| The BenefitsLink Newsletter - Welfare Plans Edition |  |
August 1, 2001 - 6,168 subscribers
Today's sponsor: Glasser LegalWorks (click)
This timely "how to" program will address new DOL claims procedures, the avoidance of fiduciary liability after the Harris Trust decision, identifying conduct that might trigger a DOL investigation under its Strategic Enforcement Plan, and more.Designed for ERISA fiduciaries, investment advisors, and in-house, corporate, tax, labor, and insurance counsel. September 21 in Chicago; October 24 in New York. Click for full details!
Actuaries and Pharmacists -- Toward a New Competency
Excerpt: "As almost everyone is aware, pharmacy costs in recent years have risen faster than any other component of health care costs, with rates in the mid-to-high teens.... Accurately predicting the uptake and cost of new products could emerge as one of the most important issues health plans face. Pharmacists and actuaries have an opportunity to work together to help estimate the effects of these new therapies." (Journal of Managed Care Pharmacy via Medscape; free registration required)
German Doctors, Insurers Work Together to Cut Drug Costs
Excerpt: "Doctors' representatives and health insurance companies in Hamburg have unveiled a new scheme to work closely together to reduce the cost of prescriptions. As arguments over the growing cost of medicine continue nationally, the proposal is evidence that doctors and insurers are increasingly willing to put aside their differences and look to the future." (Reuters via Medscape; free registration required)
New Jersey Patients Get Right to Sue If HMO Delays or Denies Care
Excerpt: "Patients sustaining serious harm because of an HMO delay or refusal to pay for care will now be able to sue the insurer under legislation signed into law Monday by acting Gov. Donald T. DiFrancesco.... [P]atients who believe that an HMO decision has placed their lives or health in immediate danger may file suit in state court against the HMO. Most people, however, must first plead their case to a state-appointed medical panel before going to court." (The [Bergen County, N.J.] Record)
Text of ERIC Letter Opposing New Mental Health Parity Bill
Excerpt: "The Committee on Health, Education Labor and Pensions is scheduled to mark up S.543, the 'Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2001,' as early as this Wednesday, August 1, 2001. For the reasons discussed in detail below, I am writing on behalf of the members of The ERISA Industry Committee to strongly urge Committee members not to report the bill in its current form." (ERIC - the ERISA Industry Committee)
ERISA Industry Committee Says Expaned Mental Health Parity Bill Should Not Become Law
Excerpt: "By denying employers the flexibility they need to effectively craft a mental health benefit for their employees, S.543 ignores legitimate differences in the ways that mental health care and medical or surgical care are provided." (ERIC - the ERISA Industry Committee)
Squeezed HMOs Asking Employers for 20 Percent Premium Hikes
Excerpt: "If you haven't yet negotiated rate renewals on your insured health maintenance organization plans, you may be in for an unpleasant surprise. Employers who have already dipped their toes in the water have, in fact, gotten the bad news: In a time of low inflation, HMO premiums are heading straight up--and rising faster than expected." (CFO.com)
Heritage Foundation Says Patients' Rights Bill Ignores Free Market Options
Excerpt: "Robert Moffit, director of domestic policy studies for the Heritage Foundation, has released on the foundation's Web site three essays analyzing the debate surrounding the bills and offering alternatives." (KaiserNetwork.org)
House Leaders Plan Vote on Patient Rights on Thursday
Excerpt: "House leaders said [on Wednesday] they plan to bring patients' rights legislation to a vote Thursday, even as President Bush and his congressional opponents sparred over how close they are to a compromise that would avert a White House defeat on the proposal." (Washington Post)
What the Patients' Bill of Rights Means for Employers and Employees
Very well-written but temporary link (working as of 8/1/2001). Excerpt: "Currently, only about 6% of employers, mostly very large companies, are self-insured and self-administered.... However, all employers, large and small, even if their health plans are insured and administered by a third party, will likely experience some impact.... [T]he risk that goes along with being an insurer or designated decision maker will likely cause the cost of health benefits to increase." (Employment Practices Solutions)
Conflicting Reports on Possibility of Patients' Rights Deal
Excerpt: "A patients' bill of rights may indeed be considered in the House of Representatives by the end of this week, but key operatives on both sides of the issue would present vastly different odds on the probability of that debate actually happening. The White House, for its part, seemed confident Tuesday that action on the bill was imminent." (CNN.com)
Senators Pushing to Expand and Renew 1996 Mental Health Parity Act
Excerpt: "Senators say they are closing a loophole in a federal law meant to force insurers to cover mental health conditions as they would any other medical problem.... The [Mental Health Parity Act's] flaw, the senators said, is that it dictates equal footing only for annual and lifetime benefits provided patients. The new fix would prevent health plans from limiting hospital stays and doctors' visits for treatment of mental health symptoms." (New York Times; free registration required)
A Deal Is Near on Patients' Rights Bill
Excerpt: "White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said President George W. Bush and Rep. Charlie Norwood, R-Ga., a longtime champion of rights for patients in managed health-care plans, were close to a compromise ... Under terms of the pending compromise, Bush would accept a broad right of patients to sue their managed-care health insurers, while Norwood's coalition would grant Bush terms further limiting employers' liability in patients' lawsuits." (The Detroit Free Press)
Talks Continue on Patients' Right to Sue
Excerpt: "With House Republican leaders eager to schedule a vote this week on a patients' bill of rights, Congress and the White House haggled today over the biggest unresolved question: the right of consumers to sue health insurance companies and employers for treatment decisions that cause harm to patients.... House Republican leaders said they expected to take the issue to the House floor in the next few days, before Congress adjourns for a monthlong summer recess." (New York Times; free registration required)
Another Question is Answered in the Stock Options, Restricted Stock and Other Long-Term Employment Incentives Q&A Column
What is the common practice regarding stock options for rehires? Can/should options be re-issued? What are the pros, cons and tax implications of re-issuing stock options? (BenefitsLink.com)
Opinion: Broadcom CEO Nicholas Is No Billionaire Pay Hog
Excerpt: "It's weird, but chief executives who become billionaires either pay themselves too much or too little. They never get it just right -- or so it seems to me, though I'm not a billionaire. On the low side, you won't find a pay package easier to calculate than that of Henry Nicholas III, CEO of Broadcom Corp., the largest maker of semiconductors for cable modems." (Graef Crystal, on Bloomberg.com)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
| Director of New Business Implementations | for Northern Trust Retirement Consulting, LLC in GA |
| Pension Administrator | for Mid Atlantic Pension Design & Administration, Inc. in NJ |
| 401(k) Administrator | for National Retirement Services, Inc. (NRS) in CA |
Newly Posted Press Releases
| Falcon Technologies and vSimplify Join Forces To Provide Industry's Only Fully Integrated Laptop and Web-Based Benefits Administration and Enrollment Platform (vSimplify) |
| ERIC Urges Senators to Oppose Mental Health Parity Measure (The ERISA Industry Committee) |
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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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