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March 22, 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)
Patients' Rights To Sue At Stake
Excerpt: "In recent years, the Supreme Court justices have taken several small chips out of the 1974 federal law that imposed strict limits on health care lawsuits. But the Davila-Calad case raises a larger issue: Can insurers be sued over decisions they make on whether a treatment is medically necessary?" (Hartford Courant; free one-time registration required)

Supreme Court to Hear Suits Against HMOs
Excerpt: "In state courts, juries can award high amounts for punitive damages. In federal court, a patient can receive nothing more than the value of the benefit denied by the health maintenance organization." (AP via Washington Post; one-time registration required)

Opinion: Bush Turns His Back on Fight for Patients' Rights
Excerpt: "The Texas [HMO liability] law [that President Bush] championed [during the presidential debates with Al Gore] is now before the U.S. Supreme Court, and this week the administration will ask that the justices strike it down." (M. Gregg Bloche in the Los Angeles Times; one-time registration required)

Overview: State Laws Mandating Diabetes Health Coverage
Excerpt: "A leading cause of blindness, kidney disease, heart disease and amputations, diabetes claims the lives of more than 193,000 Americans each year. According to the CDC, it is the country's sixth leading cause of death by disease. Approximately 17 million Americans have diabetes, but one-third of those are undiagnosed. As of December 2003, forty-six states have some type of laws requiring health insurance coverage to include treatment for diabetes." (National Conference of State Legislatures)

Small-Business Lobby Unhappy with Washington State Legislature Over Lack of Healthcare Measures
Excerpt: "Associations representing small businesses and physicians are angry about the Legislature's refusal to pass bills promoting affordable health insurance and medical liability reform." (Puget Sound Business Journal via bizjournals.com; one-time registration required)

Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Marriage's Myriad Privileges Key In Same-Sex Union Debate
Excerpt: "[S]trip away the rhetoric about respect for g.ays and les.bians or the defense of traditional family values, and a more basic issue remains. What does it mean, legally, to be married?" (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Polygamists See Potential In Recent Marital Movement
Excerpt: "And you thought g.ay marriage would shake things up. Imagine what would happen if wedding bells began ringing for husband and wife and wife and wife. How would insurance benefits be divided in a legal plural marriage? Who would be first in line for the pension? And what would happen to the already strained Social Security system?" (The Salt Lake Tribune)

Working Past Retirement: Corporate America Needs YOU
Excerpt: "It is well known that Americans are going to have to stay on the job longer because they won't be able to afford to retire. Less well known but just as clear is that corporations will need to keep older workers on the payroll because the coming baby bust generation is too small to replace the baby boomers." (Boston.com)

Minn. Pension Fund Seeks Pfizer Price Drop
3/19/04. Excerpt: "Managers of Minnesota's $43-billion pension fund propose a shareholder resolution that would require drug giant Pfizer to lower pres.cription drug prices in the United States. Critics say the effort could backfire, harming Pfizer's stock price and lowering the value of the state's retiree pension fund. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck reports." (National Public Radio)

Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide Updated to March 19, 2004
Excerpt: "Hewitt's Federal Legislation Quick Guide provides short updates on federal legislation that is currently under active consideration by Congress or has recently been enacted into law, regarding health and welfare benefit plans, retirement plans, and human resources and employment law." (Hewitt)

Opinion: Stock Options Accounting is Litmus Test for Ethics
Excerpt: "There are two types of companies today: those that understand they must be more responsive to their owners and those that do not. Unfortunately for investors, the second group is far larger." (Gretchen Morgenson in the New York Times; one-time registration required)

Opinion: In Stock Options Accounting War, High-Tech Companies Prepare for Final Battle
Excerpt: "[N]o one wants to take away stock options. Instead, they just want to make companies using them put them on their books accurately." (Lee Gomes in the Wall Street Journal via SFGate.com)

Newly Posted Events

HIPAA and Other Health Laws: Nevada Compliance Assistance Seminar
in Nevada on April 28, 2004
presented by U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

Reforming and Strengthening Defined Benefit Plans: Examining the Health of the Multiemployer Pension System
Nationwide on March 18, 2004
presented by U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce

Tri Pension Services / GrayRobinson 2nd Annual Orlando ERISA Update Seminar
in Florida on May 12, 2004
presented by GrayRobinson, P.A.
Newly Posted Press Releases

Engaging Workers In Health Benefit Decisions Appears To Yield Significant Cost Savings
(Watson Wyatt)

Government and Regulatory Initiatives Endanger America's Retirement Security
(Association for Financial Professionals)

AMA Condemns Illegal Internet Pharmacies; Stresses Importance of Patient-Physician Relationship
(American Medical Association (AMA))

SunGard Employee Benefit Systems Agrees to Settlement with U.S. Department of Justice Dismissing Civil Action
(SunGard Corbel)

Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

Benefit Plan Administrator
for Benmark, Inc.
in GA

Daily Valuation Supervisor
for ALCOS
in MI

Defined Contribution Plan Administrator
for ALCOS
in MI

Plan/Employee Benefits/Office Administration
for Columbia Benefits, LLC - Southeast Metro Denver
in CO

Team Lead - HR Benefits & Retirement Plan
for AREVA
in VA

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