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February 28, 2003 - 8,066 subscribers
Today's sponsor: EBIA's HIPAA Portability & Privacy
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
New HIPAA Privacy Rules! Are Your Health Plans in Compliance? New laws and regulations impose far-reaching requirements on group health plans, employers, plan administrators, and insurers--and EBIA is here to help! Our HIPAA Portability & Privacy manual is the best resource available. Written and edited by top employee benefits attorneys, HIPAA Portability & Privacy has over 900 pages packed with the information you need to bring your group health plans into compliance with all of HIPAA's rules. Click above for details.
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Flowchart: Are You a 'Covered Entity' Under HIPAA? (PDF)
12 pages. Excerpt: "The Administrative Simplification standards adopted by HHS under [HIPAA] apply to any entity that is [1] a health care provider that conducts certain transactions in electronic form (called here a 'covered health care provider') [2] a health care clearinghouse, or [3] a health plan. An entity that is one or more of these types of entities is referred to as a 'covered entity' in the Administrative Simplification regulations." (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services)
California Employer Health Benefits Survey, 2002
Excerpt: "A survey of California employers released by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust (HRET) shows that premiums for employer sponsored health insurance increased 13.0% in 2002, six times California's inflation rate (2.1%)." (The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)
Business Groups Urge FTC to Foster More Competitive, Market-Driven Health Care System
Press release. Excerpt: "Arnold Milstein, MD, MPH, testified [on Feb. 27, 2003] at a hearing before the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ... [Milstein said,] 'Consumer research published by the Voluntary Hospital Association indicates that over 85 percent of Americans would be prepared to select their physicians and hospitals based on credible performance comparisons, if such comparisons were available. Market competition can heal our health care delivery systems.'" (American Benefits Council)
Recent Case Says HMO Can Be Sued for Medical Malpractice Based on Its Coverage Decisions
Excerpt: "Was the court correct in its conclusion? Or, put another way, does it make sense to say that an insurer practices medicine when it makes coverage decisions? ... Judge Robert Sack wrote the opinion for the two-judge majority of the Second Circuit panel. It accepted Mrs. Cicio's argument. But Judge Guido Calabresi-- a former Yale Law School Dean and leading torts scholar-- wrote a powerful dissent." (FindLaw.com)
10th Cir.: Oklahoma Bad Faith Law Still Preempted by ERISA, Despite Rush Prudential v. Moran Case
Conover v. Aetna US Health Care Inc., No. 01-5172 (10th Cir. 2003). Excerpt: "This court addressed this issue in Gaylor v. John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co., 112 F.3d 460, 466 (10th Cir. 1997), holding 'Oklahoma's bad faith law does not sufficiently regulate insurance such that it falls within [the Act]'s saving clause.' We are bound by this decision." (U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit via FindLaw.com)
GAO: Summary of Retiree Health Benefits at Selected Government Contractors
6 pages. GAO-03-412R, February 27, 2003. Excerpt: "[W]e selected on a nonstatistical basis three of the largest government contractors to determine (1) what changes, if any, they had made to their retiree health benefit plans and (2) the extent to which government agencies oversee retiree health benefit costs." (U.S. General Accounting Office)
More Communication Necessary To Prevent Medical Errors, Columnist Says
Excerpt: "The Feb. 22 death of Jesica Santillan, the 17-year-old Duke University Hospital patient whose heart and lungs transplant failed because the organs were from a donor with a different blood type, highlights the need for better communication about medical errors, Boston Globe columnist Ellen Goodman writes." (KaiserNetwork.org)
Association Health Plans: Godsend or Recipe for Disaster?
Excerpt: "AHPs have existed for decades, both nationally and on the local level. But the Small Business Health Fairness Act would exempt them from state insurance regulations, a key advantage long enjoyed by union and corporate health plans." (Entrepreneur.com)
Boehner-Led Committee Says Labor Department is Ready to Oversee AHPs
Press release. Excerpt: "The compliance project is further evidence of the Labor Department's commitment and proven success in effectively monitoring health plans, and clears the way for the Department to oversee association health plans (AHPs)." (U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Education and the Workforce)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Associate - Insurance Services - Los Angeles, CA and Deerfield, IL
for Mullin Consulting, Inc.
in CA, IL
Trustmark/SRT Senior Administrator
for New England-based TPA
in
401(K) Administrator
for Caribbean Pension Consultants, Inc.
in FL
Relationship Manager
for BISYS Retirement Services
in PA
Benefits Coordinator
for Global Steel manufacturer
in CA
Trust Reconciliation Specialist
for CO TPA Firm
in CO
Newly Posted Webcasts
(Post Yours!)
What is the Price of Innovation? Policy Approaches to Manage Rising Pharmacy Costs
on February 25, 2003
presented by American Association of Health Plans
Newly Posted Press Releases
(Post Yours!)
AHI's Benefits Alert Releases New Free Report: "Education Perks At Work"
(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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