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November 6, 2001 - 6,532 subscribers
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Mental Health Parity Bill Sets Off Furious Lobbying
Excerpt: "A plan newly passed by the Senate to broaden health insurance coverage for mental illness has touched off an intense lobbying campaign on Capitol Hill as advocates for the mentally ill try to eliminate restrictions on care. The goal of the legislation is what the advocates describe as parity in insurance: the elimination of widespread limits on treatment for various forms of mental illness." (New York Times; free registration required)
Special Report from CFO.com: Controlling Health Care Costs
Excerpt: "The recent increase in plan premiums has put CFOs squarely in the hot seat, as they look for ways to rein in premiums yet maintain adequate coverage for employees. That's no easy task. In this special report, CFO.com looks at the crisis in corporate health-care costs." (CFO.com)
ERISA Did Not Preempt Section of New York Prevailing Wage Law On Supplemental Benefits
ERISA did not preempt a section of a New York state prevailing wage law that requires contractors to make contributions for supplemental benefits under a prescribed annualization formula. This was the decision of the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in HMI Mechanical Systems, Inc., et al. v. McGowan, et al. (No. 00-7427). (Spencernet)
Banks Urged to Sell Bundled Benefits
Excerpt: "Businesses with fewer than 100 employees can generate millions in revenue for a bank willing to pursue the market for bundled employee benefits, one leading insurer contends.... Selling group benefits strengthens a bank's ties to small businesses, and can enhance revenue for a variety of other insurance lines offered by the bank, according to [William] Leary [of American General Financial Group in Houston]." (National Underwriter via IFEBP)
Implementing a Same-Sex Domestic Partner Benefits Policy
Excerpt: "The policy question for the employer seems simple: will the domestic partners of its gay and lesbian employees be treated in the same manner as the spouses of married employees? Poorly-conceived responses to this question promise to create trailing problems." (Mark Poerio on XPAY.net)
Using Work/Life Benefits to Provide Time-Savers for Employees
Excerpt: "In a competitive talent market, companies that help stressed employees balance work and life are the ones that retain key talent. Here's how one large employer used a bold work/life program to give employees the gift of time-- and solidify a reputation as a sought-after employer." (Hewitt Magazine)
Some Find Telecommuting to be Mixed Blessing
Excerpt: "Telecommuting--working from home either part time or full time--is an important option for parents who want to combine earning a living with being there for their kids. But work and family balance doesn't happen by itself. According to a recent study, you have to manage your time to make it work." (Chicago Tribune)
Webcast of Retiree Health Benefits Hearing
'Retirement Security for the American Worker: Opportunities and Challenges' held on November 1, 2001 by the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Education and the Workforce, Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations. (KaiserNetwork.org)
Insurers Boost Co-pays on Many Costly Name Brands
Excerpt: "While most of us think of pharmacy coverage as coming in just two flavors: generic (with a typical co-pay of $5 to $10) and brand name (with a usual co-pay of $10 to $20), that's becoming history." (Washington Post)
Laid Off Workers Asked to Return Part of Severance Payments
Excerpt: "John Schuett thought nothing could be worse than getting laid off without severance. Then he got a bill for $1,250 from his former employer." (SiliconValley.com)
Double-Digit Health Care Cost Trend Anticipated For 2002, According To Three Surveys
Three major benefits consulting firms recently released separate surveys on health care cost trends for 2002 that anticipate similar double-digit cost increases for health care plans next year. Arthur Andersen's Health Care Trend Survey and the 2002 Segal Health Plan Cost Trend Survey both predict cost increases of approximately 12% for HMOs, 14% for PPOs, and 16% for indemnity plans; while Hewitt Associates projects average increases of 13% to 16%, depending upon the type of health plan. (Spencernet)
ERISA Industry Committee Cautions Legislators on Prohibitions on Use of Social Security Numbers
Excerpt: "H.R.2036 as currently drafted would substantially interfere with the legitimate administration of employee benefit plans and seriously compromise the ability of employers to offer defined benefit pension plans, 401(k) accounts, prescription drug and other health and welfare benefits safely and efficiently to their employees and those employees' families." (ERISA Industry Committee)
A "How-To" for Online Benefits Management
Excerpt: "Savvy companies are increasingly conducting their benefits enrollment electronically. By one estimate, 80% of organizations with over 1,000 employees will have some form of online enrollment by 2003. In preparing your organization for online enrollment, you will need to evaluate various Web options and then take the steps needed to achieve an efficient, effective enrollment process." (Workforce.com)
2001 Top 250: Long-Term and Stock-Based Grant Practices for Executives and Directors (PDF) (PDF)
26 pages. Excerpt: "This report presents information on long-term incentive and stock-based grant types currently in use for executives and non-employee directors of the 250 largest companies having one or more class of common stock included in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index." (Frederic W. Cook & Co., Inc.)
Stock Option Grant Guidelines: the Allocation Method as an Alternative (PDF)
Excerpt: "Many companies use option-pricing models (e.g., Black-Scholes, binomial) to determine benchmark option grant values in developing their company's executive grant guidelines.... In order to mitigate the impact of stock price fluctuations, an alternative ... method is based on (1) share usage as a percent of total shares outstanding and (2) stock options allocated to named executive officers ... expressed as a percentage of total options granted to all employees." (Frederic W. Cook & Co., Inc.)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
| Senior Manager - Pension and Employee Benefits | for Stanley Associates, Inc. in VA |
| Corporate Benefits Manager | for Milgard Manufacturing in WA |
Newly Posted Conferences (Post Yours!)
| Cash Balance Retirement Plans, 17 Years Later | in NY on November 27, 2001 presented by New York Metro Area Chapter - ISCEBS |
| EGTRRA | in NY on November 15, 2001 presented by New York Metro Area Chapter - ISCEBS |
| Rein in Health Care Costs - Teleweb Seminar | in on November 15, 2001 presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans |
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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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