| BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter |   |
November 11, 2004
Today's sponsor: NCEO
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Check out the new publications by the NCEO in the BenefitsLink Bookstore! The National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO), a nonprofit membership and research organization that provides information on broad-based employee stock plans, now has over a dozen of its most popular publications available for purchase in the BenefitsLink bookstore. Topics range from employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) to stock options to employee stock purchase plans (ESPPs).
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Americans Do Not Support Health Care Coverage Mandates, According to AHIP Survey
Excerpt: "A new survey holds the promise of more health coverage options and, possibly, fewer costs. According to America's Health Insurance Plans, a majority of voters in this year's presidential election want the option of choosing more basic insurance at a lower cost over government-mandated coverage at far higher costs. Fifty-four percent of voters ... think mandates are a bad idea because they do not allow consumers to choose lower-cost, albeit less rich, insurance while 33% think ...." (The Adviser via BenefitNews.com)
Telehealth Adds Patients and Uses As Technology and Investment Grow
Excerpt: "Technological developments as varied as robotic surgery and wristwatches that take temperature, plus investments from high-tech firms, are pushing telemedicine into new uses of interest to more and more physicians.... ATA has on its Web site ... a list of telemed services that various payers around the country reimburse.... The list is based on a survey done in early 2003, and will be updated in the next few months. Most commercial insurers cover at least some forms of telehealth ...." (PHYSICIAN COMPENSATION REPORT via AISHealth.com)
State of Tennessee to Cut Health Program, TennCare, that Expands Medicaid Coverage
Excerpt: "Gov. Phil Bredesen announced Wednesday that Tennessee planned to dissolve its financially troubled program expanding Medicaid, a decision that would cut as many as 430,000 people from state health care rolls. The governor held out some hope for saving the program, called TennCare, saying he would try for seven more days to work out an agreement with advocates who have won several court decisions on the level of health care the state must provide to TennCare enrollees." (AP via The New York Times; one-time registration required)
Firms Suggest That E-Prescribing Has Value Beyond Reducing Adverse Drug Events
Excerpt: "In measuring the value of a multiphase electronic prescribing initiative at Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey (BCBSNJ), ... Jay Patel, Pharm.D., says the insurer is looking at generic dispensing rates and formulary compliance in addition to the reduction of adverse drug events (ADEs). ADE reduction is often touted as a big advantage of e-prescribing, but the bulk of savings is likely to come from the 'more intelligent selection and utilization of drugs,' ... conference." (DRUG BENEFIT NEWS via AISHealth.com)
Idaho SCHIP Families Cleared to Buy Employer-Based Health Insurance
Excerpt: "Idaho brokers may have a new customer base with the approval by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services of the state's request to help families of children in the State Children's Health Insurance Program buy coverage through their employers. The new demonstration program, called the Access Card Program, is part of a national initiative by the Bush Administration to allow states to coordinate programs to expand access to health care coverage for low-income people." (The Adviser via BenefitNews.com)
Opinion: Health Care: Beyond Markets -- Supplier Market = Dysfunctional Health Care System
Excerpt: "As the United States moves into the 21st century, nowhere are the long-term adverse consequences of its political choices during the previous century more in evidence than in health care. Today's dysfunctional health care system is a palpable example of the lessons that come from our national obsession with markets at all costs. In the face of explosive evidence regarding the toll our choices have taken on our ability to protect citizens from the cost of illness and promote the ...." (The Washington Post; one-time registration required)
Automotive Industry Threatened by Rising Health Insurance Costs According to William Ford, Jr.
Excerpt: "Rapidly rising health-care costs have become an albatross weighing down the automotive industry, William Ford Jr., chief executive officer of Ford Motor, told industry executives Wednesday. Despite cutting costs by billions of dollars over the past few years, Ford Motor's medical liabilities are threatening its fiscal health .... .... 'In 2000, we paid $2 billion for employee health care,' Ford told the ... U.S. Chamber of Commerce. 'In 2003, those costs rose to $3.2 billion.'" (CBSMarketWatch via Interactive Investor)
AHRQ Provides Hospital Survey to Use to Determine Patient Safety Culture in Individual Facilities
Excerpt: "The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has sponsored the development of this survey on patient safety culture, as part of its goal is to support a culture of safety and quality improvement in the Nation's health care system. This survey tool can be used to assess the safety culture of a hospital as a whole, or for specific units within hospitals, as well as to track changes in patient safety over time and evaluate the impact of patient safety interventions." (U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality)
"Ownership Society" to Extend to Healthcare in Bush's Second Term
Excerpt: "A second Bush administration will push more strongly toward individual ownership of health insurance, the implementation of the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) and its new drug benefit for seniors, and continued support for federal medical liability reform .... At the same time, pressure to legalize the reimportation of less expensive drugs from outside the U.S. will lessen and the adoption of health information technology will remain sluggish due to limited funding, they said." (Medscape Medical News)
FDA Announces Plan to Improve Pres.cription Drug Safety Monitoring Procedures
Excerpt: "As expected, FDA officials ... announced plans to improve the procedures used by the agency to monitor the safety of medications after they reach the market, the Newark Star-Ledger reports. According to the Star-Ledger, FDA officials made the announcement in response to 'two highly publicized incidents ... pointed to potential shortcomings' in the agency's current procedures -- ...." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Study Shows that Chronic Care Treatment Improves Patients' Health and Lowers Costs
Excerpt: "A chronic disease management program has saved Maine's largest hospital company more than $1 million annually and reduced the number of patients who visit the emergency department, the Portland Press Herald reports. Hospital company MaineHealth on Monday announced the results of an experiment that involved assigning teams of physicians to different chronic conditions and having them work together to improve patients' health and save money." (California Healthcare Foundation)
Can.ada Warns It Cannot Be the Drugstore to U.S.
Excerpt: "Can.ada warned the United States on Wednesday that it would not be able to meet its pres.cription drug needs. 'To me it is a matter of common sense that Can.ada cannot be the drugstore of the United States. Neither American consumers nor Canadian suppliers should have any illusions otherwise,' Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh said. 'It is difficult for me to conceive of how a small country like Can.ada could meet the pres.cription drug needs of approximately 280 million Americans ...." (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
Public Perceptions of Cost Containment Strategies: Mixed Signals for Managed Care
Excerpt: "With health care costs, and insurance premiums in particular, escalating rapidly, we may see the reintroduction of utilization management strategies associated with managed care, which seemed destined for oblivion only a short time ago. Results from a survey to assess Americans' views of managed care cost containment strategies indicate mixed support: Despite an overall lack of confidence in managed care, Americans appear to be receptive to specific managed care practices." (Health Affairs)
Florida Doctors Cut Back on Procedures Over Medical Malpractice Rates; Many Leaving State
Excerpt: "A survey of 781 doctors in rural Florida found that more than half have cut back on procedures vital to every town .... Most of them cited rising malpractice premiums as a key reason for the cutbacks. The 2003 survey appears to be the first scientific data backing a hotly contested claim made by state doctors during the last two years of malpractice wars. State medical lobbyists have said doctors were being forced to make cutbacks, but had few hard numbers to support their claims." (St. Petersburg Times)
CDC Announces Plan To Ration Flu Vaccine -- States to Get Doses Based on Risk
Excerpt: "Federal health officials announced a distribution plan yesterday for the remaining 10.3 million doses of flu vaccine, divvying it up to states based on how many high-risk people each has and the number of doses already received. Vaccine will be directed to people most in danger of developing serious complications from influenza, such as the elderly and young children, said Julie L. Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta." (The Washington Post; one-time registration required)
Next-Generation Consumer Directed Health Plans Will Target Chronically Ill and Improve Plan Design
Excerpt: "Whatever form future generations of CDH plans take, Savan says employers and consumers rather than CDH vendors and insurers will drive plan design improvements. 'Carriers make changes when they are pushed by their clients,' he says. 'Evolution in design will come primarily from customers saying this is great, but....'" (INSIDE CONSUMER-DIRECTED CARE via AISHealth.com)
Medicare Adds Preventive Benefits: Initial Physical Exams and Various Screenings Will Be Covered
Excerpt: "As part of an emphasis on preventive medicine, Medicare will begin covering the initial physical examinations of patients who join the program after Jan. 1, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced .... .... In addition to the physical exam, Medicare will cover diabetes tests and screening for hearing and vision problems, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Medicare was originally designed to offer financial support to the elderly and disabled ...." (Los Angeles Times; one-time registration required)
Newly Posted Press Releases
Newkirk Expands Newkirk Fund Central Options
(Newkirk)
Treasury and IRS Issue Proposed Regulations on Phased Retirement
(U.S. Department of Treasury)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Field Trainer--Benefits
for AMS Services, Inc.
in ANY STATE
Sales Support Coordinator
for ING U. S. Financial Services
in NJ
Lateral Associate
for Slevin & Hart, P.C.
in DC
Litigation Attorney
for Slevin & Hart, P.C.
in DC
Pension Attorney
for Torkildson, Katz, Fonseca, Moore & Hetherington, AAL, ALC
in HI
Manager, Conversions
for BISYS Retirement Services
in PA
Pension Administrator
for Actuaries Unlimited, Inc.
in CA
Account Executive - Atlanta, GA
for Transamerica
in GA
Compliance Specialist
for EPIC Advisors, Inc.
in NY
Director of Benefits Strategy and Programs
for ADP TotalSource
in FL
Staffing Administrative Specialist
for Hewitt Associates
in TX
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