| The BenefitsLink Newsletter - Welfare Plans Edition |  |
August 22, 2001 - 6,189 subscribers
Today's sponsor: The ERISA Health and Welfare Handbook: Questions and Answers on ERISA Compliance (click)
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Offers guidance on more than 30 key issues involving ERISA and employee welfare plans, including benefits entitlement, HIPAA, plan document language, discrimination issues and employer obligations under managed care plans. Written by veteran benefits consultant Terry Humo, Esq. of Intermountain Administrators. Click to learn more!
Consumer Advocacy Group Publishes Online Forms for Patients' Use in Requesting Data Confidentiality
Excerpt: "The medical privacy rule specifically says that doctors, hospitals and health plans do not have to comply with patient requests for confidentiality. However, except for one required disclosure to the federal government and the OASIS questionnaire, they can choose to honor the wishes of patients." (Citizens' Council on Health Care)
Retiree Health Prognosis Dim, GAO Report Says
Excerpt: "The General Accounting Office's latest 38-page report on retiree medical benefits, released in June, is being greeted warmly by employers and employees alike as a helpful contribution to ongoing discussions about the weakening outlook for retiree health care." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Executive Summary of EBRI Issue Brief: Retiree Health Benefits: Trends and Outlook
Excerpt: "This Issue Brief presents the changes to retiree health benefits employers have made as a result of Financial Accounting Statement No. 106 (FAS 106), and possible future changes they may make in response to continued increases in health benefit costs, recent court rulings, and potential federal legislation.... As a result of FAS 106, and the increasing cost of providing retiree health benefits in general, many employers began a major overhaul of their retiree health benefit programs." (Employee Benefit Research Institute)
American Benefits Council Statement on Recission of EEOC ADEA Interpretation
Excerpt: "The rescinded EEOC policy on retiree health coverage was based on an August 2000 decision by the Third Circuit federal appeals court in the Erie County case. The court held that the age discrimination law applies to employers who provide different health care benefits for retirees younger than age 65 and those who are eligible for Medicare once they reach age 65." (American Benefits Council)
EEOC Drops Uniformity Policy on Retiree Health Benefits
Excerpt: "The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, reversing a policy it adopted last October, has voted not to pursue age-discrimination cases against employers that offer different health-care plans to older retirees than to younger ones. In a unanimous decision last week, the EEOC voted to drop from its compliance manual language drawn from a federal appeals court's decision last year that applied the Age Discrimination in Employment Act to retirees." (Washington Post)
Long Term Care Insurance: Debunking the Myths
Excerpt: "A poll by The Gallup Organization shows that 76 percent of Americans believe they will never have the need for a nursing home, an assisted living program, home and community-based care, or any other type of LTC service. But the fact is two out of five Americans will need nursing home care at some point in their lives.... Failure to prepare for the cost of a nursing facility stay or other LTC is the primary cause of impoverishment among the elderly." (GE Long Term Care Insurance Company for Illinois)
Globalization Spurs Exchange of Benefit Ideas
Excerpt: "[Peter D. Crist, vice chairman of Korn/Ferry International, said] 'I believe that America is becoming much more European in the manner in which we think about work, with a greater premium on leisure time. And other countries are adopting our work ethic, which is a much more competitive mind-set." (Chicago Tribune)
Small Businesses Providing Less Health Care Coverage, While Costs Continue To Rise
Dunn & Bradstreet, a provider of business information for credit, marketing, and purchasing decisions, recently conducted its 20th annual small business survey, which is designed to give a broad overview of issues and problems facing small businesses today. The survey defines small businesses as those with 25 or fewer employees. (Spencernet)
Appeals Court Finds That Plan Had Sufficient Evidence To Terminate Disability Benefits
In Delta Family-Care Disability and Survivorship Plan v. Marshall (Nos. 00-3441 and 00-3923), the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that a federal district court erred when it ordered a long term disability plan to reinstate a beneficiary's LTD benefits. According to the appellate court, the plan's decision to terminate the beneficiary's LTD benefits was supported by sufficient evidence to pass the deferential abuse-of-discretion standard of review. (Spencernet)
In Sickness and in Health: An Annuity Approach to Financing Long-term Care and Retirement Income
30 pages; click on 'PDF version' button. Excerpt: "[W]e show that combining [an immediate income annuity with long-term care disability coverage at retirement ages] could reduce the cost of both coverages and make them available to more persons by reducing adverse selection in the income annuity and removing the need for medical underwriting for the disability coverage." (TIAA-CREF Institute)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
| Pension Consultant | for Fidelity Investments in MA |
| Compliance Manager | for Fidelity Investments in MA, NH |
| Employee Benefits Consultant | for Fidelity Investments in KY, OH, TX |
| Pension Administrator | for Benefits Resource Group, Inc. in CA |
| 401(k) Administrator | for Fine Host Corporation in CT |
| Pension Administrator/Accountant | for Boulay, Heutmaker, Zibell & Co. P.L.L.P. in MN |
| Actuarial Systems Engineer | for Northern Trust Retirement Consulting, L.L.C. in WA |
| Compensation & HRIS Administrator | for Private Healthcare System in MA |
| Enrolled Actuary | for Small East Coast Pension Consulting Firm in CT, MA, NJ, NY, RI |
Newly Posted Webcasts (Post Yours!)
| Survey on Consumer Experiences with Health Plans | on August 30, 2001 presented by Kaiser Family Foundation |
| Employer Health Benefits Survey Release | on September 6, 2001 presented by Kaiser Family Foundation |
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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