| The BenefitsLink Newsletter - Welfare Plans Edition |   |
December 13, 2001 - 6,712 subscribers
Today's sponsor: Glasser LegalWorks
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
You are invited to attend the nation's leading seminar on how recent cases affect claims, plan design and operations. Highlights of this year's program include: -Health Care Plan Litigation -Fiduciary Litigation -Preemption after Egelhoff -Aftermath of Pegram -Managed Care Litigation More details are available now in an online brochure: http://www.legalwks.com/conferences/erisa_lit/home.htm
(Help BenefitsLink to provide this newsletter at no charge to you -- our sponsors pay our way. Remember to visit them periodically; we try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Nation's First Accredited Health Web Sites Announced
Press release. Excerpt: "The nation's first health Web sites to attain independent quality accreditation were announced today by URAC, the Washington, DC-based health accreditation organization. Thirteen e-health Web sites have been accredited by URAC under a program, which measured them against rigorous standards for quality and accountability." (PR Newswire via Excite News)
Report: Expand Medicaid to Help Insure Unemployed
Excerpt: "One approach strongly favored by many Democrats would provide a subsidy for unemployed workers to purchase private coverage through an existing law known as COBRA. The law allows employees who leave their jobs to continue purchasing health care coverage as long as they pay the entire premium themselves. But the law only applies to workers who had been employed by firms providing health coverage that have 20 or more employees." (Reuters Health via Excite News)
Health Insurance Subsidies Still Sticking Point in Economy Stimulus Bill
Excerpt: "For Democrats, the provisions dealing with the unemployed, especially on health care, are critical. While the White House has moved dramatically to boost the funds for those provisions -- up to $30 billion -- many Democrats remain deeply suspicious about how Republicans propose to help the unemployed pay for health insurance." (Washington Post)
Insurer Cannot Single Out Specific Conditions for Exclusion Under State's HIPAA-Like Law
Excerpt: "Consistent with the intent of federal policy on health insurance portability, [an Indiana] state appeals court held that an insurer may not -- by identifying specific conditions that apply to named individuals -- have exclusions that are for periods longer than the 6-, 12- and 18-month exclusionary provisions of a state's portability law." (Thompson Publishing Group)
Court Improperly Dismissed Plaintiff's Claims Against Individual State Employees
A federal district court improperly dismissed a plaintiff's claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 because the claims were directed against individual employees of the state of Missouri, and not against the state itself. This was the ruling of the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Grey v. Wilburn, et al. (No. 00-1313EM). (Spencernet)
Minnesota Panel OKs Same-Sex Benefits for Government Employees
Excerpt: "The vote on approving the contracts officially ended in a tie, but subcommittee law stipulates that ties are equivalent to passing an item on to the full Legislature. The contracts go into effect Dec. 21 but won't be concrete until legislators ratify them next session, scheduled to begin Jan. 29." (U-Wire via Excite News)
State of the Health TPA Industry and a Forecast
Excerpt: "[S]hould employers and plans permanently waive 'war' and 'terrorism' exclusions? Who should pay every time there is a threat (or even just a media-induced panic) leading to expensive testing or prophylactic drugs? This will be both a national policy issue as well as a decision for employers and even workers." (Society of Professional Benefit Administrators)
Opinion: Health Care Woes-- Major Flaws in the Free Market System
Excerpt: "Costs continue to rise, dramatically. This is the third year in a row in New Jersey for double-digit premium increases. And managed care has failed to extend coverage in any significant degree to the ranks of the uninsured. In fact, the number of uninsured Americans is growing, as hundreds of thousands of people have been laid off in recent months." (The [Bergen Co., N.J.] Record)
Uninsured In Fits and Starts: How Stable Is Health Insurance Today and What Difference Does It Make?
Free webcast of conference held on December 12, 2001. (Alliance for Health Reform)
Survey: Uninsured Often Skip Health Care
Excerpt: "People who lack health insurance for even a short time have considerable trouble paying bills and are likely to skip needed care, a survey finds. The survey, released Wednesday by the Commonwealth Fund, found one in four working-age Americans was without health insurance at some point in the past year. That translates to 38.4 million people between the ages of 19 and 64." (Los Angeles Times)
Americans Know Less About Long Term Care Than They Think, AARP Survey Says
Excerpt: "More than half of Americans over age 45 say they are 'somewhat familiar' with their options for long term care services, but the majority are uninformed about the costs and funding sources available for such care, according to an AARP study released Dec. 11." (KaiserNetwork.org)
Study Finds Potential For Growth In Group Long Term Care Market
Growth in the group long term care market has great potential, according to a study of employer-sponsored long term care insurance plans recently conducted by the Health Insurance Association of America (HIAA). The study, Who Buys Long Term Care Insurance in 2000? surveyed 1,108 enrolled employees, 315 nonenrolled employees, and 500 employed individuals age 30 and older from the general population. (Spencernet)
World's 65+ Population Triples
Excerpt: "The U.S. government study being released Thursday also shows the predicted increase will test governments' ability to address health care, retirement benefits and other issues that affect seniors, experts say." (Associated Press via StarTribune.com)
Welcome to new BenefitsLink advertiser Polycomp Administrative Services, Inc.
Excerpt: "Polycomp, founded in 1974, is a fee-based Third Party Administration and Consulting firm with three offices in California. Polycomp prides itself on its creative plan design, customer service, experience, talent and education of its employees (with many holding designations from professional organizations), as well as its focus and commitment to clients."
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings -
| 401(k) / Retirement Plan Administrator | for Howard Simon & Associates, Inc. in IL |
| Pension Plan Administrator | for The Angell Pension Group, Inc. in ALL STATES |
| Consulting Actuaries | for Cozak-Davis in CA |
| 401(k) Administrator | for Alliance Benefit Group of New England in NH |
| 401(k) Plan Administrator | for Northeast Planning Services, Inc. in MA |
| Extended Services Presenter | for Administaff in CA |
| Pension Administrator | for Johnson Actuarial & Retirement Planning, Inc. in DC, MD, VA |
Newly Posted Conferences (Post Yours!)
| Introduction to ESOPs | in CA on March 20, 2002 presented by National Center for Employee Ownership |
Newly Posted Press Releases
| PennMont Announces Variable 412(i) (tm) Patent Application (PennMont Benefit Services, Inc.) |
Newly Posted Announcements of Promotions and New Personnel (Post Yours!)
| Robert E. Kaplan, M.H.A. (Benefit Plan Audit Services, LLC) |
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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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