| BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter |   |
March 26, 2003 - 8,072 subscribers
Today's sponsor: VeriSource Services, Inc.
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
Benefit Data Management Solutions Providing solutions for all of your benefit data management needs, VSI hosts a customized enrollment solution for each client along with providing additional outsourcing capabilities. The focus is to provide solutions that improve operational efficiency and allow clients to benefit from the latest in computer, Internet and telephone technology Automated Enrollment COBRA/HIPAA Administration Retiree and FMLA Premiums Consolidated Premium Recordkeeping Customer Service Resource Center
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Reservists' Families Face Healthcare Jam
Excerpt: "After 30 days of active duty, insurance coverage by the reservists' regular employers switches to a military plan, and that can mean having to switch doctors. Lawmakers want to let them keep their private coverage, with the government picking up the premiums." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Analysis: DOL Issues Proposed Exemption on Funding Benefits Through Captive
2 pages. Excerpt: "It is our expectation that ... by early summer, companies with an interest in using their existing captive insurers (or establishing captive insurers) to reinsure portions of their employee benefit programs, should be able to submit exemption applications using the EXPRO process, which will enable them to secure DOL approval and implement the desired arrangements in a far more timely manner than previously available." (LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae, L.L.P.)
Text of Proposed Exemption on Funding Employee Benefits Through Captive Insurance Company
March 3, 2003. Excerpt: "If the exemption is granted, the restrictions of section 406(a) and (b) of [ERISA] shall not apply to the reinsurance of risks and the receipt of premiums therefrom by Agrinational Insurance Company ... in connection with insurance contracts sold by Minnesota Life Insurance Company ... to provide basic and supplemental life insurance benefits to participants in [Archer Daniels Midland Company]'s programs to provide such benefits to its employees ..." (U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)
Multistate Lawmakers Endorse Plan to Create Nonprofit Drug Benefit Administrator
Excerpt: " Lawmakers involved in a multi-state association aiming to wrest better prices on prescription medications on [March 14, 2003] authorized an ambitious plan to create a non-profit pharmacy benefit administrator, or PBA." (Reuters Health via Medscape; one-time registration required)
Overview: Comprehensive Mental Health Parity Legislation Formally Introduced
Excerpt: "[M]ental health advocates are encouraged by two hopeful signs: The Bush administration's support for mental health parity, and the elevation of Sen. Bill Frist (R.-Tenn.) to Senate majority leader. The House and Senate bills both bear the same name: the 'Senator Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2003.'" (Mental Health Weekly via Medscape; one-time registration required)
Employers Warming to Disease Management Programs
Excerpt: "After a slow start, self-funded employers are stepping up purchases of care management programs, disease management companies say." (Managed Care Week via AISHealth.com)
Consumer-Directed Health Plan for Federal Employees Exceeds Sponsor's Goals
Excerpt: "The American Postal Workers Union (APWU) Health Plan, which introduced the plan to its 266,000 active members last fall, is the first federal workers' union to offer a CDH option to its members. The CDH plan was made available alongside a 'high option' PPO plan." (Inside Consumer-Directed Health Care via AISHealth.com)
FDA Considering Revised Drug Ad Guidelines, McClellan Says
Excerpt: "Federal health officials are considering revising guidelines for drug advertisements to ensure that consumers are adequately informed of drugs' risks and benefits, FDA Commissioner Mark McClellan said during a meeting with the National Association of Health Underwriters, Reuters/Los Angeles Times reports." (KaiserNetwork.org)
HIPAA Privacy Rules Take Effect April 14, 2003
Complete coverage of the HIPAA privacy rules, including an employer's guide to HIPAA privacy, is available through SpencerNet. Most health plans must comply with the HIPAA Privacy Rules on April 14, 2003. These plans include: a group plan that provides or pays for the cost of medical care and is not self administered; a group plan that provides or pays for the cost of medical care, is self-administered, and has 50 or more participants; and a health insurance issuer. (SpencerNet)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Text of Amicus Brief by American Benefits Council, Others in 'Reverse Discrimination' S. Ct. Case (PDF)
33 pages. Excerpt: "Question presented: Whether the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) provides a cause of action for 'reverse discrimination' by an individual age 40 or over who claims that an older worker was treated more favorably.' Others on the brief in addition to the American Benefits Council are the Chamber of Commerce of the United States; the ERISA Industry Committee; the Equal Employment Advisory Council; LPA, Inc.; and the National Association of Manufacturers. (American Benefits Council)
Summary Plan Description Deadline Is Here (PDF)
Excerpt: "[T]he final SPD regulations are now fully effective. Plans were required to comply with the new SPD content requirements no later than the first day of the second plan year beginning after January 20, 2001: January 1, 2003 for calendar year plans. If you have not already done so, it is imperative that you review your SPDs to ensure that they contain all of the information now required under DOL Regulation § 2520.102-3." (Trucker Huss)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Group Health Insurance Sales/Account Management
for Great West Life & Annuity
in CA, TX
Defined Benefit
for Financial Service Firm
in NJ, NY
Pension Plan Administrators/Consultants/Actuaries
for Pinnacle Plan Design, P.C.
in AZ
401(k)/Defined Contribution Administrator/Consultant
for Growing North Central NJ Pension Consulting Firm
in NJ
Employee Benefits Administrator
for Branch Banking & Trust Co.
in NC
Representatives
for The Benefits Club
in ALL STATES
Senior Pension Consultant
for The 412i Company
in WA
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)
BASICS OF HEALTH AND WELFARE BENEFITS
in MA
April 10, 2003
New England Employee Benefits Council
FORM 5500 ... AND BEYOND: ERISA REPORTING AND DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS
in MA
May 8, 2003
New England Employee Benefits Council
MANAGING HEALTH INSURANCE RENEWALS: WHAT'S AN EMPLOYER TO DO?
in MA
May 2, 2003
New England Employee Benefits Council
FIDUCIARY RESPONSIBILITY: A NEW LEVEL OF CONCERN
in MA
May 16, 2003
New England Employee Benefits Council
BASICS OF COMPENSATION
in MA
October 16, 2003
New England Employee Benefits Council
BASICS OF RETIREMENT
in MA
November 4, 2003
New England Employee Benefits Council
Legislative Update from Capitol Hill - Guest Speaker, Brian Graff, Executive Director of ASPA
in FL
April 25, 2003
ASPA Benefits Council of North Florida
Newly Posted Press Releases
(Post Yours!)
Credit Union Success with Employee Benefits Spawns New Business Enterprise
(Arizona State Savings & Credit Union)
Nearly Two-Thirds of Corporate Pension Plans Underfunded, Watson Wyatt Research Finds
(Watson Wyatt & Company)
CCHC Encourages U.S. Labor Secretary To Help Americans Move Out of Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance
(Citizens' Council on Health Care)
Movers and Shakers: Newly Posted Announcements of Promotions and New Personnel
(Post Yours!)
Stanley K. Purcell (Pension Resource Group)
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Search BenefitsLink
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research
- Employee Benefits Library
Copyright 2003 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.; except that you can forward this email in full (including this boilerplate part) or otherwise reprint this email in full (including this boilerplate part) without obtaining our permission.
Published by:
BenefitsLink.com, Inc.
https://benefitslink.com/about.html
1298 Minnesota Avenue, Suite H
Winter Park FL 32789
(407) 644-4146
Fax: (407) 644-2151
Editor and Publisher: David Rhett Baker, J.D.
Housekeeping: