June 30, 2003 - 8,347 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) Bush Urges Congress to Resolve Differences, Pass Medicare Bill Excerpt: "The Medicare bill that the GOP-led Congress is about to pass only resembles Bush's initial plan, yet if Congress completes it and Bush signs it, the White House likely will get credit.... Bush compromised with Democrats who fought cost controls and his effort to inject competition into Medicare." (Washington Post) BBC Analysis: Historic Medicare Reform Taking Place in United States Excerpt: "The passage by the two houses of Congress of bills on Medicare reform is a victory above all for the elderly, who have been lobbying for nearly a decade for help with the soaring cost of medicines. If the two houses can resolve their differences quickly, Mr. Bush intends to sign the bill on Independence Day, 4 July." (BBC) Opinion: Bipartisanship Is Worst Kind of Medicare Politics Excerpt: "When Republicans and Democrats work together on unexpected issues, it's hard not to feel a warm and fuzzy glow.... [But sometimes] they compromise because ... they have decided to pass a bill, any bill, before the next election. And sometimes, a little brave partisanship would make the bill a lot better. To see what I mean, look no farther than the bipartisan plan to add both a prescription drug entitlement and a private option to Medicare... '" (Anne Applebaum in The Houston Chronicle) Opinion: a Proposal for Health System Redesign-- Part 2 Excerpt: "With escalating health insurance premiums, a growing number of Americans without healthcare coverage, widespread evidence of avoidable medical errors and skyrocketing medical liability costs for certain physician specialties, the time is again ripe for calls to reform and redesign our nation's healthcare financing and delivery systems. In the second installment of a four-part series, HealthLeaders member Brad Stephan shares his views on what it will take to make things right." (HealthLeaders) COBRA Deadline Looms, Thanks to New COBRA Proposed Regs (PDF) 3 pages. Excerpt: "Talk to your services providers and review COBRA services contracts; Revise current initial and qualifying event COBRA notices (and stop all use of the old DOL model notice!); Update health plan procedures and SPDs; Create new notices for specific COBRA situations ... These To-Do items come courtesy of proposed regulations issued May 28, which broke the DOL's 17-year near-total silence on COBRA notices." (Gardner Carton & Douglas LLC) Do We Need a Vacation? Why Do Americans Make Do with Two Weeks a Year? Excerpt: "Americans average 10 days of paid vacation a year. 'Vacation deficit disorder' is what Joe Robinson calls it. Blame it on the unions, at least partially, says Robinson, a California author who has collected tens of thousands of signatures in an effort--alas, unsuccessfully so far-- to guarantee American workers at least three weeks of annual paid vacation." (Chicago Sun-Times via International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans) More Firms Choosing to Self-Insure Health Benefits Excerpt: "Between 1999 and 2003, about 460,000 members bolted from the two traditional mainstays of managed-care products --health-maintenance organizations and point-of-service plans. Employers with as few as 50 workers are dabbling in self-insurance, and analysts say that any firm with at least 200 employees makes a viable candidate." (The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area via bizjournals.com; one-time registration required) Opinion: Who's Minding the Federal Drugstore? Excerpt: "Critics, including members of Congress, former F.D.A. officials, lawyers, doctors and consumer groups, say they see a clear shift in how the agency is performing one of its main functions: policing the marketing of drugs, food and medical devices." (New York Times; one-time registration required) Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General SEC To OK New Stock Option Rules Excerpt: "The Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to sign off Monday on stock-exchange rules that will require companies to give shareholders a chance to vote on stock-option and other compensation plans -- many of which are currently shrouded in secrecy." (The [San Jose, Calif.] Mercury News) Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings Client Communication Specialist/Sr. for Standard Insurance Company in OR Compliance Analyst for T. Rowe Price in MD Training Coordinator for BISYS in PA Retirement Services Account Manager 3 for Wells Fargo in CA Pension Actuarial Consultant for FPL Group in FL Newly Posted Press Releases (Post Yours!) IRS Reminds Some Businesses of Retirement Plan Deadline (Internal Revenue Service) New Study Finds Americans Underestimate Life Expectancy and Amount of Money Needed During Retirement (GE Center for Financial Learning) Handy Links:
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