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December 8, 2003 - 8,712 subscribers
Today's sponsor: Agent 77

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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)
Bush Signs Medicare Bill
Excerpt: "President Bush signs into law a sweeping Medicare bill that adds coverage of pr*scription drugs to the program. The presidents says 'each generation has a duty to strengthen Medicare,' but some groups say the coverage could undercut medical coverage and benefits drug companies more than it does many seniors. Hear an NPR News report.' (Dec. 8, 2003) (National Public Radio)

Overview: Medicare Act Includes Important New Benefits Provisions (PDF)
13 pages; text includes 'ADEA and Retiree Medical Plans,' 'Subsidy For Employment-Based Retiree Pr*scription Drug Plans,' and 'Health Savings Accounts (HSAs): A New Option For Consumer-Driven Health Care." (Alston + Bird LLP)

New Medicare Bill Bars Extra Insurance for Drugs
Excerpt: "Medicare beneficiaries will not be allowed to buy insurance to cover their share of pr*scription drug costs under the new Medicare bill to be signed on Monday by President Bush, the legislation says." (New York Times; one-time registration required)

Opinion: Thanks for the Medicare Muddle
Excerpt: "The new Medicare law requires health plans to help educate individuals, but private plans are not the best source of unbiased information. Medicare, through its toll-free hotline and mailings, will help make the program more understandable. But Congress chose not to provide additional funding to the State Health Insurance Assistance Programs that provide direct counseling to seniors." (Washington Post)

Opinion: Prudent Step on Medicare
Excerpt: "The drug benefit expands private sector approaches to control spending. It doesn't replicate the past by relying on government bureaucracy that has failed to keep costs in check. This is the first real reform to the historic command and control model of Medicare." (Rep. Bill Thomas in the Washington Times)

Opinion: Health Savings Accounts Will Empower All Americans
Excerpt: "The new Health Savings Accounts (HSA) that take effect on January 1, 2004 will give all 250 million non-elderly Americans access to a Medical Savings Account-- one that is far more attractive than the Archer MSAs enacted in 1996." (The Galen Institute)

Study: Pr*scription Drug Development Costs Average $1.7 Billion Per Product
Excerpt: "Large pharmaceutical companies spend an average of $1.7 billion to develop, gain FDA approval and market a new product in the United States, according to a report by consulting firm Bain & Co., the Wall Street Journal reports." (KaiserNetwork.org)

Overview: New Guidance About Special Second COBRA Election Period Created by 2002 Trade Act
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: ... [W]e think that this statement by the IRS is a reasonable interpretation of the language of the 2002 Trade Act, which does not specifically amend the general COBRA provisions defining the maximum coverage period. The IRS statement therefore is a welcome clarification ... We are still hoping for additional guidance from the IRS, DOL and HHS on this and several other issues that remain unresolved under the 2002 Trade Act." (Employee Benefits Institute of America (EBIA))

Recent Domestic Partner Developments Present Challenges for Employers with Health Plans
Excerpt: "A recent court decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and a new statute enacted by the State of California have created challenges for employers that offer group health plan benefits. Employers should consider the impact that these developments will have on the design and the ongoing administration of their health plans." (McDermott, Will & Emery)

Contraceptive Coverage Lawsuit Survives Employer's Motion to Dismiss
Cooley v. DaimlerChrysler Corp. (E.D. Mo. 2003). Excerpt: "The court said that at this stage of the litigation, the employees were required to allege that the exclusion of pr*scription contraceptives was sex-based and applied differently to females than to males; they had met this burden. Although the plan's exclusion was 'facially neutral' (i.e., it applied to all employees), it only burdened female employees because pr*scription contraceptives are only available to women." (Employee Benefits Institute of America (EBIA))

Evaluation of California's Permanent Disability Rating Schedule: Interim Report
Excerpt: "[T]he authors focus on California's permanent disability rating schedule, which is at the center of legislative debates on how to reduce the costs of the state's workers' compensation system. The authors examine whether the system ensures that the highest compensation goes to the most severely disabled and how it can be changed to improve outcomes for injured workers and employers." (RAND)

Analysis: Parking Plan Met Code's Requirements for Qualified Transportation Plans
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: This is the first private letter ruling we've seen that considers whether an employer's parking arrangement meets the Code's requirements for qualified transportation plans.... The ruling comes as no surprise--the plan was a fairly simple arrangement that did not present the IRS with any difficult issues." (Employee Benefits Institute of America (EBIA))

Health Plan Conversions: Are They in the Public Interest?
Excerpt: "This paper develops a framework for evaluating health plan conversions and examines related health policy issues through the lens of a case study of the proposed conversion of the CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield Company. Analyses demonstrate that CareFirst wields substantial market power ... that it is unlikely to realize cost savings through expanded economies of scale, and that quality of care appears to be lower in the plans typically acquiring converting health plans." (Nancy Dean Beaulieu working paper publicized by the National Bureau of Economic Research)

Long-Term Care Insurance Providers Try To Come Up With New Twists
Excerpt: "The most recent study by the Health Insurance Association of America mentioned that 8.3 million policies had been sold by 2001, the most recent year available; more than a million policies had been marketed through employers." (BenefitNews.com)


Newly Posted Events

Medicare and Prescription Drugs: What's Next?
Nationwide on December 5, 2003
presented by Alliance for Health Reform

Health Care Cost Surveys for 2004
Nationwide on December 11, 2003
presented by IFEBP (International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)

Employee Benefits Update for 2004
Nationwide on February 11, 2004
presented by American Bar Association (ABA)

New HSAs in Medicare Act Boost CDHC for All Employers -- A 90-Minute Interactive Audio Conference
Nationwide on December 18, 2003
presented by Thompson Publishing Group

Mutual Fund Trading Scandal - What's a Plan Sponsor to Do?
Nationwide on December 1, 2003
presented by PLANSPONSOR


Newly Posted Press Releases

Businesses Using IRS.gov to Get Employer Identification Numbers
(Internal Revenue Service (IRS))

Washington Business Group on Health Changes Name to National Business Group on Health
(National Business Group on Health)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

Retirement Plan Coordinator
for Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America
in DC, MD, VA

401(k)/Pension Administrator
for Contemporary Pensions, Inc.
in CA

Account Manager
for Silicon Valley Employee Benefits Brokerage
in CA

Research and Technical Advisor
for Atlanta-Based Company
in GA

Qualified Retirement Plan Administration Specialist
for RSM McGladrey, Inc.
in MN

Senior Actuarial Analyst
for RSM McGladrey, Inc.
in IL

Consulting Actuary
for RSM McGladrey, Inc.
in IL

Manager, Retirement Plan Administration
for APB Financial Group, Ltd.
in PA

Actuary
for Blomquist and Company
in IL

Defined Benefit Implementation Specialists
for Constantin Control Associates
in IL, NJ, NY, PA


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