| The BenefitsLink Newsletter - Welfare Plans Edition |  |
June 4, 2001
Today's sponsor: Employee Benefits Webcast (click)
Webcast coming up June 14! "EGTRA! EGTRA! Learn All About It!" Instructor: Lawrence L. Grudzien, Benefits Attorney with Buck Consultants. Presented by Technical Answer Group. Click to register now and purchase this Technical Answer Group webcast through BenefitsLink.
Timing Is Everything: Anticipating and Preparing for Higher Retiree Health Expenditures (PDF)
Excerpt: "Retiree health care costs are rising at an alarming rate -- at the same time as the number of retirees is growing. This year, the cost of indemnity coverage is projected to increase 13.4 percent for retirees age 65 and older ... Prescription drug costs alone, which are not covered by Medicare and represent more than 60 percent of retiree indemnity costs, are projected to increase much faster ... This inflationary trend is a serious concern for all health plan sponsors." (The Segal Company)
Panasonic Debuts Web-Based Home Health Care Device
Excerpt: "Panasonic is introducing a monitor to let chronically ill patients send their vital signs to health care providers from their homes and reduce trips to the doctor, the company said Thursday.... The toaster oven-sized terminal plugs into a telephone line and features attachments that enable patients to send their blood pressure, pulse rate, temperature, weight, blood sugar and other vital signs to their health care providers over the Internet." (Reuters via Excite News)
Your Benefits Rights When the Grim Job Reaper Comes Calling
Excerpt: "COBRA coverage for a single person, choosing an HMO, averages around $181 a month. For a family of four, it's $487. While that may not sound like a great deal, it's a lot better than what you would probably get if you went out and priced health plans on your own. Such coverage can run $242 a month for an individual, and $584 for a family." (SmartMoney.com via Yahoo! Finance)
COBRA Good Faith Standard Not Met by Failing To Send Second Notice When Told First One Was Lost
Excerpt: "Although an employer/plan administrator may have sent a COBRA notice to a former spouse's last known mailing address, it still may not have complied with COBRA because: (1) other evidence existed that its notification system had failed; and (2) the qualified beneficiary allegedly notified the employer/plan administrator several times about not receiving a COBRA notice. Therefore, the court declined to rule in the employer/plan administrator's favor ..." (Thompson Publishing Group)
Free Webcast Now Available: the Basics of Private Insurance
Excerpt: "What are the different ways that people get private insurance? How do state and federal governments regulate insurance? What are the barriers to making private insurance accessible and affordable? What is ERISA and why does it matter? These questions and more are addressed at this [June 1, 2001] Alliance for Health Reform and Kaiser Family Foundation briefing for congressional staff ..." (KaiserNetwork.org)
'Tough Love' Won't Help Retain Key Employees
Excerpt: "Corporate leaders, take notice: Jim Jeffords's defection from the Republican Party, and the power shift it will likely create in the U.S. Senate shows President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Senate Majority Leader Lott that tough love has its limitations.... . Here are the top 10 retention lessons [managers] can learn from Washington's latest travails:" (CareerJournal.com)
Health Coverage for Kids Low-Cost but Little Used
Excerpt: "Nearly four years ago, Congress passed a law intended to help people like [Miriam] Cruz get health insurance for their children. But Cruz didn't learn about the program until last month. 'I never realized I could be eligible,' said Cruz, a 41-year-old secretary at the local hospital in Manchester, Conn." (Washington Post)
Web Resources on Managed Care Insurer Liability
Excerpt: "At least 170 million Americans are enrolled in HMOs (health maintenance organizations) and other managed care organizations. What happens when these organizations override the recommendations of physicians, and limit or deny coverage for medical care or treatment? State and federal policymakers have responded to these issues by filing legislation and enacting new laws. Five years ago no state had a law addressing managed care medical liability." (National Council of State Legislatures)
Texas Trial: HMO Liability Law
Excerpt: "Texas was the first state to pass a health plan liability law. What has the impact been, and is it a model for the nation?" (American Medical News)
States Act To Keep Drug Prices Down
Excerpt: "Some of the hottest action in the battle over drug prices is being fought at the state level. Lawmakers in 40 state capitals this year introduced proposals aimed at curbing drug spending." (USA Today)
Opinion: Frist-Breaux-Jeffords Bill Fails To Deliver On Real Patient Protections
Excerpt: "It fails to assure a uniform federal floor of protections for all Americans, instead creating a weaker state and federal patchwork of protections. It undermines independent external review, setting up a process that helps insurers, not patients. It fails to provide meaningful accountability for managed care wrongs. And, it leaves out many important patient protections and substantially weakens others." (National Partnership on Women & Families via Families USA)
California Senate Passes Bill to Prohibit Mandatory Arbitration in Managed Care
Excerpt: "The proposed law, SB 458, aims to prevent health-care providers from forcing patients into arbitration as a condition of enrollment in a medical plan. The bill by Sen. Martha Escutia, D-Montebello, passed the Senate on a 21-14 vote and now goes to the Assembly." (Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights)
Shame of the Rich: Making Themselves Poor for Long-Term Care Expense Payments
Excerpt: "As the population ages, Medicaid spending on nursing homes could easily get out of control. That is, unless it's limited to the people who really need it. Medicaid is supposedly for the poor. But increasingly it's being exploited by the well-to-do. Instead of buying nursing-home insurance or using their savings, they're getting the government to cover their bills." (Jane Bryant Quinn in the Washington Post)
Dealing With Underwater Stock Options
Excerpt: "At some point in their lives, most companies that grant stock options to their employees will have to deal with a decline in stock price. For many companies, that time is now. A decline in stock price is a concern for companies that grant stock options because all those wonderful stock options they granted are placed 'underwater' by the decline. An underwater option is one in which the option's exercise price exceeds the current market price of the company's stock." (Barbara Baksa of E*TRADE via Fed.org)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
| Plan Coordinator | for Trustar Retirement Services in MA |
| Defined Contribution Plan Administrator | for Jordan & Andrews, Consultants and Actuaries in CA |
| 401(k) Document Compliance Analyst | for Automatic Data Processing - Retirement Services in NJ |
| Plan Administration Analyst | for First American Trust in CA |
| 401k Conversion Reconciliation Analyst | for Automatic Data Processing - Retirement Services in NJ |
| Pension Technical Consultant | for AccuDraft in FL |
| Operations Manager | for Ceridian in VA |
| Plan Administrator | for 401k Plus, Inc. in TX |
| Sr. Defined Benefit Implementation Project Manager | for Unifi Network/PricewaterhouseCoopers in NJ |
| Health & Welfare Manager | for AECOM Technology Corporation in CA |
| Defined Benefit Specialist | for Paragon Consulting Group in ALL STATES |
Newly Posted Conferences (Post Yours!)
| FMLA; Coordinating FMLA, ADA, and Workers' Comp; COBRA; HIPAA; and Section 125 - Long Island | in NY on September 11, 2001 presented by A.E. Roberts Company |
| FMLA; Coordinating FMLA, ADA, and Workers' Comp; COBRA; HIPAA; and Section 125 - Washington, DC | in VA on September 11, 2001 presented by A.E. Roberts Company |
| Annual Educational Conference | in FL on October 3, 2001 presented by Southern Employee Benefits Conference |
| FMLA; Coordinating FMLA, ADA, and Workers' Comp; COBRA; HIPAA; and Section 125 - Mobile | in AL on September 11, 2001 presented by A.E. Roberts Company |
| FMLA; Coordinating FMLA, ADA, and Workers' Comp; COBRA; HIPAA; and Section 125 - Wichita | in KS on September 11, 2001 presented by A.E. Roberts Company |
| FMLA; Coordinating FMLA, ADA, and Workers' Comp; COBRA; HIPAA; and Section 125 - Jackson | in MS on September 18, 2001 presented by A.E. Roberts Company |
| FMLA; Coordinating FMLA, ADA, and Workers' Comp; COBRA; HIPAA; and Section 125 - New York City | in NY on September 18, 2001 presented by A.E. Roberts Company |
| FMLA; Coordinating FMLA, ADA, and Workers' Comp; COBRA; HIPAA; and Section 125 - Anaheim | in CA on September 18, 2001 presented by A.E. Roberts Company |
| FMLA; Coordinating FMLA, ADA, and Workers' Comp; COBRA; HIPAA; and Section 125 - Baltimore | in MD on September 18, 2001 presented by A.E. Roberts Company |
| FMLA; Coordinating FMLA, ADA, and Workers' Comp; COBRA; HIPAA; and Section 125 - Charleston | in WV on September 18, 2001 presented by A.E. Roberts Company |
| FMLA; Coordinating FMLA, ADA, and Workers' Comp; COBRA; HIPAA; and Section 125 - Birmingham | in AL on September 25, 2001 presented by A.E. Roberts Company |
| FMLA; Coordinating FMLA, ADA, and Workers' Comp; COBRA; HIPAA; and Section 125 - Parsippany | in NJ on September 25, 2001 presented by A.E. Roberts Company |
| FMLA; Coordinating FMLA, ADA, and Workers' Comp; COBRA; HIPAA; and Section 125 - Hartford | in CT on September 25, 2001 presented by A.E. Roberts Company |
| FMLA; Coordinating FMLA, ADA, and Workers' Comp; COBRA; HIPAA; and Section 125 - New Orleans | in LA on September 25, 2001 presented by A.E. Roberts Company |
| FMLA; Coordinating FMLA, ADA, and Workers' Comp; COBRA; HIPAA; and Section 125 - Pasadena | in CA on September 25, 2001 presented by A.E. Roberts Company |
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