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March 7, 2002 - 6,505 subscribers
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House Republicans Drop Stimulus Package With Health Insurance Tax Credits
Excerpt: "House Republican leaders on March 7 plan to bring to a vote a 'stripped-down' economic stimulus package lacking some provisions that 'had drawn strong Democratic opposition,' including a tax credit to help unemployed people buy health insurance, the Wall Street Journal reports." (KaiserNetwork.org)
Tax Credits Alone Won't Help the Uninsured, Experts Say
Excerpt: "'The individual insurance markets are nasty and brutish, and there's no magic incremental bullet to solve the problem,' Ward Sanders, executive director of the New Jersey Individual Health Coverage Program Board, said ... Tax credits have been proposed ... as a way to help the uninsured purchase coverage. But at least one plan calls for only a $1,000 credit, which would be too little to provide much assistance in paying high premiums, said [a] senior research associate ..." (Reuters Health via Medscape)
Tariffs In Hand, United Steelworkers Union Now Wants Retiree Protections
Excerpt: "With its fight over steel tariffs largely won, the United Steelworkers union is setting its sights on persuading Congress to pick up the tab for an estimated $12 billion in unfunded retiree health benefit costs." ([Pittsburgh] Post-Gazette)
Trust Cannot Force Stop-Loss Insurer to Pay Claims When It Did Not Provide Data Under Contract Terms
Excerpt: "A trust cannot use legal proceedings to force a stop-loss insurer to pay claims when its contract with that insurer specified that the trust must provide certain documentation beforehand -- which the trust never did, according to the supreme court of New York." (Thompson Publishing Group)
The Employee Benefits Reality Check
Excerpt: "Concern over health care costs and the need to align benefits programs with strategic goals are inspiring companies to conduct full-fledged benefits audits. It's daunting work, but businesses report substantial rewards." (BusinessFinanceMag.com)
Want a Sabbatical? Just Ask and Negotiate
Excerpt: "The number of unpaid sabbaticals plunged between 1996 and 2001, from 27% to 14%, according to Kristin Bowl, spokesperson of the Society For Human Resource Management ... In the current economic slowdown though, some cash-strapped outfits may think there's no better time than the present to offer a sabbatical." (USA Today)
Shifting Responsibilities: Models of Defined Contribution Health Plans (PDF)
16 pages; February 2002. Excerpt: "This report does not attempt to assert whether employers are indeed moving to defined contribution, but rather seeks to identify the advantages and drawbacks of implementing various forms of such a mechanism. It also outlines product options, contracting requirements, and responsibilities of both employers and employees in four defined-contribution models." (Academy for Health Services Research and Health Policy, under the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)
Ranks of Long Term Care Insureds Tripled From 1990 To 1999, According To HIAA
The number of Americans that have purchased long term care insurance more than tripled from 1.9 million in 1990 to 6.8 million in 1999, according to a study recently conducted by the Health Insurance Association of America (HIAA). The HIAA found that the long term care insurance market has grown by an average of 18% annually from 1987 to 1999, with a striking 40% increase from 1998 to 1999. (Spencernet)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings -
| Pension Administrator | for Means & Associates, LLC in CA |
| Senior DC Administrator - Fun and Challenging! | for Louis Kravitz & Associates, Inc. in CA |
| Plan Administrator | for Retirement Funding in MI |
| Pension Auditors | for U. S. Department of Labor - PWBA in DC |
| Pension Systems Analyst | for CitiStreet, Total Benefits Outsourcing in FL |
| New Business Installation - Lead Project Manager | for Transamerica in CA |
| Pension Administrator/Actuarial Assistant | for Block Consulting Actuaries, Inc. in CA |
| Health Benefits Analysts | for Segal Company in CA |
| Vice President Retirement Plans and Financial Controls | for Black Mountain Management, Inc. in NY |
| Marketing Manager | for Transamerica in CA |
| Marketing Project Coordinator | for Transamerica in CA |
Newly Posted Conferences (Post Yours!)
| SPARK National Conference | in FL on June 9, 2002 presented by SPARK (Society of Professional Administrators and Recordkeepers) |
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Copyright 2002 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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