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February 9, 2004 - 8,783 subscribers
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HIPAA Deadline Still Looms
Excerpt: "In accordance with the transition provisions of the Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information (Privacy Standards), April 14, 2004 is the final deadline for all covered entities (health care providers, health plans, and health care clearinghouses) to comply with the standards for disclosures to business associates." (Buchanan Ingersoll)
Employers Must Obey Health Care Privacy Rule
Excerpt: "Beginning in April 2004, nearly all employer-sponsored group health plans will be subject to federal privacy regulations under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA. Unfortunately, many employers assume that the new HIPAA rules do not affect them." (The Business Journal of Portland via bizjournals.com; one-time registration required)
Contractors with State of California Must Offer Equal Benefits for Domestic Partners (PDF)
Excerpt: "Under Assembly Bill 17 (Chapter 752, Statutes of 2003), employers that do business with any agency of the State of California will be required to offer the same benefits to domestic partners as those offered to spouses if they want to be awarded a contract for goods or services worth $100,000 or more. This requirement is effective for contracts executed or amended on or after January 1, 2007, and to bid packages advertised or made available after that date." (The Segal Company)
Deloitte Says Leave Program Will Pay Off
Excerpt: "Deloitte and Touche will soon launch a pilot program aimed at making sure women who go on leave return to work, according to Business Insurance. The company says the program will pay for itself." (Workforce.com)
Whose Problem is Health Care?
Excerpt: "American companies have ingeniously managed to contain labor costs through productivity gains, outsourcing and limiting wages. But the factors over which manufacturers have less control - structural costs like those for corporate income taxes, employee benefits and rule compliance - have surged ..." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Overview: Additional Guidance for Health Savings Accounts Under the New Medicare Law
Excerpt: "The IRS has recently provided additional guidance (both formal and informal) on a number of issues related to HSAs. The formal guidance is contained in IRS Notice 2004-2." (Faegre & Benson LLP)
Direct Contracts Cut Medical Costs
Excerpt: "[S]ome self-funded plan sponsors are taking direct action to reduce their overall health care coverage costs. These employers are finding success in keeping annual cost increases modest or flat by directly contracting with physicians and hospitals to create their own provider networks serving self-funded and self-administered benefit plans." (BenefitNews.com)
It's Prime Time for Pharmacy Benefit Managers
Excerpt: "Pharmacy benefit managers are poised for growth following the addition of a pr*scription drug benefit to the Medicare program, a move that industry observers say will help employers afford to offer eligible retirees coverage." (BenefitNews.com)
State Variation in Insurance Laws a Major Driver of Employers' Self-Insurance Decisions (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "Some researchers and policy analysts have speculated that employers tend to self-insure their firms in an effort to circumvent compliance with evolving state mandates on coverage, which may require them to provide generous benefit packages. However, new research by Gail Jensen, Ph.D., at Wayne State University suggests otherwise." (Health Care Financing & Organization)
Budget's 'Bland Language' Hides 'Flimflam' of Health Insurance Tax Credit Proposal, Columnist Writes
Excerpt: "The 'bland language' in the fiscal year 2005 budget proposal released last week by President Bush related to a proposal that would provide refundable tax credits to help uninsured U.S. residents purchase health coverage 'conceals the flimflam' of his 'dubious solution' to the 'medical crisis' in the United States, columnist E.J. Dionne writes in a Washington Post opinion piece." (KaiserNetwork.org)
Frist Expects Congress to Try to Expand Health Coverage
Excerpt: "The Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, said on Friday that 'it is impossible' to have all Americans covered by health insurance, but he predicted that Congress would take incremental steps to expand coverage this year." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Opinion: Free Market Health Insurance Is the Ignored Alternative
Excerpt: "In arguing for universal health care, proponents often unquestioningly present a forced choice between employer-provided or government-provided insurance. Completely absent from their analysis is what should be an obvious alternative: We each buy our own insurance." (Gary Schouborg, Michael Booth on SFGate.com)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Retirement-age Boomers Are Heading Back To Work
Excerpt: "AARP ... found that 70 percent of workers surveyed who were not yet retired planned to work during their retirement years or never retire. And about 50 percent expected to be working in their 70s." (Des Moines Register via AZCentral.com)
Opinion: Executive Pay, Hiding Behind Small Print
Excerpt: "Summary pay tables, required by the Securities and Exchange Commission since 1992, help investors see where their hard-earned money goes. But three areas cry out for reform by regulators: deferred compensation, supplemental executive retirement plans and executive payouts when a company undergoes a change in control." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Newly Posted Events
A Multi-Disciplinary Exploration of Prescription Drug Issues Symposium
in California on May 21, 2004
presented by Society of Actuaries
Managing the Risks of Pension Plans in Today’s Uncertain Environment
Nationwide on February 4, 2004
presented by Hewitt Associates LLC
Long-Term Investment Strategies of Qualified Plan Assets Midwest Pension Council
in Nebraska on February 12, 2004
presented by Principal Financial Group
Cafeteria Plans
in Georgia on April 21, 2004
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
HIPAA Portability & Privacy
in Illinois on April 16, 2004
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
401(k) Plans
in Georgia on April 2, 2004
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
ERISA Compliance for Health & Welfare Plans
in Illinois on April 15, 2004
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
COBRA Compliance for Group Health Plans
in Washington on April 1, 2004
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
Cafeteria Plans
in Illinois on April 14, 2004
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
HIPAA Portability & Privacy
in Washington on April 2, 2004
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
401(k) Plans
in Illinois on April 13, 2004
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
ERISA Compliance for Health & Welfare Plans
in Washington on April 1, 2004
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
COBRA Compliance for Group Health Plans
in Georgia on April 22, 2004
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
Cafeteria Plans
in Washington on March 31, 2004
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
HIPAA Portability & Privacy
in Georgia on April 23, 2004
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
401(k) Plans
in Washington on March 3, 2004
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
ERISA Compliance for Health & Welfare Plans
in Georgia on April 22, 2004
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
COBRA Compliance for Group Health Plans
in Illinois on April 15, 2004
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
Consumer Choice Health Care: Reports from the Field
in District of Columbia on February 11, 2004
presented by Galen Institute
Newly Posted Press Releases
Aetna Introduces New Long-Term Care Insurance Options; Core-and-Buy-Up Features Offer Affordable Options for Small to Mid-Sized Employers; Enhanced Informal Care Benefits Offer More Flexibility
(Aetna)
Governmental Accounting Standards Board Issues Revised Exposure Draft on Employer Reporting of Other Postemployment Benefits
(Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB))
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
401(k) Administrator
for Caribbean Pension Consultants, Inc.
in FL
Retirement Plan Administrator
for Valley Forge Consulting Corporation
in PA
401(k) Sr Plan Specialist
for BISYS Retirement Services
in PA
Administrative Assistant
for Retirement Plan Administration and ERISA Specialists
in IL
Communications Manager
for UnitedHealth Care, Hartford, CT
in CT
Senior Plan Administrator/Consultant
for WESPAC
in CA
Pension Plan Administrators/Consultants/Actuaries
for Pinnacle Plan Design, P.C.
in AZ
Benefits Administrator
for EBI
in NJ
Group Account Consultant: 04-0000343
for Wachovia Corporation
in GA
Sr. Plan Administrator
for American National Insurance Company
in TX
Group Account Consultant: 03-0028929
for Wachovia Corporation
in FL
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