA

Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Attorney
for Verrill & Dana, LLP
in ME

Retirement Plan Bilingual (Spanish-English) Enroller (Part-Time)
for Standard Insurance Company - Retirement Plans Division
in CA, NV

Sales Assistant
for Great-West Healthcare
in NJ

401K Administrator
for Pulte Homes
in MI

Handy Links:
Copyright 2004 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.; except that you can forward this email in full (including this boilerplate part) or otherwise reprint this email in full (including this boilerplate part) without obtaining our permission.

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