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The BenefitsLink Newsletter -
Welfare Plans Edition February 14, 2001 You may freely distribute this email newsletter in whole This issue is free, thanks to today's sponsor: EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com (click on banner for more information) Fill your employee benefits job openings fast by advertising on BenefitsLink-- we're one of the 50 best recruiting sites on the whole Internet (says CareerXRoads)! BenefitsLink is "one of the Web's best sites" (says Forbes magazine).
Barristers, Solicitors and Their Staff: Perks of the Job Excerpt: "... although larger law firms deny that they actively encourage staff to work late, they do not exactly persuade them to go home. In fact, they offer a range of lifestyle benefits based firmly around the workplace. The largest [London] firms run in-house gyms and swimming pools which, while helping to relieve stress, mean that employees frequently live their work and social lives without stepping outside their office building. Other typical features include doctors and shops." (The Lawyer) Flexibility and Perks Sweeten the Part-Time Job Pot Excerpt: "Mr. Morano is not alone in offering a variety of perks to his part-time workers that go way beyond what is required by law. Many businesses are finding that in the current job market, the way to woo and keep qualified people is by offering them flexible work arrangements and benefits that are traditionally given only to full-time employees." (Crain's New York Business) Opinion: Pharmaceutical Companies, HMO Obscure Costs of Prescription Drugs Excerpt: "For drug companies, it's a marketing dream. They can appeal directly to patients with advertisements promising one-pill-a-day cures, and they don't have to compete on price." (Knight Ridder/Tribune) The Perfect Storm? Employers Need Navigation Tools For The Newest Set Of Health Cost Waves Excerpt: "The mid-1990s provided a welcome respite from rapidly increasing employee benefits costs, but the rest is over, especially in health care. All predictions point upward, and employers must brace themselves for the increases." (Spencernet) Democrats Urge Bush to Hold HMOs, Insurers Liable Excerpt: "Top Democrats urged President George W. Bush on Tuesday to accept a bipartisan patients' bill of rights giving Americans unprecedented power to sue their health plans, predicting it would have enough votes for passage despite opposition from industry." (Reuters via Excite! News) Consumer Groups Petition California Department of Managed Health Care for Disclosure of Arbitrations Excerpt: "The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR) and the Health Administration Responsibility Project (HARP) filed an official petition with the director of the California Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) today calling for full public reporting and disclosure of all documents and discovery obtained in forced HMO arbitrations." (Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights) American Benefits Council Provides Testimony to Senate Committee on HIPAA Privacy Rules Excerpt: "We agree that an individual's privacy concerning their medical records and other personal health information should be both respected and protected. However ... we believe that there is opportunity for significant improvement in the privacy rules issued during the final days of the previous Administration. Now is the time ... for the new Administration to examine these regulations to see how they might be clarified and simplified before these requirements begin to be put in place." (American Benefits Council) AAHP Issues Position Statement-- Kennedy-McCain Liability: Rhetoric vs. Reality Excerpt: "The American Association of Health Plans President and CEO Karen Ignagni today challenged lawmakers to level with the American people about proposals that purport to protect patients but instead will force them to finance a runaway liability system." (American Association of Health Plans) AAHP Charges New Managed Care Bill No 'Compromise' Excerpt: "The new patients' rights bill introduced last week by Senators John McCain, R-Ariz., Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and others would actually be more of a threat to managed care plans and the nation's healthcare system than previous versions, a leading managed care association charged Tuesday." (Medscape; free registration required) Reaching For Younger LTC Buyers Is Starting To Pay Off Excerpt: "It is what the long-term care insurance industry has been hoping would happen. And it has started. Speakers [in Miami] at a Society of Actuaries Intercompany LTCI Conference say studies indicate LTC buyers increasingly tend to come from younger age groups than in years past. Many are in their 60s and 50s." (National Underwriter Company) Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
Newly Posted Conferences (Post Yours!)
Subscribe to the Retirement Plans Edition, too (click) Copyright 2001 BenefitsLink.com, Inc. Feel free to forward this email to friends, colleagues or clients, if no fee is paid to you and the email is forwarded in its entirety. Thanks! BenefitsLink is a trademark of BenefitsLink.com, Inc., published by Dave Baker with much help from Mary Hall and lots of friends. To subscribe (free): visit https://benefitslink.com/newsletter - or the person desiring to subscribe can send an email to BLwelfare@add.mb00.net We have an online archive of prior issues at https://benefitslink.com/newsletters/ |
