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March 7, 2003 - 8,066 subscribers
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Bush Plan to Cap Malpractice Awards Advances to Full House
Excerpt: "President Bush's proposal to place strict limits on jury awards in medical malpractice lawsuits passed an important hurdle in Congress today, winning the approval of a key House committee. The full House is expected to consider the legislation next week." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Three Senators Vow Swift Action on Bill to Allow Association Health Plans
Excerpt: "The Senators, led by Senate Small Business Committee Chair Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, vowed quick action on the bill ... U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao ... joined Senators Snowe, Jim Talent, R-Mo., and Christopher Bond, R-Mo., in unveiling the measure ..." (Reuters Health via Medscape; one-time registration required)
Bush Touts Association Health Plans
Excerpt: "The Bush administration completed its rollout Thursday of a proposal to let small businesses buy into group health insurance plans anywhere in the country. President Bush says his plan would help extend coverage to the 41 million Americans who lack health insurance." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Coalition Seeks New Focus for 41 Million Uninsured
Excerpt: "The coalition, which includes the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the AFL-CIO, major foundations and such health groups as the American Medical Association, has planned events across the United States." (Reuters via the New York Times; one-time registration required)
Analysis: Final HIPAA Security Regulations Released (PDF)
Fifteen pages. Excerpt: "This advisory provides an overview of the Final Security Rule, details the types of transactions covered, specifies who must comply, and describes the administrative, physical and technical safeguards suggested to meet the security requirements. It also details a nine-point action plan for entities that must comply with the Final Security Rule by April 21, 2005, provides the security standard matrix from the Rule, and [more] ..." (Alston + Bird LLP)
UnumProvident Study Shows 10% of Employees Cause More Than Half of Medical Costs
Press release. Excerpt: "[On March 6, 2003], UnumProvident ... released findings of a comprehensive employer research study providing evidence that 10 percent of employees-- those who file occupational or non-occupational disability claims-- drive 55 percent of employee medical costs and up to 66 percent of all medical, disability and workers' compensation costs combined." (PR Newswire via NewsAlert.com)
Overview: 8th Annual Washington Business Group on Health/Watson Wyatt Survey Report
Excerpt: "Employers must lay the groundwork for increasing their employees' involvement in health care through a planned, staged approach to changing the way health care is purchased. Unless companies prepare to take bold action through a measured series of steps, their health care programs will become untenable and will threaten their ability to compete." (Watson Wyatt)
Opinion: Affordable Remedies Ignored as Health Woes Soar
Excerpt: "Perhaps the best measure of the depth of the nation's health care troubles is this: Amid terror warnings, possible war with Iraq, a faltering stock market and a sluggish economy, a new poll says the public's top worry is rising health care costs." (USA Today)
Opinion: Profit Motive is Cause of Malpractice Insurance Crisis
Excerpt: "The Bush administration's obsession with capping medical malpractice lawsuits shifts blame away from enormously profitable health care corporations.... Medical malpractice is a byproduct of the profit system-- a spiral of endless cost-cutting by providers in search of higher revenues, leading to staffing cuts that endanger patients." (Counterpunch.org)
Opinion: Congress Should Pass Mental Health Parity Bill
Excerpt: "Wellstone's bill should have passed last year, and likely would have but for election-year politics. Backed by scores of health organizations and endorsed by President Bush himself, the measure would at last put an end to heath insurers' enduring bias against people with illnesses commonly considered 'psychiatric.'" (The [Minneapolis] Star Tribune)
Workplace Wellness Participation Lowers Health Risks, Reduces Premiums
Excerpt: "A recent study conducted by researchers at Oxford Health Plans asking adults to rate their own health status revealed that 17% of respondents believe they are in excellent health. However, of that group, these patients tended to be at least 25 pounds overweight (55%), smoke (31%), drink three or more alcoholic beverages daily (21%), consume four or more cups of coffee or tea daily (29%), and never exercise (36%)." (BenefitNews.com)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Tyco Shareholders Pass Resolution Requiring Shareholder Approval for Execs' Severance Packages
Excerpt: "Shareholders unhappy with scandals involving top management at Tyco International scored a very rare victory with approval of a resolution to subject executive severance packages to a direct shareholder vote. The nonbinding resolution was approved 58 percent to 48 percent at the conglomerate's annual meeting Thursday in Hamilton, Bermuda." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
California Senator Vows to Protect Use of Stock Options without Mandatory Expensing
Excerpt: "Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said a bipartisan group of senators already is mapping out a strategy to prevent the Financial Accounting Standards Board from possibly forcing companies to treat stock options as expenses, a move that would greatly diminish their use." (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution via the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)
Welcome to new BenefitsLink advertiser Benelogic
Excerpt: "Benelogic develops intuitive software applications designed to simplify employee benefits administration and streamline benefits data transfer. By applying a logical approach to benefits administration, we design and support end to end products and services. Employee Self-Enrollment, Online Communications, Carrier Data Exchange, Voluntary Benefits Administration, Online Billing Tools, Human Resources Portal, Carrier Management Portal,
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Pension Administrator
for Northwest Benefit Consultants, Inc.
in IL
Plan Administrator
for The Weiss Group, Inc.
in IL
Benefit Consultant for Fortune 200 Health Benefits Corporation
for Humana Inc.
in KY
401K Sales Consultant
for Insurance Resource Group
in TX
Manager of Compliance
for NRECA
in VA
Employee Benefits Customer Service Representative
for Great West Life & Annuity
in PA
Qualified Retirement Plan Administrator
for RSM McGladrey, Inc.
in IL
Newly Posted Webcasts
(Post Yours!)
A Shared Destiny: Community Effects of Uninsurance
on March 6, 2003
presented by KaiserNetwork.org
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)
Blackout Periods in Retirement Plans & the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
in OH
March 25, 2003
ASPA Benefits Council of Greater Cincinnati
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