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May 12, 2004 - 8788 subscribers
Today's sponsor: Employers Health Conferences

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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)
Overview: Treasury Issues HSA/FSA Interplay Guidance
Excerpt: "Eagerly awaited guidance from the Treasury Department released Tuesday clarifies how flexible spending accounts and health reimbursement accounts can be offered to employees enrolled in health savings accounts linked to high-deductible health insurance plans." (Business Insurance)

Senate Republicans Propose Plan for Health Insurance
Excerpt: "After six months of work, Senate Republicans on Tuesday proposed a wide range of tax credits, subsidies and discounts to provide health insurance to millions of Americans and to improve health care for those who remain uninsured." (New York Times; one-time registration required)

73 Options for Medicare Plan Fuel Chaos, Not Pres.criptions
Excerpt: "The Department of Health and Human Services approved 28 companies or organizations to issue cards; among them are AARP, insurance companies and health maintenance organizations. Cards cost up to $30 a year. Each card provides different discounts on different drugs, and is accepted by different pharmacies. Participants can choose only one." (New York Times; one-time registration required)

How Does Fat Kill Thee? Many Ways, It Turns Out
Excerpt: "Research into the biology of fat is turning up some surprising new insights about how obesity kills." (AP via Wired)

Newt Gingrich: Let's Get Healthcare Online
Excerpt: "Over the last few years, Newt Gingrich, the former U.S. Speaker of the House, has refashioned himself as a healthcare expert, becoming a vocal proponent of information technology in the healthcare setting.... He recently spoke with HealthLeaders about his ideas on healthcare reform, technology, and the future of the industry." (HealthLeaders)

California Trio Charged In Health Plan Fraud
Excerpt: "Three former operators of allegedly fraudulent group health provider Employers Mutual L.L.C. are facing conspiracy and fraud charges stemming from the company's 2001 collapse." (Business Insurance)

Sick Leave Scarce for Low-Wage and Part-Time Workers
Excerpt: "Just half of American workers have paid sick leave benefits, according to new analysis from the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Women's Policy Research." (BenefitNews.com)

Issue Brief: Employer-Sponsored Coverage in New York State (PDF)
8 pages. Excerpt: "A 2003 Commonwealth Fund/Health Research and Educational Trust survey of 576 New York State firms found that, in order to manage rising health costs, employers are increasing the share of the insurance premium that employees pay, delaying the start of benefits, and increasing cost-sharing at the point of service. This has enabled employers to preserve health benefits, but has raised costs for workers and their families." (The Commonwealth Fund)

Health Insurance: Time for Tiers?
Excerpt: "Like many insurers, BlueCross has expanded the traditional options of coverage for singles and family to include singles plus one. Tiers extend coverage to a husband and wife, for example, at a rate cheaper than they have been paying under family coverage. Some of the plans also offer a single-plus-two tier, which would include a couple with one child." (Business First of Buffalo via bizjournals.com; one-time registration required)

Aon Spring 2004 Health Care Trend Survey
Excerpt: "This information is useful to organizations when evaluating their health insurance premium renewals and developing self-funded health plan claim projections. The survey introduces a new Consumer Driven Health Plans trend rate that is comparable to that of managed care plans." (Aon)

Wall Street Journal Examines Employer Efforts To Control Pres.cription Drug Spending
Excerpt: "The Wall Street Journal on Monday examined how some U.S. employers are 'reluctant to take tougher action to rein in drug costs' despite estimates that their pres.cription drug spending will increase by more than 10% in 2004." (KaiserNetwork.org)

Small-Business Owners Rip Healthcare Costs
Excerpt: "Small-business leaders told Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry yesterday that soaring health costs are forcing them to take extraordinary steps to offer any coverage to their workers." (AP via Washington Times)

Little Extra Expenditure Could Cover U.S. Uninsured, Report Says
Excerpt: "The report ... concludes that providing health coverage to 44 million uninsured Americans would cost around $48 billion per year, only slightly more than the amount federal, state and local programs already pay in such medical costs." (Reuters via Medscape; one-time registration required)

HSA Tax Deduction Probably Would Increase Number of Uninsured, Study Says
Excerpt: "At the cost of $25 billion over ten years, the President's budget seeks to expand enrollment in Health Savings Accounts by allowing HSA participants to claim a tax deduction for the premium costs of high-deductible health insurance policies that they purchase in the individual health insurance market. Analysis by M.I.T. economist Jonathan Gruber ... finds ... this deduction would likely cause the ranks of the uninsured to increase by 350,000." (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)

Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Senate Approves, Adds Non-Qualified Deferred Comp Provisions to JOBS Act
Excerpt: "Much was swept into S. 1637 Tuesday [5/11/04], except any provisions directly impacting COLI. My highlights or lowlights of the proposed JOBS Act added provisions pertaining to deferred comp plans include the following ..." (Thomas C. Walker via BenefitsLink Message Boards)

Merger Resulted In Change of Ownership Under Excess Parachute Payment Rules
Excerpt: "A corporation that merged into another corporation experienced a change in the ownership of a substantial portion of its assets when, due to the merger, its shareholders that acted as a group in the merger received a less-than-50-percent ownership interest in the second (survivor) corporation, according to an IRS technical advice memorandum.' [BenefitsLink editor's note: TAM 200415003 (released 4/9/04) is online at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-wd/0415003.pdf] (CCH News & Information Library)

Text of U.S. Chamber of Commerce'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." (U.S. Chamber of Commerce)

Recent Domestic Partner Developments Present Challenges For Employers
Excerpt: "Two recent court decisions by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and same-sex marriages in a number of states have created challenges for employers with employee benefit plans. Employers should consider the impact these developments will have on the design and the ongoing administration of their employee benefit plans." (McDermott, Will & Emery)

Boston Globe Coverage: Union Denies Benefits To G.ay Couples
Excerpt: "All employers and unions whose benefit plans are covered under the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 can choose whether to extend benefits to spouses of the same sex, said Matt Giuliani, a Boston lawyer specializing in employee benefits. That includes self-insured employers and unions, as opposed to those who buy insurance and benefit plans for their members, he said." (Boston Globe)

Coverage by The Advocate: Massachusetts Union Decides Not to Extend Benefits to Married Same-Sex Couples
Excerpt: "Trustees and administrators of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 103 benefits plan issued a clarification of the phrase 'dependent spouse' to mean 'a person of the opposite sex.'" (The Advocate)

Newly Posted Events

Mercer's 2003 National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans
in Connecticut on May 26, 2004
presented by WEB (Worldwide Employee Benefits Network) Stamford Chapter
Newly Posted Press Releases

Evolution Benefits and BenefitPoint Team Up to Offer Brokers and Consultants Online Access to Benefits Debit Card Services
(Evolution Benefits)

Evolution Benefits Announces 2004 Technology Plans, Building On Industry Leading Capabilities
(Evolution Benefits)

DATAIR Updates Defined Benefit System for PFEA 2004
(DATAIR Employee Benefit Systems, Inc.)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
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