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July 16, 2003 - 8,367 subscribers
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Text of Final 419A(f)(6) Regulations
(Internal Revenue Service)
Negotiations Begin on Resolving Differences in House and Senate Drug Benefit Plans
Excerpt: "House and Senate negotiators met [on Tuesday, July 15] for the first time in an effort to work out major differences on legislation to add prescription drug benefits to Medicare.' (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Medicare Bill Has House Conservatives Grumbling
Excerpt: "While GOP House leaders carried the day -- passing their prescription drug bill by one vote -- they have not quelled a spirited debate among conservatives over whether they unwittingly blessed the largest entitlement expansion since the 1960s." (Washington Post)
The Current Medicare Prescription Drug Debate: Briefing Charts
Excerpt: "These briefing charts provide background information on prescription drug use and spending among the Medicare population, recent survey data on employers' likely reaction to a Medicare drug benefit, an overview of the proposals for prescription drug coverage passed by the House and Senate at the end of June 2003, and a summary of the key issues to be resolved in the conference." (The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)
Medicare Drug Benefit Poses Some Opportunities, and Maybe a Few Threats, for PBMs
Excerpt: "According to spokesman Phil Blando of the Pharmaceutical Care Management Assn., 'PCMA believes both the Senate and House bills will ultimately be good because they will provide seniors with more choices and benefits, but that doesn't necessarily mean they'll be good for PBMs.'" (Drug Cost Management Report via AISHealth.com)
Opinion: Medicare Bill Would Undermine Principle of Universality
Excerpt: "In its headlong rush to provide a prescription drug benefit for the elderly and disabled, Congress risks abandoning a fundamental principle that has been a hallmark of Medicare since the program's inception in 1966. That principle-- universality-- ensures that all Medicare beneficiaries, no matter where they live or what their financial circumstances, are eligible for the same basic benefits." (Robert D. Reischauer in the New York Times; one-time registration required)
Overtime Proposal Creates Confusion
Excerpt: "The administration says its rules could cost 644,000 workers the right to extra wages. Labor unions and Democrats say the real number is at least 8 million and maybe even higher. The truth is, nobody's sure precisely how many workers will be affected, largely because it's unclear what employers would do with the increased flexibility ..." (AP via the [Nashville] Tennessean)
Health Insurers Unveil New Products for 2004
Excerpt: "Many designs continue the trend of higher deductibles, skinnier benefit packages and more voluntary options." (Managed Care Week via AISHealth.com)
Overview: EEOC Proposes Rules on Retiree Health Benefits and Medicare (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "Under the exemption, an employee benefit plan would be permitted to alter, reduce, or even eliminate health care benefits that are provided to retired participants when the individual is eligible for Medicare health benefits or for health benefits under a state-sponsored retiree health benefits program." (Milliman USA)
Healthcare Costs Soaring, Automakers Begin Labor Negotiations
Excerpt: "The Big Three automakers, which open contract talks with the United Auto Workers union on Wednesday, are making a bigger issue out of reducing medical costs than they have in years. But the union has staked out health insurance as untouchable. 'We're not going to share costs,' said Ron Gettelfinger, the U.A.W. president, at a recent news briefing." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Why Are Drugs More Profitable Than Vaccines?
Working paper. Excerpt: "[T]here is less asymmetric information to prevent the firm from extracting consumer surplus with drug treatments than with vaccines. We prove that, due to this aspect of pharmaceutical pricing, the ratio of drug-treatment to vaccine revenue can be arbitrarily high ..." (Michael Kremer, Christopher M. Snyder, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Overview: New Listing Rules, Accounting Developments for Stock Options (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "The new rules cover material plan changes and repricings, can affect the desirability of different plan arrangements, and come while the FASB moves ahead on accounting for stock options, targeting an exposure draft in the fourth quarter of 2003, with an effective date possibly as early as 2004. This edition of Defining Issues describes the major provisions of the new listing requirements and the major developments in the FASB's project on employee stock compensation." (KPMG)
A Non-Technical Resource Guide to the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (PDF)
19 pages. Excerpt: "The Department of Labor's Veterans' Employment and Training Service provides this guide to enhance the public's access to information about the application of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) in various circumstances. Aspects of the law may change over time." (U.S. Department of Labor, Veterans Employment and Training Service)
Are Microsoft Options Sellers Being Lowballed?:
Excerpt: "Have Microsoft Corp. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. struck a deal by which Microsoft employees who sell their underwater options to the bank end up being even more under water? Microsoft isn't talking, at least to me." (Graef Crystal on Bloomberg.com)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Pension Plan Administrator
for The Angell Pension Group, Inc.
in ALL STATES
Benefits Coordinator
for ChildCareGroup
in TX
Defined Benefit Plan Administrator
for Zacarias Actuarial Consultants, Inc.
in CA
Senior Marketing Communications Consultant
for IFS Financial Services
in OH
Pension Consultant
for Swerdlin & Company
in GA
Compliance Manager
for BISYS
in PA
Marketing Group Benefits
for American Chamber of Commerce Executives
in VA
Paralegal, Retirement Services
for Sixty year old mid-size retirement and health plan administration firm
in IN
Senior Benefits Analyst
for Manpower Inc
in WI
Newly Posted Webcasts
(Post Yours!)
Deemed IRAs
on August 28, 2003
presented by ASPA
Cafeteria Plan Update
on August 5, 2003
presented by SunGard Corbel
Newly Posted Press Releases
(Post Yours!)
Treasury and IRS Issue Final Regulations for '10 Or More Employer' Welfare Benefit Funds
(Internal Revenue Service)
A.M. Best Affirms Pan-American Life’s A- (Excellent) Rating
(Pan-American Life Insurance Co.)
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