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November 20, 2001 - 6,595 subscribers
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Report: Most Online Health Info Not Protected by Federal Confidentiality Rules
Excerpt: "The Bush administration unveiled the first legal protections for medical information last April. The rules, which take full effect in April 2003, aim to give patients more control over who sees sensitive, personal information. Consumers should be aware, however, that the rules will not cover most purchases, searches or other actions on thousands of health-related Web sites, the report said." (Reuters Health via Excite News)
Why the New Federal Health Privacy Regulation Doesn't Offer Much Protection To Internet Users (PDF)
30 pages; report of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, November 2001. Excerpt: "The new federal health privacy regulation does not apply to most health Web sites.... Even at Web sites that are owned or operated by organizations covered by the privacy regulation, it is ambiguous which activities at those sites are subject to the privacy rule." (HealthPrivacy.org)
Health Care Moves To Paperless Claims
Excerpt: "Leaders from Georgia hospitals and managed-care companies have found something to agree on for a change. They're developing a broad, new paperless system designed to speed up insurance claims processing, reduce medical errors and save money for the entire health-care community." (Atlanta Business Chronicle)
IRS Releases 2001 IRS Forms 2441 and 1040A (Schedule 2)
Excerpt: "Form 2441 is a dual purpose form: it is filed with Form 1040 to claim the dependent care tax credit available under Code Section 21, and it is used by the taxpayer to explain to the IRS why the amounts in Box 10 of the W-2 (the value of employer-provided dependent care benefits under Code Section 129) are not taxable." (EBIA Weekly)
Employees Donate Millions to Help American, Southwest Airlines
Excerpt: "Employees at American Airlines Inc. have contributed close to $2 million so far in donations to a program the carrier set up after Sept. 11 terrorist attacks worsened the airline's financial problems. Meanwhile, workers at Southwest Airlines Co. are donating $1.3 million from their salaries this month and next to ease the financial problems facing Southwest." (The Dallas Morning News via IFEBP)
September 11 Attacks Prompting More People to Buy Life Insurance
Excerpt: "In a country where terrorism is a household term, people seem to be confronting an uncomfortable subject: their own mortality. Life insurance associations as well as companies and agents across the country say the sale of policies and queries for information have jumped since the terrorist attacks." (Sun-Sentinel.com)
Employers to Offer 'Rewards' for Quality Care
Excerpt: "The Central Florida Health Care Coalition, a group of large Florida employers, will give financial rewards to physicians who meet certain quality and best practices standards, the New York Times reports. The group, which includes Lockheed Martin, Walt Disney World and Universal Studios, is comparing local physicians' 'clinical, financial and patient-satisfaction data' with 'benchmark standards' ..." (KaiserNetwork.org)
Center for Studying Health System Change Examines the Growth of Tiered Prescription Drug Benefits
Excerpt: "The Center for Studying Health System Change on Nov. 14 released an issue brief examining how health plans are increasingly using tiered systems to bring down spending on prescription drugs. Last year, prescription drug spending grew by 14.5%, more than double the overall increase in health spending that year." (KaiserNetwork.org)
Status of Mental Health Parity Bill
Excerpt: "The mental health parity law enacted in 1996 expired on September 30, 2001, and efforts are underway in the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate to either extend or expand the 1996 law. The 1996 law prohibited health plans from imposing annual or lifetime dollar limits on mental health benefits that are more restrictive than for medical/surgical coverage." (Workforce.com)
A Consumer Guide to Handling Disputes with Your Private or Employer Health Plan
Prepared jointly with the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation; includes clickable map of the states for information about state insurance department rules for appealing claim denials. (Consumers Union)
Companies Eye Defined Contribution Health Costs
Excerpt: "By putting employees in charge of health care spending, employers are hoping to create a generation of wiser consumers who have learned to appreciate the true cost of medicine and, by spending prudently, eventually will help to bring down the spiraling premiums." (Crain's New York Business via IFEBP)
Misperceptions Cloud Health Care Spending
Excerpt: "In health care, consumer misperceptions about health insurance can color our judgments, which results in many people making irrational money decisions about health care purchases. The biggest misperception about health insurance is people with insurance should not have to pay for any health care services out of their own pocket." (Dayton Business Journal)
University of Minnesota Installs Health Program With "Personal Care Accounts"
Excerpt: "For University of Minnesota employees considering health insurance options this fall, there's a new offering that comes with a twist-- the university will give them up to $2,000 in cash to pay for health care expenses. The plan is called Definity Health, and it is one of four plans available in 2002 for employees under a restructuring of the university's health-benefits program ..." (StarTribune.com)
No "Right" to Health Care on the Horizon, Says Koop
Excerpt: " Will Americans ever enjoy a 'right' to health care, in the same way they are guaranteed certain rights by the Constitution? The answer is probably no, former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop said. 'I don't believe (health care) will ever become a right for U.S. residents or citizens,' Koop said." (University Wire via Excite News)
AMA Study Raises Red Flags Over Lack of Competition In Health Insurance
Press release. Excerpt: "Competition in Health Insurance: A Comprehensive Study of U.S. Markets, conducted by the American Medical Association (AMA), is the most extensive analysis that has ever been done of health insurance market concentration around the country, covering 46 states and 40 metropolitan areas across America." (American Medical Association)
State Budgets and Health Coverage: What Happens if the Money Runs Short?
Recorded webcast and transcript of conference held on November 8, 2001. (Alliance for Health Reform)
Do Proposals to Increase Funding for National Emergency Grants Effectively Provide Health Insurance?
Excerpt: "Ensuring health insurance and other support for laid-off workers is an essential piece of any economic stimulus package. The Administration has proposed that $3 billion be provided in National Emergency Grants for health insurance, income support, and job search assistance and training for unemployed workers." (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
Employer Market Represents Huge Opportunity for Group Long-Term Care Sales, Survey Says
Excerpt: "With less than 2% of workers enrolled in group long term care insurance plans, the market potential for the product is huge, says a new survey unveiled here at the annual meeting of the Health Insurance Association of America. HIAA has previously surveyed attitudes of buyers and non-buyers of individual LTC products, but this is the first time it has surveyed the employer market, said Marc Cohen, vice president of Life Plans, Inc., the firm that prepared the survey for HIAA." (National Underwriter via IFEBP)
HMO Plays Hardball in Pursuit of Profit
Excerpt: "If the concept of HMO insurance is balancing the competing pressures of profit and patient care, MAMSI has shown a striking ability to walk the line. While angering some doctors, MAMSI has surfaced from the turmoil of two years ago to become the fastest-growing health maintenance organization in the region." (Washington Post)
Opinion: U.S. Retailers' CEO Pay Isn't All That Fitting
Excerpt: "If pay were coats, the range for U.S. retailers' top executives would go from what the late Richard Nixon once termed a 'good Republican cloth coat' all the way to a floor-length sable with an ermine lining." (Graef Crystal, on Bloomberg.com)
Analysis: Employee Benefits Rights for Persons on Military Leave
Excerpt: "Military call-ups resulting from September 11 require employers to brush up on the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act ('USERRA'). The benefits requirements of USERRA apply to covered personnel who leave their employment for military service and return to work with the employer within the periods specified by law." (Nixon Peabody LLP)
Recent Bankruptcy Filings Accompanied by Cuts in Retiree Benefits
Excerpt: "Thousands of retired workers have been similarly shaken over the past year as a record number of publicly traded companies have filed for bankruptcy protection. Several big-name companies have suspended or raised doubts about retiree insurance, severance and parts of pension checks." (Kansas City Star)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
| Document and Design Manager JO#271 | for Third Party Administration Firm in IA |
| 401(k)/DC Plan Administrator/Manager | for CS&L, CPA's in FL |
| Compliance Manager 1 | for Fleet National Bank in MA |
Newly Posted Press Releases
| ASC Announces System Release with EGTRRA Law Changes (Actuarial Systems Corporation (ASC)) |
| Firstdoor Signs Exclusive Multi-year Strategic Agreement With BNA; Nation’s Leading Professional Publisher (Firstdoor) |
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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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