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January 22, 2003 - 7,947 subscribers
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Online Gambling Addiction Creeping Into Some Workplaces
Excerpt: "[T]he estimated $4 billion per year Internet gambling industry seems set for continued rapid growth.... A study released in 2002 indicates that Internet gambling may be especially addictive-- or at least attract a disproportionate number of compulsive gamblers.... 8 percent of employees admitted to finding Internet gambling potentially addictive, and 2 percent admitted to gambling online at the office." (The Christian Science Monitor)
Health Care Expected To Be Central to Many Union Contract Negotiations This Year
Excerpt: "Health care costs and benefits are expected to be 'hot-button' issues during union contract negotiations this year, Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal reports." (KaiserNetwork.org)
Wall Street Journal Examines Options for Consumers To Obtain Prescription Drug Discounts
Excerpt: "The Wall Street Journal on Jan. 21 looks at several ways that people without prescription drug benefits can reduce their pharmaceutical expenses. Although Congress has not yet approved a Medicare drug benefit, 'dozens' of local governments and pharmaceutical companies offer 'at least 240 programs' as 'stopgap relief,' according to the Journal." (KaiserNetwork.org)
Drug Industry Contributions Influence Clinical Research, Study Says
Excerpt: "Financial ties between academic researchers and universities and pharmaceutical companies are 'pervasive and may impact the research process,' according to a study in the Jan. 21 Journal of the American Medical Association, USA Today reports ..." (KaiserNetwork.org)
Opinion: Bush Push for Medical Malpractice Caps in Name of Reform is Deceptive
Excerpt: "Republicans, Democrats, and even Bush aides have no expectation that legislation to help insurance companies avoid so much of the cost and penalty for malpractice will become law this year. That appearance was strictly to aid Bush's hyperactive fund-raisers." (The Boston Globe)
Drug Companies Fend Off Discount Initiatives
Excerpt: "Faced with soaring drug expenses and no federal action to halt the escalation, consumers and states-- led by New Englanders-- are mounting a revolt. So far, the drug industry has countered the moves step for step." (The Boston Globe)
Opinion: Stuck in Healthcare Hell
Excerpt: "Our money-corrupted political system isn't about to address the systemic problems. I think it's almost self-evident that a single-payer system is the best answer to all the problems, but since we have to deal with political reality, let's shelve that plan for now." (Molly Ivins in Working for Change)
Heritage Foundation's 2003 Agenda on Health Care Reform
Excerpt: "Members of Congress should help the millions of uninsured individuals and families secure private health care coverage by supporting the enactment of individual health care tax credits." (The Heritage Foundation)
Broadway Unions Form Coalition; COBRA Subsidies Urged for Out-of-Work Theatre Personnel
Excerpt: "The coalition has shaped what the co-chairs call 'a broad spectrum of interests and a shared, progressive agenda,' which will 'make our collective voice and concerns heard by employers, public officials and the theatre-going public.' ... [D]uring the last session of the New York State legislature, the unions began an effort to urge Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno to bring COBRA legislation to the Senate floor for a vote. That didn't happen." (Backstage.com via Yahoo! News)
2d Circuit: Plan's Infertility Exclusion Is Not Discriminatory Because Condition Is Gender Neutral
Saks v. Franklin Covey Co., No. 00-9598 (2d Cir. January 15, 2003). Excerpt: "Franklin Covey's self-funded group health plan covers some infertility products and procedures, but specifically excludes coverage for surgical impregnation procedures-- including artificial insemination and in-vitro fertilization-- even if medically necessary. An employee sued Franklin Covey's after her medical claims were denied for certain infertility treatments ..." (Thompson Publishing Group)
Eighth Circuit Orders Trial To Proceed In Case Charging School District With ADEA Violation
The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has ordered trial to proceed in a lawsuit alleging that a school district violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) when it failed to renew the contract of a 70-year-old school bus driver. The case is Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Liberal R-II School District (Nos. 02-1025 and 02-1029). (SpencerNet)
Q: Can the Parent of an Adult Child Use the FMLA to be with the Child Following Surgery?
Excerpt: "Depending upon the type of surgery, it would likely qualify as a serious health condition. However, in order to be eligible for FMLA leave, the adult child must be 'incapable of self-care because of a mental or physical disability.'" (Proskauer Rose on Workindex.com)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
DOL Adjusts ERISA Penalties for Inflation; Most Stay Same
Failure or refusal to file a Form 5500 still capped at $1,100 per day; failure of certain MEWAs to file a Form M-1 is up from $1,000 per day to $1,100 per day. (U.S. Department of Labor, Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration)
Employers Told to Avoid 'Shadow' Stock Option Plans
Excerpt: "Final word has yet to come down on pending stock exchange regulations that would force companies to bring newly created stock option plans to a shareholder vote. But with regulatory approval a foregone conclusion, companies are being warned not to rush out and adopt non-shareholder approved plans, also called 'shadow plans.'" (Dow Jones Newswires via Quicken Brokerage)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Defined Benefit Specialist
for The Paragon Consulting Group, Inc.
in VA
Deputy Regional Director, GS-1801-15
for U.S. Department of Labor, Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration
in TX
Newly Posted Webcasts
(Post Yours!)
American Express Participates in Webcast On Investment Advice and Education for Retirement Plan Investors
on January 21, 2003
presented by American Express and Jackson Lewis LLP
Newly Posted Press Releases
(Post Yours!)
Company announces 28% savings with "consumer-directed" health plan.
(Proweh Health Systems, Inc.)
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