| The BenefitsLink Newsletter - Welfare Plans Edition |  |
June 6, 2001
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Legality of Gramm-Leach-Bliley Privacy Rules Is Upheld In Federal District Court
Excerpt: "Federal rules restricting the use and disclosure of nonpublic personal information ... do not violate First Amendment free speech protections, [a District Court has ruled] ... This ruling has implications for group welfare benefits plans, which handle protected financial and health information that is passed on to insurance companies subject to the consumer privacy protections under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 (GLB)." (Thompson Publishing Group)
DOL Sues Trustees of Union Health Plan To Recover Improper Benefit Payments
Excerpt: "The suit alleges that, between January 1994 and Dec. 31, 1995, those named individuals who were trustees during that period failed to adequately review, monitor and ensure the accuracy of employee eligibility information which they provided to Provident Life and Accident Insurance Company, which was serving as a third party administrator of the health and welfare plan." (U.S. Department of Labor, Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration)
Take a Break -- Please!
Excerpt: "Employees who forgo vacation time are cheating themselves and their families -- and they're not doing the boss any favors, either." (Business Week)
U.S. Plans To Rate Health Providers
Excerpt: "The federal government is planning for the first time to issue detailed ratings of the quality of care provided by nursing homes, Medicare health plans, dialysis centers and eventually hospitals and doctors, a senior Bush administration official announced yesterday." (Washington Post)
Texas Fines Intracorp For Not Telling Patients About External Review Rights
Excerpt: "Texas Insurance Commissioner Jose Montemayor has fined Rehabilitation Associates (doing business as Intracorp) $17,500 for failing to tell patients of their right to a binding independent review of decisions by insurers to deny payment for medical treatments recommended by their doctors." (insure.com)
Providing Prescription Drugs to Seniors: a Patchwork of Coverage (PDF)
8 pages, published Spring 2001. Excerpt: "The prescription drug work group developed this issue brief to outline the programs available in the private sector that provide prescription drugs for seniors and to further discuss issues related to prescription drug coverage for this population." (American Academy of Actuaries)
The Effects of Proposed Patient Protection Legislation on Managed Care (PDF)
6 pages, published Spring 2001. Excerpt: "As the debate over patient protection legislation continues in Congress and the states, two key issues have emerged: the scope of applicability of proposed legislation and the ability of enrollees to file legal action against their health plan. The purpose of this issue brief is to assist policy-makers in their understanding of these two issues." (American Academy of Actuaries)
Incoming Senate HELP Chair Ted Kennedy Plans Quick Action on Patients' Rights
Excerpt: "Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), the incoming chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, intends to move his patients' rights proposal (S. 283) 'immediately' after the Senate completes its work on President Bush's education package, the Washington Times reports." (KaiserNetwork.org)
Building a Better Carrot
Excerpt: "Navigant is one of an increasing number of companies that now offer incentive pay to many nonmanagement personnel, linking pay more closely to performance, as it shifts from fixed to more-variable annual compensation." (CFO.com)
Hokey Pokey in the Tax Bill: Shifting Government Employees' Pay Day
Excerpt: "The most egregious budget gimmick used to be assuming when a budget was passed that a federal payday would be shifted from a Friday to the next Monday so that the spending would be moved from one fiscal year to the next." (GovExec.com)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
| Retirement Administrator | for Delaware Investments in PA |
| Sales Executive- Human Resource Services Practice | for Ernst & Young LLP in CA, GA |
Newly Posted Press Releases
| A New Orleans Beverage Distribution Company Taps into CIGNA Retirement & Investment Services for 401(K) Plans (CIGNA Retirement & Investment Services) |
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