| BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter |   |
September 29, 2004
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Health Care Spending and Health Savings Accounts: a Way Out of Our Health Care Crisis?
Excerpt: "The following article presents ideas from the report 'Why Coordination of Health Care Spending and Savings Accounts Is Important,' by Sylvester J. Schieber .... The report analyzes the origin of our current health care predicament, outlines the reasons for migrating toward consumer-oriented health insurance plans and suggests needed changes to recent legislation creating health savings accounts that would make them truly viable for altering health care purchasing behavior." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)
Christian Science Monitor Examines 'Pay-or-Play' Health Insurance Mandates for Employers
Excerpt: "The Christian Science Monitor [today] examined the increasing popularity of 'controversial' state health care proposals that are based on 'pay-or-play' mandates for employers. A pay-or-play mandate requires businesses to provide employees with health insurance or pay into a state-run fund that will provide the coverage." (Kaisernetwork.org)
Opinion: Pending Bipartisan Drug Reimportation Bill Provides for Safe Drugs and Cheaper Drugs
Excerpt: "If Dr. Bill Frist, the Senate majority leader, knows what's good for the body politic, he will allow a quick floor vote on the drug reimportation bill he has been bottling up for the benefit of President Bush and the pharmaceutical industry. A large majority - up to 75 members, by some estimates - would easily pass the bill and delight the organized older voters who have been clamoring for lower-priced Canadian drugs." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)
Overview: New COBRA Guidance Requires Employers to Overhaul Notices and COBRA Procedures
Excerpt: "Just over one year ago, the Department of Labor issued proposed COBRA regulations that contained dramatic changes to the content of COBRA notices as well as the manner in which notices were required to be issued. On May 26, 2004, the DOL finalized those regulations. The final regulations are substantially similar to the proposed regulations and will require prompt action by employers that sponsor health plans." (Littler Mendelson via FindLaw)
Working Paper: Designing Optimal Disability Insurance: a Case for Asset Testing
Excerpt: "The paper analyzes an implementation of an optimal disability insurance system as a competitive equilibrium with taxes. The problem is modeled as a dynamic mechanism design problem in which disability is unobservable. We show that an asset-tested disability system in which a disability transfer is paid only if an agent has assets below a specified maximum implements the optimum." (National Bureau of Economic Research)
EPA Names 'Best Workplaces for Commuters' Compiled from Fortune 500 Companies
Excerpt: "Intel Corp., Fannie Mae and Cisco Systems Inc. top a new listing the government plans to offer each year rating companies on the benefits they offer commuting employees. The Environmental Protection Agency hopes to combat air pollution by encouraging more companies to compete for top spots on its ``Best Workplaces for Commuters'' list, compiled from Fortune 500 companies." (AP via The New York Times; one-time registration required)
Working Paper: Healthcare Markets, the Safety Net and Access to Care Among the Uninsured
Excerpt: "We use nationally representative Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data linked with data from multiple secondary sources to study the relationship between access to care among the uninsured and the local healthcare market and safety net." (National Bureau of Economic Research)
Market-Based Health Care Reform Preferable to Single-Payer System, Opinion Piece Says
Excerpt: "We can all agree that reform is needed' in the U.S. health care system, but 'simplistic, one-size-fits-all solutions,' such as suggestions to develop a single-payer national system, 'just won't get us there,' Karen Ignagni, president and CEO of America's Health Insurance Plans, writes in a Washington Times opinion piece." (Kaisernetwork.org)
Intercepted Supply of Reimported Pres.cription Drugs Illustrates Safety Problems, FDA Says
Excerpt: "Federal officials on Tuesday said that 439 packages of pres.cription drugs purportedly exported from Canada and intercepted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials in Miami were not manufactured in the United States and had been subject to Canadian recall, the AP/Boston Globe reports (AP/Boston Globe, 9/29)." (Kaisernetwork.org)
Text: Medicare Demonstration PPOs: Financial and Other Advantages for Plans (PDF)
65 pages. Excerpt: "GAO recommends that the Administrator of CMS promptly instruct plans in the Medicare PPO Demonstration to provide coverage for all plan services furnished by any provider authorized to provide Medicare services who accepts the plans' terms and conditions of payment. CMS agreed to implement the recommendation, and stated that it believes the demonstrations are worthwhile." (U.S. Government Accountability Office)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Social Security, Medicare, Pensions on Debate Issues Checklist: How Do We Pay for It All?
Excerpt: "Print out this checklist right now. And keep it handy during the presidential debates. See if we get answers. So far, neither President George Bush nor Sen. John Kerry has the guts to get honest about this one central issue that ties together all other issues ... How the hell are we going to pay for everything?" (Investor's Business Daily; one-time registration required)
Perspective: 2005 U.S. Compensation Planning Requires Consideration of More Than Cost
Excerpt: "Determining pay strategies is a juggling act – one that requires the consideration of three important forces: the employer, the employee, and cost. Each struggles for the attention of HR, and all should be considered with equal weight and importance." (Mercer Human Resource Consulting)
US Airways and Delta Cuts Target Executives: Will Reduce Management Payroll and Some Benefits
Excerpt: "US Airways Group Inc. intends to slash its executive payroll by 20 percent, reducing the pay and benefits for its 3,000 managers and eliminating some positions, sources familiar with the plan said yesterday. [Delta] also plans to eliminate its subsidy for retiree and survivor health care coverage at age 65 and older, effective for those employees retiring after Jan. 1, 2006." (The Washington Post; one-time registration required)
Good-Bye to the Golden Age of Stock Options -- in 2005 or Later
Excerpt: "Rules from the Financial Accounting Standards Board won't take effect until 2005 or later. But many companies are already refashioning their incentive plans, curbing the amounts of their option grants, limiting who is eligible, or both." (Workforce Management; one-time registration required)
A 'Tsunami' Named 'Employee Benefits' Heaves Toward U.S. Shores
Excerpt: "Using sand-bags to defend corporations against a tidal wave of rising benefits expenses is unlikely to do much good. More drastic measures are necessary, experts say, and employees look as if they most likely will have to bear the burden." (Risk and Insurance)
Humor: P.J. O'Rourke as the first speaker of the 2004-2005 Drue Heinz Lecture Series Shares Opinions
Excerpt: "O'Rourke's libertarian leanings shaded many of his remarks, including an attack on federal entitlements like Medicare and Social Security. According to O'Rourke, both Democratic and Republican health-care reform plans are deeply flawed, and neither party has addressed the burden of Social Security on younger generations." (The Pitt News)
Perspective: IASB's IFRS 2 and FASB Exposure Draft on Expensing of Share-Based Payments
Excerpt: "All signals indicate that mandatory expensing of share-based payments, including stock options, performance shares, and stock appreciation rights, may become a global standard for companies in 2005." (Mercer Human Resource Consulting)
Newly Posted Events
401(k) Plans
in Oregon on October 5, 2004
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
Cafeteria Plans
in Oregon on October 6, 2004
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
COBRA Compliance for Group Health Plans
in Oregon on October 8, 2004
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
Consumer-Driven Health Care & Fringe Benefits
in Oregon on October 7, 2004
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
ERISA Compliance for Health & Welfare Plans
in Oregon on October 7, 2004
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
HIPAA Portability & Privacy
in Oregon on October 8, 2004
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
The HIPAA Security Risk Analysis: It's Good Business ... and It's Required
Nationwide on October 12, 2004
presented by Atlantic Information Services, Inc
Newly Posted Press Releases
PBGC Will Meet With Participants in Piccadilly Cafeterias Inc. Pension Plan
(Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC))
New Tax-Advantaged Health Accounts: Options Abound, But Impact Still Unknown
(Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI))
Tax-Deferred IRA Contributions Jump 30% in 2002; Total 2003 Assets Hit Record $3 Trillion Level
(Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI))
Health Insurance Coverage Dropped for Workers at Large Firms in 1987-2002 Period
(Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI))
Labor Department Releases Form 5500 Annual Report And Filing Requirements
(U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Public Affairs, Washington, D.C.)
Coalition for Tax Fairness Launched to Help Incentive Stock Option Victims of Alternative Minimum Tax
(Coalition for Tax Fairness)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Defined Benefits/Pension Plan Implementation MGR
for Mellon HR & Investor Solutions
in NJ
Health Insurance & Group Insurance Sales Executive
for Alliance Benefit Group of Kansas City, Inc.
in IA, KS, MN, MO
Senior Pension Systems Analyst
for CitiStreet
in FL
Technician, Settlement Operations
for Transamerica
in CA
Defined Benefits Project Leader
for The Vanguard Group
in PA
Associate Director Compliance
for Telecommunications Company
in TX
Associate Director-Data
for Telecommunications Company
in TX
Plan Administrator / Client Account Manager
for Northwest Plan Services, Inc.
in WA
Employee Benefits Counsel
for Established, Highly Regarded Company in Northern Florida
in FL
Investment Advisory/Retirement Sales Consultant – St. Louis
for Invesmart, Inc.
in MO
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