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November 8, 2004
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Survey Says Hurdles to Hospitals Adopting Electronic Health Records Remain
Excerpt: "About 88% of hospitals, health plans, physician practices and information technology (IT) vendors polled by Capgemini, a New York-based international health care consulting firm, say they have taken concrete steps toward the adoption of electronic health records or expect to in the next six months. The consultant ... surveyed executives from 84 organizations, about three-quarters of them hospital or hospital systems." (AHA News via American Hospital Association)
Lawsuits Against Health Plans Crumble in Wake of Supreme Court Ruling in Aetna Health Inc. v. Davila
Excerpt: "Worries in the physician community that a Supreme Court ruling would undermine patients' ability to sue their health plans are starting to become reality. Two federal appeals courts recently reversed decisions that originally gave subscribers the right to go forward with such cases. The rulings both take into consideration the high court's June decision that Texas patients could not proceed with their HMO lawsuits." (AMNews via American Medical Association)
Coaching Versus Classes: How to Package Financial Education for Employees
Excerpt: "Almost everyone agrees that employees need to learn more about how to save for retirement, but there is little consensus about how to package financial education to make it compelling for them. Some say employers should use multiple methods - workshops, phone-based counseling, one-on-one consultations, print material and the Internet - to create an individualized 'coaching' approach. Others worry that coaching borders on giving advice and can open employers up to legal liability." (Employee Benefit News)
Surveys Show Fewer Vacation Days Are Offered by Employers and Taken by Employees
Excerpt: "In a climate of increased outsourcing and job insecurity, it's not surprising that many Americans don't take full advantage of their vacation benefits. What is unexpected is evidence that employers are less likely to provide vacation days - at least right now. According to the Society for Human Resource Management's 2004 benefits survey, 68% of employers offered paid vacation time this year, representing a significant drop from 87% last year." (Employee Benefit News)
Recognizing the Unsung Heroes at KeySpan Corporation Goes Beyond Traditional Awards Programs
Excerpt: "KeySpan Corp. has all the awards programs you would expect, but it's the phone calls from the CEO and the flowers that arrive for no reason that set it apart. .... This 'unsung hero' aspect of recognition has been integrated into monthly Break Bread dinners ... attended by as many as 10 middle managers for an evening of no-pressure shop talk. Selected guests represent a cross section of KeySpan's workforce: organizationally, functionally, by gender and so on." (Workforce Management)
Incentives Necessary for Return on Investment with Disease Management Programs
Excerpt: "Disease management programs should be paired with incentives to attract more participants and greater return on investment, according to employers who shared insights from their experiences at BMF&E. Household International, a lending firm based in Prospect Heights, Ill., attributes $7 million in savings to its disease management program. The program generated a 20.7% ROI and helped to reduce turnover and absenteeism ...." (Employee Benefit News)
Analytics Can Be Used to Make Sense of Pharmacy Benefit Manager Practices
Excerpt: "In the BMF&E session 'Using Cutting-Edge Analytics to Demystify PBM Practices,' The Segal Company's Gregory L. Warren ... dug into a topic that has caused consternation for many benefit managers. Warren began by breaking down the pharmaceutical supply flow to show how pricing mark-ups occur, then identified three main areas where customers could realize big savings: average wholesale pricing variability, AWP pricing options and maximum allowable cost pricing." (Employee Benefit News)
Health Savings Accounts and More Insurers Seeking Customers Helps the Small Business Market
Excerpt: "'High-deductible health plans and HSAs have become viable options for small businesses who would otherwise drop coverage because premiums are too high,' observes Jamie Amaral .... Amaral compares the pre-HSA health care market for small businesses to a car dealership that sold only $70,000 automobiles. 'If you don't have the money, you can't buy a car,' she says. 'Now there are $12,000 Buicks available instead of just the luxury cars in the health care market.'" (Employee Benefit News)
Transition to Consumer Directed Health Plans: Keying Off Employee Communications
Excerpt: "You're a small business with an eye on keeping and retaining talent. You know that a generous health plan is a sought-after benefit, but full-coverage HMO and PPO plans are either distant pipe dreams or increasingly draining your bottom line dry. Like a growing number of companies, you wonder whether a consumer-driven health plan might be the answer. Herzog Contracting ... ended up transforming its full-coverage plan into a health reimbursement account, enrolling 400 employees ...." (Employee Benefit News)
Medical Malpractice Exposure of Facilities and Providers Not Slowing Popularity of Bariatric Surgery
Excerpt: "As a growing population of obese Americans turns to surgery as a drastic means to shed pounds, hospitals performing these procedures are seeing their liability exposures rise. Hospitals are seeing a surge in demand for bariatric surgery ... and a potential financial windfall associated with performing such surgeries. But with more procedures also comes increased medical malpractice risk for the providers and facilities performing these procedures." (Business Insurance via Workforce Management)
Opinion: Top Ten List of Likely Federal Legislative Initiatives Impacting Health Care
Excerpt: "[B]ased upon proposals offered during the campaign, here is our top ten list of likely legislative initiatives impacting health care: 1. Providing refundable, advanceable tax credits for the uninsured. .... 2. Creating an above-the-line deduction of premiums for HSA-qualified health insurance. 3. Providing a $200/individual, $500/family rebate to small firms to set up HSA accounts for their workers. 4. Providing a mechanism for new purchasing pools to be created for small ...." (Grace-Marie Turner via Galen Institute)
Discussions Underway in California on Healthcare Access Expansion Efforts Following Repeal of Law
Excerpt: "Health care advocates, lawmakers and labor unions are discussing ways to use to their advantage the momentum of a 'narrow' repeal of a law (SB 2) that would have required some employers to provide health coverage, the San Jose Mercury News reports (Feder Ostrov, San Jose Mercury News, 11/4). .... Sen. Jackie Speier (D-San Mateo), one of the authors of SB 2, said she intends to convene 'all sides' -- including businesses, physicians, unions and state leaders -- at a meeting ...." (California HealthCare Foundation)
Uninsured Caught in Costly Twist: Hospitals Charge Full Price for Care
Excerpt: "When a Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts member suffers a stroke, the giant insurer pays the hospital $7,000 on average to cover the care. Medicaid pays an average of $5,441.27. But when John Hernon had a stroke, the bill for his hospital stay rang up to $23,280.80, plus $23,018.10 for doctors fees and nine months of follow-up care. [T]he uninsured often pay two to four times as much for the same services as most health insurers and government programs." (The Boston Globe)
California's Schwarzenegger Suspends Requirements for More Nurses Until 2008
Excerpt: "California nurses plan a Dec. 1 march on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office to protest his administration's move Thursday to delay a requirement for additional nurses in hospital medical and surgical units. The staffing increase, set to take effect Jan. 1, would require one nurse for every five patients in those units. [A] new emergency regulation [was announced] that would suspend the change until 2008, keeping intact the current ratio of one nurse for each six patients." (AP via SFGate.com)
Employer-Based Clinics Keep Workers Healthy on the Go; On-Site Medical Services Help Lower Costs
Excerpt: "Clinics like the one at Freddie Mac are a growing service at many firms, say experts. Employers, including the Treasury Department, Continental Airlines and USA Today, have on-site clinics that are open during the business day and, in some cases, for extended hours. Their staff treat routine problems, like the flu or a bad cut, but can also monitor an injured patient's recovery after an accident, be on hand for on-the-job accidents or sudden illnesses, and hold workshops ...." (MSNBC News)
For Nation, a Mixed Review on Health, Study of 50 States Finds
Excerpt: "Scrape off the color on the red states and the blue states and underneath is a different way of looking at America's regional differences. There are the smoking states and the obesity states; the high-infant-mortality states and the stay-in-high-school states; the heart attack states and the killed-on-the-job states. Today, for the 15th time, a public health organization is releasing its assessment of the health of the nation, ..., as measured by a composite of 18 variables." (The Washington Post; one-time registration required)
Lawyers and Doctors Attack New Florida Medical Malpractice Amendments
Excerpt: "Passage of the three state constitutional amendments related to medical malpractice was the easy part. Now the real fight begins. Leaders of the plaintiff bar say they're planning for legal challenges to doctor-supported Amendment 3, which caps trial lawyers' contingency fees in medical malpractice cases, is under way. But medical professionals have already fired their first salvos, with lawsuits in state circuit courts that will block implementation of lawyer-backed Amendments ...." (Miami Daily Business Review via Yahoo! Finance)
Behind Flu-Vaccine Shortage: Struggle to Police Drug Industry Globally
Excerpt: "With a rising number of factories to police all over the globe, the FDA faces a harder time inspecting them all on a regular basis. Compounding the problem, regulators around the world aren't required to share information about factories they oversee. The issue goes far beyond this year's shortage of flu vaccines. As multinational drug companies seek cheaper manufacturing sites, more medicines are being produced overseas." (Wall Street Journal via SFGate.com)
Opinion and Book Reviews on Health Care: How the American System Got So Sick, and How to Cure It
Excerpt: "America's health care system is in the intensive care unit. Its prognosis: poor. Its recovery: doubtful. According to a spate of new books, medical care is poorly organized, substandard, much too expensive and unsustainable. Allowing the system to evolve into a profit-hungry, stock-market-watching enterprise is a big part of the problem. As the cost of care progressively rose in the 1970s and '80s, many ... argued that the latest free-market business practices ...." (The Washington Post; one-time registration required)
State Officials Criticize Medicare Drug Benefit Wording: 'Greater Value than Your Current Coverage'
Excerpt: "The nation's insurance commissioners say the federal Medicare agency has made misleading statements about the new drug benefit in an effort to persuade people to sign up. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners, which represents insurance regulators in all 50 states, registered its concern in a letter to the agency. State officials elaborated on their concerns in recent interviews." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)
A Delicate Balance: Business Needs and Employees' Lives in Chaos
Excerpt: "With four hurricanes pounding Florida in six weeks, critical services such as hospitals, utility companies and government offices had to perform quite a juggling act. These organizations had to remain up and running and keep employees focused on their jobs, while at the same time taking into account workers' concerns about their families, pets and homes." (Workforce Management)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Responses to the DOL and IRS Request for Comments on EFAST Design Improvements
This page provides access to the comments from nonprofit organizations, employers, plan administrators, service providers involved in preparing and submitting the Form 5500 series, accountants, financial institutions, participants and beneficiaries regarding the alternative design changes being considered. (U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)
Comments: DOL Posts Opinion Letters Pertaining to FMLA: One Letter Addresses Temps
Excerpt: "Recently, the DOL posted on its website ... a number of opinion letters pertaining to issues connected with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). With the rising popularity of temps in the workforce, employers will want to take notice of the opinion letter issued April 4, 2004 ... which addresses the issue of which individuals are counted toward the FMLA's '50 or more employees' coverage test.' (Attorney B. Janell Grenier via BenefitsBlog.com)
Survey on Gender Policies at Work
Excerpt: "The Human Rights Campaign, a Washington-based g.ay advocacy group, issues an annual report card on how corporate America treats its g.ay, les.bian, bise.xual and transgender employees. Companies were ranked for the third annual list by seven criteria ...." (The Washington Post via Houston Chronicle)
Overview: the Changing Landscape of Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plans (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "The Jobs Act applies to any plan that 'provides for the deferral of compensation' and includes excess benefit, supplemental executive retirement, change in control, and any other arrangement that defers compensation, including arrangements covering only one person. As mentioned earlier, it appears that the Jobs Act will apply to SARs, phantom stock, and restricted stock." (Jenkens & Gilchrist)
Overview: Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Reform Requires Immediate Action
This overview provides a summary of the NQDC reforms, an analysis of the implications for employers and what's next for employers, and asks, 'Will NQDC survive?" (Mercer Human Resource Consulting)
Overview: Final Incentive Stock Option Regulations (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "After twenty years, the Internal Revenue Service has issued new final rules providing guidance on incentive stock options ('ISOs'). The Final Regulations generally were effective on August 3, 2004, but certain transition rules are available for existing ISOs and those granted prior to 2006. After December 31, 2005, all ISOs must comply with these Final Regulations." (Haynes and Boone, LLP)
Society of Actuaries Publishes Financial Economics Resources Listing
Excerpt: "Financial economics is influencing the way financial professionals view shareholder risk, including the risk from pension plans. Actuaries and others have been examining what place financial economics might have in the actuarial paradigm. The Task Force on Financial Economics and the Actuarial Model has compiled the following resources as an informational tool only to aid actuaries in learning more about the issues." (Society of Actuaries)
Newly Posted Events
14th Annual Reception and Benefits Update
in New Jersey on November 11, 2004
presented by Worldwide Employee Benefits Network (WEB)
Nonqualified Plans - Understanding the New Law
Nationwide on December 16, 2004
presented by SunGard Corbel
U. S. Labor Department’s New York Office Sponsors Seminar To Help Plan Professionals Comply With Federal Employee Benefits Law
in New York on December 3, 2004
presented by U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Defined Benefit Implementation Specialists
for Constantin Control Associates
in IL, KY, NC, NJ, TX
Retirement Plan Sales Consultant
for Invesmart, Inc.
in CT, IL, MA, MD, ME, MI, NH, NY, OH, RI, TX, VA, WI
Senior DC Tiered Plan Administrator
for The Pension Group, Inc.
in CA
Senior Manager - ERISA Compliance
for Bank of America
in MA
401(k) Client Relationship Manager
for Financial Service Leader
in CT
Defined Contribution Plan Administration
for Kibble & Prentice
in WA
Service Delivery Manager
for Hewitt Associates LLC
in ANY STATE
Pension Proposal & Installation Specialist
for CUNA Mutual Group
in WI
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