| The BenefitsLink Newsletter - Welfare Plans Edition |   |
December 10, 2001 - 6,718 subscribers
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Health Costs Seen Rising Feverishly
Excerpt: "The picture for health-insurance costs keeps getting uglier -- for employers and consumers alike. Employers expect their health-care costs to rise nearly 13 percent next year, with some companies expecting to be hit with increases of 20 percent or more, according to a survey to be released Monday by human-resource consulting firm William M. Mercer Inc." (Wall Street Journal, on MSNBC.com)
Workers Paying Bigger Part of Their Health Care Costs
Excerpt: "Employers nationwide are requiring workers ... to pay a larger share of their medical costs, according to a national survey to be published today. Some health economists say the added costs will make consumers more cautious about medical spending. But the cost shift has had little discernible effect yet on surging health care inflation." (New York Times; free registration required)
More Companies Offering Health Insurance for Domestic Partners
Excerpt: "The growth of domestic-partner benefits -- Gannett Co. plans to roll them out Jan. 1 -- comes as many cost-conscious employers are trimming their health care offerings. The Mercer survey found the percentage of large employers, those with 500 or more workers, offering same-sex domestic-partner coverage rose to 16 percent this year from 12 percent in 2000. And among the largest companies, with at least 20,000 workers, the rate grew to 34 percent from 24 percent." (Washington Post)
CMS Delays Effective Date of Provision In Its Regs On Physician Referrals
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has delayed for one year the effective date of a particular provision in its final regulations governing physician referrals to health care entities with which the physician has a financial relationship. This past January, the CMS issued final regulations under Sec. 1877 of the Social Security Act regarding physician referrals to health care entities with which the physician has a financial relationship. (Spencernet)
To Add Health Plan Choices, Small Firms Hop Into Pools
Excerpt: "Spurred by state legislative reform, healthcare purchasing alliances are rising in popularity because they offer a variety of plans to small businesses, and because the employer pays one bill." (Sacramento Business Journal)
Summary of Key Pending Health Legislation (PDF)
Prepared by the American Benefits Council; current through December 6. (American Benefits Council)
Opinion: Time for Mental Health Parity
Excerpt: "Federal employee health plans and some states already require such parity, but millions of mental health patients elsewhere still face higher co-payments and deductibles, as well as fewer permissible days of hospital care and fewer visits to a doctor." (New York Times; free registration required)
Employers Paid 11.2% More in 2001 Than 2000 for Employee Health Benefits, Survey Says
Excerpt: "The cost of employers' health premiums rose 11.2% in 2001 to an average of $4,924 for every worker, and will likely rise an additional 12.7% next year, according to a new nationwide survey of 2,800 large and small businesses by the consulting firm William M. Mercer." (KaiserNetwork.org)
More Uninsured in U.S.; Lawmakers Battle Over Fix
Excerpt: "Congress is trying to come up with a plan to provide health coverage for jobless Americans as part of an overall economic stimulus package. But talks on a Senate compromise stalled Friday when Republicans called off planned negotiating sessions with Democrats." (Reuters Health via Yahoo! News)
Delay Likely For HIPAA Rules Regarding Electronic Claims Submission
On December 5, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3323 the Administrative Simplification Compliance Act, which would delay implementation of standards for electronic transmission of health information for one full year until October 16, 2003. Earlier the Senate passed , S. 1684 which would implement a similar delay. Neither proposal would affect the implementation of the HIPAA privacy regulations, which go into effect April 14, 2003. (Spencernet)
Kaiser Fights $1.1 Million Fine
Excerpt: "Kaiser Permanente, the nation's largest nonprofit health maintenance organization, is challenging the authority of California's recently minted Department of Managed Care to regulate medical matters." (Reuters Health via Excite News)
Pay and Benefit Cutbacks Spread to More Companies
Excerpt: "Until recently, broad retreats from generous salaries and benefits were largely confined to the high-tech industry. But now they are happening in other hard-hit sectors, including auto makers, airlines, media, hotels and certain financial services." (CareerJournal.com)
FAS 87 and FAS 106 Summary of Statistics: 2001 Survey
Excerpt: "The [Andersen] Human Capital practice has prepared a summary of the key assumptions for the disclosure of pension and other postretirement benefits by the top 50 corporations, as ranked by Fortune magazine, that sponsor defined benefit pension plans with a measurement date of December 31, 2000." (Andersen)
The Employee's Guide to Stock Options
The NCEO has placed excerpts from this new book on its Web site. (National Center for Employee Ownership)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
| Implementation Project Manager | for Northern Trust Retirement Consulting, L.LC. in GA |
| Pension Administrator | for PFS in GA |
| Consulting Pension Actuary | for Hooker & Holcombe, Inc. in CT |
| Human Resources Representative | for Kaiser Permanente IT in CA |
| Pension Actuary - Students/ASA's/FSA's/EA's | for D.W. Simpson & Company Actuarial & Benefits Recruiters in ALL STATES |
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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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