| The BenefitsLink Newsletter - Welfare Plans Edition |  |
July 19, 2001 - 6,294 subscribers
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Senator Seeks to Extend Patients' Bill of Rights to Federal Employees
Excerpt: "Federal employees could soon have additional health care protection thanks to a last-minute amendment by Sen. Don Nickles, R.-Okla., to the hotly debated 'patients' bill of rights.' ... Nickles' amendment, which also passed [in the Senate], extends those rights to federal employees as well. The bill will now go to the House for a vote." (GovExec.com)
HIAA Provides Materials to Bolster Asserted Harmful Effects of Patients' Rights Bill
Excerpt: "Impact of Patients' Bill of Rights, Dingell-Ganske-Norwood, H.R. 526, on the Employer-Based Health Insurance Population; HIAA actuarial analysis of Dingell-Ganske-Norwood 'patient protection' legislation; Actuarial Methodology of the Analysis of Dingell-Ganske-Norwood 'Patients' Bill of Rights'; State-by-State Analysis of the Potential Impact of the Patients' Bill of Rights" (Health Insurance Association of America)
Bipartisan Patient Protection Act of 2001: Highlights and Discussion (PDF)
10 pages. Excerpt: "This report outlines the major provisions in the Senate-passed bill. Compliance with these provisions will not be necessary unless and until a final bill is passed and signed by the President. Highlights: ..." (The Segal Company)
Some Employers Fret As Congress Mulls Patients' Rights Bill
Excerpt: "While large businesses mostly worry about the possibility of paying unlimited amounts for damages, small firms worry whether more suits against insurance companies will result in even higher premiums. The Senate proposal includes some protection for companies from lawsuits, provided they do not make the insurance coverage decisions themselves. But this would not help some 6 percent of companies directly managing their own health-care plans." (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
Patients' Rights Bill Revised Before House Vote to Include Deductions for Self-Employed Persons
Excerpt: "Congressional sponsors of a far-reaching patients' bill of rights will revise the legislation on Thursday to include Republican-backed tax breaks for small businesses and the self-employed. The move by Democratic Rep. John Dingell of Michigan and Republican Rep. Charlie Norwood of Georgia could bolster support for the legislation among Republicans and conservative Democrats ahead of next week's expected vote in the House of Representatives." (Reuters via Excite News)
Health Insurance Lobby Says Patients' Rights Bill is Bad News
Excerpt: "Some 6.5 million Americans would lose employer-sponsored health coverage under a patients' rights measure to be considered by members of the House of Representatives, the nation's insurance lobby said Wednesday." (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
Patients Rights Backers Ready for Fight on Hill
Excerpt: "House supporters of the Senate-passed McCain-Kennedy-Edwards patient protection bill are maneuvering to prevent House Republican leaders from defeating the bill with the same parliamentary strategy that derailed campaign finance reform." (Washington Times)
Analysis: Senate Passes Patients' Bill of Rights Legislation (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "The U.S. Senate passed the 'Bipartisan Patient Protection Act of 2001' (S. 1052), which is frequently referred to as the Patients' Bill of Rights (PBOR), on June 29, 2001. This Bulletin outlines the major provisions in the bill." (The Segal Company)
Sharp Rise Reported in Multiple Prescriptions
Excerpt: "More and better medicines are on the market now than in 1985, experts said.... But the survey's findings also suggest that drug advertising -- including the promotion of drugs directly to the public -- may be contributing to the trend." (Washington Post)
AHRQ Releases New Evidence on Proven Patient Safety Practices
Excerpt: "The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) today released new evidence on practices that could improve patient safety throughout the nation's health care system." (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality)
When Taking Two Aspirin Won't Do: a Primer on the Patients' Bill of Rights
Excerpt: "To help clarify some of the key issues, Knowledge@Wharton got in touch with Wharton faculty members who follow the health-care sector and asked them for their views on what provisions the final bill should include.... Arnold Rosoff, professor of legal studies and health care systems, stresses that the entire issue of managed care is so complex that it does not lend itself to facile analysis or easy solutions." (The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania)
New from EBRI: Executive summary of the July 2001 EBRI Notes articles
The two articles in this issue are (1) Employment-Based Health Promotion and Wellness Programs and (2) Retirement Annuity and Employment-Based Pension Income. (Employee Benefit Research Institute)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
| Consulting - Pension Actuary & Administrators | for Louis Kravitz & Associates, Inc. in CA |
| Pension Consultant/Administrator | for Gorrelick, Tievy & Associates, Inc. in MD (DC Suburbs) in MD |
| Benefits and Compensation Specialist | for Data Systems Analysts in NJ |
| Pension Administrator | for NSA Securities Corporation in IL |
Newly Posted Conferences (Post Yours!)
| Basics of Employee Retirement PLans | in MA on October 18, 2001 presented by New England Employee Benefits Council |
| Annual Benefits Fair and Trade Show | in MA on June 6, 2002 presented by New England Employee Benefits Council |
| ERISA Workshop - All New and Updated for EGTRRA! (1-day program) - 37 Locations | in CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, IA, IL, KS, LA, MA, MI, MN, MO, NC, NE, NJ, NM, NY, OH, OR, PA, TX, WA, WI on September 6, 2001 presented by SunGard Corbel |
| 4th Annual Funds@Work Conference | in CA on October 5, 2001 presented by Center for Working Capital |
| 2001 CCA Annual Meeting | in TX on October 14, 2001 presented by Conference of Consulting Actuaries |
| RetireMint | in NY on October 19, 2001 presented by ASEC ( American Savings Education Council), EBRI (Employee Benefit Research Institute) and RetireMint |
Subscribe to the Retirement Plans Edition, too (click)
Copyright 2001 BenefitsLink.com, Inc., but you may freely distribute this email newsletter in whole. This newsletter is edited by David Rhett Baker, J.D.
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