| The BenefitsLink Newsletter - Welfare Plans Edition |  |
June 28, 2001
Today's sponsor: DATAIR (click)
PC-based BENEFIT ADMINISTRATION SOFTWARE for Pensions, Profit-Sharing, 401(k), and Cafeteria plans used by TPAs and Plan Sponsors for proposals, enrollment, documents, administration, trust accounting, voice response, task management, government and participant reporting. Modules operate independently or fully integrated for data sharing, speed, accuracy, efficiency & savings. Visit www.datair.com or click on the link above!
Court: When COBRA Election Is Clearly Late, 'Incorrect' Date On Election Notice Does Not Matter
Excerpt: "Although an employer/plan administrator put an 'incorrect' return date on a COBRA election form, it was not obligated to provide COBRA coverage because even based on the correct date, the qualified beneficiary's election was untimely, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in an unpublished opinion. The case is Deering v. O.K. Industries, Inc., 2001 WL 498221 (8th Cir., May 11, 2001)." (Thompson Publishing Group)
Minnesota Court Rules Long Term Disability Policies Must Contain Mental Health Parity
Excerpt: "Long term disability policies in Minnesota that do not offer parity for mental and physical disabilities are in violation of the state's Human Rights Act, the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled June 26." (KaiserNetwork.org)
Bonuses in the Cards for Federal Employees
Excerpt: "Don't be surprised next year if your boss says he's going to give you a cash bonus, and then hands you what appears to be an ATM bank card. The Treasury Department is ordering agencies to get rid of the petty cash funds, known in government as imprest funds, from which agency managers often draw on-the-spot cash awards.... So now Treasury is encouraging agencies to hand out U.S. debit cards in place of cold cash awards." (GovExec.com)
California Panel To Discuss Mandatory Time-off Programs
Excerpt: "A state commission is slated to consider Friday an issue that affects the paychecks of hundreds if not thousands of Silicon Valley workers whose companies are telling them to stay home without their regular pay." (SiliconValley.com)
Insurance Companies Get Stricter on Clinical Trials
Excerpt: "preparation for what the insurance industry believes will be a marked increase in the number of lawsuits filed by subjects in drug and device trials over the next few years, underwriters are tightening up their requirements for sponsors seeking coverage of clinical trials, Chubb Insurance Life Sciences Casualty Manager Jill Wadlund warned during an interview with Reuters Health." (Reuters Health via Medscape; free registration required)
Patients' Bill of Rights Update
Excerpt: "Separate amendments on the scope of applicability of certain bill provisions by Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and John Breaux (D-LA) will be debated on the floor and votes will be held at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, June 28. Both amendments provide greater flexibility for states to apply their own patient protection laws on insured health plans, especially where state laws had been enacted before the effective date of the federal law." (American Benefits Council)
Senate Investigates Seminars Conducted by Health Business Consultants
Excerpt: "The Senate Finance Committee yesterday listened to investigators from the General Accounting Office as they testified that some medical business consultants are instructing doctors on how to overcharge the federal government and private insurers for services, ABC News.com reports." (KaiserNetwork.org)
GAO Report: Consultants' Billing Advice May Lead to Improperly Paid Insurance Claims
Excerpt: "[Y]ou asked that we (1) attend seminars or workshops that these consultants offer and (2) determine whether the consultants are providing advice that could result in improper or excessive claims to Medicare, Medicaid, other federally funded health plans, and private health insurance carriers.... certain consultants advocated not reporting or refunding overpayments received from insurance carriers after they were discovered ..." (U.S. General Accounting Office)
Democrats, Bush Head Into Showdown Over HMO Reform
Excerpt: "Senate Democrats will press for passage of a far-reaching patients' bill of rights as early as Thursday after hammering out agreements to limit liability of employers and ensure states meet the new standards. But they face major obstacles as Republicans and the White House mount a last-ditch effort to overhaul the Democrat-backed package, which President Bush has threatened to veto in its current form." (Reuters via Excite News)
Bush Seeks Help of House GOP on Patients' Rights
Excerpt: "As the Senate moves to vote as early as today on broad protections for patients in managed-care plans, President Bush has begun a strategy of aggressively coaxing House Republicans to endorse far more limited safeguards." (Washington Post)
Humor: Rights for the Patient Patient
Excerpt: "A patient has the right to go in front of an independent medical board and plead his case. If the ruling goes against him, he can go to court to overturn the medical board. The court must try the case in less than 10 years, unless the patient is over 80. Then it must be put on the calendar in five years." (Art Buchwald in the Washington Post)
Texas Employers Exempt from Liability Under 1997 Patients' Rights Law
Excerpt: "While governor of Texas, Bush allowed the landmark patients rights legislation to become law without his signature. It allows most consumers to sue HMOs in state court for decisions that caused physical harm or death. But Texas residents in health care plans funded by their employers currently can't sue in state court because their plans are regulated under federal, not state, law." (Cox News Service)
ERISA Preemption Preventing Full Application of Texas Patients Bill of Rights, Attorneys Say
Excerpt: "A series of recent court decisions shifting cases to federal courtrooms has diluted the power of the Texas patients' bill of rights, which allows people to sue HMOs for medical malpractice in state court, some attorneys say.... Fort Worth attorney George Parker Young ... says the spate of decisions 'in large part nullifies' the state law, which was hailed as a victory for managed-care consumers when the Texas Legislature passed it in 1997." (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
Senate Rejects Immunity for Employers of 51 or More Employees
Excerpt: "The Democratic-controlled Senate turned back dual attempts to soften patients' rights legislation on Wednesday as President Bush stepped up efforts to win passage of a measure less reliant on lawsuits and more to his liking.... On a vote of 54-45, the Senate rejected a proposal by Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., to exempt employers from patients' rights lawsuits if they have fewer than 51 employees." (Associated Press)
Senator Offers Amendment As Compromise on Patients' Rights Bill
Excerpt: "As the Senate struggled Wednesday over whether patients' rights legislation would unfairly burden employers with lawsuits, Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, stepped in with a compromise that would shield employers under most circumstances. The Snowe amendment, which will be voted on Thursday, would allow employers to use a 'designated decision-maker' outside the company to administer their health plan and make medical decisions, shielding the business from lawsuits." (Knight Ridder/Tribune)
At Center of Senate Battle, a Lawyer and a Doctor
Excerpt: "Senator John Edwards ... says his 20 years as a trial lawyer left him with an unshakeable belief that 'regular folks' deserve a level playing field in fights with corporate giants like health maintenance organizations and insurance companies. And the belief that insurance companies, in the end, respond to the bottom line. Senator Bill Frist ... [says] managed care has hurt the doctor-patient relationship ... [but] more litigation is not the way to solve it." (New York Times; free registration required)
Senators Agree on Liability Limits in Patients' Right to Sue
Excerpt: "The agreement says that employers have no liability unless they administer their own health plans and make decisions that harm patients by denying or delaying care." (New York Times; free registration required)
Comparison of State Managed Care Liability Laws
Excerpt: "Since Texas enacted the first law explicitly authorizing suits by enrollees in health plans offered by managed care organizations (MCOs) and other insurers, several other states have adopted similar legislation. This report, prepared by Patricia Butler, J.D., Dr.Ph., for the Kaiser Family Foundation, briefly describes the key features of these state laws, legal challenges that have been raised to some of them, and early experiences in states whose laws are in effect." (Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)
New International Accounting Standards Board May Try to Impose an Earnings Charge for Stock Options (PDF)
Excerpt: "Two 'leadership projects,' accounting for employee stock options and business combinations, are at the top of the agenda for fast-track action by the newly formed International Accounting Standards Board ('IASB').... A final decision to proceed with the stock option project will be made in July. The intent would be for any new stock option accounting standard that evolves from this process to be adopted by all eight nations, including the U.S." (Frederic W. Cook & Co., Inc.)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
| Defined Contribution Plan Administrator | for The Ross Companies in NY |
| Health Plan Auditor/Consultant - LT-010626-004 | for Hewitt Associates LLC in IL |
| Pension Consultant | for Fidelity Investments in MA |
| Pension Administrator | for B & B Benefits Administration, Inc. in CA |
| Manager, Employee Benefits | for Memorial Health University Medical Center in GA |
| Customer Service Representative - Retirement and Financial Services | for Fast Growing Retirement and Financial Services Department in Silicon Valley in CA |
| Employee Communications Consultant | for CitiStreet- A State Street and Citigroup company in MA |
Newly Posted Conferences (Post Yours!)
| FMLA; Coordinating FMLA, ADA, and Workers' Comp; COBRA; HIPAA; and Section 125 - Louisville | in KY on October 30, 2001 presented by A.E. Roberts Company |
| FMLA; Coordinating FMLA, ADA, and Workers' Comp; COBRA; HIPAA; and Section 125 - Chicago, O'Hare | in IL on October 30, 2001 presented by A.E. Roberts Company |
| FMLA; Coordinating FMLA, ADA, and Workers' Comp; COBRA; HIPAA; and Section 125 - Des Moines | in IA on October 30, 2001 presented by A.E. Roberts Company |
| FMLA; Coordinating FMLA, ADA, and Workers' Comp; COBRA; HIPAA; and Section 125 - Albuquerque | in NM on October 30, 2001 presented by A.E. Roberts Company |
Newly Posted Press Releases
| Larkspur Data and 401kExchange Deliver 401(k) Services to Financial Professionals (401kExchange.com) |
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