| The BenefitsLink Newsletter - Welfare Plans Edition |  |
April 17, 2001
Today's sponsor: COBRAhelp.com (click)
All of your COBRA help in one place. Because what you don't know, CAN hurt you! COBRA Training & Certification * COBRA Seminars * COBRA Procedures Manual * COBRA Quarterly Newsletter * COBRA Software * E-Alert News Updates
Myths and Facts about the HIPAA Privacy Regulation
Excerpt: "Some in the health care industry oppose aspects of the privacy rule and the time line for implementing it, and are waging a 'chicken-little-the-sky-is-falling' campaign to delay and weaken it. In this section we rebut the major myths and inaccuracies about the final rule." (Janlori Goldman via HIPAAdvisory.com)
Bush Medical Privacy Act Is Part of Wider Strategy
Excerpt: "President Bush's decision to implement new medical-privacy protections, while shocking health-care industry officials, is part of a much broader presidential impulse: He intends to back a wide range of privacy protections for U.S. consumers, even though his business allies sometimes will object, aides say." (Wall Street Journal, via HIPAAdvisory.com)
No Recovery for "Unjust Enrichment" from Plan That Improperly Terminated COBRA Coverage
Geissal v. Moore Medical Group (E.D. Mo. Mar. 29, 2001). Excerpt: "... the estate claimed to be entitled to 'appropriate equitable relief' under ERISA Section 502(a)(3) because the plan had been unjustly enriched by its refusal to provide benefits to [the decedent]. In this decision, however, the court held that the estate was seeking the equivalent of an award of money damages, which does not qualify as equitable relief under ERISA." (EBIA Weekly)
Mixed Treatment/Eligibility Decisions by HMOs are Subject to State Law Claims, Not ERISA
Pappas v. Asbel (Pa. 2001). Excerpt: "The complicated question of which legal claims against HMOs are subject to ERISA and which ones are subject state law remains unresolved even after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Pegram v. Hedrich ... In this reconsideration, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court [found no preemption] where medical negligence claims under state law were based on an HMO's allegedly improper delay in authorizing hospital treatment of a neurological emergency ..." (EBIA Weekly)
Retirees Entitled to Lifetime Medical Benefits; Employer Did Not Reserve Right to Amend
UAW Local 540 v. Baretz (E.D. Mich. 2001). Excerpt: "The employer in this case incurred substantial expenses by not reserving the right to amend or terminate its health plan. Generally, where the plan documents unambiguously provide the employer with the right to amend or terminate the plan, courts will not find that retiree (or other) benefits have vested." (EBIA Weekly)
Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Two ADA Cases
Excerpt: "The Supreme Court said Monday it will clarify the Americans with Disabilities Act's protections for workers who are partly disabled or can be accommodated only by sidestepping a company's seniority system." (New York Times; free registration required)
Recruiting Brochures: Another Tool for Attracting Quality Employees
Excerpt: "Content is critical. Research your competitors and find the benefits where you have the advantage. For example, emphasizing a free medical plan or a choice of dental plans is particularly effective if your competitors require high payroll deductions or have no dental plan." (Michael Greve of William M. Mercer, Inc.)
IRS Clarifies Applicability Dates for Qualified Transportation Fringe Benefits Regulations
Excerpt: "As published, the regulations did not address whether the applicability dates in the regulations are based on an employee's taxable year or the employer's taxable year. The correction clarifies that the applicability date is based on the employee's taxable year and that an employer may assume that the employee's taxable year is the calendar year." (EBIA Weekly)
Retaining the High-Tech Worker Despite Bottom-Line Uncertainty
Excerpt: "... Aon Consulting, along with [other organizations], conducted the first study of employee commitment in the high-technology industry ... The study investigated how much commitment currently exists in the industry and how employers can improve the level of commitment, ensuring that their employees remain productive, engaged, and on-the-job." (Aon Consulting)
Health Insurance Enrollment Declining in Industries with Large Minority Workforces
Excerpt: "Industries with large minority work forces are trailing those dominated by white employees in the percentage of workers enrolling in employer-paid health insurance and the gap is widening, according to a new study supported by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The study, which was based on Census Bureau data on 197 industries between 1988 and 1997, compared health insurance enrollment across industries and over time." (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality)
New Rules On Who Qualifies For Health Insurance: HIPAA's Nondiscrimination Standards
Excerpt: "The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 was created to increase employees' access to health insurance. As part of that goal, HIPAA included non-discrimination rules to allow people to enroll in plans even if they had a health-status issue that formerly kept them barred. As with any new statute, questions soon arose. Those questions may finally be answered: interim final regulations have been issued and will go into effect July 1, 2001." (Workforce)
Can Your HMO's Documents Pass the Readability Test?
By Mark Hochhauser, Ph.D.; originally published Sept. 1997. Excerpt: "One explanation for adolescent risk-taking is that people of that age are not yet able to imagine the consequences of their behavior. In the same way, some adults have a hard time imagining the consequences of their health decisions.... Many HMO booklets assume that patients can think 'in the future,' but not all can do that." (Managed Care)
With Increasing Support, Including AMA Backing, Tax Credits Seem Likely to Move Forward
Excerpt: "Members of both political parties say that President Bush's plan to spent $71 billion over 10 years on refundable tax credits to help uninsured Americans has a 'good chance of approval,' the Sacramento Bee reports." (KaiserNetwork.org)
Advocates Push Bush To Name Privacy Chief
Excerpt: "In the latest cry for better privacy protections, a group of consumer advocates and academics called on the Bush administration Monday to elect a new chief privacy counselor." (CNET.com)
A Reformer Calls For a New Healthcare System
Excerpt: "Although hardly a household name, George Lundberg, 67, is fast becoming a cultural hero. His sudden firing in 1999 after 17 years as editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association caused a furor that transcended in-house squabbling. Lundberg, a pathologist, has come up with a plan to rescue the troubled American health-care system." (Chicago Tribune)
Reactions to HIPAA Privacy Effective Date of April 14th
Links to online reaction from payers, providers, patients organizations, others. (HIPAAdvisory.com)
Laid-Off Cisco Workers Get Up to Six Months' Pay
Excerpt: "The San Jose, Calif.-based computer-networking concern will offer the laid-off workers two months of pay and benefits, as well as an additional four months of pay and benefits provided the employee signs a severance agreement, according to an internal memo written by Chief Financial Officer Larry Carter." (CNET.com)
e-Communication: Information When and Where it Counts
Excerpt: "However, while some employers have gone for the obvious, using a Web site to launch general company and product information for both internal and, more frequently, commercial use, many still haven't tapped the power of this technology to communicate HR and benefits information or to reinforce organizational and cultural messages. This article reviews how employers can begin once they've decided to tap in to Internet technology for HR purposes." (Aon Consulting)
Plan's Exclusion of Leased Employees Upheld
Moxley v. Texaco, Inc. (C.D. Cal 2001). Excerpt: "The sole issue in this motion for summary judgment by Texaco was whether excluding leased Employees from participating in an employer's benefits plans violates Section 202 of ERISA. The court noted that plaintiffs cited no cases saying such exclusion violates ERISA, arguing only that Texaco's use of an employee classification to exclude them from benefits was unfair and inequitable." (EBIA Weekly)
Top Executives Are Hedging Their Bets
Excerpt: "Take Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Computer Inc. In July 1997, he returned to run the Cupertino, Calif., personal-computer maker -- for $1 a year. In January 2000, grateful board members recognized his role in Apple's recovery by awarding him 20 million stock options exercisable at $43.59 a share (reflecting a subsequent stock split). Today, with Apple shares depressed again, none of his options are worth a dime." (CareerJournal.com)
Graef Crystal: Viacom's Redstone Keeps Stiffing Shareholders
Excerpt: "At 77, CEO Sumner Redstone of Viacom Inc. still finds new ways to stiff shareholders of his New York-based entertainment conglomerate. The man Forbes magazine calls the 14th richest American piled up a fortune estimated at $14 billion with the help of his board's lackey compensation committee, whose members included both his son and daughter." (Graef Crystal, on Bloomberg.com)
"Serious Consideration" of the Expanding and Contracting Fiduciary Duty to Disclose
Excerpt: "There is much confusion in recent case law regarding the fiduciary duty to disclose. This includes everything from intentionally providing misleading information to participants to remaining silent on a subject that needs clarification to knowing the appropriate timing for advising participants of plan changes under consideration and much more ... [as a result] the DOL has issued a Notice of Request for Information about disclosure obligations of plan fiduciaries." (David Levin, Esq. of Kilpatrick Stockton LLP)
"Options Only" Stock Plans -- Still Viable?
Excerpt: "In the article, 'Getting Out from Underwater Stock Options,' (July/August 2000 Forum) we discussed alternatives for employers wishing to enhance stock option programs given the new accounting rules and stock market corrections. In the following article we continue this discussion by presenting a case study of how two actual companies are approaching this dilemma. This article is part one of a two-part series ..." (Aon Consulting)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
| 401(k) Administration Team Leader | for Cache Pension Services, Inc. in AK, NV |
| Employee Benefits Tax Consultant / Detroit | for Deloitte & Touche, a Professional Services Firm in MI |
| 401(k) Pension Analyst | for REPTECH Corp. in CO |
| Employee Benefit Tax Manager | for Deloitte & Touche, a Professional Services Firm in OH |
| Pension Administrator | for Northwest Airlines in MN |
| Compliance Administrator | for Aspen Pension Administrators, Inc. in NM |
| Compensation & Benefits Specialist | for Bank for International Settlements in Location Other Than U.S. |
| ERISA Attorney | for Hodgson Russ LLP in NY |
Newly Posted Conferences (Post Yours!)
| COBRA, HIPAA, Section 125, and FMLA | in MI on April 23, 2001 presented by A.E. Roberts Company |
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