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November 16, 2004
Today's sponsor: IQPC
(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)
Spitzer Opens Benefits Front: Suit Charges Broker with Extracting Undisclosed Fees from Underwriters
Excerpt: "After taking on brokerage giant Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc., Spitzer on [November 12] filed a fraud and antitrust lawsuit against Universal Life Resources Inc., a San Diego-based life and disability broker with $25.3 million in 2003 revenues, and its owner, Douglas P. Cox. Like the Marsh lawsuit, the suit against ULR charges the broker with steering business to insurers that paid it secret override commissions." (Business Insurance via Workforce Management)
Wachovia Health Premiums Tiered in Price: Higher the Salary, the Higher the Employees' Cost
Excerpt: "Wachovia Corp., the nation's fourth-largest bank, is giving its lowest-paid employees a break on their health-insurance premiums while asking their higher-paid colleagues to fork over more cash for the same coverage. The new tiered pricing system replaces one in which employees earning the highest salaries paid the same premiums as lower-paid workers for the same benefit.... It's the latest twist in employers' struggles with skyrocketing healthcare costs." (Winston-Salem [N.C.] Journal via freerepublic.com)
Judge Temporarily Blocks Florida's Three-Strikes for Bad Doctors Amendment
Excerpt: "A judge temporarily halted a just-approved state constitutional amendment that would yank the license of doctors who commit three acts of medical malpractice, saying Monday that some specifics need to be spelled out before it takes effect. Circuit Judge Janet E. Ferris agreed in part with hospitals that sued seeking to block the amendment from taking effect until some aspects of it can be clarified, most likely by the Legislature when it meets in the spring, or by the courts." (AP via Sun-Sentinel Co.)
The Potential Impact of Eliminating TennCare and Reverting to Medicaid: a Preliminary Analysis
Excerpt: "This paper analyzes the potential effect of the proposed coverage elimination on Tennessee's budget, the state economy, and health care providers in the state. Providers would incur increased costs for uncompensated care if coverage is terminated for several hundred thousand state residents. The analysis provided here is a preliminary assessment of the impact of eliminating TennCare, based on documents currently available." (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
Evaluating Medical Treatment Guideline Sets for Injured Workers in California
Excerpt: "In recent years, the California workers' compensation system has been encumbered by rising costs and high utilization of medical care. To address these concerns, the California legislature passed a series of initiatives that call for the use of evidence-based medical-treatment guidelines concerning, at a minimum, the frequency, duration, intensity, and appropriateness of all treatment procedures and modalities commonly performed in workers' compensation cases." (RAND)
Tenncare Settlements Put on Hold, Giving Governor a Freer Hand to Effect Reform
Excerpt: "Saying the 'ball is now in the court of the administration,' advocates for TennCare enrollees filed motions today to suspend federal court settlements the governor has blamed for standing in the way of reforming the costly health-care program. Tennessee Justice Center attorney Gordon Bonnyman said he would be asking a federal judge to suspend the settlements for two years -- time enough, he said, to give the governor a chance at reform." (The Tennessean)
Short Descriptions of Selected Articles in the November/December 2004 Issue of Health Affairs
This page provides short description of articles from the November/December 2004 issue of Health Affairs which focuses on the health insurance industry. Titles include: 'Consolidation and the Transformation of Competition in Health Insurance' and 'The Role of the Individual Health Insurance Market and Prospects for Change." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
More Layoffs Plus Outsourcing Help to Trim Costs Amid Indicators of Slow Membership Growth
Excerpt: "An increasing number of health insurers have instituted layoffs and turned to out-sourcing in a bid to boost their competitiveness. Such a strategy is particularly important amid new reports indicating that fewer companies are offering health insurance. Several insurers, including CIGNA Corp., Aetna, Inc. and Health Net, Inc. have made targeted job reductions, either as part of an outsourcing effort or more routine adjustments to services and personnel." (MANAGED CARE WEEK via AISHealth.com)
Health Savings Account Clarifications Should Get Employers Off Fence, Experts Say
Excerpt: "The Treasury Department's final planned round of guidance on HSAs -- which was released July 23 -- clears the way for HSA-qualified high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) to coexist with other employee benefits such as employee assistance programs (EAPs) and disease management programs. It also provides some answers about pharmaceuticals and when they might be considered preventive care." (INSIDE CONSUMER-DIRECTED CARE via AISHealth.com)
Kaiser Permanente to Begin to Offer Health Savings Accounts in Some States
Excerpt: "California-based HMO Kaiser Permanente this week unveiled a plan to offer health savings accounts to individuals and employers in Colorado, Georgia and some Northwestern states that purchase high-deductible health plans, the Wall Street Journal reports. Kaiser likely will begin to offer HSAs in California in 2006 (Rundle, Wall Street Journal, 11/15)." (The National Journal Group, Limited via BlueCross BlueShield Association)
Health Insurance Cost Increases Imperil Nonprofit Organizations According to Study
Excerpt: "Rising health costs in America are causing a crisis in the nonprofit sector, according to a recent study conducted by The Center for Civil Society Studies at the Johns Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies. The survey, 'The Health Benefits Squeeze: Implications for Nonprofit Organizations and Those They Serve,' outlines the impact of increasing health care expenses in the U.S. on the nonprofit sector." (onPhilanthropy.com)
Overview: New Medicare Law Offers Tax Incentives to Cover Retiree Pres.cription Drugs
Excerpt: "Employers that offer retirees pres.cription drug benefits may be eligible for a significant subsidy under the Medicare Pres.cription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act, beginning in 2006.... Fearing that the new Medicare pres.cription drug benefit could accelerate the trend toward reduced retiree coverage or higher premiums, Congress included the subsidy in the Medicare law to encourage employers to maintain pres.cription drug benefits for their retirees." (Pittsburgh Business Times via bizjournals.com; one-time registration required)
Washington Health Policy Week in Review, November 15 Issue, from the Commonwealth Fund
In This Issue: Post-Election Health Care Poll: We're Worried and We Don't Know What to Do; AHRQ Unveils Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture; Adieu to 'Patients' Bill of Rights'?; Medicare Introduces Preventative Programs; and, Public Health Gains Have All But Stopped, State-By-State Study Says. (CQ HealthBeat via Washington Health Policy Week in Review)
Drug Reimportation Implications for Payers, Health Plans and Pharmacy Benefit Managers
Excerpt: "As numerous states and other public-sector payers are implementing programs to reimport drugs from Can.ada despite FDA objections, the long-term impact of reimportation on all stakeholders remains unclear. But it is clear there are operational issues that would besiege the payers and managers of the pharmacy benefit -- namely plan sponsors, health plans, and PBMs -- that employ drug reimportation strategies." (DRUG BENEFIT NEWS via AISHealth.com)
HIPAA and State Laws Are Often Compatible -- Helping CEs 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 ... 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. And HIPAA compliance is easier when state law and the privacy rule are compatible, as seems to be the case ..." (REPORT ON PATIENT PRIVACY via AISHealth.com)
Systematic Reviews for Evidence-Based Management: How to Find Them and What to Do with Them
Excerpt: "Objective: To identify strategies for retrieval and evaluation of systematic reviews from a management perspective. Study Design: Review of available literature and resources on systematic reviews. Methods: From published literature on evidence-based medicine and systematic review, we identified resources and adapted retrieval and evaluation strategies for healthcare managers. A published systematic review then was assessed for quality and relevance to management decisions." (The American Journal of Managed Care)
Congress Likely To Consider Reduced Medicare Provider Payments
Excerpt: "Congress in February might begin to discuss proposals to decrease Medicare reimbursements to hospitals and other health care providers as part of an effort to reduce the federal budget deficit, CQ Weekly reports. The federal budget deficit has increased in each of the last four years and could exceed $450 billion by next year, according to some estimates. Medicare and Medicaid expenditures currently account for about 25% of the federal budget, and some Republican lawmakers ..." (The National Journal Group, Limited via BlueCross BlueShield Association)
Highlights: 2004 Hay Group Managed Care Industry Compensation Survey (PDF)
Excerpt: "The 2004 Managed Care Compensation Report includes data (as of May 1, 2004) from 46 Managed Care and Blue Cross Blue Shield organizations. It covers 258 executive,management, and staff level positions.... The core of the report is the job cash compensation tables found in Chapter V, detailing job content points, salary range midpoint, base salary, annual incentive, annual incentive as a percent of base, target annual incentive as a percentage of base, total cash, 2004 target ..." (Hay Group)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
The 2003 Stock Ownership Policies Survey of the 250 Largest U.S.-Based Companies (PDF)
21 pages. Excerpt: "This report presents information on formal stock ownership policies for executives and non-employee directors of the 250 largest U.S.-based companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index ('Top 250'). Selection of these companies was based on their total market capitalization, i.e., share price multiplied by total common shares outstanding as reported in the Spring 2003 issue of Business Week magazine ('The Best Performers of the S&P 500')." (Frederic W. Cook & Co., Inc.)
Treasury Developing Transition Guidance to Help Nonqualified Plans Comply With New Act
Excerpt: "The Treasury Department is developing transition rules for implementing the provisions of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 (P.L. 108-357) on nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements, a Treasury official has indicated. The Treasury is supposed to issue guidance by December 21, 2004 and hopes to beat that deadline, said Daniel Hogans of the Treasury." (CCH Pension & Benefits News)
CalPERS Votes to Toughen Its Merger Policies Against Inflated "Golden Parachutes"
Excerpt: "The nation's biggest public pension fund, with a stock portfolio of $167 billion, voted Monday to toughen its policies against multimillion-dollar 'golden parachutes' for executives who engineer corporate mergers. The board of the California Public Employees Retirement System agreed to scrutinize executive severance pay and block 'oversized' pay packages at corporations whose stock it owns." (AP via The New York Times; one-time registration required)
Newly Posted Press Releases
PBGC Releases Fiscal Year 2004 Financial Results
(Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC))
National Business Coalition on Health Announces eValue8 Health Plan Innovation Award Winners
(National Business Coalition on Health)
403(b) Proposed Final Regulations
(Citizens Bank & Trust 403(b) "Gatekeeper" Services)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Retirement Plan Conversion Specialist
for Great-West Life & Annuity
in CO
Analyst - Consulting Staff
for Scottsdale AZ Consulting Firm - Benefits & HR Outsourcing
in AZ
Compliance Analyst
for T. Rowe Price
in MD
Pension Administrator
for G.M. Pensions, Inc. in the San Diego Area
in CA
Benefits Continuation Product Manager
for Ceridian Benefit Services
in FL
DC Administrator
for Northern NJ Pension Consulting Firm
in NJ
Plan Implementation Specialist
for Benefit Consultants Group
in DE, NJ, PA
401(k) Client Service Representative
for ADP Retirement Services
in NJ
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