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January 23, 2003 - 7,947 subscribers
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Drug Maker Drops Canada Cut Off Deadline
Excerpt: "GlaxoSmithKline backed off a Tuesday deadline for cutting off supplies of its drugs to Canadian companies who sell prescription medicine to bargain-hunting Americans.... The purchases violate U.S. law but the Food and Drug Administration has ignored the practice. Drug companies paid little attention until such sales appeared to significantly increase in the last year and some health insurance plans said they would cover them." (AP via New York Times; one-time registration required)
Net Pharmacy Business Drawing Scrutiny
Excerpt: "A few months ago, Dave Robertson had eight employees in the 800-square-foot office of his new Internet pharmacy business. Today, Robertson's crossborderpharmacy.com has 150 workers and 20,000 square feet of office space, serving an ever-expanding customer base that he says now numbers close to 100,000 -- almost all of them U.S. consumers seeking cheaper Canadian medicine." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Federal, Postal Workers Face Tax-Break Loss Upon Retirement
Excerpt: "It's the ability that workers have to pay their health insurance premiums with pre-tax dollars. Doing that reduces gross income and that, in turn, reduces the tax bite." (The Washington Times)
Largest Consumer-Directed Health Vendors Enroll 12% of Eligibles for 2003
Excerpt: "In 2002, fewer than 100,000 people were enrolled in a consumer-directed health (CDH) care plan. Although 2003 enrollment results are still being tabulated, the number of people covered by such plans as of Jan. 1 could top 500,000 ..." (AISHealth.com)
Malpractice Crisis Continues to Build, But Few Health Plans See Effects Yet
Excerpt: "A few health insurers and state health plan associations say the malpractice insurance crisis has affected their operations. But most managed care companies and trade associations tell AIS there's no problem -- yet." (AISHealth.com)
Association Health Plans Get New Push
Excerpt: "When President Bush gives his State of the Union address on Tuesday, his agenda is expected to include help for small businesses hurt by rising health care costs. Bush wants to create national association health plans. Known as AHPs, they would allow small businesses to buy into group health insurance plans anywhere in the country, enabling them to pay much less than they pay now when buying small policies directly from insurers." (AP via New York Times; one-time registration required)
Consumer's Guide to Handling Healthcare Disputes with Your Employer or Private Plan, 2003 Update
Excerpt: "Anyone enrolled in a health plan should be familiar with their plan's internal review process and any external review program in their state in case problems later arise. This guide will help you navigate your employer or private health plan's internal review procedure, as well as any external review program your state may have. The guide is not applicable, however, for resolving disputes if you have Medicare or Medicaid coverage." (The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and Consumer Union)
Bush Seeks Funds for Wider Effort to Curb Chronic Disease
Excerpt: "The Bush administration will seek $100 million to expand a fledgling grants program to curb diabetes, obesity and asthma-- a strategy to cope with soaring health costs by preventing major chronic diseases that account for most of the nation's medical expenditures." (Washington Post)
American Medical Association Questions Power of Health Insurance Companies
Excerpt: "In a study to be released this week, the national physicians group contends that too many communities are dominated by a handful of insurers who unfairly use their control to restrict patient care and shortchange doctors for services they perform. It asks the federal government to investigate insurance company tactics." (The [Cleveland] Plain Dealer)
Proposal by Senator Breaux Would Provide Healthcare for All
Excerpt: "One of Congress' most influential dealmakers Thursday will propose guaranteeing private health insurance for all Americans. The plan could revive one of the nation's most intractable debates." (USA Today)
HHS Secretary Calls Health Insurers 'Wrong-Headed' for Emphasizing Treatment, Not Prevention
Excerpt: "Dr. Donald A. Young, president of the Health Insurance Association of America, said Mr. [Tommy G.] Thompson's description of the insurance industry was 'not at all accurate.' Increasingly in recent years, Dr. Young said, insurance companies have been willing to pay for tests and procedures intended to detect or prevent disease in people with no symptoms." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Finding the Work/Life Balance: How Can I Do It All
Excerpt: "Are the pressures of job and family driving you crazy? Here are five practical strategies for getting some balance-- and sanity-- back in your life." (Fortune)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Windows Shortcut for Your Desktop: View Message Threads Posted on BenefitsLink in Past 24 Hours
Windows users might wish to save this handy little file to their desktop; then just double-click on it once a day to view the message threads that have been added or changed on the BenefitsLink message boards. (It's an 'Internet shortcut' file; if you save it to your desktop and then double-click on it, your Internet Explorer web browser should automatically take you to a page showing the message threads; it might work with Netscape, too.) (BenefitsLink)
US High Court Turns Away ERISA Lawyer Fee Case
Excerpt: "U.S. Supreme Court justices have turned down a request for them to decide whether ERISA cases favor awarding lawyer fees to prevailing parties. The high court let stand a recent decision by the US 8th Circuit Court of Appeals that overturned a previous Eighth Circuit presumption in favor of awarding the attorneys' fees ..." (PLANSPONSOR.com; registration required)
Summary of Recent Developments in Executive Compensation
January 2003. Concise but comprehensive outline discussing the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, recent IRS rulings, securities law developments and stock exchange rules. (John E. McGrady, III and Amy I. Pandit of Silverstein & Mullens, a division of Buchanan Ingersoll Professional Corporation)
Frederic W. Cook & Co. Responds to FASB on Stock-Based Compensation Accounting Proposals (PDF)
Excerpt: "Re: Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation: A Comparison of FASB Statement No. 123, Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation, and its Related Interpretations, and IASB Proposed IFRS, Share-based Payment - Issued November 18, 2002." (Frederic W. Cook & Co., Inc.)
West Coast Dockworkers Ratify Contract Providing Enhanced Pension, Health Benefits
Excerpt: "The deal boasts handsome benefits, including no-cost health insurance and a 60 percent increase in pensions. By 2008, a union member will receive an annual pension of $1,800 multiplied by the number of years worked-- a 30-year veteran, for example, would get $54,000 per year in retirement." (AP via Lycos News)
A CEO Gives Back His Stock Options
Excerpt: "Siebel Systems Inc. founder and chief executive Thomas M. Siebel, sued by shareholders who are unhappy with the size and accounting of his stock option package, gave up the right to buy 26 million shares, all the options granted to him since 1998." (Washington Post)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Benefits Assistant
for Valley National Bank
in NJ
Operations Manager
for Benefit Consultants, LLC
in AL
Health and Welfare Benefits Consultant
for TSA
in CA, CT, DC, DE, GA, IL, IN, MA, MD, MI, MN, NJ, NY, OH, PA, TX, WI
Qualified Retirement Plan Administration Specialist
for RSM McGladrey, Inc.
in MN
Employee Benefits Salesperson/Consultant - San Francisco Bay Area
for leading, privately held insurance brokerage company
in CA
DC/DB Plan Administrator
for Columbia Benefits, LLC - Englewood Colorado
in CO
Sales Professionals
for LTSave, Inc. -- Independent Advice Services for Retirement Plans
in MA
Newly Posted Benefits Businesses for Sale
(Post Yours!)
New York Actuarial/Pension Administration Firm
Facilities in NY
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)
Annual Conference
in CA
February 20, 2003
National Association of Pension Administrators - Northern CA Chapter
Employer Plans for Future Retiree Health Benefits
in ALL STATES
February 5, 2003
Hewitt Associates
Administrative Committee Functions
in CA
February 20, 2003
Western Pension & Benefits Conference - Orange County Chapter
Newly Posted Press Releases
(Post Yours!)
BenefitStreet Announces Latest Software Release
(BenefitStreet, Inc.)
SPECIAL FIDELITY BOND ADVISORY
(COLONIAL SURETY COMPANY)
Gucciardi Benefit Resources Announces Strategic Alliance with Summit Benefit & Actuarial Services, Inc.
(Gucciardi Benefit Resources, Inc.)
PBGC Reaches Deal Strengthening Pensions of Greyhound Bus Workers
(Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)
PlanAnalytics Unveils Free Online Tool for Advisers Comparing Section 529 College Savings Plans
(PlanAnalytics, Inc.)
AHI's Benefits Alert Releases New Free Report: "Flexible Benefits: Checking Out The Basics"
(Alexander Hamilton Institute - AHI's BenefitsAlert.com)
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Search BenefitsLink
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research
- Employee Benefits Library
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