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March 8, 2004 - 8,783 subscribers
Today's sponsor: Worldwide Employee Benefits Network (WEB)
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
WEB Benefits Solutions Conference and WEBA - Register Online You can now register online for the most comprehensive and valuable conference of the year-- the 2004 Worldwide Employee Benefits Network (WEB) Benefits Solutions Conference-- "Controlling Costs in an Ever-changing Legislative and Regulatory Environment." Also, don't miss out on the "Early Bird" discount by registering before March 31, 2004. The Conference will be held April 22 to 23, 2004 and the WEBA held the night of April 22, 2004 in the Washington, DC area near National Airport and Washington, DC's tourist attractions.
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
The New Cost of Keeping Employees Happy
Excerpt: "[A] gradually improving economy could tempt more people to leave their jobs for better opportunities, according to employment and management consultants. That prospect is leading many senior executives to plan new enticements and perks to retain workers." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Preparing to Clear the Next HIPAA Hurdle: Complying with the Security Rules (PDF)
Excerpt: "Multiemployer health funds must soon face a new compliance challenge associated with [HIPAA]: the security rules. These rules require group health plans and other 'covered entities' to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of electronic protected health information (ePHI) that they create, receive, maintain or transmit, either internally or to external entities (e.g., health care providers, insurance carriers and third party administrators)." (The Segal Company)
The Dynamics of SARS: Plotting the Risk of Epidemic Disasters
Excerpt: "In 2003, SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) seemed to come out of nowhere. The number of people infected increased at an alarming rate and many died." (Milliman USA)
Medicare Drug Cards May Trigger Headaches
Excerpt: "As the government prepares to roll out a vast new Medicare drug plan in June, consumer groups are warning that the program is so complicated that it promises to confuse many of the vulnerable older people who need it the most." (Chicago Tribune; one-time registration required)
Humana Debit Card Draws Funds From Health Savings Accounts
Excerpt: "Humana Inc. has implemented a new health care debit/insurance identification card in an effort to increase the use of flexible spending accounts." (The Business Journal of Milwaukee via bizjournals.com; one-time registration required)
Overview: Calif. Law Requiring Coverage of Pres.cription Contraceptives Applies to Catholic Charity
Excerpt: "California's highest court has rejected a church-affiliated employer's constitutional challenges to a state statute requiring health insurance policies that cover pres.cription drugs to also cover pres.cription contraceptives. Although the statute contained a 'religious employer' exemption, the employer--a social services organization affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church--did not qualify." (Employee Benefits Institute of America (EBIA))
Stop-Loss Insurer May Not Substitute Its Judgment for Administrator's Regarding Plan Coverage
Excerpt: "In a succinct opinion, the Eighth Circuit affirmed a lower court decision that had ordered a stop-loss insurer to reimburse a self-funded ERISA health plan for benefits paid for the cancer treatment of a covered beneficiary." (Employee Benefits Institute of America (EBIA))
Overview: Supreme Court Says ADEA Allows Favoring Older Employees Within Protected Group (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "In a much anticipated decision, the Supreme Court has ruled that an employer may treat older employees in ADEA's protected class more favorably than younger employees in the protected class without running afoul of ADEA. This decision is significant for employers because it removes doubt over their ability to grandfather groups over a certain age when making benefit changes." (Mellon's Human Resources & Investor Solutions)
2003 Segal State Health Benefits Survey: Pres.cription Drug Coverage for Employees and Retirees (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "This report of data from the 2003 Segal State Health Benefits Survey, the second in a series, focuses on pres.cription drug coverage for state employees and retirees. The map graph shows the number of employees and retirees enrolled in participating states' drug plans by region." (The Segal Company)
Washington Senate Approves Health Insurance Bill That Eliminates Coverage Mandates
Excerpt: "The Washington state Senate on Wednesday approved on a 36-16 vote a bill (HB 2460) that would eliminate all health insurance coverage mandates for small businesses, the AP/Seattle Times reports." (KaiserNetwork.org)
Senators Propose Federal Purchasing Pool To Help Small Business With Health Insurance Costs
Excerpt: "Sens. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) on Thursday introduced a bill to help reduce health insurance costs for small businesses, CongressDaily reports. The legislation would establish a federal purchasing pool, modeled after the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, for businesses with 100 or fewer employees." (KaiserNetwork.org)
HHS Secretary Says He Could Allow Pres.cription Drug Reimportation Under Certain Conditions
Excerpt: "HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson on Thursday told members of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, HHS, Education and Related Agencies that he 'could support allowing drugs to be reimported from Canada if Congress put strict conditions on the practice,' CongressDaily reports." (KaiserNetwork.org)
Rising Cost of Health Care in U.S. Gives Other Developed Countries an Edge
Excerpt: "For each mid-size car DaimlerChrysler AG builds at one of its U.S. plants, the company pays about $1,300 to cover employee health care costs -- more than twice the cost of the sheet metal in the vehicle. When it builds an identical car across the border in Canada, the health care cost is negligible." (Washington Post; one-time registration required)
Opinion: Republicans Not Getting Political Benefit from New Medicare Drug Benefit
Excerpt: "One reason I thought Republicans were being foolish is that the elderly, whose votes they thought they were buying, have such outlandish expectations of what they are owed by society that they are impossible to fulfill. In other words, they were guaranteed disappointment by whatever drug program was enacted, no matter how generous. This is confirmed by poll data." (Bruce Bartlett in the Washington Times)
Opinion: the Kerry Health Plan
Excerpt: "Now that Democrats have selected Sen. John Kerry as their presidential nominee, a quick review of his key health policy proposals seems in order." (Galen Institute)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Reporting and Disclosure Requirements For Governmental and Nonelecting Church Plans (PDF)
8 pages. Excerpt: "Governmental and nonelecting church plans are not subject to ERISA. However, they still must file some documents with the IRS and provide certain information to plan participants and beneficiaries." (CIGNA's Pension Analyst)
The Class Action Game
Excerpt: "Victims sometimes win small or even no awards. Companies bemoan the high cost of mounting a defense. Lawyers roll the dice. Some get rich and some go broke. Congress is getting fed up with it all." (Chicago Tribune; one-time registration required)
Same-Sex Marriage: What Does It Mean for Massachusetts Employers? (PDF)
6 pages. (Nixon Peabody LLP via FindLaw.com)
Summary of Presentations to NCPERS Legislative Conference
Excerpt: "NCPERS held its largest legislative conference in Washington, DC on February 9–11, 2004. Over 260 participants heard from Congressional and White House representatives about issues impacting public pension plans." (National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems)
Southern California Supermarket Workers Back on Job
Excerpt: "Workers and shoppers are returning to more than 800 supermarkets in Southern California, as a bitter four-and-a-half-month labor dispute comes to an end. Both the grocery chains and the United Food and Commercial Workers are evaluating their gains and losses. They'll be back at the negotiating table soon in northern California, Seattle and the Baltimore area. NPR's Carrie Kahn reports." (National Public Radio)
Strike Cost Outweighs Gains For Most Grocery Workers
Excerpt: "A comparison of the settlement ratified by the members of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union on Feb. 29 with the offer put forward by Vons, Ralphs and Albertson's on Sept. 3, more than five weeks before the strike and lockout began, clearly shows that while both sides lost income, the union members lost much more than they will earn back under their new contract." (North County Times)
How the Supermarket Strike Was Settled
Excerpt: "The talks were at times taxing, confusing and unwieldy. Negotiators spent weeks away from home. Many had to decide whether to buy new clothes or keep paying stiff hotel fees for laundry service. During some marathon sessions, participants would slip away for 15-minute catnaps in their rooms." (Los Angeles Times; one-time registration required)
Opinion: Grocery Workers Struck Out
Excerpt: "Once upon a time, strikes were a tool used by labor unions to advance the interests of their members and to extract higher wages and improved benefits. In recent decades, however, with unions on the defensive against increasingly aggressive corporations, strikes have morphed into an employer weapon." (Ruth Milkman, published by TomPaine.com)
Newly Posted Events
COBRA Principles: Saying "See You" to Benefits -- 90-Minute Interactive Audio Conference
Nationwide on March 18, 2004
presented by Thompson Interactive
Top Cost-Saving Trends for Health Plans in 2004 - 90-Minute Interactive Audio Conference
Nationwide on March 19, 2004
presented by Thompson Interactive
Meals, Training, Travel and On-Call Time: Do Employees Need to be Paid? 90-Minute Interactive Audio Conference
Nationwide on March 9, 2004
presented by Thompson Interactive
Retention -- Where ROI Really Gets Exciting - 90-Minute Interactive Audio Conference
Nationwide on March 22, 2004
presented by Thompson Interactive
125 Plan Administrator Training
in Kansas on May 19, 2004
presented by MHM Resources Inc.
Newly Posted Press Releases
2003 Year in Review -Trends in Employees Financial Behavior
(Financial Finesse)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Account Manager
for Andreini and Company (65th largest insurance agency in the U.S.)
in CA
Defined Benefit Conversion Specialist
for New York Life Investment Management LLC
in MA
Jr. Plan Administrator
for The Allocation Company, Inc.
in TX
Project Manager PEO-MEP
for Transamerica
in CA
Benefits Manager
for Doherty Employment Group
in MN
Relationship Manager - Pension Consultant
for The Heintzberger Company
in OR
Pension Proposal & Installation Specialist
for CUNA Mutual Group
in WI
Education & Advice Product Director
for Charles Schwab
in OH
Plan Administrator / Relationship Manager
for Weaver Partners
in ANY STATE
Employee Benefits Recordkeeper
for First American Bank
in IL
Program Information Specialist, GS-1001-13
for U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration
in DC
Operation Supervisor
for ICMA Retirement Corporation
in DC
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