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November 5, 2001 - 6,532 subscribers
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For Many, COBRA Health Coverage Too Costly After Layoffs
Excerpt: "With employer group plans costing up to $2,650 per year on average for an individual and more than $7,000 for a family annually, the burden on laid-off workers to pick up the tab while they are searching for a new job can be a frustrating, back-breaking task." (The Detroit News)
Few Ex-Employees Choose COBRA But Those Who Do Are Heavy Users, Study Finds
Excerpt: "'The claims costs are higher with COBRA, because the people who tend to take COBRA are people who are sick,' said Steven Huth, managing editor at Charles D. Spencer & Associates. Average claims costs for COBRA participants were 52 percent greater than those for active employees, according to the survey." (The Business Journal of Milwaukee)
ERISA Statutory Penalties For COBRA Notice Violation Awarded to Participant Only
Wright v. Hanna Steel Corp. (11th Cir. 2001). Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: This case is unusual for the relatively high daily penalty ($75) assessed. Although the statute allows assessment of penalties of up to $110 per day, most reported cases reflect penalties in the range of $10 to $20 per day." (EBIA Weekly)
Voluntary Employee-Paid Insurance Program Is ERISA Plan Because Employer Negotiated Program Terms
Welch v. New York Life Ins. Co. (N.D. Ca. 2001). Excerpt: "An employer converts a voluntary employee-pay-all insurance program into an ERISA plan when it negotiates the design of the program with the insurer. This was the holding of the trial court here, which was asked to consider whether ERISA preempted state-law benefit claims brought by a covered employee against the insurer." (EBIA Weekly)
Claims to Enforce WHCRA Must Be Brought Under ERISA's General Enforcement Provisions
Howard v. Coventry Health Care of Iowa, Inc. (S.D. Iowa 2001). Excerpt: "The plaintiff then filed suit alleging various state-law claims plus a claim under the Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act (WHCRA), which requires plans to cover reconstructive surgery following mastectomy.... The court also dismissed the WHCRA claim, but only because the plaintiff insisted that she was suing directly under that statute and not under ERISA's general enforcement provisions." (EBIA Weekly)
CBGH Negotiates Below-Market Health Care Premium Increases For Its Member Companies
The Chicago Business Group on Health (CBGH), a nonprofit employer health care coalition, has announced that it has successfully negotiated below-market health care premium increases for its members. Thirteen organizations, covering 67,000 HMO members and paying more than $110 million in HMO premiums, joined forces in the 2001 CBGH purchasing activity. (Spencernet)
Higher Deductibles, Savings Accounts Gaining Favor
Excerpt: "New high-deductible health insurance policies are coming to market - as employers struggle with ever-higher premiums for employee health coverage, and as laid-off workers weigh whether to shoulder those costs. Cash-strapped employers and unemployed workers alike may take a harder look at whether to switch to less expensive coverage, in the form of high-deductible, catastrophic health insurance." (Puget Sound Business Journal)
ERISA Industry Committee Urges Senate Not to Adopt Expanded Mental Health Parity Bill
Excerpt: "The amendment's broad parity requirement is fundamentally misguided because it mistakenly assumes that patients consume mental health services the same way they consume general medical and surgical services, and therefore any differences in coverage between the two are inherently discriminatory. In fact, patients do not consume mental health services the same way they consume other health care services ..." (ERISA Industry Committee)
Retiree Health Coverage Addressed in Congressional Hearing
The formal topic of the hearing was 'Retirement Security for the American Worker: Opportunities and Challenges.' Includes remarks of William J. Scanlon, U.S. General Accounting Office; Patricia Neuman, Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation; Chip Kerby, William M. Mercer, Incorporated. (U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Education and the Workforce, Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations)
The Future of Retiree Health Benefits: Challenges and Options
Excerpt: "The statement describes the health needs of aging adults and the importance of health insurance coverage at a time in their lives when they face increasing health problems. It then reviews insurance challenges facing both early retirees as well as retirees who are 65 and older, against the backdrop of a steady erosion in retiree health benefits in recent years." (The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)
Job-Based Health Insurance In 2001: Inflation Up, Managed Care Retreats
Excerpt: "Drawing on the results of a national survey of 1,907 firms with three or more workers, this paper reports on several facets of job-based health insurance, including the cost to employers and workers; plan offerings and enrollments; patient cost sharing and benefits; eligibility, coverage, and take-up rates; and results from questions about employers' knowledge of market trends and health policy initiatives." (Medscape; free registration required)
Presumption That Prevailing Benefit Claimant Is Entitled to Attorneys' Fees Award
Martin v. Arkansas Blue Cross-Blue Shield (8th Cir. 2001). Excerpt: "[A]bsent special circumstances making an award unjust, some courts apply a presumption in favor of awarding attorneys' fees to prevailing plan participants. In this decision, the Eighth Circuit affirms the applicability of the presumption (the Eighth Circuit covers Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and the Dakotas)." (EBIA Weekly)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
| Pension Consultant | for Pentec, Inc. in CT |
| 401(k) Administrator | for Pension Performance, Inc. in IL |
Newly Posted Webcasts (Post Yours!)
| What You Need to Know About Catch-Up Contributions! | on November 7, 2001 presented by ASPA |
| Plan Design After EGTRRA | on November 15, 2001 presented by ASPA |
| Deduction Issues After EGTRRA | on December 5, 2001 presented by ASPA |
| Best of EGTRRA | on October 24, 2001 presented by ASPA |
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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