| The BenefitsLink Newsletter - Welfare Plans Edition |  |
February 26, 2001
Today's sponsor: EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com (click)
299 employee benefits jobs - $200 buys 60 days. 503 employee benefits candidates - no charge to post. We're one of the top 50 recruiting sites on the Web. We want (and need) your business! Operated by BenefitsLink.
Round Two for Insurance Web Sites
Excerpt: "[I]ndustry experts estimate that less than 1% of all policies sold to small businesses and individuals in 2000 originated online.... Nonetheless, signs of progress in the fledgling industry are beginning to emerge." (Business Week, free registration required)
New HCFA System Of Records Details Restrictions On Disclosure Of HIPAA Complaint Information
Excerpt: "The system of records, which would be called Complaints Against Health Insurance Issuers and Health Plans (CAHII), would be effective March 24, 2001 (40 days after the Feb. 12, 2001, publication in the Federal Register)." (Spencernet)
Pharmacy Benefit Firms Team Up To Develop Electronic Linkages For Prescriptions
Excerpt: "The companies said they will build a single standardized channel for transactions among the parties and claimed the venture will improve patient safety and reduce costs." (Modern Healthcare)
HHS Secretary Thompson Reopens Federal Privacy Rule
Excerpt: "Much to the delight of healthcare lobbyists, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is reopening for further comment the federal rules issued last December for protecting the privacy of Americans' personal health information." (Medscape; free registration required)
AAHP: Government's Decision to Seek More Input For Medical Privacy Regulation 'A Responsible Step'
Excerpt: "AAHP President and CEO Karen Ignagni made the following statement regarding the decision by Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson take the time to fully examine the medical privacy regulation that was issued late last year by the Clinton Administration." (American Association of Health Plans)
Foreign Divorce Triggers COBRA Notice Requirements Even Though Later Declared Null By U.S. Court
Phillips v. Saratoga Harness Racing, Inc. (2d Cir. 2001). Excerpt: "The matter came to a head when medical bills submitted by the first wife were later rejected by the plan. Only then did she learn about the Dominican divorce and loss of coverage. She sued for COBRA coverage, claiming (needless to say) that she had never received the election materials." (EBIA Weekly)
Individual LTD Policies Constituted an ERISA Plan But Insurance Agent Was Not an ERISA Fiduciary
Johnston v. Paul Revere Life Ins. Co. (8th Cir. 2001). Excerpt: "Although the LTD coverage was voluntary and provided through individual policies, the employer assisted in the application process, processed paperwork, and received the policies. The employer was billed for the premiums and paid them in a lump sum each month, then added the amount of each employee's premium to the employee's W-2. The court held that this involvement was sufficient to constitute establishment of a plan." (EBIA Weekly)
Insurer Not Required to Provide Coverage Even Though Employer Erred by Making Payroll Deductions
Baker v. Aetna Life Insurance Co. (D. Ala. 2001). Excerpt: "Aetna sent [the decedent] a letter denying [group life] coverage and reported the denial to the employer. Nevertheless, Marriott's payroll department erroneously treated Aetna's denial as commencement of coverage and started deducting life insurance premiums from the employee's paycheck." (EBIA Weekly)
Opinion: Thow Light on HMO Complaints by Allowing Disclosure of Mandatory Arbitrations in California
Excerpt: "Last month the [California] Supreme Court essentially prohibited health plans from sealing medical records involved in lawsuits if disclosing them would benefit the cause of public health.... The court's sensible rule does not formally apply to the 80% of the state's managed-care enrollees--fully 18 million Californians--whose health plans require them to settle their disputes through private arbitration rather than public lawsuits." (Los Angeles Times)
Severance Pay: Maybe You See It, Maybe Not
Excerpt: "With the number of high-tech layoffs reaching new heights, severance terms and packages have come under scrutiny. In January alone, dot-coms cut 12,828 jobs ... Each company has handled the layoffs differently ... Typically, such packages include one week paid per year of service." (Seattle Times)
The Latest in Corporate Bonding Exercises: The Hunt
Excerpt: "Tired of company barbecues and rope courses? Don't fret. As tech and other companies seek innovative ways to stay ahead-or simply stay alive-hunting and shooting clubs are becoming the latest corporate team-building practice." (Business 2.0)
Pension Fund Rejects HMOs' Offers; CalPERS Wants Better Rates for Its Members
Excerpt: "The nation's largest public pension fund -- the California Public Employees' Retirement System -- threw out all its HMO bids yesterday and sent the health plans back to the drawing board. While CalPERS has battled with plans in the past to keep costs down, this is the first time the fund's board has flat out rejected the offers made by the health-maintenance organizations." (San Francisco Chronicle)
Teachers Retirement Systems to Closely Monitor Retiree Health Care
Excerpt: "The information was obtained through a telephone survey of the executive directors of the 50 statewide retirement systems that serve teachers. After the data was compiled into a chart, it was sent by facsimile to the responders for their comments and corrections. The information is current as of January 2001, the month during which the information was collected." (National Council on Teacher Retirement )
Law Sought to Ease Health Plan Crunch
Excerpt: "One of the ongoing beefs of both small-business owners and the people who work for them is the difficulty of obtaining -- and paying for -- health insurance. While big companies routinely offer this important benefit to workers, small firms all too often find they can't afford it, and in some cases that it isn't available at any cost. Easing this crunch is at the top of the legislative agendas of small-business groups for the upcoming Congress." (Washington Post)
The Pharmacy Benefit in the Year 2001: Experts See Problems and Discuss Solutions
Excerpt: "Is Big Pharma superseding the HMO in the "Big Book of Consumer Demonology"? These and other issues are weighed and considered by our panel of expert prognosticators. Here now are their predictions of things to watch -- and to watch out for -- during the coming year." (Medscape; free registration required)
Late HMO Payouts Called Endemic by Some California Health Care Providers
Excerpt: "Getting health insurers to shell out what they owe for medical care is a little like a wet slog through an obstacle course, doctors and hospital executives say." (Orange County [Calif.] Register)
Aetna's Unmet Claims
Excerpt: "Despite some promised changes, many doctors, patients and investors remain deeply skeptical of the 'new Aetna,' as the new managers call it. Once a pillar of the American insurance industry ... the company has reinvented itself over the past five years as the largest managed health plan in the United States, covering 19.3 million people." (Washington Post)
Employees May Be Losers In HMO Price Battle
Excerpt: "U.S. workers are likely to face either reduced health care coverage or higher costs in the next year as corporate America tries to slash costs amid a softening economy while health care organizations try to raise prices." (Reuters via Yahoo! Finance)
Welcome to new BenefitsLink advertiser The Teare Group, Inc.
Founded in 1944, The Teare Group continues to be an innovator of benefit plan concepts. As the cost of providing group welfare benefits continues to escalate, The Teare Group focuses on how to put the brakes on runaway costs. Over the years our services have changed and evolved to meet the rapidly changing business and legislative agendas. As we enter this millennium, we will continue to add services which augment and help the business of our clients.
Another Question is Answered in the HIPAA Q&A Column
Do waiting periods or service requirements violate HIPAA's health status nondiscrimination rules? (BenefitsLink.com)
Supreme Court Holds State Employees May Not Sue Under ADA
Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama v. Garrett (Supreme Ct. 2001). Excerpt: "When the case made its way to the Eleventh Circuit, it held that the ADA validly abrogated Eleventh Amendment immunity. In this opinion, the Supreme Court reverses, holding that employees of state government employers are barred from suing for violations of the ADA." (EBIA Weekly)
Terminated: It Could Happen to You
Excerpt: "On the one hand, the newspaper headlines feature mordant layoff news. On the other, most American companies say they still can't find enough workers. So if you ever have to lose a job, let it be now." (Jane Bryant Quinn, in the Washington Post)
Taking Stock In Employee Benefits: The Democratization of Broad-Based Stock Plans (PDF)
Excerpt: "This report outlines the major types of stock ownership programs offered by employers today, the tax treatment of stock benefits, and the growth and prevalence of such plans. Public policy issues related to stock ownership programs are discussed in detail, and the report concludes with the recommendations of the American Benefits Council." (American Benefits Council)
The Five Biggest Stock Option Mistakes
Excerpt: "Here are the five most common mistakes jobseekers make when negotiating for stock options: ..." (MSN Careers)
Evaluating Options in a Private Company
Excerpt: "When you are offered stock options as part of an employment package, the exercise price is supposedly based on the company's current value. For a publicly held company, that value is easy to gauge. Just open your morning newspaper and find the company's stock price. But for a private company, determining the accuracy of an exercise price is much more difficult." (MSN Careers)
Playing to Win: Strategic Rewards in the War for Talent
Fifth Annual Survey Report 2000/2001. Excerpt: "A worker's paradise of 4 percent unemployment is a recruiter's headache. Companies are having more difficulty attracting new workers and keeping the ones they already have. More than twice as many companies are experiencing higher turnover rates than lower ones as employees seek to maximize the return on their own human capital." (Watson Wyatt)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
| Implementation Project Manager | for Fidelity Investments in MA |
| Relationship Manager - Total Benefits Outsourcing Large Plan Services (LPS) | for Fidelity Investments in MA |
| Vice President, Relationship Management - Total Benefits Outsourcing Large Plan Services (LPS) | for Fidelity Investments in MA |
| Enrolled Actuary | for Chicago Suburban Pension Firm in IL |
| Communications Consultant | for New York Life Benefit Services in MA |
| Marketing Consultant (Conversion & Case Management) | for WESPAC Plan Services, Inc. in CA |
| Manager of Compensation & HRIS | for Private Healthcare System in MA |
| Manager of Plan Administration | for Pan-American Life Insurance Company in LA |
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