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January 16, 2003 - 7,947 subscribers
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New! 50+ HIPAA Privacy Model Documents for Group Health Plans! Are you ready for the April 14, 2003 HIPAA Privacy deadline? With the HIPAA Privacy Workbook for Group Health Plans, you can be! Compliance Simplified! This 325-page Workbook in Q&A format tells you what you need to know and do to meet the compliance deadline. The Workbook also provides more than 50 model documents tailored for group health plans. Click on the banner, above, for the table of contents, sample chapter and list of model documents.
(Help BenefitsLink to provide this newsletter at no charge to you -- our sponsors pay your way. Remember to visit them periodically; we try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
In Supreme Court, Kentucky Argues for Broader Managed Care Regulation
Excerpt: "Kentucky told the Supreme Court [on Tuesday, January 14, 2003] that it should be allowed to guarantee patients a broader choice of doctors through a state law regulating managed care companies. Several justices indicated that they were inclined to uphold the 1994 law, which requires health maintenance organizations and other insurers to sign contracts with any provider willing to accept their payment rates and rules." (New York Times; free registration required)
Justices Hear Arguments in 'Any Willing Provider' ERISA Case
Excerpt: "The Supreme Court wrangled Tuesday over whether states can push HMOs to enroll more doctors, giving patients broader choices in their own health care. About half the states have laws requiring managed care or insurance companies to accept health care providers-- physicians, pharmacists or specialists like nurse practitioners. The providers agree to the insurer's reimbursement rates and contract terms." (AP via Yahoo! News)
State of the Welfare Plan TPA Industry and Forecast for 2003
Excerpt: "HIPAA privacy, on the other hand, seems to be spooking TPAs, Stop-Loss, clients, and providers more than it should. It is not as radical and onerous as it is being hyped." (Society of Professional Benefit Administrators)
Tax-Motivated Life Insurance Industry Hit by Legal, Financial Shockwaves (PDF)
8 pages. Excerpt: "Ironically, a successful process of designing, marketing and implementing tax motivated insurance products may contain the seeds of its own destruction.... The history of corporate-sponsored group insurance exhibits a pattern of marketing actions, followed by Congressional and Revenue Service reactions, resulting in financial jeopardy for purchasers of the insurance programs." (Schultz Collins Lawson Chambers, Inc.)
Audio Excerpt: High Court to Consider Family Leave Case
Excerpt: "The Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case testing whether state employees are fully protected by a federal law that guarantees unpaid leave for workers dealing with family crises. NPR's Nina Totenberg reports.' (Jan. 15, 2003) (National Public Radio)
Pet Insurance Stresses Routine Care, Affordable Price-tag
Excerpt: "[Hartville Group, Inc. founder and president Russell] Smith is bullish about the future of this warm-and-fuzzy benefit, noting that nearly 60 million U.S. households own pets and spend more than $10 billion a year on veterinary care-- a market that's expected to grow fivefold in the next five years." (BenefitNews.com)
Employers Distrust PBM Tactics for Managing Drug Costs
Excerpt: "Employers are questioning the way pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) deliver savings on prescription drugs, a new survey finds. At issue are the rebates that PBMs negotiate with pharmaceutical manufacturers and whether those agreements inappropriately promote high-cost products over lower-cost rivals or generic alternatives." (Reuters Health via Medscape; free registration required)
U.S. Medical Care Improving Overall
Excerpt: "The quality of American medical care appears to be getting better all across the country, based on a study of how often physicians and hospitals do the right thing when facing important treatment decisions." (Washington Post)
Audio Excerpt: Continued Coverage of GE Strike Over Healthcare Premiums
Excerpt: "General Electric workers continue the second day of a strike to protest an increase in health-care costs. Rates for GE employees rose almost 50 percent in the last two years -- an additional $200 per year, on average. NPR's Bob Edwards talks to Uwe Reinhardt of Princeton University.' (Jan. 15, 2003) (National Public Radio)
Opinion: Bill Frist is Dr. Feelgood
Excerpt: "[W]hile [Senator majority leader Bill] Frist may understand medicine, that doesn't mean he's the best person to craft health policy. Ironically, his experience as a transplant surgeon-- an experience markedly different than, say, a pediatrician's-- has reinforced policy notions that could make our health care system, already cruelly insensitive to the uninsured and the underinsured, even harsher." (The New Republic Online; free registration required)
Eli Lilly Tells Canadian Wholesalers Not to Sell Lilly Products to Pharmacies That Export to U.S.
Excerpt: "Eli Lilly last month sent letters to Canadian wholesalers telling them that they are breaking their contracts with the drug maker by supplying pharmacies that export the company's drugs to customers in the United States, often for lower prices than those of U.S. pharmacies, the Indianapolis Star reports." (KaiserNetwork.org)
HHS Looking for HIPAA Privacy Trainers
Excerpt: "The incumbent of this position will execute initiatives and projects to provide outreach and public education on the Privacy Rule to increase awareness by covered entities of their responsibilities and by the public of their rights under the Rule." (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)
Baby Boomer Demand for Long-Term Care Will Occur in 20-30 Years, Study Indicates
Excerpt: " Improved socioeconomic conditions and higher education levels have contributed to a decrease in disability rates among members of the baby boom generation, and the 'prospect that aging baby boomers will place overwhelming demand on the nation's long-term care system may be at least two decades away,' according to a report issued ... by AARP, the Los Angeles Times reports." (KaiserNetwork.org)
Any Difference in Reimbursable Expenses Under an HRA as Compared to a Cafeteria Plan's FSA?
Excerpt: "[The] HRA power to reimburse insurance premiums stands in stark contrast to a prohibition in the cafeteria plan regulations: 'a health FSA may not treat participants' premium payments for other health coverage as reimbursable expenses.'" (EBIA Weekly (Question of the Week))
HMO Profits Increase 162% During First Quarter of 2002
During the first three months of 2002, the nation's HMOs recorded an $868.1 million profit, representing a $536.6 million, or 162%, increase over the same period last year, according to Weiss Ratings. Weiss Ratings issues safety ratings on more than 15,000 financial institutions, including HMOs, life and health insurers, Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans, property and casualty insurers, banks, and brokers. (SpencerNet)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Revenue Procedure 2003-8: Annual Restatement of User Fees for IRS Ruling Requests (PDF)
14 pages. (Internal Revenue Service)
Revenue Procedure 2003-5: Annual Restatement of Rules for IRS Technical Advice Requests (PDF)
29 pages. (Internal Revenue Service)
Revenue Procedure 2003-4: Annual Restatement of Rules for IRS Letter Ruling Requests (PDF)
41 pages. (Internal Revenue Service)
J. Mark Iwry, Former Treasury Department Official, Joins Brookings Institution
Excerpt: "During his time in government, Iwry was widely recognized for his work with the business, financial, professional, and nonprofit communities to expand coverage while simplifying and rationalizing the laws and regulations governing pensions and benefits." (US Newswire)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Manager, Compliance
for Means & Associates, LLC
in CA
Account Manager - Health and Welfare
for Roller Consulting Co., Inc.
in PA
Manager of Operations Control - Retirement Plan Services
for Strong Investments, Inc.
in WI
Audit Senior
for Ernst & Young LLP
in CA
Plan Coordination Team Lead - Retirement Plan Services
for Strong Investments, Inc.
in WI
Education Specialist
for Strong Investments, Inc.
in WI
Health Management Ongoing Project Manager - MJ-021203-005
for Hewitt Associates
in GA
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)
Trustees and Administrators Institutes
in FL
March 2, 2003
International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
Collection Procedures Institute
in FL
March 10, 2003
International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
Employee Benefits Update
in
February 3, 2003
American Bar Association Satellite Seminar
Defined Benefit Basics
in GA
January 24, 2003
ASPA Benefits Council of Atlanta
Newly Posted Press Releases
(Post Yours!)
Labor Department Proposes Exemption For Northwest Airlines to Contribute Corporate Stock
(U.S. Department of Labor, Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration)
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