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June 1, 2004 - 8895 subscribers
Today's sponsor: NCEO

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Our Bookstore now carries books published by the NCEO!
The National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO), a nonprofit
membership and research organization that provides information on
broad-based employee stock plans, now has over a dozen of its
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BenefitsLink bookstore. Topics range from employee stock
ownership plans (ESOPs) to stock options to employee stock
purchase plans (ESPPs).

(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Sen. Byrd Becomes First Democratic Senator To Endorse Association Health Plans Bill
Excerpt: "Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) has become the first Democratic senator to endorse legislation (S 545) that would alter health insurance regulations to allow small businesses to form association health plans across state lines, the Chicago Tribune reports." (KaiserNetwork.org)

Pick a Card-- Any Card? the Medicare Drug Discount Card Lottery Begins! (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "The basic purpose of this Memo is: (1) review the basic requirements of the Medicare-approved drug discount card program (abbreviated hereafter as MDDCP); (2) make some suggestions regarding how the fund office for a multiemployer health plan should respond to inquiries about the new program; and (3) discuss other available sources of information about the MDDCP." (TIC International Corporation)

The Medicare Modernization Act and Group Health Plans: An Employer's Perspective (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "In order to encourage employers to provide meaningful drug coverage for these individuals, the MMA provides for a direct, tax-exempt subsidy to employers who sponsor drug benefits that are at least as generous as the standard Part D benefit.... Beginning in 2006, eligible employer-sponsors will receive federal subsidies equal to 28% of the drug benefit costs between $250 and $5,000 per eligible beneficiary." (Steve Bryson, FSA, FCA, MAAA, of Lewis & Ellis)

Overview: New Medicare Pres.cription Drug Discount Card Program
Excerpt: "This Capital Checkup summarizes what sponsors of health plans that cover retirees need to know about the new discount card program ..." (The Segal Company)

Drug Discounts Beginning Tuesday, but Sign-Ups Lag
Excerpt: "Elderly people begin using Medicare drug discount cards on Tuesday in an experiment that has gotten off to a slow start but promises to have big implications for politics and health policy, regardless of whether it delivers big savings." (New York Times; one-time registration required)

Text of ERIC Letter Seeking Guidance on Implementation of New Medicare Pres.cription Drug Benefit (PDF)
7 pages. Excerpt: "Attached for your consideration is a request for guidance concerning issues related to implementation of the new Medicare pres.cription drug benefit." (ERISA Industry Committee)

GAO: Comprehensive, Fundamental Reforms to Control National Healthcare Spending
38 pages. Excerpt: "While health care spending appears affordable for another decade or two, added spending over time will draw resources away from other economic sectors and could induce adverse economic implications for government, individuals, and other private purchasers of health care.' Executive summary at http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d04793sphigh.pdf (U.S. General Accounting Office)

Overview: DOL's Final COBRA Notice and Disclosure Regs Include Mostly Minor Revisions
Excerpt: "As promised, plans will have at least six months to comply. The final regulations apply to notice obligations arising in plan years beginning on or after November 26, 2004 (calendar-year plans must comply starting January 1, 2005)." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA))

Overview: Department of Labor Issues Final COBRA Notice Regulations (PDF)
Excerpt: "The regulations provide much needed guidance on four specific areas of the COBRA notice process: 1) the initial or general notice; 2) the employer's notice of a qualifying event; 3) the qualified beneficiaries required notice of a qualifying event; and 4) the election notice." (Jeff Robertson and Rico Bocala)

Sight-Disabled Individual's Commuting Costs Are Not Code Section 213 Medical Expenses
Alderman v. Commissioner, T.C. Summary Opinion 2004-74 (2004). Excerpt: "In this case, a sight-disabled individual's spouse drove him to and from his job each workday. The tax court was asked to decide whether a portion of these commuting costs could be deducted as a medical expense under Code Section 213." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA))

2003 Segal State Health Benefits Survey: Medical Plan Design for Employees and Retirees (PDF)
4 pages. (The Segal Company)

Employers Bash Consumer Health Plans
Excerpt: "Consumer-driven health plans aren't living up to their promise, according to some Tri-State companies that say these new plans still lack a vital element -- data." (Cincinnati Business Courier; via bizjournals.com; one-time registration required)

Will Doctors, Hospitals Raise Fees As Consumer-Directed Plans Grow?
Excerpt: "Physicians and hospitals in some parts of the country are beginning to wonder whether the basic contracts they sign every year or two to remain in insurers' networks will need some fine-tuning as CDHPs become more popular." (Managed Care Magazine)

Anti-Depression Programs Might Provide Edge for Employers
Excerpt: "Depression costs employers more than $51 billion per year in absenteeism and lost productivity, not including high medical and pharmaceutical bills. Yet there's still a long way to go in diagnosing workers, providing adequate care to patients, and getting employers, health plans, and physicians to work together to combat the disease, according to several studies published in recent months." (Managed Care Magazine)

Care Coordination for Chronically Ill Patients Seems to Be Working
Excerpt: "Finally, it seems that there is a way to manage patients with multiple chronic conditions properly. Understanding and technology converge." (Managed Care Magazine)

Towers Perrin U.S. Legislative Tracking Chart — Health and Welfare (PDF)
19 pages; May 28, 2004 issue. (Towers Perrin)

Senators Maintain They Have 60 Votes Required To Pass Prescription Drug Reimportation Bill
Excerpt: "A group of Republican and Democratic senators maintain that they have 'lined up' the 60 votes required to pass a bipartisan bill (S 2328) that would allow U.S. residents to purchase lower-cost, U.S.-manufactured pres.cription drugs from other nations, which some observers 'say could lead the White House to change its position' on the issue, The Hill reports." (KaiserNetwork.org)

Grumpy Old Drug Smugglers
Excerpt: "Like the Vietnam War to so many college students in the 60's and 70's and nuclear proliferation to mothers in the 80's, the issue [of affordable pres.cription drugs] is so personal, so deeply tied to life, death and a sense of justice, that it is driving otherwise private and conservative citizens into the first activism of their lives." (New York Times; one-time registration required)

Accommodating the Baby Boomers: Creating a 'Lifespan-Friendly' Workplace
Excerpt: "The economy won't let them have the brochure dream of the golden years -- a life of leisure financed largely by retirement funds and pensions. That's old-think retirement. There's simply not enough money in these funds to finance such a scenario. Most people are going to have to work past the age of 65 -- if they can find a job." (Washington Post; one-time registration required)

Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Opinion: Don't Blame Just the CEOs; Consultants Can Share
Excerpt: "Of the five people you meet in Hades, maybe one will be a CEO compensation consultant." (Jay Hancock of the Baltimore Sun via the Hartford Courant; one-time registration required)

Towers Perrin U.S. Legislative Tracking Chart — Human Resources (PDF)
8 pages; May 28, 2004 issue. (Towers Perrin)

Newly Posted Events

Best Practices in Long-Term Incentive Compensation WebCast
Nationwide on June 15, 2004
presented by Deloitte

Your Prescription For Change: The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA)
Nationwide on June 14, 2004
presented by Ernst & Young, LLP
Newly Posted Press Releases

TE/GE Advisory Committee to Hold Public Meeting
(Internal Revenue Service (IRS))

TIAA-CREF Lowers Expense Charges on Retirement Investment Options
(TIAA-CREF)

Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao Warns CEOs To Pay Attention to Fiduciary Responsibilities under ERISA
(U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Public Affairs, Washington, D.C.)
Movers and Shakers: Newly Posted Announcements of Promotions and New Personnel
(Post Yours!)

David Semmler (Matrix Settlement & Clearance Services)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
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Benefit Consultant
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for Fulton Financial Corporation
in PA

Financial Planning Presenter / Educator - PA
for The Vanguard Group
in PA

Employee Benefits Trust Administrator
for BB&T / Employee Benefits Operations
in NC

Pension Administrator
for Flynn, Shojinaga & Associates, Inc.
in CA

Defined Benefit Pension Administrator
for The National Advisory Group, Inc./Pension Consulting Services, Inc.
in PA

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