| The BenefitsLink Newsletter - Welfare Plans Edition |  |
July 27, 2001 - 6,231 subscribers
Today's sponsor: The COBRA Administrator Handbook (click)
The first and only compliance manual designed specifically for COBRA self-administration. Simple step-by-step format ensures accurate COBRA documentation, efficient record keeping and complete COBRA compliance protection. The only manual written by expert third-party administrators for COBRA nonprofessionals!
Bush Gives on Patients Bill, but Democrats Want More
Excerpt: "The concessions offered by Mr. Bush would make it easier for patients to sue insurance companies in state court for injuries caused by the denial of care. Mr. Norwood's allies on Capitol Hill welcomed the White House effort but criticized the substance of the proposal." (New York Times; free registration required)
Rough Ride in House: G.O.P. Hustles on Patients' Rights
Excerpt: "On Wednesday, House Republican leaders, lacking the votes for a quick victory, said they would delay action on a patients' bill of rights, possibly until after Labor Day. But [Representative J. Dennis] Hastert insisted today that it was his 'intent' to hold the vote next week, and not let it fester over the August Congressional recess." (New York Times; free registration required)
Plaintiffs' Attorneys in HMO Class Action Ask for Certification of 50 Million People as the Class
Excerpt: "A small group of HMO subscribers asked a US judge on Tuesday to certify their fraud claims against the nation's largest managed care companies as a class action that could represent in excess of 50 million people ... In a day-long hearing attended by at least 100 lawyers in a packed Miami courtroom, attorneys for HMO customers in six separate lawsuits told Moreno that the cases deserved class action status ..." (Reuters via Medscape; free registration required)
Lobbyists Pushing for COBRA Subsidies from New York State for Out-of-Work Entertainers
Excerpt: "The bill provides that the state health commissioner subsidize the health insurance continuation benefits. It permits a subsidy of up to 50% of the required individual continuation premium for up to one year." (Backstage.com via Yahoo! News)
Panel Votes to Sweeten Long-Term Care Insurance for Federal Employees
Excerpt: "The House Government Reform Committee approved a bill Wednesday that sweetens the terms for federal employees who buy private long-term care policies at a group discount, under the authority of a federal law passed last year (PL 106-265)." (GovExec.com)
Congressional Budget Office Estimates Cost of Senate-Passed Patients' Bill of Rights Act
Excerpt: "CBO estimates that S. 1052, if enacted, would ultimately increase the premiums for health plans sponsored by private employers (including self-employed individuals) and by state, local or tribal governments by an average of 4.0 percent ... CBO assumes that 60 percent of that increase would be offset by changes in profits and by purchasers switching to less expensive plans, cutting back on benefits, or dropping coverage." (Congressional Budget Office)
Congressional Budget Office Estimates Cost of Fletcher-Sponsored House Version of Patients' Bill of Rights Act
Excerpt: "CBO estimates that the patient protection provisions in title I of H.R. 2315, if enacted, would ultimately increase the premiums for health plans sponsored by private employers (including self-employed individuals) and by state, local or tribal governments by an average of 2.6 percent ... CBO assumes that 60 percent of that increase would be offset by changes in profits and by purchasers switching to less expensive plans, cutting back on benefits, or dropping coverage." (Congressional Budget Office)
Large Employers See Bigger Premium Hikes for HMOs Than for Other MCO Types, Survey Finds
Excerpt: "Large employers that use HMOs to insure their workers could be 'hit' next year with premium increases of 'as much as 20% to 50%,' according to a recent survey of employer-sponsored health plans, Gannett News/Arizona Republic reports." (KaiserNetwork.org)
Opinion: a Report on Massachusetts' Healthcare Reform Law
Excerpt: "One year ago, then Governor Paul Cellucci signed the Massachusetts Managed Care Reform Act with much celebration ... This is the state's health care reform report card:" (John D. Goodson, M.D. in the Boston Globe)
Most U.S. Employers Still Offer Health Coverage Despite Cost Increases
Excerpt: "Despite healthcare cost increases and other pressures facing corporate America, an overwhelming majority of US companies still offer some kind of health-promotion program, the benefits consulting firm Hewitt Associates reports." (Reuters via Excite News)
Retirees Face Health Benefit Premium Hikes
Excerpt: "Not only are fewer companies offering new retirees health coverage, but many of those that have benefit plans are revamping them, angering former employees ... Companies say they are changing retiree benefits in response to financial pressures brought by a weakening economy and soaring health insurance costs. Health insurance premiums, which stayed relatively flat mid-decade, are now rising in the double digits each year." (USA Today)
ERISA Industry Committee Says Ganske-Norwood-Dingell Bill Fails To Shield Employers From Liability
Excerpt: "The 'designated decisionmaker' language being touted as 'shielding' employers from lawsuits and uncapped economic and non-economic damages has numerous loopholes which can be easily exploited by plaintiffs' attorneys.... Even if the 'designated decisionmaker' language worked -- which is definitely does not -- it would not eliminate employers' liability: it simply transfers that liability to an insurer, HMO or other third-party administrator." (ERIC - the ERISA Industry Committee)
Rep. Charlie Norwood: Former Dentist from Georgia Plays Key Role in Patients' Rights Legislation
Excerpt: "The pitched battle over patients' rights legislation increasingly hinges on negotiations between President Bush and a former dentist from Georgia who has made reforming health care insurance his signature issue in Congress." (Los Angeles Times)
Opinion: Profit Motive Helps Deliver More Compassionate Medicine
Excerpt: "I just got a new view of the [public vs. private healthcare] issue when I found myself having to visit two hospitals -- one for-profit, the other nonprofit -- for relief from a painful and crippling condition." (Tom G. Palmer on lp.org - the Libertarian Party)
Tech Giants Targeting SEC Stock Option Rule
Excerpt: "A group of technology giants, including Microsoft and Verizon, are trying to kill a rule proposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission that would require companies to make more extensive disclosures about their use of stock options as part of employee pay packages." (Washington Post)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
| Compliance Specialist | for Dreyfus in NY |
| Defined Benefit Administrator | for Mellon Employee Benefit Solutions in NJ |
| Employee Benefits Consultant | for Fidelity Investments in KY, OH |
| Benefits Manager | for RMH Teleservices in PA |
| Benefits Specialist | for TAC Worldwide Companies in MA |
| Document Specialist/Administrative Assistant/Secretary/Pension Paralegal | for Bala Cynwd, Pennsylvania Pension Law & TPA Firm in PA |
| Senior Plan Administrator | for Decimal, Inc. - The Online 401(k) in CA |
| Plan Document Specialist | for Merit Benefits Group, Inc. in IL |
Newly Posted Conferences (Post Yours!)
| Managed Care Organizations: The 2nd National Legal Forum for Healthcare Attorneys and Corporate Counsel | in NY on November 15, 2001 presented by The American Conference Institute |
| HIPAA Compliance: The Next Phase of Healthcare Privacy for Hospitals, Healthcare Networks and Their Legal and Other Advisors | in NY on October 25, 2001 presented by The American Conference Institute |
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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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