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The BenefitsLink Newsletter -
Welfare Plans Edition
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June 25, 2001
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Bush Calls for Legislation to Prevent Genetic Discrimination
Excerpt: "President Bush this weekend called for legislation that would prevent 'genetic discrimination' by banning businesses and health insurers from denying people employment or coverage 'based on their inherited traits,' the Wall Street Journal reports.... Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) has called 'fighting genetic discrimination a top legislative priority.'" (KaiserNetwork.org)

Understanding Your Obligations Under HIPAA
Excerpt: "Hospitals, physicians, insurers, and others that create or receive individual health information will soon face the stringent privacy standards mandated by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). For many organizations inside and outside the health care industry, complying with HIPAA will force them to adopt new policies, revise contracts, and re-structure the way they handle health-related data." (Faegre & Benson LLP)

Good Faith Standard Not Met by Failing To Send Second Notice When Told First One Was Lost
Wooderson v. American Airlines, Inc. (N.D. Tex., March 23, 2001). 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." (Thompson Publishing Group)

Link to Eighth Circuit Case on Application of FICA Tax to Payments in Exchange for Tenure Rights (PDF)
Court holds that certain payments under an early retirement program by North Dakota State University are not subject to FICA tax because they were made in exchange for relinquishment of a property right (tenure), not as compensation for services. (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, via Findlaw.com)

Opinion: HMO Class Action Suits Are Good for Lawyers Only
Excerpt: "... on May 7 a group of 50 personal-injury lawyers packed a Miami courtroom as a judge considered whether to allow a class-action against several HMOs to go forward. If they follow the path of tobacco litigation, the HMO suits will both undermine the rule of law and leave only the personal injury lawyers better off." (Bill Pryor, Alabama Attorney General, in the Contra Costa Times)

Opinion: Patients' Rights Easier to Swallow
Excerpt: "... 44 states have some measure of patient protection on the books. That doesn't make a federal law unnecessary. Fewer than a dozen states grant the right to sue one's health maintenance organization. But as more states see that state laws that hold insurers accountable don't result in an explosion of lawsuits, more are adding the right to sue." (The Oregonian)

On Amendments to Self-Funded Plans for HIPAA Nondiscrimination Rules
Excerpt: "The HIPAA Nondiscrimination regulations, published in the Federal Register of January 24, 2001, deal with [the problem of applying new limits to currently covered employees] by giving a safe harbor to plans that are being amended. If a plan amendment becomes effective the first day (or later) of the next plan year after the amendment is adopted, the amendment will not be considered to be directed at any individual participant." (SunGard Corbel)

Transcript of PBS Interview with Senators Frist and Kennedy on Patients' Rights Bills
Also available in streaming audio or video. Excerpt: "Sens. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) discuss the growing patients' rights debate." (Online Newshour, PBS)

Senate Passes Measure to Increase Access to Trials
Excerpt: "The US Senate on Friday overwhelmingly approved an amendment calling for health plans to provide desperately ill patients with access to federally funded clinical trials." (Reuters via Medscape; free registration required)

White House Statement on Kennedy-McCain Bill (PDF)
Excerpt: "The President objects to the liability provisions of S. 1052. The President will veto the bill unless significant changes are made to address his major concerns. In particular, the serious flaws in S. 1052 include ..." (White House, reprinted by American Benefits Council)

Senators Seek a Compromise on Patients' Rights Measure
Excerpt: "Senators began serious bipartisan negotiations today to resolve the concerns of Republicans who fear that a far- reaching bill to define patients' rights would expose employers to costly lawsuits by patients aggrieved over the denial of care under employer-sponsored health plans." (New York Times; free registration required)

McCain to Bush: "Read the Bill"
Excerpt: "'The president's statement says this legislation subjects physicians ... to greater liability risks,' said McCain, who co-authored the bill with Democrats Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and John Edwards of North Carolina. 'My only answer to that: Read the bill.'" (ABCNews.com)

Bush: U.S. Should Ban Gene Discrimination
Excerpt: "Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., a principal sponsor of genetic discrimination legislation in the House, responded that Bush and many Republicans are latecomers to the genetic discrimination issue.... Bush said that his administration is working on its own version of the legislation now." (Associated Press)

Senators Put Human Faces on Patients' Rights Debate
Excerpt: "The bill, authored by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and John Edwards, D-N.C., has sparked a parade of photographs and mementos of patients who say they have struggled with HMOs. Putting a human face on a subject to make political points is a well-established strategy." (Knight Ridder/Tribune)

Patients' Rights Debate Set -- Should Employers Be Liable, Too?
Excerpt: "Democrats and Republicans working on a patients' bill of rights in the Senate are set to debate whether employers should be held liable when their workers are denied medical care. For years, the question was whether patients should have the right to sue. Now, the question is not whether they can sue - that's a given - but who they can sue." (Associated Press)

Patients' Rights: a Prescription for Lobbyists
Excerpt: "The debate in Congress over whether the government should guarantee protections for patients has opened this week in slow motion, with Republicans and Democrats sounding as if they are braced for a long, ugly fight. The lobbying, though, has become positively feverish." (Washington Post)

State Litigation At Heart of Patients' Rights Debate
This human interest story includes an excellent overview of the issues. Excerpt: "The 56-year-old Dallas grandmother sued Humana, taking advantage of the fact that Texas is one of seven states in which legislatures have begun to let patients sue their health plans in state courts. 'If an insurance company acts as a doctor,' said Bob Roark, who quit his job with an accounting firm to care for his wife of 37 years, 'they should be just as liable as a doctor would be.'" (Washington Post)

Opinion: Patients' Rights Rx Worse Than the Malady
Excerpt: "A debilitating civil war is under way in the American health care industry, and Congress will make it worse by passing the Kennedy-McCain patients' rights bill and inviting trial lawyers to enter the fray." (The Washington Times)

Is Health Insurance Affordable? Studies Conflict
Excerpt: "Health insurance coverage purchased directly by individuals and families is generally less expensive and more comprehensive than most policymakers believe, according to research released in Washington, DC on Thursday." (Reuters via Excite News)

Opinion: the Patients' Bill of Rights Is Only for the Insured
Excerpt: "This isn't a Patients' Bill of Rights. It's a Bill of Rights for People who have Insurance. It's also a bill of rights without the right to health care.... The United States is -- may I repeat -- the only industrialized country that doesn't guarantee the right to health care." (TheDailyCamera.com)

John Hancock Pitches Fixed Annuity to Pay for LTC Insurance
Excerpt: "Banking on the notion that you'll want to use Peter to pay Paul, John Hancock Life Insurance has introduced 'LTC EasyPay,' a long term care insurance payment plan that uses the income from a Hancock immediate fixed annuity to automatically pay premiums for Hancock long term care insurance." (insure.com)




Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
Qualified Retirement Plans Manager for Arthur Andersen, Human Capital Consulting
in IL
Senior Benefits Consultant for CB Richard Ellis
in CA
Benefits Analyst for Human Capital Management, Inc.
in AZ, CA, CO, DC, IL, MA, NH, NY
Pension Consultant for Mercer Global Advisors
in CA
Marketing Coordinator for INVESCO Retirement, Inc.
in GA
Compliance Officer for ICMA Retirement Corporation (RC)
in DC
Employer Support Specialist for ICMA Retirement Corporation (RC)
in DC
Account Consultant for Hartstein Associates, Inc.
in NJ



Newly Posted Press Releases
Invesmart Opposes Retirement Security Advice Act (Invesmart, Inc.)
CJM Planning Corp. Joins with 401kExchange! (401kExchange.com)
Southeastern Companies PEO Selects Hartford Life 401(k) Program (American Pension Services)

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