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February 3, 2003 - 7,947 subscribers
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Some Plans Asking Canada to Fill Prescriptions
Excerpt: "Some large associations of employees and retirees in the United States are directing their health plan members to Canadian pharmacies for relief from rising prescription drug costs, despite warnings from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that the practice is generally illegal." (BenefitNews.com)
Early Results Mixed For Consumer-Centric Health Plans
Excerpt: "Until now, so-called consumer-centric health plans have been more about theory and promises than documented results.... The data suggests [sic] that while consumer-centric plans are not a miracle cure for double-digit health plan cost inflation and other systemic problems, the basic model can deliver benefits for patient employers willing to lead employees in a bold, new direction." (BenefitNews.com)
Norwood to Concede HMO Liability Provision in New Version of Patients' Rights Bill
Excerpt: "[S]ome 18 months after his deal with President Bush appeared to put the measure on a fast track, the former dentist says he's giving up on one of the bill's most controversial provisions involving the right of patients to sue their HMOs." (MDJonline.com)
Court Decision Highlights Uncertainty Surrounding Employment Tax Withholding for Severance Pay
Excerpt: " 2002 Court of Federal Claims decision highlights a potential opportunity for employers to reduce or eliminate employment tax liability for severance payments made to departing employees in connection with a past or future reduction in force. This opportunity may be particularly valuable for employers implementing reductions in force early in a tax year when employees have not yet exceeded the social security wage limit." (Cooley Godward LLP)
Veterans Press for Free, Lifetime Health Care
Excerpt: "Retired World War II and Korean War veterans have turned to the Supreme Court for help in collecting a huge debt they call long overdue: free lifetime medical care that was promised but not delivered." (The Washington Times)
Employers Monitor Federal Government's Experience with Group Long-Term Care
Excerpt: "The federal government could give the group market for long-term care (LTC) insurance a much-needed boost despite modest initial enrollment in its newest employee benefit. Industry experts say that since marketing for the federal program began in 2002, they've noticed an increase in interest by private-sector employers and an uptick in sales of individual policies in the Washington, D.C., area ..." (BenefitNews.com)
GAO Report: Federal Employees' Health Plan Premium Growth, OPM Role in Negotiating Benefits
37 pages. Excerpt: "Increasing premiums are related to the plans' higher claims expenditures. For FEHBP's three largest plans, about 70 percent of increased claims expenditures from 1998 to 2000 was due to prescription drugs and hospital outpatient care. Most of the increase in drug expenditures was due to higher plan payments per drug, while the increase in hospital outpatient care expenditures was due to higher utilization." (U.S. General Accounting Office)
After Fully-Insured Medical Plan is Amended, When Must Revised SPD Be Furnished?
Excerpt: "Answering your question allows us to address a fundamental point--namely, that ERISA applies equally to insured and self-insured plans. Confusion about this issue is perhaps understandable given that it is the insurer, not the employer, paying benefits under an insured plan ..." (EBIA Weekly (Question of the Week))
Canadian Wholesaler Stops Sending GlaxoSmithKline Drugs To Internet Pharmacies
Excerpt: "Canadian drug wholesaler United Pharmacists Ltd. on Jan. 29 said it has ceased supplying GlaxoSmithKline treatments to pharmacies that sell drugs to U.S. residents over the Internet, the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports." (KaiserNetwork.org)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Dealing With Aging Executives Who Just Won't Quit
Excerpt: "As retirement begins to look less appealing and often less feasible, many older but still vibrant Americans want to hang on to their jobs longer. Corporations, on the other hand, usually encourage workers to retire at 65 or younger because they generally cost more in wages and health benefits." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
PWBA Formally Changes Name to Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
Excerpt: "Changing the agency's name to the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) will more clearly communicate the agency's mission of protecting private sector employee benefits.... This order is effective upon the date of publication in the Federal Register." (U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the Secretary)
Stock Options Becoming Pay Plan Dinosaurs?
Excerpt: "Executive compensation consultants say corporate boards are eager to avoid further revelations of exorbitant pay packages. But the consultants also say board members continue to embrace the cult of the indispensable chief executive and fear that any big cutbacks could reduce their chances of keeping or landing a star." (Washington Post)
Fiduciary Liability Insurance: What Limit, What Price and What's Next? (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "What limit of liability should a plan purchase? What premiums should a plan pay? What premium increase should a plan expect at its next renewal? This Newsletter provides information trustees can use to formulate answers to these and other questions. The source of this information is Segal's proprietary and confidential fiduciary liability database, which Segal believes is the most comprehensive database of its kind." (The Segal Company)
New Fight Over Options Accounting
Excerpt: "FASB Chairman Robert H. Herz has made it clear that he agrees with the International Accounting Standards Board that the value of stock-based compensation should be subtracted from a company's bottom line. The FASB has said it will decide by the end of March whether to again take up the options issue." (Washington Post)
Accounting for Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits 2002
Excerpt: "In this report, Watson Wyatt Worldwide analyzes disclosures under Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Statements 87 and 106 (FAS 87 and FAS 106), as amended by FASB Statement 132 (FAS 132). The disclosures are from the most recent annual reports or financial statements of the nation's largest industrial and service companies." (Watson Wyatt)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Pension Administrator
for EBC, Inc.
in CA
Group Health Insurance Sales/Account Management
for Great West Life & Annuity
in CA
Administrator, Daily Valuation
for Growing Sacramento, Ca pension administration firm
in CA
Pension Manager
for Grice, Lund & Tarkington LLP
in CA
Qualified Plan Supervisor
for Lane Gorman Trubitt, L.L.P.
in TX
ERISA Paralegal/Pension Analyst
for Aris Corporation
in PA
Pension Plan Administrator
for The Angell Pension Group, Inc.
in RI
Director Benefits Services & Administration
for Peabody Energy
in MO
Group Benefits Product Manager
for National Rural Electric Cooperative Assoc.
in VA
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)
Time and Recordkeeping Requirements in Wage and Hour Law
in ALL STATES
February 10, 2003
Thompson Publishing Group
Troubleshooting Common Errors in Flexible Spending Accounts
in ALL STATES
February 19, 2003
Thompson Publishing Group
2003 Update on Pension Activity
in ALL STATES
February 27, 2003
Thompson Publishing Group
Newly Posted Press Releases
(Post Yours!)
President's Budget Proposes Bold Tax-Free Savings and Retirement Security Opportunities for All Americans
(U.S. Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service)
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