| BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter |   |
December 23, 2004
Today's sponsor: World Congress
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
Innovation in the Cost-Appropriateness of Behavioral Health & Wellness The Leadership Summit on Innovation in the Cost-Appropriateness of Behavioral Health & Wellness explores the costs of behavioral health to the Nation and the workplace. Stakeholders will discuss economic incentives and present successful cost-effective initiatives to provide quality, cost-appropriate behavioral health and wellness services. Featuring employer and government driven cost-reduction demands with health plan and provider collaboration the Summit showcases innovative behavioral health, pharma and wellness interventions and how to combine the best of both.
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
State-Mandated Disability Rates for 2005
Excerpt: "California, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, and Rhode Island mandate that employers provide short-term disability insurance to their employees. Some of the contribution and benefit amounts have been adjusted for 2005. [A] chart provides a basic outline of the programs." (Mercer Human Resource Consulting)
State Contract Workers Go Without Insurance Amid Push to Boost Coverage
Excerpt: "As Gov. Mitt Romney promotes a health care plan to persuade more businesses to cover their workers, about 2,300 state contract workers under executive agencies that the governor oversees are going without insurance coverage from the state." (AP via The Boston Globe)
Schwarzenegger Finalizes Medi-Cal Reform Plan, Expected to Release Proposal in January
Excerpt: "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) said that he has finalized his plan to reform Medi-Cal and will release the proposal on Jan. 10 as part of his fiscal year 2005-2006 budget plan, the Contra Costa Times reports. Schwarzenegger has twice withdrawn Medi-Cal reform plans from HHS consideration. His past plans have included measures to limit eligibility, increase copayments and reduce services in the program." (California Healthcare Foundation)
Many HIPAA Covered Entities Still Transmit E-mails That Contain Protected Health Information
Excerpt: "Many health care organizations are still transmitting e-mail messages containing protected health information (PHI) over public networks without using appropriate safeguards, according to recent findings by researchers with Zix Corp., a global provider of e-messaging management and protection services. But one expert says that organizations are addressing the issue and adopting appropriate controls." (REPORT ON PATIENT PRIVACY via AISHealth.com)
Disease Management in Medicaid: 2004 -- A Study in California (PDF)
43 pages. Excerpt: "In 2003, the California Legislature directed the Department of Health Services to apply for a federal waiver to test the efficacy of providing a disease management (DM) benefit to fee-for-service Medi-Cal beneficiaries with specific chronic diseases. Organized in an easy-to-read presentation format, provides: An overview of disease management; A summary of other states' experiences with disease management in Medicaid, including the role of community clinics; Case studies...." (California Healthcare Foundation)
Psychiatrists in Demand, but Pay Checked by Insurer Rules
Excerpt: "There probably is no field in medicine that shows better the difference between clinical and economic demand than psychiatry for both adults and children/adolescents. While there are vast unmet clinical mental health needs in the U.S., economic demand and therefore pay levels in the field are held back by insurers' prior-authorization care-plan rules, and by health plans that don't cover mental conditions at all." (PHYSICIAN COMPENSATION REPORT via AISHealth.com)
Health Care Analysts See Bleak Outlook for Hospitals with Reimbursement Changes
Excerpt: "Chill is in the air for hospitals accustomed to having insurers - both public programs like Medicare and private health plans - pay ever higher prices for hospital services. That era appears to be ending, some analysts say." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)
Drug Companies Issuing Internal Notices About Moore Film
Excerpt: "At least six drug manufacturers have issued internal alerts about filmmaker Michael Moore's plans to create a film about FDA, health insurers and drug manufacturers, the Los Angeles Times reports (Dutka, Los Angeles Times, 12/22). The film is tentatively titled 'Sicko,' according to a Moore spokesperson." (The National Journal Group, Limited via BlueCross BlueShield Association)
Federal Court Blocks Pharmacy Benefit Manager Accountability Measure
Excerpt: "For the second time this year, a federal court has rejected a state or local jurisdiction's efforts to impose stricter rules on pres.cription benefit managers. In a ruling on Tuesday, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted the Pharmaceutical Care Management Assn. a preliminary injunction blocking the enforcement of a section of the district's Access Rx Act that would have required greater accountability from pres.cription benefit managers and the pharmaceutical...." (Business Insurance)
Estimated Enrollment in Account-Based CDH Plans Will Surpass 3 Million Lives on January 1, 2005
Excerpt: "More than 3.2 million people will be covered by an account-based consumer-directed health (CDH) plan as of Jan. 1, 2005, ICDC predicts. The estimate is based on data provided by more than 60 national and regional insurers (including more than 30 Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans), CDH vendors and third-party administrators." (INSIDE CONSUMER-DIRECTED CARE via AISHealth.com)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Heads-Up on Deferred Compensation Guidance issued in Notice 2005-1 (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "The guidance confirms the broad coverage of arrangements considered to provide for the 'deferral of compensation' which are treated as nonqualified deferred compensation plans in addition to traditional deferred compensation plans, including cash-settled stock appreciation rights, discount stock options, supplemental retirement plans and excess retirement plans (i.e., plans providing benefits or contributions in excess of the limits for tax-qualified retirement plans)." (Frederic W. Cook & Co., Inc.)
Overview: Section 409A Guidance Issued (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "Earlier this week, the initial wave of guidance applicable to new Internal Revenue Code section 409A was issued in the form of IRS Notice 2005-1. The initial guidance which is structured as a series of questions and answers focuses upon: (i) what constitutes a nonqualified deferred compensation plan; (ii) the definition of a 'change in control'; (iii) when deferred compensation payments may be accelerated; (iv) transition rules; and (v) reporting and withholding issues." (Dechert LLP)
Overview: DOL Releases First USERRA Guide (PDF)
7 pages. Excerpt: "The DOL's Veterans' Employment and Training division has issued, for the first time, guidance in the form of Q&As governing employers' responsibilities (and employees' rights) under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA). Employers whose employees enter military service will have to review their obligations under this law and determine whether they have been applying it in accordance with this guidance." (Mellon Financial Corporation)
Newly Posted Events
The Leadership Summit on Innovation in the Cost-Appropriateness of Behavioral Health & Wellness
in Maryland on May 2, 2005
presented by World Congress
Newly Posted Press Releases
Cash Balance Pension Plan Documents from DATAIR – Latest addition to DATAIR’s Retirement Plan Document System
(DATAIR Employee Benefit Systems, Inc.)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Health & Welfare Project Manager
for Hewitt Associates
in NJ
Human Resources Generalist (PEO)
for ADP TotalSource
in CT
Actuarial Assistant
for Hand Benefits & Trust
in TX
Client Services Consultant -Phoenix
for One America
in AZ
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Search BenefitsLink
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
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