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August 29, 2003 - 8,445 subscribers
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(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Can Participants Change Their Health FSA Elections Because of a Mid-Year Reduction in Co-Payments?
Excerpt: "Question: As a result of our contract renewal process, co-payments under our health insurance plan were reduced on August 1. (Our health insurance plan has an August 1-July 31 policy year, while our cafeteria plan operates on a calendar-year basis.) We believe that this change enables the cafeteria plan participants to make certain changes in their health insurance plan elections. But one participant also wants to reduce his health FSA election ..." (EBIA Weekly (Question of the Week))
Wellness Programs Good for Business Bottom Line
Excerpt: "The financial benefits of worksite wellness programs are so great employers are loath to believe the research, a health and kinesiology professor said." (United Press International via International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)
FDA Sting Targets Canadian Medicine Supplier
Excerpt: "The US Food and Drug Administration has completed a sting operation targeting the supplier of Canadian drugs to the City of Springfield's employee insurance program, turning up a case of improperly handled insulin and at the same time infuriating Mayor Michael Albano, who called the FDA's tactics 'underhanded.'" (The Boston Globe)
Fighting Health Insurance Claim Denials
Excerpt: "The key is organization -- having all your paperwork in order, taking detailed notes of your interactions with everyone in the process and understanding your coverage." (Bankrate.com)
Health Insurance Scams: How Government Is Responding and What Further Steps Are Needed (PDF)
12 pages. Excerpt: "The United States is experiencing an unprecedented influx of unauthorized insurers selling phony health insurance.... Most victims have been small businesses and self-employed people. Regulators believe this problem will only grow as premiums continue to increase at double-digit rates and people continue to look for affordable alternatives." (The Commonwealth Fund)
Opinion: California 'Pay or Play' Health Insurance Mandate Madness
Excerpt: "Amid the chaos of the California recall election, State Senate President Pro Tempore John Burton is trying to jam through the state legislature a universal health care proposal that would be a budget-buster and a jobs killer." (The Galen Institute)
CMS Proposes New Rules To Pay For Medicare-Covered Drugs
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has issued new proposed rules that would improve the way that Medicare pays for covered drugs and is asking for public input on the proposal. While Medicare generally does not cover most outpatient prescription drugs, the program does cover certain drugs, including many cancer drugs and others that cannot be self-administered or that are administered through durable medical equipment. The proposed rule is in the August 20 Federal Register. (Spencer Benefits Reports)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
BenefitsLink Newsletters Will Not Publish on Monday, September 1
Have a happy and restful Labor Day! (BenefitsLink.com)
California Passes Domestic Partner Bill
Excerpt: "The California state Senate [on August 28, 2003] passed the landmark Domestic Partners Rights and Responsibilities Act of 2003, by a 23-14 vote.... The legislation passed the Assembly on a vote of 41-29 on June 4. it now returns to the Assembly for a concurrence vote Last week Gov. Gray Davis said he would sign the bill once the Senate passed it." (365Gay.com)
Labor Day Opinion: Do Jobs Not Matter Anymore?
Excerpt: "Maybe we should just scrap Labor Day and rename it 'Capital Day.' After all, aren't we now a 'nation of investors'? Isn't most business reporting, especially on television, about stock prices and 'returns on capital'? If you care about wages and working conditions, you must be some sort of dinosaur." (E. J. Dionne Jr. in the Washington Post)
Achieving Win-Win Negotiations: the Pivotal Role of Labor-Management Committees (PDF)
Excerpt: "Collective bargaining is always characterized by competition between the parties for limited resources. Achieving productive public sector labor-management negotiations can be especially challenging when a troubled economy, such as the present one, limits those resources in an extraordinary way." (The Segal Company)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
New Business Technical Consultant
for Diversified Investment Advisors
in NY
Retirement Plan Consultant
for Invesmart
in TX
Pension and Benefits Administrator
for PennMont Benefit Services, Inc.
in PA
Benefits Coordinator
for abc distributing, LLC
in FL
Pension Administrator/Analyst
for Abacus Benefit Consultants Inc.
in RI
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)
The Real Estate Industry’s Premier Investment Forum
in AZ
February 8, 2004
Institute for International Research
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