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October 8, 2003 - 8,548 subscribers
Today's sponsor: EBIA
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
Keep Up With the New Rules for OTC Drugs! A replay of EBIA's recent 90-minute tele-web seminar on Health FSAs and OTC Drugs is now available online. Get a detailed analysis of IRS Revenue Ruling 2003-102, along with extremely helpful commentary and recommendations. Registration fee is $185 per web connection, which includes a 59-page handout of slides and other material. More information and a registration form are available at http://www.ebia.com/seminars/030930replayBL
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Managing Your Health Plan Renewal (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "Whether the health plan is insured or self-funded, it is critical that the renewal premiums be determined on a reasonable and consistent basis. Here are the critical steps for the renewal premium calculations and potential pitfalls to avoid:" (Milliman USA)
Continuation Coverage Extended to 36 Months Under New California Law
Excerpt: "Effective September 1, 2003, a new California law extends the minimum length of health care continuation coverage to 36 months for many individuals who otherwise have fewer than 36 months of continuation coverage under the federal Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) or state Cal-COBRA law." (The Segal Company)
More Payers Implement OTC Drug Coverage to Reduce Costs
Excerpt: "The need to control increasing drug costs is causing health plan sponsors to adopt more radical approaches to pharmacy benefits. One such approach, instituting coverage for over-the-counter (OTC) medications, still is regarded as a major departure from the standard benefit ... But recent transitions of prescription drugs in high-spend categories to OTC status ... are creating more significant opportunities for cost savings through OTC drug coverage." (Drug Cost Management Report via AISHealth.com)
Innovative Products Offer Narrow Provider Networks Targeted to High-Cost Diseases
Excerpt: "Two major health insurers last week introduced new benefit designs that shy away from the broader networks and skinnier benefit packages that have characterized many new insurers' product offerings over the last two years. Aetna, Inc. and UnitedHealth Group have developed narrow networks for certain high-cost specialty areas such as cardiology and obstetrics." (Managed Care Week via AISHealth.com)
Few Brokers Sell CDH, Study Says; Incentives Could Spur Interest
Excerpt: "Employers are far more likely to use cost shifting to counter rising health coverage than they are to introduce a CDH option, according to a study released Sept. 23 by the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU)." (Inside Consumer-Directed Care via AISHealth.com)
Cost Shifting: New Myths, Old Confusion, and Enduring Reality
Excerpt: "Instead of focusing on the symptom of cost shifting, we should be focusing on the causes." (Health Affairs)
Medicare Payment Policy: Does Cost Shifting Matter?
Excerpt: "It matters to consumers, who face the ultimate cost shift when prices rise without compensating rises in payment rates." (Health Affairs)
Can Hospitals and Physicians Shift the Effects of Cuts in Medicare Reimbursement to Private Payers?
Excerpt: "Leaders of health insurance companies, hospital systems, and physician organizations believe that when Medicare and Medicaid reduce payment rates to hospitals or physicians, these providers respond by raising prices to private insurers to offset a portion of the loss in revenue." (Health Affairs)
To Rein In Healthcare Costs, Some Employers Impose Spousal Surcharges
Excerpt: "About 5% of employers use a spousal surcharge, said Randall Abbott, a senior consultant at Watson Wyatt Worldwide, which surveyed its clients. However, as employers struggle to pay for health-care costs, interest in the surcharges is growing. Surcharges are fees employees pay to include their spouses on their health plans, in addition to their premium contribution for the coverage." (A.M. Best Company, Inc. via Powell Goldstein Frazer & Murphy LLP)
When Drugs Collide
Excerpt: "At a series of recent screenings in Atlanta, 54 of 420 seniors were found to have some kind of medication problem, ranging from unnecessary medicines to expired drugs.... Nationally, more than 6 million elderly Americans outside nursing homes use potentially inappropriate drugs, the Journal of the American Medical Association estimates." (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Study of Medical Errors Puts Tentative Price Tag on Impact
Excerpt: "A handful of common medical complications kill more than 32,500 U.S. hospital patients every year and add $9.3 billion annually to hospital charges, estimates one of the first studies to put a price tag on unexpected harm to patients." (Baltimore Sun)
Retiree Health Plans Loss Seen with Medicare Bill
Excerpt: "Both the versions of a bill to add prescription drug coverage to Medicare passed by the U.S. House and Senate last summer would accelerate the trend of employers dropping existing health coverage for their retirees, analysts said Tuesday." (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
Democratic Presidential Hopefuls Back Drug Reimports
Excerpt: "The Democratic presidential candidates say they support legalizing prescription drug purchases from Canada and Europe, which federal regulators and the pharmaceutical industry warn could be risky." (Washington Post)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Four Courthouses Shut Down as Dozens of LA Deputies Call in Sick Over Benefits Dispute
Excerpt: "Sheriff Lee Baca on Tuesday called the continuing sickout 'a blatantly illegal act,' and said he would suspend any of those absent without proof of illness.... About 300 deputies mostly assigned to courts called in sick Oct. 1, days after their pension and benefits agreements with the county expired." (The [San Jose] Mercury News)
Opinion: Stock Options Work for Workers
Excerpt: "Rather than widening the 'pay gap' between executives and average workers ... stock options have provided one of the few opportunities in the history of capitalism for workers to participate in the wealth they help create." (Andy Grove in the Washington Post)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Project Manager - New Business Installation
for Transamerica
in CA
Sales Executive
for LTSave, Inc.
in MA
Senior Compliance Officer
for CitiStreet - A State Street and Citigroup company
in MA
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)
WorldatWork Certification Course - T1 Total Rewards Management
in FL
November 10, 2003
South Florida Compensation and Benefits Association
Current Employee Benefit Plan Issues
in ALL STATES
November 5, 2003
Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP
Newly Posted Press Releases
(Post Yours!)
!Trak-It Applicant - Now Automates Monster.com Resume Processing
(!Trak-It Solutions)
DataPath Introduces myResourceCard: A 21st Century Solution For Employee Health Benefits
(DataPath)
Workers Worry About Losing Job Health Coverage; Express Growing Enthusiasm for Government Plan
(Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI))
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