| BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter |   |
July 19, 2004
Today's sponsor: The International Foundation
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Did someone say celebrate? The International Foundation is having an anniversary party, and you're invited. Join us in the grand style of New Orleans as we celebrate 50 years of education with 6,000 of our friends. Each year, thousands of employee benefit decision makers return for the best in education featuring comprehensive support materials, problem-solving forums and an impressive exhibit hall. Click above to find out what you're missing.
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
The Davila Supreme Court Case and the Future of Health Plan Administration
Excerpt: "It is not often that we see a unanimous Supreme Court decision ... This Mintz Levin Publication discusses the consolidated cases of Aetna Health Inc. v. Davila and CIGNA Healthcare of Texas, Inc. v. Calad in which the Court unanimously ruled that the Texas Patient's Bill of Rights Law is preempted by [ERISA] to the extent it attempts to regulate or dictate what is covered by an ERISA-covered group health plan." (Mintz Levin)
Company Offers Cost-Free Benefit: Days Off
Excerpt: "[W]orkers don't seem to mind working 9-hour days when they know they'll be rewarded with a three-day weekend every other week. The 9/80 work scheduled is regularly identified as one of the company's most valuable employee benefits in worker surveys." (San Diego Union-Tribune)
Health Insurance 'Eating Up' Raises for Alabama State Employees
Excerpt: "Through managed care, [Alabama's State Employee Insurance Board executive director William] Ashmore said the state runs programs to screen employees for health risks and tries to get them involved in programs to control or reduce risks. It provides educational programs and materials to help educate employees about health-related issues. He believes there will be more such programs in the future for state employees." (The Decatur [AL] Daily)
Overview: IRS Guidance Goes a Short Way Toward Resolving HSA Confusion
Excerpt: "Recently, the IRS issued guidance in an effort to address one of the more pressing issues: if, and how, HSAs can co-exist with flexible spending accounts (FSAs) and health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs). The agency concluded in May that they can - as long as general-purpose FSAs and HRAs that pay for medical expenses before the deductible is met are not used in that lineup." (BenefitNews.com)
Hartford Courant Examines Health Care Issues in Presidential Election
Excerpt: "Although Kerry represents the 'clear choice' for voters most concerned about the issue of the uninsured, recent polls have found that health care ranks a 'distant fourth' among voter concerns after Iraq, terrorism and the general economy, the Courant reports." (KaiserNetwork.org)
U.S. Drug Import Picture Is Changing
Excerpt: "The government opposes permitting reimportation from Canada and elsewhere, but support for it is growing." (Philadelphia Inquirer; one-time registration required)
The Healthcare Conglomerate Will See You Now
Excerpt: "Some critics ask ... if what is good for G.E. is always good for the nation's health care system. Medical technology, the company's specialty, is a leading contributor to runaway health care costs, and some medical professionals and consumer groups say the conglomerate's growing influence among hospitals and doctors raises issues about the way scarce dollars are being spent." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Opinion: Medical Class Warfare
Excerpt: "Many Americans fear the loss of health insurance. Last week I described John Kerry's health plan. What's the Bush administration's plan?" (Paul Krugman in the New York Times; one-time registration required)
Summary of Frist Health Care Reform Policy Proposal
Excerpt: "The policies outlined today will help transform and re-create today's health care sector into a more patient-centered, consumer-driven, and provider-friendly health care system for the future. They incorporate and build upon the recommendations of the U.S. Senate Republican Task Force on Health Care Costs and the Uninsured chaired by Senator Judd Gregg (R-N.H.)." (American Benefits Council)
Overview: Frist Proposes Tax Parity for Individuals Without Employer-Provided Health Insurance
Excerpt: "This week, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) delivered a speech in which he laid out a broad policy agenda to reform the nation's troubled health care system over the next 10 years.... Of particular interest was his proposal for tax parity for individuals without employer-provided coverage." (HR Policy Association)
Opinion: Medicare Drug Benefit is Prescription for Trouble
Excerpt: "According to the new figures, companies may drop or reduce prescription drug coverage for 3.8 million retirees when the new drug benefit takes effect in 2006.... The Medicare agency, which is writing rules for the new law, quickly said that the numbers in The Times's report were outdated and that 'great pains' were being taken to protect benefits. That doesn't carry much credibility coming from an agency that has systematically withheld official information ..." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Drug Prices Rose After Enactment of Medicare Drug Program; Price Controls In U.S. Future?
The prices of the brand-name drugs most used by older individuals rose by an average of 3.4%, and by as much as 10%, since last December, when the Medicare Part D prescription drug plan was enacted, according to a report recently released by AARP. However, the annual rate of increase in these prices rose to 7.2% for the 12-month period ending March 2004. That increase was three times the rate of inflation and was one of the largest quarterly increases since 2000. (Spencer Benefits Reports)
Court Finds No Evidence of COBRA Notification Delivery
Excerpt: "Plan sponsors must shoulder the burden of proof that Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) notifications have been mailed. The U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals found insufficient evidence that a COBRA notice was mailed to the terminated employee." (PLANSPONSOR.com; one-time registration required)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
New Deferred Compensation Rules Pending in Congress
Excerpt: "Both the House and Senate have passed legislation that would make significant changes to the federal tax rules for nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements. The two bills must now be reconciled in a conference committee which, following certain procedural steps in the Senate, is expected to be convened in the latter part of July 2004." (Buchanan Ingersoll)
No Wonder CEOs Love Those Mergers
Excerpt: "Shareholders like it when their companies are acquired, because their stocks rise in value. Chief executives like it, too, because their severance agreements kick in. And that means they can become truly, titanically, stupefyingly rich." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Survivor Benefits for Servicemembers and Federal, State, and City Government Employees
128 pages. Excerpt: "GAO was asked to address two questions: (1) To what extent are the survivor benefits provided to servicemembers different from those provided to federal, state, and city government employees in general and (2) To what extent do federal, state, and city governments supplement their general survivor benefits for employees in high-risk occupations?' 1-page executive summary is online at http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d04814high.pdf (U.S. General Accounting Office)
Text of H.R. 3574 (Stock Options Accounting Bill) as Reported by Committee on Financial Services (PDF)
10 pages. (Via American Benefits Council)
The Not-So-High Cost of Aging
Excerpt: "If you heed the doomsayers, the graying of the U.S. population is a catastrophe. Look a little harder, and those fears are overblown." (BusinessWeek)
Newly Posted Events
ABA 14th Annual National Institute on ERISA Litigation
in Illinois on November 11, 2004
presented by Resources For Living (RFL)
ABA 15th Annual National Institute on Health and Welfare Benefit Plans: Responding to Change
in District of Columbia on October 21, 2004
presented by Resources For Living (RFL)
ABA 19th Annual National Institute on Compensation for Executives and Directors
in New York on November 4, 2004
presented by Resources For Living (RFL)
Pension, Profit-Sharing, Welfare, and Other Compensation Plans
in District of Columbia on October 7, 2004
presented by ALI-ABA (American Law Institute-American Bar Association)
Pension, Profit-Sharing, Welfare, and Other Compensation Plans
in California on March 16, 2005
presented by ALI-ABA (American Law Institute-American Bar Association)
Newly Posted Press Releases
Keenan And Aetna Join To Provide California Employers With A Consumer-Directed Health Benefits Solution
(Law Firm of G.M. Morrison, P.C.)
Mortgage Benefits Corp. Announces Agreement to Provide Group Mortgage Benefit to Gray Cary Law Firm
(Mortgage Benefits Corporation)
Mortgage Benefits Corp. Signs CMG Mortgage Services to the Mortgage Provider Network
( Resources For Living (RFL))
Keenan And Aetna Join To Provide California Employers With A Consumer-Directed Health Benefits Solution
( Resources For Living (RFL))
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Pension Administrator
for PennRock Financial Advisors, N.A.
in PA
Plan Consultant for DB and DC Plans
for Fairfield County, Connecticut Actuarial and Pension Consulting Firm
in CT
Retirement Plan Consultant
for Primary Consulting, Inc.
in ANY STATE
Regional Account Services Manager
for Legg Mason Wood Walker
in MD
Benefits Administrator
for Mellon Human Resources and Investor Solutions
in GA
Account Manager II
for Mellon Human Resources & Investor Solutions
in GA
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