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April 18, 2003 - 8,101 subscribers
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The Consumer-Driven Approach: Can It Pick Up Where Managed Care Left Off?
Excerpt: "Managed care has failed and health care costs are once again out of control. This [14-page] article discusses the failure of managed care and ways that employers can promote consumer-driven behavior now using available tools and plan provisions." (Aon Consulting)
Colorado City to Cancel Recently Implemented Program for Same-Sex Domestic Partner Benefits
Excerpt: "Colorado Springs' experiment in offering same-sex benefits apparently will end at the new City Council's first meeting Tuesday. Mayor Lionel Rivera put a resolution on the agenda directing the hospital and utility directors and the city manager not to include the benefits in their 2004 budget proposals." (The [Colorado Springs] Gazette)
Opinion: Only Rocket Scientists Can Use Current Healthcare System
Excerpt: "It isn't only insurance or race or timing. This health care system is just plain too hard to use ... [People] can't get the information they need about the health care system. They don't understand how, or if, that system works. They can't get answers to their questions, even when they know what questions to ask. Often, they don't know who to ask, or if they do, that person isn't in. Or isn't answering the phone. Or is waiting for a callback from the health plan." (Emily Friedman in the Health Forum Journal (Nov./Dec. 2002 Issue))
Opinion: Texas Senate Passes Bill to Shift Health Coverage Costs from Employers to Consumers
Excerpt: "[T]he proponents of these bare-bones plans claim they will bring down the costs of insurance but SB541 gives no guarantee that premiums will go down or that they will fairly reflect the cost of stripped coverage." (Consumers Union)
One or More Authors Needed to Host EAP Q&A Column on BenefitsLink
Drop me an email with your qualifications if you're interested! The column focuses on questions about employee assistance programs from or for plan sponsors. Thanks -- Dave Baker, Publisher (BenefitsLink.com)
One or More Authors Needed to Host Section 125 Q&A Column on BenefitsLink
Drop me an email with your qualifications if you're interested! The column focuses on questions from or for plan sponsors. If you're interested in hosting a new Q&A about Section 125 (cafeteria, flex) plans for participants, let me know that, too! Thanks -- Dave Baker, Publisher (BenefitsLink.com)
One or More Authors Needed to Host COBRA Q&A Column on BenefitsLink
Drop me an email with your qualifications if you're interested! The column focuses on questions from or for plan sponsors. If you're interested in hosting a new Q&A about COBRA for participants, let me know that, too! Thanks -- Dave Baker, Publisher (BenefitsLink.com)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
CIGNA Publishes Compliance Checklist 2003 for DB, DC and Nonqualified Executive Benefit Plans (PDF)
24 pages; marvelous. Designed for use by CIGNA clients, but most of the information is applicable to plan sponsors generally. Excerpt: "The Checklist ... provides information on the materials that you will need to file, filing due dates, and agencies to which filings should be made. In addition, we've identified how CIGNA can help you complete each task, so you can rest assured you have what you need to meet government filing requirements." (CIGNA's Pension Analyst(R), Special Edition)
American Airlines Union Up in Arms Over Disclosure of Trust for Supplemental Executive Benefits
Excerpt: "Mechanics and ground workers may have thrown a wrench into labor concession deals aimed at heading off a bankruptcy filing at American Airlines when their union leadership threatened on Thursday not to sign the pact over a dispute on executive compensation." (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
AP Coverage of American Airlines Flap Over Use of Trust for Executives' Supplemental Benefits
Excerpt: "The executives' deal, which includes a pension fund that protected the benefits of top executives in case of bankruptcy, was disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission by American's parent, AMR Corp.... 'It's the equivalent of an obscene gesture from management,' said John Ward, president of the flight attendants' union." (AP via SFGate.com)
NY Times Coverage: Unions at American Airlines Criticize Executive Pensions
Excerpt: "Union leaders at American Airlines yesterday denounced the company's disclosure on Tuesday night that it had set up a trust fund to protect top executives' pensions if the company went into bankruptcy and that it planned to pay bonuses to several executives for staying with the company until 2005." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
GM Top Execs to Receive No Bonuses This Year
Excerpt: "General Motors Corp.'s top executives will receive no cash bonus for their performance last year, the world's No. 1 automaker said on Thursday, as concerns about the shaky economy outweighed the sterling results they delivered in 2002." (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
Ethical Considerations for Trustees of Multiemployer Plans (PDF)
7 pages. Excerpt: "Several committees of the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans have worked to develop a list of ethical considerations that may be beneficial to Trustees in analyzing various courses of action. This document will be used at future educational sessions on the topic of ethics." (International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)
Expensing Stock Options Already Factored Into Company Stock Prices, Watson Wyatt Analysis Finds
Press release. Excerpt: "Mandating stock option expensing should have little, if any, effect on a company's stock price, according to a new analysis by Watson Wyatt of 800 publicly traded companies in the S&P 1500." (Watson Wyatt)
One or More Authors Needed to Host Deferred Comp Q&A Column on BenefitsLink
Drop me an email with your qualifications if you're interested! The column focuses on questions from or for plan sponsors. If you're interested in hosting a new QDRO column for participants, let me know that, too! Thanks -- Dave Baker, Publisher (BenefitsLink.com)
One or More Authors Needed to Host Mergers and Acquisitions Q&A Column on BenefitsLink
Drop me an email with your qualifications if you're interested! The column focuses on questions from or for plan sponsors. Thanks -- Dave Baker, Publisher (BenefitsLink.com)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Fun & Challenging DC Compliance Position
for Louis Kravitz & Associates, Inc.
in CA
Consulting Actuary
for Management Recruiters of Wildwood
in AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, IL, MA, MI, MN, MO, NC, NY, OH, PA, RI, TX, WA, WI
Health and Welfare Consultant
for Management Recruiters of Wildwood
in AZ, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, IL, MA, MI, MN, MO, NC, OH, PA, RI, TX, WI
Manager Health & Welfare Benefits
for ABM Industries Incorporated - San Francisco
in CA
New Fellow or Associate Actuary
for Milliman USA
in CO
Conversion Specialist
for Retirement Alliance, Inc.
in NH
Pension Administrator
for Lurie Besikof Lapidus & Company, LLP
in MN
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)
CBI's 2nd Annual Employer Summit on Managing Healthcare Costs and Quality
in DC
May 19, 2003
The Center for Business Intelligence
CBI's Inaugural Forum on Captives and Alternative Risk Financing for Medical Liability Coverage
in IL
July 28, 2003
The Center for Business Intelligence
The World Congress Leadership Summit on Healthcare Quality & Performance Contracting
in MA
August 11, 2003
World Congress
Benefit Management Academy
in FL
May 23, 2003
Benefit Management Group
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Search BenefitsLink
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research
- Employee Benefits Library
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