| BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter |   |
April 23, 2003 - 8,138 subscribers
Today's sponsor: The COBRA Administrator Handbook
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
Get the COBRA Administrator Handbook for Complete Compliance The first and only compliance manual designed specifically for COBRA self-administration. Simple step-by-step format ensures accurate COBRA documentation, efficient record keeping and complete COBRA compliance protection. The only manual written by expert third-party administrators for COBRA nonprofessionals! Click above for more information.
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Time Off, Disability Become Greater Cost Concern for Employers
Excerpt: "Time off and disability program costs averaged 15% of payroll in 2001, up from 14.6% in 2000, according to the 2002 Survey of Employers' Time Off and Disability Programs by Mercer Human Resource Consulting and Marsh Inc." (BenefitNews.com)
Over-the-Counter Sales of Claritin Affects Prescriptions, Prices
Excerpt: "Some insurers have raised copayments for competing allergy medications since the FDA approved Schering-Plough's anti-allergen Claritin for over-the-counter sales, the AP/St. Paul Pioneer Press reports." (KaiserNetwork.org)
AstraZeneca To Limit Sales of Its Drugs to Canadian Pharmacies and Wholesales
Excerpt: "Under a new policy, AstraZeneca has become the second major drug maker to suggest that it will limit sales to Canadian pharmacies and wholesalers that import drugs to the United States, the AP/Baltimore Sun reports." (KaiserNetwork.org)
Data Warehousing for Managing Health Plans (PDF)
At pp. 3-5 of 8-page document. Excerpt: "This article describes data warehousing, a strategy that self-insured employers can use as a cutting-edge management tool to measure benefits costs, compare costs to benchmarks, test the effects of benefit design changes, and have the information readily at hand to monitor program performance. Data warehousing can be used by employers that either perform benefit claims management themselves or use a third-party administrator (TPA) ..." (Milliman USA)
Gephardt To Present Health Care Plan
Excerpt: "It's not clear that health care is what analysts call a 'voting issue,' one that motivates voters and determines their choice of candidates. Health care generally rates below the economy, terrorism, war-related issues and even declining morality in some polls when people are asked to rank the country's most important problems." (USA Today)
Overview: Final HIPAA Security Rules (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "Security rules, long awaited under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), were finalized on February 20, 2003. The rules are effective for most health plans on April 21, 2005; small health plans have an extra year to comply. A small health plan is a plan with under $5 million in annual receipts." (The Segal Company)
Employees Retaining Same Health Care Plans, Using FSAs, Enrolling Online
Although employers and employees are sharing the increased costs of health insurance plans, in 2003, most employees (78%) stayed in the same health care plans that they had in the prior year, Fidelity Investments found in an analysis of enrollment data for medical plans that it administers. Fidelity's analysis also showed that more employees are using flexible spending accounts (FSAs), moving to preferred provider organizations, and enrolling via the Internet. (SpencerNet)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
American Benefits Council Publishes Chart Summarizing Portman-Cardin Bill (PDF)
28 pages; copyrighted material prepared by the Benefits Group of Davis & Harman LLP. (American Benefits Council)
Web-Based Employee Benefits Applications (PDF)
Excerpt: "Because the field of employee benefits is data-intensive, the systems and tools that enabled plan administration to move from a manual to an electronic process have been worth their weight in gold. Employers are now experiencing the beginning of an era that is further revolutionizing benefit plan administration through technological developments in web-based applications." (Milliman USA)
Retired American Airlines Exec's Consulting Pact Stirs Ire
Excerpt: "As resentment over executive perks continues to simmer among American Airlines employees, some workers are also complaining about a consulting agreement awarded to the airline's marketing chief when he retired." (The Fort Worth [Tex.] Star-Telegram)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Plan Administrator/Manager
for Pension Services Corporation
in MO
Data Processing Manager
for A well-established Dallas-based ERISA Third Party Administration Firm
in TX
Qualified Plan Consultant
for Benefit Solutions Corp
in WI
Defined Benefit Client Account Manager
for New York Life Investment Management, LLC
in MA
401(k) / Retirement Plan Administrator
for Stephen Eldridge & Company, Inc.
in NH
Insurance Marketing Specialist
for Edward Jones
in MO
Pension Administrator
for The National Advisory Group, Inc./Pension Consulting Services, Inc.
in PA
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)
Troubleshooting Plan Loan Programs
in ALL STATES
May 13, 2003
Thompson Publishing Group
The 412(i) Boot Camp
in WA
July 27, 2003
PFP Plan Administrators, the412iCompany
Health and Welfare Plan Fundamentals
in NY
May 7, 2003
The New York Metro Area Chapter - ISCEBS
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: