| BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter |   |
September 30, 2004
Today's sponsor: IQ PC
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
Conference on Curbing Obesity through Workplace Wellness Programs Utilizing Wellness Programs to Decrease Costs, Increase Productivity, and Combat Obesity December 14 - 15th, 2004 * InterContinental Hotel * New Orleans, LA - Recognize how introducing wellness programs results in healthier employees and a healthier bottom line - Reduce abstenteeism and increase productivity through wellness programs including weight management/loss plans - Integrate wellness programs into health plans for your employees - Get lower health insurance rates for your company by helping employees lose weight and maintain a healthier lifestyle - Investigate the current and future obesity issues faced by the healthcare industry and hear best practices on how your organization can most cost effectively react
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Health Insurers Integrate Rx, Disease Managers, Behavioral Health to Treat Depression
Excerpt: "A Sept. 16 warning by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the link between adolescents' use of antidepressants and suicidal thoughts demonstrates health insurers' increasing reliance on pharmacy benefit managers and disease managers -- along with behavioral health providers -- to treat patients with depression." (MANAGED CARE WEEK via AISHealth.com)
Overview: California Law Providing Extended COBRA Coverage for Seniors Is Repealed (PDF)
Excerpt: "California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed into law AB 254, which repeals an existing law requiring insured health plans to extend COBRA-type coverage to certain individuals age 60 and over until they become entitled to Medicare." (Mellon)
Sprint to Offer Domestic Partner Benefits
Excerpt: "Sprint Corp. will extend health insurance and other employee benefits to domestic partners beginning in 2005. The Overland Park, Kan.-based telecommunications company, with 61,000 employees nationwide, disclosed the program to employees this week as part of a regular review of changes to benefits for next year. The expanded coverage would take effect Jan. 1." (AP via Yahoo! News)
Open Enrollment Season for Employee Benefits Is Time for Employees to Review Options
Excerpt: "With the arrival of fall, many companies flood employee mail boxes with brochures about next year's benefit program offerings, reminding workers that this is the time to select new health insurance and retirement savings options." (AP via The Washington Post; one-time registration required)
Some Large Companies Squeeze Spouses Out of Health Plans to Save on Health Care Costs
Excerpt: "A handful of major employers are using a controversial new tactic to trim the costs of health care. They're eliminating benefits for employees' spouses who have the option of coverage elsewhere or they're making them pay more." (St. Petersburg Times)
Bad Tiered Pres.cription Drug Formulary Designs Yield Poor Outcomes, High Cost
Excerpt: "When employers shift drug costs to employees, consumers spend less on medications. That reduces drug costs, but does it reduce health care costs? Not to the consumer, of course. But apparently not to the health plan either. By shifting drug costs to consumers, plans may well be shifting costs to a different line in the balance sheet." (Managed Care Magazine)
Analysis: Pres.cription Contraceptives in Employer Health Insurance Plans (PDF)
Excerpt: "On December 14, 2000, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ('EEOC') decided that an employer's exclusion of pres.cription contraceptives from pres.cription drug benefits violates Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 ('Title VII'), as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act ('PDA')." (von Briesen & Roper, s.c.)
Drugstores May Charge for Consultations Covering Medications and Treatments
Excerpt: "Jaime White helps her diabetes patients understand how to manage their blood sugar, checks their blood pressure, and sometimes even examines their feet for loss of sensation from nerve damage .... Her patients are West Virginia state employees participating in a program offered by Camp Hill-based Rite Aid Corp., the nation's third-largest drugstore chain. They meet with White at one of two drugstores, and their insurer pays the bills: $80 for initial visits, $20 for follow-ups." (AP via The Washington Post; one-time registration required)
Health Benefits in 2004: 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 and Money Issues Arise Over Who Pays for Weight Loss
Excerpt: "At a meeting in November, Medicare's advisers will assess the safety, efficacy and cost of one increasingly popular method of weight loss - surgery - as a first step in a new policy that could lead to the use of federal money to cover a range of other obesity treatments." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)
Spend Money on Healthy People to Reduce Health Insurance Costs in the Long Run
Excerpt: "The accepted insurance model is to provide care intended to make sick people well. This might include screening, and some preventive actions such as immunizations. But there are new arguments that small investments in persuading people to live healthier lifestyles will result in large reductions in cost in later years." (Managed Care Magazine)
US Congress Scrambles to Renew Health Programs for Seniors and Children
Excerpt: "Funding for two federal health programs -- one to help seniors pay their Medicare premiums and one to provide children with health insurance coverage -- will expire at the end of the fiscal year on Thursday unless the US Congress acts before then." (Reuters Health via Medscape)
Study: Effects of Generic-Only Drug Coverage in a Medicare HMO
Excerpt: "Rising pharmacy costs and demand for pres.cription drug coverage for broader populations of seniors have resulted in the implementation of generic-only pharmacy benefits in Medicare health maintenance organizations (HMOs). The impact on cost and quality of care is unknown." (Health Affairs)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Labor Department Releases Form 5500 Annual Report and Filing Requirements for 2004
Excerpt: "Information copies of the forms, schedules and instructions are available on EBSA's web site at www.efast.dol.gov. Filers should monitor the EFAST web site for information on approved software vendors for completing the 2004 forms and on the availability of the official, government printed forms." (U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)
Text: Accounting for Wages and Benefits Using the Employment Cost Index (PDF)
16 pages. Excerpt: "Using the data set behind the Employer Cost Index to impute benefit values on the National Longitudinal Study of Youth and the Current Population Survey, this study finds that workers at the bottom part of the wage distribution exhibit a much stronger correlation between benefits and wages than those at the top." (Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Analysis: Staying Ahead of the Curve 2004: Employer Best Practices for Mature Workers (PDF)
20 pages. Excerpt: "In light of this demographic shift, AARP engaged Mercer Human Resource Consulting in 2004 to conduct an analysis of the workforce practices of current and former AARP Best Employers for Workers Over 50 in order to identify how best to address the needs of mature workers." (AARP)
Overview: Section 404 Compliance With a November Deadline Looming for an Expensive Process
Excerpt: "Any way you slice it, U.S. companies and their compliance teams are being pushed to the max. One quarter remains until the first batch of companies, and their auditors, must attest to their internal controls as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Controls are being rethought and remade as internal tests reveal weaknesses, and for many the last leg of the process--external auditors showing up at your door--is finally within sight." (Treasury & Risk Management)
Motorola to Cut 1,000 Jobs, Take $50 Million Charge for Severance Pay
Excerpt: "Motorola Inc. will cut 1,000 jobs worldwide and take a charge of $50 million for severance benefits, officials said Tuesday. .... The job cuts are set to take place at the end of the third quarter of the calendar year, Weyrauch said. Motorola employs 88,000 people worldwide." (AP via Chicago Sun-Times)
Newly Posted Press Releases
ERIC Statement Regarding IBM and Plaintiffs Agreement to Resolve Certain Claims in Cash Balance Case
(ERIC (ERISA Industry Committee))
Majorities of Heterosexuals Agree Same-Sex Partners Deserve Same Adoption Benefits and Leave Rights Offered by Employers as Married Co-Workers’ Spouses Receive
(Out & Equal Workplace)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Vice President, Sales
for LTSave, Inc.
in MA
Benefits Communications Practice Leader
for Milliman, Inc.
in WA
Benefit Calculation Developer - PA
for The Vanguard Group
in PA
DCS Compliance Reporting & Testing Analyst
for Boston Financial Data Services
in MA
Account Coordinator - 401(k)
for Precept
in CA
Defined Benefits Project Manager
for Hewitt Associates
in NJ
COBRA Administrator
for Precept/ProView
in CA
Benefits Administrator
for Black Mountain Management, Inc.
in NY
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