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May 3, 2004 - 8791 subscribers
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Mistakes Reported in Drug-Cost Comparisons on Medicare Web Site
Excerpt: "A new Medicare Web site comparing pres.cription drug prices is full of inaccurate, erroneous information, sponsors of drug discount cards said on Friday, just hours after the site was unveiled by the Bush administration.... The inaccuracies add to the confusion surrounding the discount cards and the new law." (New York Times; one-time registration required)

States Seek to Solve Pres.cription Drug Problems
Excerpt: "A new survey by the National Conference of State Legislatures, 2004 Pres.cription Drug State Legislation provides details on efforts states are making to provide cost-effective and safe pres.cription drugs to their citizens." (National Conference of State Legislatures)

Aligning Stakeholder Incentives Is Key To Stemming Pres.cription Drug Costs (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "To tackle the current pres.cription drug trend, employers need fresh approaches that engage employees in making responsible and accountable pres.cription drug-purchasing decisions, curtail pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) incentives to drive up the volume of higher-priced brand-name drugs and address drug therapy problems, which dramatically increase overall medical costs." (Towers Perrin)

Philadelphia Inquirer Examines Factors Behind Pres.cription Drug Prices in U.S.
Excerpt: "The Philadelphia Inquirer on Sunday examined pres.cription drug prices in the United States, focusing on the 'complex and varied paths' medications follow from manufacturers to consumers." (KaiserNetwork.org)

Questions and Answers Regarding the EEOC's Rule on Retiree Health Coverage and Medicare (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "The EEOC's rule on retiree health coverage is consistent with Congressional intent and legislative history on ADEA." (American Benefits Council)

ERIC Responds to AP Coverage of EEOC ADEA Ruling
Excerpt: "Below is a letter-to-the-editor ERIC has submitted to several daily newspapers that ran an Associated Press story mischaracterizing the purpose and effect of the recent EEOC approval of a proposed final rule to exempt retiree medical benefits from ADEA." (ERISA Industry Committee)

Opinion: Benefits Bust at the EEOC
Excerpt: "After agonizing for more than two years, the EEOC acted last month, issuing a rule that favored the employers. If companies give early retirees better health coverage than they give those who qualify for Medicare, it will not be treated as age discrimination. In effect, the EEOC had decided that a little private medical insurance for retirees was better than none at all." (Washington Post; one-time registration required)

Opinion: How EEOC's New Rule Protects Retiree Health Benefits (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "A coalition of employers and unions agree with the EEOC that the EEOC action would resolve a legal issue that if left unresolved would very likely result in further significant reductions in the health benefits provided to retirees not yet eligible for Medicare." (Davis and Harman, LLP via American Benefits Council)

Overview: EEOC Rules on Age Bias in Benefits
Excerpt: "AARP vows to challenge a decision by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that would allow employers to slash health care benefits for Medicare-eligible retirees." (AARP)

Opinion: AARP's Short-Sighted Attack on EEOC's ADEA Ruling Ignores Threat to Retiree Health Coverage
Excerpt: "AARP has undertaken an aggressive grassroots campaign to vilify the EEOC's recent vote to allow employers to coordinate retiree health benefits with Medicare eligibility.... The practical effect of Erie County has been to threaten employer-sponsored coverage for many early retirees. AARP refuses to acknowledge this threat ..." (HR Policy Association)

More Double-digit Health Claim Costs Ahead: Survey
Excerpt: "A group of health insurers surveyed by Aon Consulting projects that claim costs-- including those for pres.cription drugs-- will rise by just over 14% on average for 12-month coverage periods beginning between April and September 2004." (Business Insurance)

SBC Withdraws Proposal to Pass Some Healthcare Costs to Retirees
Excerpt: "SBC International Inc., which is negotiating with its union, dropped a proposal late Thursday that would have required union retirees to pay partial health insurance premiums." (AP via Washington Post; one-time registration required)

Do We Really Have Best Health Care in the World?
Excerpt: "Managed care has made strides in helping control overall health care costs in the last decade, and an increasing number of health plans are implementing prevention and wellness and disease management programs that improve the quality of care, but 'the burden of cost on our society created by the uninsured and underinsured continues to damage our ability to provide the best care possible,' says [Allen Schaffer, MD, senior vice president and chief medical officer of Cigna Healthcare]." (Managed Care Magazine)

The Mixed Message of Long-Term Care Coverage
Excerpt: "Some employees want employers to offer coverage. But others balk at the price tag-- and the spectre of mortality." (Workforce.com)

Public Pays for Wealthy Seniors' Long-Term Care
Excerpt: "For older Californians distressed by the thought of nursing home bills devouring their savings, the words of a Los Angeles attorney may seem astonishing: 'We can qualify even a millionaire for Medi-Cal benefits.'" (Los Angeles Times; one-time registration required)

Overview: Do You Know When It's OK To Terminate COBRA Coverage Early?
Excerpt: "This COBRA Tip discusses when it is permissible to terminate COBRA coverage before the maximum coverage period elapses." (OnQue Technologies, Inc.)

Google Promises Richer Employee Benefits as the Company Goes Public
Excerpt: "In an unusual 'letter from the founders,' Google's presidents talk about the value of their employees." (Workforce.com)

The 'Flip Side' of Employee Productivity
Excerpt: "In the third quarter of 2003, the productivity of American workers soared by the largest amount in 20 years -- an amount that some economists and HR experts warn carries with it unintended consequences and significant costs for employers." (Ceridian)

Managed Care Company Medical Directors Find Themselves Working More Closely with Employers
Excerpt: "Employers are increasingly interested in working with insurers on such projects, mainly in an attempt to put a stop to escalating health care costs, health plans say. As the demand for clinical programming grows, marketing and sales staffs at health plans are turning to chief medical officers and medical directors ... to take the lead." (Managed Care Magazine)

Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Equity Compensation Design Alternatives
Excerpt: "[A] growing number of investors and compensation consultants are beginning to question whether the traditional time-vested stock option plans are the most effective performance-based award, particularly in regard to compensation for key executives." (Beyster Institute)

Companies Change the Way CEOs Are Paid
Excerpt: "There's been a big shift in the way America's top executives are being paid, as once-ubiquitous stock options are replaced by restricted stock and other forms of pay." (AP via Washington Post; one-time registration required)

Opinion: Shareholder Scrutiny Gives Rise to New Kind of Office Politics
Excerpt: "[T]here's a new complication that promises to make the chief executive's job even rockier in coming years: the growing politicization of the office. Corporate leaders are increasingly being held to public account not only for shareholder returns, but also for the specific judgments they make in office." (Randall Rothenberg in the New York Times; one-time registration required)

Newly Posted Events

2004 NAGDCA Annual Conference
in Utah on September 10, 2004
presented by NAGCDA (National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators, Inc.)

Erisa At 30: The Decline of Private-Sector Defined Benefit Promises and Annuity Payments? What Will It Mean?
Nationwide on May 6, 2004
presented by Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI)

Hearing on Examining Long-Term Solutions to Reform and Strengthen the Defined Benefit Pension System
Nationwide on April 29, 2004
presented by U.S. House Education and the Workforce Committee, Employer-Employee Relations Subcommittee

Implications For Benefits and Human Resources Same-Sex Marriage in Massachusetts
Nationwide on May 5, 2004
presented by Mellon Financial Corporation
Newly Posted Press Releases

Subcommittee Hears Options for Long-Term, Comprehensive Reforms to Strengthen Defined Benefit System, Worker Retirement Security
(Committee on Education and the Workforce)

Three Organizations Recognize Hodgson Russ Chair Dianne Bennett
(Hodgson Russ)

California's Workers' Compensation Problems Are Over--Or Are They?
(Clear Comp)

Nyhart Offers One Care Street Predictive Modeling For Self-Funded Employers to Reduce Healthcare Costs
(The Haelan Group)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

Benefits Attorney
for Nemeth Burwell, P.C.
in MI

Retirement Plan Administrator
for Howard Simon & Associates, Inc.
in IL

Enrolled Actuary / Actuarial Assistant
for Qualified Benefits, Inc.
in CA

Benefits Director
for Kirkpatrick & Lockhart LLP
in PA

Retirement Trust Professionals/Relationship Managers/Ops
for Reliance Trust Company
in GA

Director of Benefits
for Ohio Public Employees Retirement System
in OH

DC Systems Analyst (Defined Contribution)
for Standard Insurance Company
in OR

Operations Supervisor (PCS)
for ICMA Retirement Corporation
in DC

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