| BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter |   |
September 9, 2004
Today's sponsor: Hay Group, Inc.
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
PREVIEW Essential Benchmarking Data: The 2004 Hay Benefits Report For designing cost effective and competitive benefits plans, the Hay Benefits Report is the most comprehensive study of practices and policies nationwide. With over 1,000 participants, our report is an indispensable planning tool, providing robust data and trend information for all major benefit areas, including: retirement, medical and prescription drugs, disability and life insurance, holidays and vacations, and executive perquisites.
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Senate Unlikely to Mull Canada Drug Imports This Year, Frist Says
Excerpt: "Despite voter concern about the high cost of pres.cription medicines, legislation to allow cheaper pres.cription drugs from Canada or other countries is unlikely to come up in the U.S. Senate this election year, the Senate leader said on Wednesday." (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
Four Years of Double-Digit Premium Increases Take Their Toll On Coverage
Excerpt: "This paper reports changes in employer-based insurance during the past year and since 2001. From spring 2003 to spring 2004, premiums increased 11.2 percent (compared with 13.9 percent last year). Since 2001, premiums have increased 59 percent, employee contributions have grown by 57 percent for single coverage and 49 percent for family coverage, and the percentage of workers covered by their own employer's health plan has fallen from 65 percent in 2001 to 61 percent in 2004." (Health Affairs)
Health Care Premiums Jump 11.2%, Less Than Last Year
Excerpt: "Health care costs continued to surge this year as family premiums in employer-sponsored plans jumped 11.2%, less than last year's 13.2% but the fourth straight year of double-digit growth, according to a study released Thursday." (AP via USA Today)
Employer Health Benefits 2004 Annual Survey Details Trends
Excerpt: "This annual survey of employers provides detailed insights into trends in employer-based health coverage, including changes in premiums, employee contributions, cost-sharing policies and other relevant information." (The Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research and Educational Trust)
Dozen Health Care Leaders to Drive Healthcare I.T. Certification Task
Excerpt: "A dozen health care leaders have been appointed to serve on the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology. The commission will lead the initiative to certify ambulatory electronic medical records and other health care information technology products." (Health Data Management)
Overview: Final COBRA Regulations - COBRA Notices, SPD Revisions, Service Contract Modifications (PDF)
4 pages. The Employee Benefit Plan Review August edition of the Regulatory Update column covers (1) the final COBRA regulations issued by the Department of Labor, and (2) the withdrawal of proposed regulations on cash balance pension plans. (Michael Rosenbaum and Kathleen Scheidt on Gardner Carton & Douglas)
Overview: IRS Confirms Appropriate Tax Treatment of Employment-Based After-Tax Disability Coverage
Excerpt: "This summer, the IRS published Revenue Ruling 2004-55, which confirms how disability coverage provided through an employer is taxed when the employee pays for the coverage on an after-tax basis." (Faegre & Benson LLP)
Opinion: Supplemental Group Life Insurance Is a Benefit You Can Skip
Excerpt: "[W]hen it comes to supplemental coverage, if you are healthy and don't have any dangerous hobbies, you can probably get cheaper term life insurance on your own. Don't wait until your open-enrollment deadline to find out. Start shopping now ..." (San Francisco Chronicle)
Health Savings Accounts: Issues and Implementation Decisions for States (PDF)
Excerpt: "Although HSAs were legislated through a federal initiative, the availability of qualifying high-deductible health coverage depends partly on states. As the primary regulators of health insurance, states can choose whether to allow insurance companies to sell high-deductible policies." (Academy Health)
HIPAA, State Laws Are Often Compatible, Helping Covered Entities to Comply More Easily
Excerpt: "Despite all the sound and fury about state pre-emption, state laws and the HIPAA privacy rule aren't mutually exclusive all over the place. It turns out that the two often peacefully co-exist - an important realization that lets hospitals focus on incorporating both privacy rule and state provisions in their policies and procedures, rather than having to pick between the two." (AISHealth.com)
Health Claims Costs to Ease in 2005 According to Segal Survey
Excerpt: "Increases in the cost of health care claims are likely to slow next year, according to a new survey. Copies of the 2005 Segal Health Plan Cost Trend Survey will be available today at www.segalco.com." (Business Insurance)
Most Uninsured Texans Work Full-Time But Cannot Afford Health Insurance
Excerpt: "Three-fourths of uninsured Texans have full-time jobs but cannot afford health insurance, according to a report released Wednesday by the Texas Association of Business. The study also shows that more than half of Texans without health coverage live in households earning more than $75,000 a year." (AP via The Dallas Morning News)
HealthVote2004.org Web Site Produced by California Nonprofits
HealthVote2004.org is a collaboration between the California HealthCare Foundation and The Center for Governmental Studies. Excerpt: "On November 2, Californians have a historic opportunity to affect the future of the state's health care system by casting their vote on five ballot measures. HealthVote2004.org provides voters with facts and non-partisan analysis, ...." (California HealthCare Foundation)
Senate Democrats Introduce Bill to Limit Medicare Part B Premium Increase
Excerpt: "To avert a recently announced 17.4% increase in Medicare Part B premiums, a group of Democratic senators … introduced a bill [on September 8] that would hold next year's hike to the rate of inflation." (Modern Healthcare)
Shift in Medicare Use by Beneficiaries is Expected by Health Insurance Industry
Excerpt: "The new, sharply higher charges announced for Medicare beneficiaries last week may prompt more elderly people to join Medicare health maintenance organizations operated by private industry, according to health insurance executives and industry analysts." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Behind the Curtain: How the 10 Largest Mutual Fund Families Voted on CEO Pay (PDF)
35 pages. Excerpt: "This report evaluates how the 10 largest mutual fund families voted when presented with the opportunity to curb CEO pay abuses at a dozen S&P 500 companies in 2004. We chose executive compensation as our benchmark because, in the words of billionaire investor Warren Buffet, 'The acid test for reform will be CEO compensation.'" (AFL-CIO Office of Investment)
Samuelson the Elder Challenges Outsourcing's Orthodoxy
Excerpt: "That untruth, Mr. Samuelson asserts in an article for the Journal of Economic Perspectives, is the assumption that the laws of economics dictate that the American economy will benefit in the long run from all forms of international trade, including the outsourcing abroad of call-center and software programming jobs." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)
Newly Posted Events
2004 Annual Employer Health Benefits Survey
Nationwide on September 9, 2004
presented by Kaiser Family Foundation
Basics of Retirement Plans
in California on September 23, 2004
presented by International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists, Northern California Chapter
Benefits Automation -- Now a Reality for Mid-Size Employers
in California on October 13, 2004
presented by ArlenGroup
Hot Issues in Executive Compensation 2004
Nationwide on September 22, 2004
presented by West LegalEdcenter
Hot Issues in Executive Compensation 2004
Nationwide on September 22, 2004
presented by West LegalEdcenter
Wrap Plans: What Are They, How Do They Work, Should I Get One?
Nationwide on September 22, 2004
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
Newly Posted Press Releases
CalPERS Responds to Lawsuit Announcement Regarding Private Equity Transparency
(CalPERS (California Public Employees' Retirement System))
CPI Expands to Ten Regional Offices with the Opening of Tampa, Florida Consulting Office
(CPI Qualified Plan Consultants, Inc.)
Health in the Age of Obesity; Are Companies Ignoring the Skinny on Fat?
(The Marlin Company)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Defined Benefit Implementation Specialists
for Constantin Control Associates
in NC, NJ
Account/Client Services Manager
for Zenith Administrators
in CA, WA
Business Developer Manager
for Merrill Lynch
in CA, NM, NY
Consulting Actuary
for RSM McGladrey
in IL
HUMAN RESOURCE OUTSOURCING CONSULTANT
for Hewitt Associates
in IL
Employee Benefits Attorney (568 BW)
for Marvel Consultants, Inc.
in IL, MI, OH
Underwriting Analyst (Medical)
for Precept Group, Inc.
in CA
Pension Administrator - Defined Benefit
for American Express Tax & Business Services
in AZ
Benefit Manager
for Hewitt Associates
in IL
Health Benefits Analyst
for The Segal Company, a leading employee benefits consulting firm
in NY
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Search BenefitsLink
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research
- Employee Benefits Library
Copyright 2004 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.; except that you can reprint this newsletter in full (if you also include this boilerplate part) without obtaining our permission.
Published by:
BenefitsLink.com, Inc.
https://benefitslink.com/about.html
1298 Minnesota Avenue, Suite H
Winter Park FL 32789
(407) 644-4146
Fax: (407) 644-2151
Editor and Publisher: David Rhett Baker, J.D.
Housekeeping: