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December 15, 2003 - 8,712 subscribers
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New HSAs in Medicare Act Boost CDHC for All Employers: An Interactive Audio Conference, December 18, 2003, 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. ET President Bush has signed legislation that will re-vamp Medicare, including prescription drug coverage and offer all Americans - retirees AND active employees - new "health savings accounts" (HSA) available alongside high-deductible health plans. What are the requirements for the new HSAs? How will the new law affect consumer driven health care options? Will this new law make medical savings accounts (MSA) and health retirement accounts (HRA) obsolete? How can you integrate these accounts with your current health care plan? Get expert answers to these questions as well as your own specific ones at this timely audio conference!
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Underfunded Retiree Health Plans: and You Thought Pensions Were Scary
Excerpt: "Only an estimated 5 percent of American companies offer such health plans, according to the Labor Department. But many that do, like Ford Motor, IBM, and Merck, are large companies whose stocks are widely held by investors. From the 1950's through the 1970's, a number of industrial companies agreed to pay for their employees' health care after they retired. Now that bill is starting to come due." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
HIPAA Raises Administrative Concerns Surrounding Flexible Spending Accounts
Excerpt: "What many employers may not realize, however, is that offering [coverage for over-the-counter drugs under a flexible spending account] carries with it administrative, plan design and legal compliance obligations, most notably under [HIPAA].... [T]he HIPAA privacy rules apply to any health care FSA in which the employer, acting as plan administrator or plan sponsor, uses or discloses confidential medical information; and at least 50 employees are participants." (Boston Business Journal via bizjournals.com; one-time registration required)
Overview: the New Medicare Law, with Comments (PDF)
Excerpt: "To the disappointment of employers, the conference agreement does not include language that would clarify that [ADEA] does not prohibit an employer from providing health benefits solely to retirees who are not yet eligible for Medicare, or from providing different benefits to retirees under age 65 than to Medicare-eligible retirees. Mellon and others pushed for this language to be included to essentially overturn the Third Circuit decision in Erie County Retirees Association ..." (Mellon's Human Resources & Investor Solutions)
Opinion: the Winners in the Medicare Bill, and Why
Excerpt: "Charles Boorady, an analyst who follows the managed-care industry at Smith Barney, talked last week about the implications of the legislation. Following are excerpts from the conversation: ..." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Backers Predict New Health Accounts Will Transform Health Care
Excerpt: "The new accounts, which will be available beginning Jan. 1, 2004, to anyone under age 65 with health insurance that has a deductible of at least $1,000 for an individual or $2,000 for families, represent 'a truly remarkable shift' said former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, now of the American Enterprise Institute ..." (Reuters via Medscape; one-time registration required)
New Medicare Bill Boosts Care for Chronically Ill
Excerpt: "The government hopes to enroll as many as 400,000 older people with chronic conditions in [disease management] programs. By involving the patient, physicians, pharmacists and other providers in commonsense steps to improve patient health, the government seeks to limit costly hospital stays." (AP via Yahoo! News)
Overview: Medicare Act Creates Health Savings Accounts
Excerpt: "With a high deductible health plan in place, an eligible individual can contribute and deduct from income the amount of his deductible to an HSA, not to exceed $2,600 (for 2004) for individual coverage or $5,150 (for 2004) for family coverage.... HSAs under new Section 223 are very similar to the existing Archer MSAs under Section 220, but are not limited to self-employed individuals or small employers." (National Underwriter's TaxFacts fx)
No Accounting Allowed (for Now) for Pr*scription Drug Subsidy (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "If the employer's retiree health plan provides pr*scription drug coverage, the employer should disclose the enactment of the new law." (Milliman USA)
Opinion: AARP Sold Out Public Employees on Medicare Pr*scription Drug Bill
Excerpt: "AARP sold out public employees by insisting that employers cannot offer higher health benefits to pre-Medicare eligible retirees than Medicare-eligible retirees. AARP claims that offering higher health benefits to pre-Medicare eligible retirees is age discrimination and successfully removed a Senate provision in the final conference agreement that would have permitted this practice." (National Association of State Retirement Administrators)
Bid to Undo California Mandatory Healthcare Coverage Law is Blocked
Excerpt: "A judge on Friday blocked the secretary of state from putting a measure on the March election ballot that would ask voters to repeal a new state law requiring employers to provide health coverage for about 1 million uninsured workers." (Los Angeles Times; one-time registration required)
Employers Stay Committed As Healthcare Costs Soar
Excerpt: "Employers remain committed to providing health care coverage to employees and their families, despite a fifth consecutive year of substantial cost hikes that averaged 16% this year for active workers and retirees combined." (BenefitNews.com)
New Drug Ad Rules Coming Soon, US FDA Chief Says
Excerpt: "U.S. health officials in the coming weeks will unveil new formats for television commercials and magazine advertisements that drug makers use to promote their medicines to consumers, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Mark McClellan said on Friday." (Reuters via Medscape; one-time registration required)
Republicans Shift Focus to Helping the Uninsured
Excerpt: "Fresh from their victory on Medicare, Congressional Republicans and the Bush administration say they are planning a new initiative to help provide health insurance to people under 65 who have no coverage." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Does a Large Volume of Claims Provide a Reason for Extending the Claims Decision Period?
Excerpt: "With the end of the year approaching, our company has received a large number of health FSA reimbursement claims in the last few days. We are concerned that we cannot decide all of these claims within the 30-day period imposed by the DOL claims regulations. Is the large volume of claims a legitimate reason for extending the decision period for these claims?" (EBIA Weekly (Question of the Week))
Accounting for Stock Options, Revisited
Excerpt: "The current political and economic environment has reopened the question of accounting for stock options. Unlike in 1995, when FASB last tackled the issue, the public mood favors expensing stock option costs. The major issues left to be decided concern the selection of a valuation model, the revaluation or marking options to market, the frequency of revaluation (i.e., annually versus quarterly), and the period of revaluation and expensing." (The CPA Journal)
Newly Posted Press Releases
SunGard Corbel Offers Application Service Provider (ASP) Version of Relius Administration
(SunGard Corbel)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Project Manager - Pension Administration
for Hewitt Associates
in GA
Retirement Plan Administrator
for Valley Forge Consulting Corporation
in PA
Institutional Trust Sales Associate
for BB&T of VA
in VA
Retirement Plan Sales Consultant
for Invesmart, Inc.
in KY
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