| BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter |   |
March 11, 2003 - 8,066 subscribers
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Senators Seek to Force Solution to Problem of Medically Uninsured
Excerpt: "Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced legislation that would compel Congress to vote on a proposal for helping the nation's uninsured." (Modern Healthcare)
Diverse Groups Uniting-- For Now-- to Aid the Uninsured
Excerpt: "[M]ore than a dozen organizations [have begun] a major national campaign to bring attention to the plight of the 41 million Americans who lack health insurance. The issue pulls together groups that usually have little in common, from employers such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable to membership organizations like AFL-CIO and the AARP, plus health groups such as the American Medical Assn., the American Nurses Assn., and the American Hospital Assn." (Business Week Online)
Study: the Consequences of Medical Debt (PDF)
40 pages; Feb. 2003. Excerpt: "Medical debt resulting from needed medical care appears to have serious and long-term effects for individuals and families.... Our preliminary work suggests that hospitals are establishing increasingly aggressive collection policies to pursue payments from patients, regardless of a patient's ability to pay or the magnitude of the debt owed." (The Access Project; Other Organizations)
Opinion: Need a Doctor? Call a Lawyer
Excerpt: "The barriers to affordable health care in the U.S. have long included outdated government-run programs like Medicare and Medicaid and an over-abundance of mandates and regulations imposed on the health care industry. Now, we must include the titanic costs of malpractice insurance." (insure.com)
Town Hall Meeting Puts Focus on California's Uninsured
Excerpt: "Experts at the town hall drew a detailed picture of health coverage-- or the lack thereof-- in Los Angeles County and the state. Newly released data by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research found that more than 6 million Californians were uninsured for at least part of 2001.... Los Angeles County is at the center of the crisis, with more uninsured people than most other parts of the country." (Los Angeles Times; one-time registration required)
Ads Appearing on D.C. TV Stations about Proposed Medical Malpractice Damage Recovery Cap
Excerpt: "In one commercial a woman says her husband needed emergency care, but surgeons weren't available. 'Lawsuits against doctors and hospitals have made it too expensive for them to practice,' she says. In another ad, a woman unflinchingly tells of having a double mastectomy after being told, mistakenly, that she had breast cancer ..." (AP via Yahoo! News)
California Governor, Doctors Concerned about Federal Malpractice Proposal
Excerpt: "As doctors nationwide press Congress to copy a California law that limits damages in malpractice lawsuits, many in California-- including the governor and the state medical society-- fear the federal legislation may undermine state HMO reform efforts.... Washington efforts to borrow a page from Sacramento, however, may stamp out a cornerstone of patients' rights here: the ability to sue HMOs for unlimited damages." (The Sacramento Bee via NewsAlert.com)
Analysis: Wells Fargo Decision on Post-Retirement Medical Benefits Creates Potential Opportunities
Excerpt: "A recent decision by the Tax Court creates potential refund opportunities for taxpayers that have welfare benefit funds with reserves for post-retirement medical benefits." (Deloitte & Touche Human Capital Advisory Services)
May We Disallow Short-Term Disability Benefits for Pregnancy?
Excerpt: "Answer: The Pregnancy Discrimination Act, an amendment to Title VII, states that discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions constitutes unlawful sex discrimination under Title VII. What this means for employers is that women affected by pregnancy or related conditions must be treated in the same manner as other applicants or employees with similar abilities." (Proskauer Rose via WorkIndex.com)
Five Key Trends Predicted to Drive Health Insurance Industry in 2003
Excerpt: "Five key trends will shape the fortunes of the managed care industry [in 2003]: ..." (Managed Care Week via AISHealth.com)
Audio Report: Many Companies Cut Back Retirees' Health Benefits
Excerpt: "As the economy struggles, many large corporations cut back on their retired employees' health insurance. Companies that file for bankruptcy can eliminate their retiree health benefits entirely, catching many seniors off guard. NPR's Jack Speer reports.' (Mar. 10, 2003) (National Public Radio)
Opinion: Healthcare System's Prognosis is Poor
Excerpt: "Larger premiums, higher deductibles, increased payments for prescription drugs? Employer dropping your coverage? Are we having fun yet? Our money-corrupted political system isn't about to address the systemic problems." (Molly Ivins in The Sacramento Bee)
California Bill Targets Gifts to Doctors by Pharmaceutical Firms
Excerpt: "Prescription drug makers who give doctors millions of dollars' worth of gifts each year-- from Chinese food to free travel-- would be forced to publicly list them under a bill pending in the Legislature. California is one of several states questioning a culture of gift-giving that some doctors and consumer advocates call pervasive and potentially corrupting." (Los Angeles Times; one-time registration required)
Survey: Kids Want More Time with Parents, Not More Money
Excerpt: "The poll shows a real problem of time starvation among American youth, with almost one in four saying that their parents are too busy working to spend time with them. Perhaps most revealing, nearly two-thirds of children polled say they wish their parents had a job that gave them more free time to do things together, while a scant 13% wish their parents made more money." (The Center for a New American Dream)
Study: the Reallocation of Compensation in Response to Health Insurance Premium Increases
Available for downloading for $5 from SSRN.com. Excerpt: "This paper examines how compensation packages change when health insurance premiums rise. We use data on employee choices within a single large firm with a flexible benefits plan; an increasingly common arrangement among medium and large firms." (Dana P. Goldman, Neeraj Sood, Arleen Leibowitz; working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Commentary: Companies Looking for an Alternative to Stock Options
Excerpt: "First, in a world where earnings are going to be charged for every form of compensation, with no 'get out of jail' free card issued to stock options, should a company continue to use those beasts, or should it think about alternative forms of compensation? And second, if a company does stick with options, how can it, legitimately, engineer the lowest possible charge to earnings?" (Graef Crystal on Bloomberg.com)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Pension Administrator
for Means & Associates, LLC
in CA
Accounting/Pension Tech
for Third Party Administrating Firm
in MN
Investment Specialist
for Principal Financial Group
in IA
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)
DOL Positions in the Enron Litigation: What Do They Mean for Plans and Plan Fiduciaries?
in ALL STATES
March 27, 2003
ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits; Other Organizations
Newly Posted Press Releases
(Post Yours!)
Benefit Software Inc. Eases the Pain of Open Enrollment for K. Hovnanian
(Benefit Software Inc.)
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