| The BenefitsLink Newsletter - Welfare Plans Edition |  |
July 25, 2001 - 6,231 subscribers
Today's sponsor: EBIA's ERISA Compliance for Health & Welfare Plans (click)
ERISA Compliance for Health & Welfare Plans is an authoritative resource for employers, administrators and advisors. Written by leading employee benefits attorneys, this manual has all the information you need to bring your welfare benefit plans into compliance with ERISA. Click on the banner to learn more about this valuable treatise-- always kept current through periodic updates.
Fletcher Bill Lacks Votes for Passage, Washington Post Reports
Excerpt: "Despite a 'full-throttled campaign' by the Bush administration to push patients' rights legislation (HR 2315) sponsored by Rep. Ernie Fletcher (R-Ky.) and backed by the House Republican leadership, the bill does not have enough supporters to pass, White House officials and Bush's congressional allies 'acknowledged' [on Monday], the Washington Post reports." (KaiserNetwork.org)
G.O.P. in House Faces New Split on Patients' Rights
Excerpt: "For years the roughly 30 to 50 House moderates have declared that this is their moment to shape their party agenda, only to cave in to the demands of their leadership. Some had proclaimed that this year would be different, that the excruciatingly close partisan divide would make them power brokers." (New York Times; free registration required)
House Leaders May Delay Patients' Rights Vote
Excerpt: "House supporters of a White House-backed patients' protection bill said [Monday] they need just 'a handful of votes' to pass the legislation instead of a Senate-passed measure opposed by President Bush, but House leaders may yet delay a vote planned this week." (Washington Times)
Lobbying Intensifies As House of Representatives Nears HMO Vote
Excerpt: "With the House set to begin the patients' rights debate as early as this week, Republican leaders conceded Tuesday that they have yet to round up the votes Bush needs to block the bill, which expands the right of patients to sue their health plan, and push through legislation setting strict limits on lawsuits." (Reuters via Excite News)
Anxiety on Capitol Hill As House Awaits Patients' Rights Vote
Excerpt: "House Republican leaders, eager to prevent a legislative meltdown akin to the campaign finance imbroglio seen on the floor earlier this month, are awaiting the deployment of one big gun before they decide when to move forward with House debate on the patients' bill of rights." (CNN.com)
Comparison of Key Issues in the Three Patients' Rights Bills (PDF)
12 page detailed chart. Excerpt: "Summary Comparison of Key Issues in Kennedy-McCain Bill, Ganske-Dingell Bill and Fletcher-Peterson Bill." (American Association of Health Plans)
The Patients' Bill of Rights: Republicans Count their Votes
Excerpt: "Republicans don't have the votes to defeat the Dems' version. Their conundrum: Force a vote now and let Bush wield veto power, or hope the President can work his magic on wavering members?" (Time.com)
How Will Patients' Rights Legislation Affect Self-Funded Health Plan Administration?
Excerpt: "[Question:] isn't Congress going to give employers an 'exemption' from liability? [Answer:] In order to get the 'exemption,' employers would need to totally give up all decision powers over the plan.... The 'exemption' would require you to name the person or entity to whom you give up all power to be the 'designated decision-maker'-- who would, in turn, become the official target & punching-bag for lawsuits." (Society of Professional Benefit Administrators)
Employer-Sponsored Health Care Services
Excerpt: "The outcomes -- reduced health care costs, improved quality of care, increased worker productivity, and lower absenteeism -- are well worth the investment.... All services described here are offered at the employer's work site (whether a heavy manufacturer or a corporate headquarters) or nearby, thus providing employees ready access to necessary health care." (Medscape; free registration required)
Patients' Rights Bills Would Give Patients Right to 3rd-Party Review
Excerpt: "of the key provisions of the patients' rights bills under consideration in Congress is a rule requiring insurers to submit patients' grievances to independent reviewers.... While the proposals being debated vary, all include provisions aimed at easing hassles for consumers." (USA Today)
Opinion: Will the G.O.P. Scuttle the Patients' Bill of Rights, Too?
Excerpt: "[S]upporters of the patients' bill of rights are holding their breath to see what parliamentary rules House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., uses to introduce the bill this week, a decision that should be announced Tuesday night." (Salon.com)
Another Question is Answered in the Cafeteria Plans Q&A Column
Under my company's qualified transportation fringe benefit program, employees elect prior to the first day of the year to have their pay reduced (up to $180 per month) to pay for qualified parking expenses, then later request reimbursement for their expenses (up to $180 per month). Generally, our employees purchase monthly parking passes on the first day of the month for that month's parking. Can the employee be reimbursed immediately? (BenefitsLink.com)
Position Paper: Why State Health Plan Liability Is a Ticking Time Bomb (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "State health plan liability laws are new laws-- most either have not yet become effective or have become effective within the past year. Of the nine state health plan liability laws that have been enacted, three have not yet become effective (WA, OR and WV) and three others have been effective for less than one year (CA, AZ, and ME). Only the Texas law was in effect before the year 2000, and the Texas law was being challenged in federal court until last year." (American Association of Health Plans)
Interpretation of ERISA-Covered Severance Plan Gives No Special Weight to Employer's Intent
Bock v. Computer Associates International, Inc. and Platinum Technology, Inc. (7th Cir. 2001). Excerpt: "[W]e proceed to evaluate the agreement under general contract principles, without giving special weight to the intent of either party.... That said, 'the overriding purpose in construing a contract is to give effect to the mutual intent of the parties at the time the contract was made.'" (FindLaw.com)
Employers Continue Offering Programs to Promote Health and Productivity
Press release. Excerpt: "[A] new study by Hewitt Associates shows that 92 percent of U.S. companies currently offer some kind of health promotion program, up from 88 percent in 1995." (Business Wire via Excite News)
HIPAA Preemption of Privacy Laws in California (PowerPoint)
Microsoft Powerpoint presentation. Free Powerpoint Viewer application for Windows computers is available at http://www.microsoft.com/office/ork/xp/appndx/appa13.htm (Davis Wright Tremaine LLP)
Bill for Coverage of Infertility Treatments Awaits New Jersey Governor's Signature
Excerpt: "The legislation, though, which aims to have insurers cover such treatments as in vitro fertilization, has both advocates and critics. On one side are those whose only chance of getting pregnant is modern medicine. On the other side are health insurance companies, who say their costs and ultimately, those who they insure, will spike upward if Acting Gov. Donald T. DiFrancesco signs it." (Boston Globe)
Japan Faces Meltdown In Nearly Bankrupt Universal Health Insurance System
Excerpt: "Japan's public and private insurance programs guarantee medical care for nearly all the nation's 126 million people. Patients can be treated at almost any hospital or clinic. Insurance plans rarely resist paying for treatments ordered by doctors. Infants get free health care. But the program, often held up as a shining example of Japan's postwar economic miracle, is on the brink of collapse." (Boston Globe)
Protecting Individual Health Information (PDF)
Excerpt: "Imagine a box. Once an individual gives a consent there can be a free flow of medical information inside the box among 'covered entities.' ... The covered entities inside the box include a health plan, a healthcare clearing house, and a health care provider that transmits information in electronic form. An employer is not a covered entity, which means they do not have the benefit of the free flow of information." (Jenkins & Gilchrist)
Welcome to new BenefitsLink advertiser BCI edu.com
Excerpt: "Our goal is to understand your education and communication needs and work together to arrive at customized solutions that meet your specific objectives. With your input, we will customize and design our services and products specific to your company's needs. Our services include internet software solutions as well as traditional training with the objective to allow you to effectively educate your own employees."
Andersen News Brief Discusses New Comparability Regs, Determination Letter Application Procedures
July 16, 2001 issue. Other articles: EGTRRA plan amendments; death benefit/severance benefit trust arrangement ruled not a Sec. 419A(f)(6) welfare benefit plan; DOL extends compliance date for health plan claims procedures; Eleventh Circuit upholds Winn-Dixie COLI case; Eighth Circuit overrules IRS on employer-provided aircraft deductions. (Andersen)
Opinion: CEO Pay Soared More Than You Thought
Excerpt: "American workers in the last 33 years have seen a fivefold rise in their pay. Not bad, though nothing like the monstrous increase in CEO pay. Chief executives in the past three decades have enjoyed a 40-fold pay increase -- meaning they've lapped the field eight times over." (Graef Crystal, on Bloomberg.com)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
| Plan Administrator/Consultant | for Simpkins & Associates in TX |
| Experienced Benefits Attorneys | for Rhoades Law Firm, PC in PA |
| Conversion Manager | for CDM Retirement Consultants, Inc. in MD |
Newly Posted Conferences (Post Yours!)
| EGTRRA Seminar | in IL on August 9, 2001 presented by Buck Consultants, Inc. |
Newly Posted Press Releases
| Staples Inc. Completes Multiple Web-based Healthcare Procurement Transactions (IE-Engine Inc.) |
| Hobbs Group client utilizes e-procurement technology (IE-Engine Inc.) |
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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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