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May 11, 2004 - 8788 subscribers
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(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Text of Rev. Rul. 2004-45 on Interaction of Health Savings Accounts with Other Health Arrangements (PDF)
6 pages. Excerpt: "In the situations described below, may an individual make contributions to a Health Savings Account (HSA) under section 223 of the Internal Revenue Code if the individual is covered by a high deductible health plan (HDHP) and also covered by a health flexible spending arrangement (health FSA) or a health reimbursement arrangement (HRA)?" (Internal Revenue Service)

Health Accounts Comparison Chart: HSAs, FSAs, HRAs and MSAs (PDF)
2 pages. (Association of Health Insurance Advisors)

HSAs, HRAs or FSAs: Which Consumer-Driven Health Care Option Should You Choose?
Excerpt: "With several very similar consumer-directed options now available, consumers, employers and even lawmakers are confused about which approach is best. CAHI has prepared this analysis in an effort to shed some light on the pros and cons about each." (Council for Affordable Health Insurance)

Child Care Subsidy Receipt, Employment, and Child Care Choices of Single Mothers
Working paper. Excerpt: "Results indicate that single mothers are highly responsive to child care subsidies by increasing their employment while moving from parental and relative care to center care in the process." (National Bureau of Economic Research)

New York City Health Workers Accept Lower Raise To Assure Health Benefits
Excerpt: "New York City's largest health care worker union, 1199/SEIU, and the League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes, an association representing 94 hospitals and nursing homes, on Friday reached a tentative new contract in which the union will accept a lower raise to help hospitals afford the cost of workers' health insurance, the New York Times reports." (KaiserNetwork.org)

What Is the NAIC Doing to the Coordination of Benefits?
Excerpt: "On Mar. 15, 2004, I attended a New York City meeting of the NAIC's Regulatory Framework (B) Task Force, which has been trying to improve the NAIC's Model COB Regulation. I learned about the current direction of those efforts and offered some comments and suggestions to the task force, which I'd like to share with you." (Jack B. Helitzer, Esq. via the Thompson Publishing Group)

Tutorial on the New Medicare Pres.cription Drug Benefit
By Tricia Neuman, Sc.D., vice president and director, Medicare Policy Project, Kaiser Family Foundation. (Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)

New York Times Examines Growing Support for Reimportation
Excerpt: "The New York Times on Tuesday examined how support for the reimportation of lower-cost pres.cription drugs from other nations is 'gaining momentum,' with several pharmacy chains, state attorneys general and some insurance companies endorsing the practice." (KaiserNetwork.org)

Businesses Take Aim At Uninsured Workers
Excerpt: "A group of nearly 50 major employers announced Monday that it wants to make it easier for about 4 million currently uninsured workers to obtain health care coverage." (Business Insurance)

Treating Uninsured Will Cost $125B by 2004, Including $41B in Uncompensated Care, Study Says
Excerpt: "Uninsured U.S. residents will incur nearly $41 billion in uncompensated care in 2004 but will receive only about half as much care as those who have insurance, according to a new study from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, the Denver Post reports." (KaiserNetwork.org)

Tutorial on Expanding Health Coverage to the Uninsured
By Diane Rowland, Sc.D., executive director, the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. (Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)

Kerry Vows to Rein in Health Care Premiums
Excerpt: "Instead of talking about universal access and the estimated 43 million uninsured Americans, a rallying cry for liberals concerned about the poor, Mr. Kerry emphasized costs, a hot-button issue for both middle-class voters and businesses." (New York Times; one-time registration required)

New Overseer for HMOs in California
Excerpt: "[Cindy] Ehnes, 53, a lawyer who served as the head of enforcement for Colorado's Division of Insurance, takes the helm of the nation's only stand-alone HMO regulatory agency at a time when health insurance premiums are rising by double digits, benefits are shrinking, employers are frustrated and more costs are being shifted to consumers." (Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights)

Moms Quit As U.S. Firms Scrap Family Friendliness
Excerpt: "Companies that once touted family-friendly benefits are cutting back on them in this tight job market, slashing programs that let employees telecommute, work part time, share jobs, or take paid family leave. The reversal is having a profound impact on a number of working mothers now struggling with whether to leave jobs for their families." (USA Today via Mercer Human Resource Consulting)

Welcome to new BenefitsLink advertiser LifeStart Wellness Network Inc.
Excerpt: "LifeStart Wellness Network Inc. is a health and wellness company founded in 1992. We provide Health Risk Assessments, Fitness Evaluations, Biometric and Blood Screenings, Flu Shots, Workshops and Wellness Education. LifeStart created Health IQ Diagnostics LLC to supply companies with a cost-effective, turn-key solution that rewards employees with financial incentives for maintaining good health, improving their annual health scores, or complying with prescribed medical care from their physicians."

Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Text of American Bankers Association's Comments on EFAST Filing System (PDF)
6 pages. Excerpt: "The core of the employer-provided retirement system is that it is a voluntary system from which plan sponsors may withdraw at any time. Therefore, when making changes, it is important to maintain choice and flexibility within the system that will encourage continued participation. We find that some of the proposals articulated by the Agencies will increase such choice and flexibility while others may decrease these characteristics." (American Bankers Association)

Massachusetts Town Set to Defy Governor on Same-Sex Marriage Issue
Excerpt: "One week before same-sex marriage becomes legal in Massachusetts, the Cape Cod town of Provincetown voted Monday to issue marriage licenses to out-of-state same-sex couples even if they have no intention of moving to Massachusetts. The move contradicts a directive by Gov. Mitt Romney, who has said that no same-sex couples residing out of state would be allowed to marry here." (New York Times; one-time registration required)

Post Retirement Needs and Risks: a Chart
Excerpt: "Welcome to the Post Retirement Needs and Risks Web Page. This page provides information useful to actuaries and other professionals with an interest in modeling and conducting research regarding individual financial risks and needs after retirement." (Society of Actuaries)

FASB Exposure Draft on Share-Based Pay: Accounting, Measurement and Plan Design Implications
14 pages. (PricewaterhouseCoopers via Financial Executives International)

Text of Comments by Frederic W. Cook & Co., Inc. on FASB Draft-- Share-Based Payment: (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "If the FASB is to impose an earnings charge on financial statements for the value of employee stock options at grant, it is important that the method chosen for measuring that value be fair and reasonable, reflect real economic values and costs, and be comparable across various industry sectors. It is unclear whether the proposed models, which were developed for transferable options and warrants with relatively short terms, meet these criteria." (Frederic W. Cook & Co., Inc.)

Newly Posted Press Releases

New Benchmark Tool Identifies Benefit Plan Strengths, Weaknesses
(Employee Benefit News)

Communication Expertise Places Investment Technology Marketing Firm Among the Best
(Metrics Partners)

Statement of U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao On Senate Health Care Task Force’s Recommendation of AHPs
(U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Public Affairs, Washington, D.C.)

Treasury Clarifies Interaction Of Health Savings Accounts With Other Employer-Provided Health Reimbursement Plans
(U.S. Department of Treasury)

Workers’ Compensation Reform: Take Five
(Clear Comp)

Four Million Uninsured Workers to be Given Access to Affordable Health Care by Coalition of Fortune 500 Companies
(HR Policy Association)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
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Attorney
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Regional Enrollment Manager
for Diversified Investment Advisors
in GA

New Business Technical Consultant
for Diversified Investment Advisors
in NY

Conversion Participant Accounting Representative
for M&I Corporation
in WI

ERISA Services Specialist
for ExpertPlan, Inc.
in NJ

Manager of Benefits, Compensation and Compliance
for Dental Associates, Ltd.
in WI

Benefit Consultant
for Gallagher Benefit Services
in MA

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