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May 21, 2003 - 8,255 subscribers
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Analysis: Debit/Credit Card Medical FSA and HRA Reimbursements (PDF)
Excerpt: "Employers should review their FSA, cafeteria, or HRA plan documents and amend the programs as necessary to include substantiation policies and procedures, as well as to incorporate correction procedures for erroneous reimbursements. The IRS guidance does not specify a compliance date by which amendments are required. Plan sponsors also should review and revise all claim-related communications, such as summary plan descriptions." (Milliman USA)
Supreme Court's New Savings Clause Test Means More Indirect State Regulation of Self-Funded Plans
Excerpt: "In its April 2 ruling that state any-willing-provider (AWP) laws are not preempted by ERISA, the Court said that it was making 'a clean break' from using the McCarran-Ferguson Act (MFA) factors in interpreting ERISA's savings clause' because it 'has never held' those factors as an essential part of that interpretation.... One possible consequence of the Court's decision: Self-funded plan arrangements that affect risk pooling could be regulated as insurance under state law." (Thompson Publishing Group)
Supreme Court Ruling in Maine Drug Cost Case Might Embolden Other States to Act
Excerpt: "Over protests by the drug industry, states have ... taken steps to rein in pharmaceutical costs by expanding the use of generic drugs, requiring drug manufacturers to pay additional rebates, and requiring doctors to get approval from a state agency before prescribing certain medicines. In its decision ... giving qualified approval to Maine Rx, the Supreme Court accepted several arguments made by states in defending their cost-control measures." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Tenth Circuit Finds 'Deemed Denial' Warrants De Novo Standard of Review
Excerpt: "The denial of a long-term disability plan participant's benefits by a plan administrator is subject to de novo review because it was a 'deemed denial' that was triggered by the plan administrator's failure to render a decision within the plan and ERISA's time limits, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Denver (CA-10)." (CCH Pension and Benefits News)
Insurers, Health Providers Criticize Maine Governor's Health Reform Proposals
Excerpt: "During a May 15 public hearing before the Maine Legislature's Joint Select Committee on Health Reform, hospitals, doctors and health insurers criticized Gov. John Baldacci's (D) health reform proposal as 'unrealistic and potentially devastating to the health care industry,' the Portland Press Herald reports." (KaiserNetwork.org)
Christian Science Monitor Examines Disparity Between Prices Charged to Uninsured and Private Plans
Excerpt: "The Christian Science Monitor on May 18 examined the growing scrutiny over the 'disparity between what individuals pay versus what insurance companies pay for the same [medical] service.' ... Because insurers negotiate for lower prices, uninsured people often are the only consumers who are charged the full list price for services, according to the Monitor." (KaiserNetwork.org)
Wall Street Journal Examines Employees' Contributions Toward Health Care, 'Shrinking' Benefits
Excerpt: "The Wall Street Journal on May 20 looks how many companies are increasing employees' contributions to health insurance premiums and copayments, 'just as coverage for medical procedures and drugs is shrinking.'" (KaiserNetwork.org)
Health Plan Formularies Contend With Claritin's OTC Market Debut
Excerpt: "Over-the-counter (OTC) versions of the nonsedating antihistamine (NSA) Claritin (loratadine) are on the drug store shelves, and many health insurers have changed their formularies as a result.... Most plans are no longer covering Claritin under any circumstances." (Managing Drug Costs via AISHealth.com)
Will "Me Too" Insurers Screw Up Consumer-Directed Care?
Excerpt: "If the new plans are done right, [says Doug Kronenberg, chief strategy officer at Alexandria, Va.-based Lumenos], the competition will provide a boost to all CDH players because it validates the concept and expands the market. What the industry doesn't need, however, are insurers that introduce CDH products that don't focus on the needs of the consumer ..." (Inside Consumer-Directed Care via AISHealth.com)
Corporate Coalition Pushes for Safer Hospitals
Excerpt: "In 1999, the Institute of Medicine released the bracing news that up to 98,000 Americans die in hospitals every year from preventable medical mistakes. Four years later, experts say, hospitals are still not doing enough to keep patients safe. So the nation's business leaders are giving them a push." (The [Norfolk, Va.] Virginian-Pilot)
Opinion: the Doctored Image of Bill Frist
Excerpt: "There is a man whose vision of health care is shaped not only by his transplant experiences, but also through the lens of corporate medicine personified-- his family's billion-dollar fortune is wrapped up in the largest for-profit hospital chain in the United States, Hospital Corporation of America Inc. (HCA)." (Revolution)
Use of Subsidies To Low-Income People Proposed for Health Coverage Through Small Employers
Excerpt: "If tax credits or other public subsidies are made available only for health insurance that is not employment-based, serious erosion of employer coverage could result. To prevent this, public subsidies targeted to low-income workers and families could be applied in ways that broaden employer coverage for low-income workers and their families by encouraging small employers with largely low-wage workforces to offer and partially fund health coverage for their workers." (Health Affairs)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Senators Clash on Stock Options, Probe CEO Pay
Excerpt: "Two Republican lawmakers crossed swords on Tuesday over the divisive issue of corporate stock options, as legislation to stifle a coming change in the accounting treatment of options appeared to stall. In a hearing on skyrocketing U.S. executive pay, Sen. John McCain and Sen. George Allen argued about whether stock options can be accurately valued -- a key question in the debate over how to treat them in company financial statements." (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
Excessive Executive Pay Eroding Investor Confidence, Experts Say
Excerpt: "Lavish pay packages, stock options and special deals for executives whose companies have failed and laid off employees have eroded investor confidence already shaken by the accounting scandals, experts told Congress Tuesday." (AP via the New York Times; one-time registration required)
Written Statements of Witnesses at Senate Commerce Committee Hearing on Executive Compensation
Prof. Brian Hall, Harvard Business School; Damon A. Silvers, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations; Joseph E. Bachelder, The Bachelder Firm; Peter C. Clapman, TIAA-CREF; and Sean Harrigan, California Public Employees' Retirement System. (U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation)
Retirees Score Hits Battling Executive Perks
Excerpt: "Corporate retirees have long battled against cutbacks in their own health benefits and pension plans. But lately, some are setting their sights on bigger targets: pay and benefits of top executives." (The Wall Street Journal via SFGate.com)
Rising Benefit Costs Fuel Conflicts Between Management, Rank-and-File
Excerpt: "More than wages and even job security, the big battle now between executives and employees is over benefits. Employees feel increasingly vulnerable as companies pare or eliminate their two most valuable benefits-- medical insurance and retirement accounts-- at the same time their savings have shriveled and their salaries have frozen or fallen." (AP via SFGate.com)
Shareholders Disapprove of Glaxo CEO's Pay
Excerpt: "Critics of lavish corporate pay hailed a vote by shareholders against a proposed multimillion dollar pay deal for executives at GlaxoSmithKline, the biggest revolt yet in Britain against 'fat cat' deals." (AP via the New York Times; one-time registration required)
Stock Option Indexing Concept for Executive Comp Aims at Fairness
Excerpt: "Is it possible to devise a compensation system that provides executives with solid incentives and realistic targets through a long economic slump? 'You can,' contends compensation expert Graef Crystal, 'if you have the will.' Crystal, along with a number of other observers, says 'indexing' the stock options CEOs receive would make compensation packages more fair and more effective in rewarding the best-performing executives." (Newsday.com)
The Effect of Stock Option Repricing on Employee Turnover (PDF)
38 pages; Excerpt: "We examine whether repricing stock options reduces both executive and overall employee turnover ... We find little evidence that repricing underwater stock options affects executive turnover. However, using forfeited stock options to proxy for overall employee turnover, we find evidence that overall employee turnover decreases significantly in repricing firms in 1999, while turnover for nonrepricing firms does not change." (http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/PDFs/1083.pdf)
Corporate Policies On Benefits, Compensation Vary For Employees Called To Active Military Duty
According to a survey recently conducted by Mercer Human Resource Consulting, while major combat in Iraq has ended, U.S. employers still are affected by the large numbers of their employees who have been called to active duty as National Guard members and reservists. This Web-based survey, which was conducted in late March and early April, garnered responses from 201 employers across the country. (Spencer Benefit Reports)
Older Americans Staying in Work Force
Excerpt: "The number of Americans past retirement age and in the job market has risen by half in the last two decades, the Census Bureau says." (Washington Post)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Representatives
for The Benefits Club
in ALL STATES
Health & Welfare Consultant
for Towers Perrin
in CA, CT
401(k) Retirement Plan Sales Consultant
for MBM Advisors Inc.
in TX
Newly Posted Webcasts
(Post Yours!)
Roadmaps to Coverage: Exploring Options for the Uninsured
on May 19, 2003
presented by Kaiser Family Foundation
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)
Washington Update featuring ASPA's Executive Director Brian Graff
in OH
June 5, 2003
ASPA Benefits Council of Greater Cincinnati
Newly Posted Press Releases
(Post Yours!)
ALEXANDER HAMILTON INSTITUTE RELEASES NEW FREE REPORT: "Investigations 101"
(Alexander Hamilton Institute)
Employee Benefits Security Administration Releases Field Assistance Bulletin on Allocation of Expenses by Defined Contribution Plans
(U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)
AHI’s BENEFITSALERT.COM RELEASES NEW FREE REPORT: "Family And Medical Leave Liabilities Abound In Courts"
(Alexander Hamilton Institute - AHI's BenefitsAlert.com)
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