| BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter |   |
February 17, 2004 - 8,783 subscribers
Today's sponsor: International Foundation
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
Get HIPAA, FSA and Other Health Care Information on CD If you missed the original telecast of an International Foundation Teleweb, you can still take advantage of the timely, targeted information covered. Catch up with pertinent topics in your car with an audio CD, which includes supporting handouts. Or order the CD-ROM and watch the presentation with synchronized audio and visual on your computer.
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Lawmakers Object To United Plan for Health Cuts
Excerpt: "More than 100 members of Congress Friday urged United Airlines to drop its proposal to boost health care costs for retired flight attendants as part of its bankruptcy restructuring." (AP via USA Today)
Sorting Out the COBRA Implications of Defined Contribution Health Plans
Excerpt: "One interesting possibility for group health plan administrators to consider is whether administrative mechanisms can or should be established to directly deduct COBRA premiums from qualified beneficiaries' HSAs (along the lines of a direct debit). On the one hand, this would ensure that the plan receives full payment of the COBRA premiums on a timely basis. On the other hand, promoting HSA use to fund COBRA premiums could increase the possibility of adverse selection under the plan." (Thompson Publishing Group)
Flexible Spending Accounts-- a HIPAA Trap for the Unwary Employer (PDF)
Excerpt: "Medical reimbursement plans, health care flexible spending account arrangements, and stand-alone vision, dental and employee assistance plans are considered to be health plans subject to the Privacy Rule. More significantly, as these types of plans are often self-insured, they may fall into the category of plans requiring the most compliance." (Schnader Attorneys at Law)
Statutory Penalties Imposed for Multiemployer Plan's Delay in Providing COBRA Election Notice
Excerpt: "The court found that a COBRA qualifying event had occurred and that the plan administrator had failed to timely notify the employee and his wife of their right to elect COBRA coverage. Consequently, the court imposed a penalty of $55 per day for 107 days. It found this penalty to be justified because the employee was forced to persist in pursuing the opportunity to elect COBRA and the plan administrator's dealings with the couple could 'fairly be characterized as dissembling.'" (Employee Benefits Institute of America (EBIA))
Hospital's Patient Records Protected Under State Privacy Law
Excerpt: "In this decision, an Illinois privacy law, through operation of HIPAA's preemption provisions, prevented the disclosure of patient records requested by the Department of Justice in connection with a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 (PBABA).... This is the first published decision to address the HIPAA preemption angle--but we expect to see more." (Employee Benefits Institute of America (EBIA))
IRS Rules Insurance Proceeds Excludible from VEBA's Gross Income
Excerpt: "In PLR 200404055, the IRS concluded that the proceeds from an insurance policy purchased by a VEBA to indemnify itself from certain retiree health benefit liabilities would not be included in the VEBA's gross income. While we believe this is the correct result, the PLR provides no technical basis for its conclusion." (Deloitte's Human Capital Advisory Services)
Round-Up of Media Coverage of Employers' Efforts To Address Rising Health Costs
Excerpt: "The following summarizes recent media coverage of companies efforts to address the rising cost of providing employee and retiree health benefits." (KaiserNetwork.org)
Opinion: Consumer-Driven Health, HSAs Will Help, but More Healthcare Change Is Needed
Excerpt: "The health insurance industry is in the midst of a revolution that parallels changes that occurred in the financial services industry more than two decades ago, and consumer-driven health (CDH) is at the heart of it, says Regina Herzlinger, professor of business administration at the Harvard Business School. Financial services, she explains, transitioned from a wholesale industry ... to a retail industry, where financial products are sold directly to consumers." (Inside Consumer-Directed Care via AISHealth.com)
Opinion: Thinking About Price Controls for Pr*scription Drugs
Excerpt: "With the Medicare pr*scription drug program projected to cost $134 billion more than originally planned, it's hardly surprising that Congress is talking price controls. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the House minority leader, and Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.), her Senate counterpart, have already called for the government to negotiate prices on behalf of the private companies that will be buying drugs for Medicare recipients." (Washington Post)
Pr*scription Drugs Are the Fastest Growing Component of Health Care Costs
Pr*scription drug costs are the fastest rising component of medical expenditures in the U.S., climbing 15.7% in 2001 and representing 16.7% of the total increase in health care spending that year, according to research recently conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). In 2001, Americans spent more than $140 billion for pr*scription drugs, representing about 10% of the total U.S. health care costs of $1.42 trillion. (Spencer Benefits Reports)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
'Help Wanted' Pages on BenefitsLink Now Load Twice as Quickly
By applying some technology, a couple of pots of coffee and two all-night coding sessions, your webmaster has been able to dramatically accelerate the 'help wanted' listings! Readers using dial-up modems now can view the 'Jobs By Date', 'Jobs by Title' and 'Jobs by Employer' pages in only about half the time previously needed. Your patronage is very much appreciated by all of us here at the publishing end of BenefitsLink-- Dave Baker, Mary Hall and Holly Horton. (BenefitsLink.com)
Almost Outta Beta: Easier Scanning of Benefits Job Opportunities in Any of Several States
We're upgrading the software used to display 'help wanted' ads on BenefitsLink for employee benefits professionals. Now you can create and bookmark a page that will show you simultaneously the latest ads for jobs in any of several states of interest to you. For example, the link from this item is for job openings in New Jersey, New York or Connecticut ... just put the desired two-letter state abbreviations in the part of the URL after '?state=' and then 'bookmark' the resulting page! (BenefitsLink.com)
Newly Posted Events
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) Telephone Seminar
Nationwide on March 24, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Attract and Keep Valuable Employees - Retirement Plans for Small Businesses
in Florida on March 9, 2004
presented by Allen & Company of Florida
Understanding the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003
in New Jersey on February 24, 2004
presented by International Society of CEBS - Central New Jersey Chapter
22nd Annual Creative Pension and Benefits
in Ohio on April 3, 2004
presented by Ohio State University Office of Continuing Education and the College of Law
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Account Administrator
for Capital Performance Advisors
in CA
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Search BenefitsLink
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research
- Employee Benefits Library
Copyright 2004 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: