| BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter |   |
September 18, 2003 - 8,548 subscribers
Today's sponsor: BenefitsLink.com
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
New! Downloadable Software Wouldn't it be cool if you could buy employee benefits software on the Internet quickly and securely, through a web site you know and trust? And wouldn't it be cool if you could come back to that web site later, and buy other software just by clicking a link and entering a password, without having to go through all the credit card info and other online forms all over again? It's here: the Downloadable Software page on BenefitsLink! Click above for details!
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
DOL Announces Proposed Effective Date of COBRA Regulations Will Be Delayed
Press release. Excerpt: "In response to questions about complying with the department's proposed COBRA notice rules, Assistant Secretary of EBSA Ann L. Combs said, 'The department intends to give group health plans six months after adoption of final rules to implement administrative changes required by the new rules. Allowing sufficient time for orderly and efficient implementation of the new requirements will help ensure compliance,' added Combs." (U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)
HIPAA Privacy Rules Republished In Single Document (PDF)
55 pages; text of regulations. Excerpt: "Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information; Security Standards for the Protection of Electronic Protected Health Information; General Administrative Requirements Including, Civil Money Penalties: Procedures for Investigations, Imposition of Penalties, and Hearings" (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Civil Rights)
HIPAA Privacy Rules Frustrating Police
Excerpt: "Sgt. Andrew Gallagher knew the 9-year-old boy was hospitalized, but that was about all. The Stamford police investigator tried to reason with a nurse: He was investigating a car accident. He needed to know the boy's condition. Not a chance, he was told. The hospital could not even confirm the boy was in the building." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
'Genetic Discrimination' Stirs Controversy
Excerpt: "The problem of genetic discrimination was aired during a recent debate about how the unraveling of the human genome could affect patient care in the future." (American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy via Medscape; one-time registration required)
CCH Releases Projected Inflation-Adjusted Tax Brackets and Other Amounts for 2004
Excerpt: "As a service to our subscribers, CCH has prepared projected inflation-adjusted tax brackets ... Official IRS figures will not be released until later in the year.... Transportation fringe benefits: The monthly cap on the exclusion for qualified parking expenses will be $200 (up from $190 in 2003), while the cap for transit passes/commuter highway vehicles will remain at $100 per month." (CCH Tax News)
Overview: Compliance Assistance Guide for Handling of Child Medical Support Orders By Health Plans (PDF)
8 pages. Excerpt: "The purpose of this Research Memo is to highlight some of the major requirements imposed on group health plans for handling child medical support orders by answering such questions as: 1. What is a qualified medical child support order (QMCSO)? 2. What is the national medical child support notice (NMCSN)? 3. What is the plan administrator's responsibility when he receives a NMCSN)? 4. What coverage does a group health care plan have to provide under a NMCSN?" (TIC International Corporation)
Retiree Medical Care: Easing the Pain, Developing a Cure
Excerpt: "During this teleconference, participants learned how employers are coping with the increasing costs of providing retiree health benefits and received the latest updates on how pending legislation and regulations could have an impact on retiree health care decisions in the near future. If you are interested in receiving a free CD, PDF, or audiocassette of this Hewitt teleconference, please use this online order form." (Hewitt Associates)
Levi's Trims Employee Benefits
Excerpt: "Financially strapped Levi Strauss & Co. is cutting health benefits for its retirees -- and eliminating future retirement health benefits for new employees as well as many current employees -- as part of a larger attempt to stem rising medical costs." (SFGate.com)
UAW Made Concessions on Wage Increases To Preserve Health Benefits
Excerpt: "In tentative agreements reached this week between the United Auto Workers and DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler Group and Ford in negotiations working toward four-year contracts, the union 'appears to have sacrificed the wage increases it has won in past contract rounds to protect its generous health care package,' the Wall Street Journal reports." (KaiserNetwork.org)
Internet, Mail Order Operations at CanaRx Are Illegal, FDA Says
Excerpt: "The FDA on Sept. 16 sent a letter warning officials at Ontario-based CanaRx Services, which reimports U.S.-manufactured prescription drugs to the United States, that company operations are illegal and may endanger the health of customers, the AP/Las Vegas Sun reports." (KaiserNetwork.org)
Trends in the Health Insurance Marketplace (PDF)
Excerpt: "Grace-Marie Turner, president of the Galen Institute, participated in the Iowa Association of Health Underwriters 2003 Annual Healthcare Symposium. [This link is a PDF document of] her [slideshow] presentation on Trends in the Health Insurance Marketplace: Consumer-Driven Health Care." (The Galen Institute)
Results of Health Survey of Individuals and Families, Including Employer Health Insurance Offerings
Excerpt: "CTSonline is an interactive system that allows you to obtain results for a variety of topics from the CTS Household Survey [which] is a nationally representative survey of families and individuals in the U.S. The survey has been conducted three times (1996-97, 1998-99, and 2000-01), and information on approximately 60,000 people was collected for each survey. CTSonline contains Household Survey results for these broad topic areas: ... Employer health insurance offerings ..." (The Center for Studying Health System Change)
Outspoken Ex-Treasury Department Secretary Focusing Efforts On Fixing Healthcare System
Excerpt: "Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul H. O'Neill sat before cameras at the PPG Wintergarden yesterday to take a diabetes screening test, a public demonstration of how health care has become the focus of his post-Bush administration life." (The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Comparing the 2004 Presidential Candidates' Healthcare Reform Proposals (PDF)
36 pages. Excerpt: "As of September 2003, seven candidates, including the incumbent president, have made proposals to extend health insurance coverage to millions of uninsured Americans. Other candidates have indicated that they are working on plans ... The proposals range from [increasing] coverage incrementally to [expanding] coverage to all uninsured. Most would build on the existing system of health insurance in the United States rather than fundamentally reform the health care system." (The Commonwealth Fund)
Opinion: Pay or Play Bill in California Won't Work Without Price Controls
Excerpt: "The plan's fatal flaw is the absence of cost controls. Employers would be required to pay the premiums, but there is nothing to stop insurers, doctors, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies from charging as much as they like for medical services." (The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights)
Research Memo: New COBRA Coverage Tax Credit Program Begins August 1 (PDF)
6 pages. Excerpt: "The primary purpose of this Memo is to lead administrative managers, group insurance representatives, third party administrative firms, fund consultants, claims supervisors and others involved in the administration of COBRA requirements directly to the websites related to the Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC) provided for in the Trade Act of 2002 which include: ..." (TIC International Corporation)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Lavish Pay Deal Forces Grasso to Resign
Excerpt: "The chairman's decision to resign late Wednesday, a response to rising fury over the $139.5 million payout he received last month, leaves the NYSE searching for a successor under the scrutiny of its members, critics and federal regulators, who want big changes at the world's richest market." (AP via Washington Post)
Government Survey: Employee Benefits in Private Industry, 2003
Excerpt: "The proportion of employees covered by employer-sponsored medical care plans has fallen gradually over the last decade.... Just under half of private industry employees participated in an employer provided retirement plan.... These data are from the National Compensation Survey (NCS), which provides comprehensive measures of occupational earnings, compensation cost trends, and details of benefit provisions." (U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Report of the ERISA Advisory Council's Working Group on Electronic Reporting by ERISA Plans
November 8, 2002. Excerpt: "[T]he Council limited the scope of its investigation to electronic reporting of Form 5500s to the Department of Labor, specifically through the Department of Labor's ERISA Filing Acceptance System (EFAST).... [T]he stakeholders in the current system testified that the EFAST system has many shortcomings.... [O]f the 1.2 million Form 5500 filings, only 1% of the reports were filed electronically for 1999 and only 3% were filed electronically for 2000." (U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Compensation Analyst
for Forum Health System
in OH
Quality Assurance & Training Specialist
for Transamerica Retirement Services
in CA
Vice President Medical Management National Sales
for Corporate Benefit Services of America, Inc. - www.cbsainc.com
in FL, MN
Plan Administrator - Compliance Testing and 5500 prep emphasis
for Career Consulting Services, Inc. - National Employee Benefits Placement
in IL
Senior Plan Administrator
for Decimal, Inc. - The Online 401(k)
in CA
Newly Posted Webcasts
(Post Yours!)
Consumer-Driven Health Care: Evidence from the Field
on September 15, 2003
presented by AcademyHealth
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)
INITIATIVES FROM WASHINGTON THAT WILL AFFECT YOUR BUSINESS - ANNUAL LEGISLATIVE AND REGULATORY UPDATE
in NY
September 26, 2003
THE NEW YORK CHAPTER OF WEB
Newly Posted Press Releases
(Post Yours!)
New and Seasoned Investors Get the Investment Game Play by Play in New Book
(International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)
The Newport Group Moves Up the Ranks Among Nation's Top Recordkeepers
(The Newport Group)
Labor Department Announces Proposed Effective Date of COBRA Regulations Will Be Delayed
(U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Search BenefitsLink
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research
- Employee Benefits Library
Copyright 2003 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.; except that you can forward this email in full (including this boilerplate part) or otherwise reprint this email in full (including this boilerplate part) without obtaining our permission.
Published by:
BenefitsLink.com, Inc.
https://benefitslink.com/about.html
1298 Minnesota Avenue, Suite H
Winter Park FL 32789
(407) 644-4146
Fax: (407) 644-2151
Editor and Publisher: David Rhett Baker, J.D.
Housekeeping: