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April 7, 2003 - 8,085 subscribers
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(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Health System Warily Prepares for HIPAA Privacy Rules, Becoming Effective April 14
Excerpt: "New federal rules to protect the privacy of medical records take effect on April 14 and the changes have touched off a quiet revolution in the health care industry. Doctors, hospitals, drugstores and other health care providers must limit the disclosure of information about patients." (New York Times; one-time registration required)

Can Our Cafeteria Plan Reimburse Claims for Drugs Imported from Canada for Use by U.S. Participants?
Excerpt: "ANSWER: Probably not, in light of recent guidance issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which discusses the application of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act ('the Food and Drug Act') to the importation of prescription drugs from Canada." (EBIA Weekly (Question of the Week))

New York State Legislators Call for Federal Help for Bethlehem Steel Retirees
Excerpt: "The cancellation of Bethlehem Steel Corp.'s health benefits for nearly 100,000 retirees is prompting calls to expand public health care funding to fill the gap." (The Buffalo News via NewsAlert.com)

Coke Urged To Drop Gay-Friendly Employee Policies
Shareholder resolution to be voted on at the company's April 16 annual meeting in Houston 'recommend[s] the shareholders request the Board of Directors to amend the company's corporate, diversity and equal employment policies to exclude reference to sexual orientation, and cease support of homosexual lifestyle and other deviant lifestyle behaviors opposed by the majority of people.' (Houston Voice)

No Guidance on Horizon for Meals and Expense Reimbursement Plans
Excerpt: "For the year 2003, a sponsor of certain fringe benefit plans cannot look to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for an official stamp of approval that its plan meets various complex rules required for tax-favored treatment. The IRS will not issue private letter rulings (PLRs) and determination letters for expense allowance plans as well as meals and lodging reimbursement plans, according to Revenue Procedure (Rev. Proc.) 2003-3." (Thompson Publishing Company)

Bolstering the Case for Group Legal Benefits
Excerpt: "Last year, a study by the American Bar Association found that seven out of 10 U.S. families encountered a situation that might have led them to hire a lawyer. However, many reportedly were reluctant to seek out legal services due to questions over attorney effectiveness and cost concerns." (BenefitNews.com)

How One Small Businessman Decided to Share Healthcare Cost Increases with Workers
Excerpt: "Goldmeier is not happy about the situation, but he feels he has no choice given how insurance costs are skyrocketing, with no end in sight. 'It's really a crisis. The system is grinding to a halt,' he says. 'For a small business, it's a nightmare.'" (Chicago Tribune; one-time registration required)

Florida Senate Committee Approves Insurance Regulation Bill
Excerpt: "The Florida Senate Banking and Insurance Committee last week approved legislation (SB 1676) that would make it a felony to operate an unlicensed health insurance company and would allow victims of such fraud to file civil lawsuits against the carriers, the Orlando Sentinel reports ..." (KaiserNetwork.org)


Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

HP Shareholders Vote to Limit Golden Parachutes
Excerpt: "Hewlett-Packard shareholders narrowly approved a proposal that would limit the board's ability to grant generous golden parachute packages to top executives, the company said Friday. The nonbinding recommendation would require the HP board to obtain shareholder approval for any proposed severance package that is more than 2.99 times a departing executive's salary plus bonuses." (SFGate.com)

Is That Your CEO Cashing Out?
Excerpt: "Even though stock now constitutes the crux of executive pay-- as it has for more than a decade-- the sale of shares does not appear in companies' annual listing of executive pay." (New York Times; one-time registration required)

Money Still Follows the Pinstripes
Excerpt: "Shareholders hoping for a revolution that would spell the end of the imperial chief executive will have to wait until next year at the soonest, according to some investors and compensation consultants.... [O]ptions accounted for most of the pay, and the true value of those options will not be known for years. If stocks surge again, the generous options grants of 2002 may lead to the kind of individual windfalls that characterized the late 1990's and spurred calls for reform ..." (New York Times; one-time registration required)

United Chief Takes Pay Cut But Retains Other Compensation
Excerpt: "United Airlines said [April 4] that Glenn F. Tilton, its chief executive, would take a 14 percent cut in his base salary this year, though Mr. Tilton's much more significant stock and cash bonuses and other compensation, worth millions, will remain intact." (New York Times; one-time registration required)

Executive Perks Still Flow, But With Less Fizz
Excerpt: "[C]ertain lifestyle perks, like memberships at elite golf and health clubs and payments for second homes, appear to be less common, though they have not disappeared, according to recent regulatory filings and compensation experts." (New York Times; one-time registration required)

USERRA: Employment and Retirement Rights and Obligations
Excerpt: "Employers only have obligations towards applicable veterans who terminated employment and seek reemployment in accordance with the provisions of the Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). Even then, employers are not required to rehire those veterans, but only to do so when it would be reasonable." (Lowell J. Walters, Esq. of GrayHarris)

Unions Taking on Issue of Stock Option Expensing
Excerpt: "The labor unions leading the shareholder attack on corporate stock-option policies this spring could be reshaping shareholder activism for years to come. The unions are taking aim at stock options because they contend lavish executive option plans contributed to corporate scandals, forcing union pension plans to swallow staggering investment losses." (The [San Jose, Calif.] Mercury News)

Welcome to new BenefitsLink advertiser the Paragon Consulting Group, Inc.
Excerpt: "The Paragon Consulting Group is a 'boutique consulting' firm serving the benefits community since 1994. We provide nationwide resource solutions that encompass the entire spectrum of benefits administration and management. Our Professional staff offers short or long-term project assistance during peak work periods, staff shortages or when there is a need for specialized skill sets. We operate like a virtual SWAT team, with consultants all over the U.S. ."


Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

401(k) Administrator
for Administrative Retirement Services, Inc.
in IL

Actuary
for Benetech, Inc.
in CA

Pension Analyst
for Pension Resource Group, Inc.
in GA

Web Strategist
for Transamerica
in CA

Pension Plan Administrator
for Manager Of Managers, Inc. - Encino, California
in CA
Newly Posted Webcasts
(Post Yours!)

Purchasing Health Care Services in a Competitive Environment
on April 3, 2003
presented by U.S. Senate, Committee on Finance
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)

HIPAA and Other Health Laws: Compliance Assistance Seminar by the U.S. Department of Labor
in TN
April 10, 2003
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration

HIPAA and Other Health Laws: Compliance Assistance Seminar by the U.S. Department of Labor
in MT
May 8, 2003
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration

HIPAA and Other Health Laws: Compliance Assistance Seminar by the U.S. Department of Labor
in IN
June 12, 2003
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration

HIPAA and Other Health Laws: Compliance Assistance Seminar by the U.S. Department of Labor
in UT
July 17, 2003
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration

HIPAA and Other Health Laws: Compliance Assistance Seminar by the U.S. Department of Labor
in PA
September 8, 2003
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration

HIPAA and Other Health Laws: Compliance Assistance Seminar by the U.S. Department of Labor
in TX
September 18, 2003
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration

Educational Workshop
in FL
April 24, 2003
Florida West Coast Employee Benefits Council
Newly Posted Press Releases
(Post Yours!)

SYNHRGY Healthcare Estimator Saves Employees
(Synhrgy HR Technologies)

HIPAA and Other Health Laws: Compliance Assistance Seminar from the U.S. Department of Labor
(U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)


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