| The BenefitsLink Newsletter - Welfare Plans Edition |  |
June 15, 2001
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Chart of Key Employer Concerns with Patients' Bill of Rights Legislative Proposals
Excerpt: "The Senate is expected to begin debate on a 'Patients' Bill of Rights' next week. Senators need to hear from employers today about their strong opposition to the Kennedy-McCain bill, which is the patient protection proposal (S. 872) sponsored by Senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and John McCain (R-AZ) and the bill that will be under consideration in the Senate. The Council has released a ... chart describing the key employer concerns with the various legislative proposals." (American Benefits Council)
Opinion: the Double-Edged Helix
Excerpt: "Advances in genetic testing reveal yet another reason we need national health insurance; genetic discrimination could prevent a person from getting disability insurance." (Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, published by the Physicians for a National Health Program)
DC Health Plans Coming Soon to Washington State
Excerpt: "Regence BlueShield will team up with MyHealthbank to offer Web-based defined contribution plans to the more than 1.5 million employees in Washington state who work for employers with 50 or more employees." (insure.com)
Non-Network Benefits Denied When Dependent Failed to Meet Out-of-Area Criteria
Excerpt: "A plan properly denied out-of-network benefits for a dependent who had moved out of the service area to attend a non-network residential care facility, but did not meet the plan's eligibility requirements for out-of-area dependents, a federal district court in Illinois held. The case is Renaldi v. Sears Roebuck and Co.... (N.D. Ill., March 21, 2001)." (Thompson Publishing Group)
Federal Court Issues Decision That May Cost Health Plans Billions
Excerpt: "If Judge Lasnik's reasoning [in Erickson v. Bartell Co.] is adopted by other federal courts, employers are going to be subjected to extensive litigation and potentially billions in additional costs for their health plans. Any exclusion in a comprehensive health plan that falls on one sex is, under this reasoning, potentially facially or per se discriminatory: e.g, exclusions of Viagra, any contraceptives, or sex-specific infertility treatments are all now subject to challenge." (McCalla Thompson LLP)
9th Circuit Upholds San Francisco's Domestic Partner Benefits
Excerpt: "A city ordinance requiring contractors doing business with San Francisco to offer benefits to domestic partners was unanimously upheld Thursday by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals." (Law.com)
The Ins and Outs of ASOs
Excerpt: "As employers look for ways to reduce the cost of providing benefits, they have increasingly self-insured a greater portion of risk through administrative services only (ASO) arrangements. Today, health and dental benefits, short-term (STD) and even long-term disability (LTD) benefits are provided on an ASO basis." (Benefits Canada)
Patients' Bill of Rights Makes a Comeback
Excerpt: "After a brief hiatus, the perennial battle over the Patients' Bill of Rights has begun again on Capitol Hill. And while lawmakers on both sides of the aisle claim to be more than ready to sign a bill into law, the crucial question remains: Whose bill will they sign?" (Time.com)
White House Convenes Meeting on Patients' Bill of Rights
Excerpt: "Thursday's meeting included nine senators, representing three different versions of bills providing protections to patients, with the main sticking point centered around a patient's right to sue." (CNN.com)
Opinion: Miners Should Work to Close ERISA Loophole on Retiree Health Benefits
Excerpt: "Why is it that a UMW miner who worked more than 20 years for union coal companies that contributed to industrywide health plans can't get retiree health benefits? The answer is that the law, Employee Retirement and Insurance Security Act, or ERISA, lets such multi-employer plans amend their terms upon implementation of each new bargaining agreement." (Robert B. Wilson in the Charleston [W. Va.] Gazette)
GOP Leaders Prepare HMO Legislation
Excerpt: "House Republicans are preparing bills to address the regulation of HMOs and other health plans, anticipating a battle with Senate Democrats over new patients' rights." (Associated Press)
Opinion: Act Now for Patients' Bill of Rights
Excerpt: "The McCain-Edwards-Kennedy/Ganske-Dingell bill (S. 283/H.R. 526) is the only bill that delivers the strong, comprehensive, and enforceable patient protections that Americans need and deserve. This bill is the only one that meets every key principle for managed care reform ..." (National Patient Advocate Foundation)
Insurers Begin TV Ads Against Reform Bill
Excerpt: "The American Association of Health Plans today launched a new television advertising campaign to persuade the public that the Kennedy-McCain patients' rights bill would increase healthcare costs by promoting litigation." (Modern Health Care)
House G.O.P. Rushes to Get a Rights Bill Before Rivals
Excerpt: "House Republican leaders rushed today to write a bill defining patients' rights, and said they hoped to push it through the House before the Senate completed work on a rival bill favored by Democrats, who want to set much more stringent standards for health insurance plans." (New York Times; free registration required)
Opinion: Frist-Breaux-Jeffords Is the Wrong Approach to Managed Care Accountability
Excerpt: "... while Senators Frist, Breaux and Jeffords acknowledge that accountability is a necessary part of any Patients' Bill of Rights, the liability provisions of their bill, S. 889, offer little help. A much better approach is contained in the bill offered by Senators McCain, Edwards and Kennedy, S. 872." (Public Citizen)
Health Insurance Agency Gets New Name, Structure
Excerpt: "The Health Care Financing Administration -- the corner of the federal government that, perhaps more than any other, politicians loved to hate -- is a relic of the past. As of yesterday, the agency that handles public health insurance for 70 million poor, elderly and disabled Americans has a new name, after a five-day contest among agency employees.... The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services." (Washington Post)
North Carolina Law to Speed Payments from Managed Care Companies
Excerpt: "The prompt-pay legislation will ensure doctors will either get paid, be denied or be asked for more information within 30 days of filing a claim with a managed-care company. The N.C. Department of Insurance will be the policing agency." (Business Journal of Charlotte)
Comparison of Current Law and New Law Under EGTRRA
14-page table, in HTML (online) format. (Groom Law Group)
Andersen Executive Compensation Newsletter
2nd quarter 2001 edition. Articles include: 'Stock option awards; The lessons we should remember: Respect your employees and the importance of stock options; Rescission of stock option exercises; Stock option alchemy: turning lead into gold." (Andersen)
IRS To Survey Businesses To Measure Compliance Burden
The Internal Revenue Service has announced that it is conducting a survey to measure the time and cost burden placed on business taxpayers in complying with federal income tax laws and regulations. (SpencerNet)
Fidelity Investments Expands Its Stock Option Business to Offer Administrative Services
Press release. Excerpt: "Fidelity Investments(R) today announced it has expanded its stock option offerings from execution-only services for individual investors to include full plan administration for companies wanting help managing their employee stock plan needs ... Fidelity provides real-time exercises and Web-based educational content for employees, automated record keeping and share/money movement, comprehensive reporting, as well as a dedicated service team for the company." (Business Wire via Excite News)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
| Employee Benefit Analyst | for Watson Wyatt & Company in MA |
| 401(k) Recordkeeping Manager | for PFPC in MN |
| Recordkeeper/Administrator - Defined Contribution Plans | for Oak Brook, Illinois-based employee benefit and human resources consulting firm in IL |
| Service Integration Manager - Marlborough , Massachusetts | for Fidelity Investments in MA |
| Actuarial Analyst | for Watson Wyatt in CA |
| Benefits/Payroll compliance Analyst | for Domino's Pizza in MI |
| Internal sales/sales support representative | for National Retirement Services Institution in Denver in CO |
Newly Posted Conferences (Post Yours!)
| Health Care Update- Results of Mercer Foster Higgins Survey | in VA on June 28, 2001 presented by Richmond Chapter- ISCEBS |
| Fmily And Medical Leave Act In Alabama | in AL on August 28, 2001 presented by Lorman Education Services, Inc |
| Form 5500 Workshop | in WA on August 21, 2001 presented by ASPA |
| Advanced Defined Contribution Workshop | in PA on August 27, 2001 presented by ASPA |
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