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June 24, 2003 - 8,352 subscribers
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What Impact Will Medicare Drug Coverage Have on Employer-Sponsored Health Plans?
Excerpt: "A new Medicare prescription drug benefit could affect employers in a number of different ways. These range from possible payroll tax increases to higher overall prescription drug prices to adverse selection problems for retiree medical plans that continue to offer prescription drug benefits." (Deloitte & Touche Human Capital Advisory Services)
HMOs Could Raise Premiums By 18 Percent Next Year
Excerpt: "HMO rates look like they will rise an average of 18 percent in 2004, continuing a trend of double-digit health-care cost increases, according to preliminary figures from Hewitt Associates, a human resources consulting firm. But those figures also show signs that rate increases may be starting to moderate." (Dow Jones News Wires via St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage May Mean 'Sticker Shock'
Excerpt: "Twenty-two cents on the dollar. That, in broadest terms, is how much the federal government will pay over the next decade for Medicare beneficiaries' prescription drug coverage if bills making their way through Congress become law." (Hartford Courant)
Text of ERIC Letter to Senator Frist on Possible 'Maintenance-of-Effort' Amendment to Medicare Bill
Excerpt: "Several Senators have recently suggested that an amendment be added to pending Medicare legislation to prohibit employers who voluntarily provide health care coverage to retirees from reducing or terminating such coverage following creation of a Medicare prescription drug benefit. This 'maintenance-of-effort' mandate will result in the opposite of its intended effect ..." (ERISA Industry Committee)
Opinion Poll: Public Supports Private Sector Options In Medicare
Excerpt: "The Galen Institute [on June 23, 2003] released an opinion poll conducted June 18-21 by Zogby International that shows overwhelming public support for private sector options in Medicare along with concern that the complex drug benefit crafted by the Senate could be worse than the coverage many seniors now have." (The Galen Institute)
Online Calculator: How Would Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage Rules Affect Your Drug Costs?
Excerpt: "This calculator allows users to enter their prescription drug costs to determine what they would pay under leading Medicare reform proposals being considered in Congress. Enter annual drug costs below and click on the 'Calculate' button." (The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)
Opinion: AAHP on Expanding Access for the Uninsured
Excerpt: "AAHP and its member plans have designed a comprehensive proposal aimed at expanding access to health care services for the uninsured. The proposal is built on the following realistic goals and principles that point to solutions to the uninsured crisis." (Healthplan via Medscape; one-time registration required)
Bush Seeks Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage Bill Opposed by Conservatives
Excerpt: "President Bush raised the pressure today on Congress to pass a Medicare drug bill this week, even as conservatives in his own party criticized the legislation and pushed for changes." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Bush Calls for More Privatization of Medicare
Excerpt: "Bush disparaged a core tradition of Medicare, in which the federal government has determined what medical services are covered and how much the government pays doctors and hospitals to provide them." (Washington Post)
Employer's Misleading Letter Did Not Technically Misrepresent Cost of Post-Retirement Benefits
June 23, 2003 item. Excerpt: "An employer did not violate state law or ERISA by not informing an employee before he took early retirement that his cost of post-retirement health care benefits, as represented in a letter, might increase. (Glenn Hardy v. Midland Enterprises, Inc. (2003, CA6) 2003 WL 2007940 (unpublished))." (RIA Tax News)
Analysis: Court Uses ERISA to Block Apprenticeship Fund from Suing for Training Costs
Excerpt: "The ruling means that funds in the western United States will not be able to sue to recover training costs from an apprentice who goes to work non-union-- no matter what the written agreement with the apprentice may say." (Kraw & Kraw)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Questions Arise on Effect in U.S. of Marriage Made in Canada
Excerpt: "Canadian marriage licenses have always been recognized in the United States and in Washington state. But the federal Defense of Marriage Act, signed into law by President Clinton in 1996, changed the federal definition of marriage to exclude same-sex couples, while simultaneously granting states the right to deny marriage licenses from other states. Now that Canada's marriage definition differs from ours, even experts are unsure how the government will deal with such unions." (The Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
Opinion: Excessive Pay for Executives Is Troubling Sign
Excerpt: "Investors, open your proxy statements. At this time of year, stockholders of public companies receive annual reports and proxy statements. The annual reports contain the company's financial results--sales, profits and growth.... An increasing number of industry experts contend that when the fortunes of the executives are considerably brighter than the fortunes of the company, it's a precursor of impending trouble ..." (Chicago Tribune; one-time registration required)
Opinion: Expensing Options At Big Firms Might Boost Innovation At Startups
Excerpt: "If expensing is required, large public companies will issue fewer options. That will give an edge to the little guys, the small private startups, in recruiting talent." (Vinod Khosla on SiliconValley.com)
NYSE to Let Investors Block Stock Option Plans
Excerpt: "The New York Stock Exchange has informed its U.S. listed companies that new stock option plans or significant changes to existing plans will require shareholder approval under stricter rules expected to take effect next week." (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
Overview: Statutory Options Regulations Provide Welcome Clarification (PDF)
2 pages. (Seyfarth Shaw)
Analysis: FASB Makes Headway on Stock Compensation Project (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "Considering the complexity and controversy surrounding the stock compensation project, the progress the FASB has made so far is notable. Even so, the Board has a significant amount of work ahead of them. Recent developments include: ..." (Frederic W. Cook & Co., Inc.)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
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