| BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter |   |
January 24, 2005
Today's sponsor: Financial Research Associates
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MEDICARE PART D IMPLEMENTATION SUMMIT April 28 – 29, 2005 • Washington D.C. To register: 800-280-8440 • Build effective education and outreach programs to ensure competitive enrollment • Understand the likely implications of “dual eligibles” on your plan • Learn how different pricing strategies will appeal to different market segments • Gain practical insight into effective contract negotiation strategies with manufacturers • Maximize your marketing budget by aligning your efforts with those of the CMS • Understand the special requirements for delivering Rx services in LTC facilities • Examine cost-effective formulary management techniques
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
New Medicare Rules on Drugs Balance Access Against Costs
Excerpt: "The Bush administration on Friday unveiled rules for the new Medicare drug benefit that guarantee patients access to a wide variety of medicines while giving insurance companies potent tools to control costs." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)
Text of Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Regulations
(Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services)
Senators Seek Increase in Death Benefit for Soldiers Killed in the Line of Duty
Excerpt: "Senate leaders said yesterday they will push legislation to increase the death benefits for military personnel, .... The one-time, tax-free $12,000 'death gratuity' paid to survivors of those killed in the line of duty would rise to $100,000 under legislation outlined by Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and others. Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) said he will offer a separate bill to allow the children of those killed in war to continue receiving health benefits." (The Washington Post; one-time registration required)
Wall Street Journal Features Special Report on Employee Health Insurance and Other Benefits
Excerpt: "The Wall Street Journal on [Jan 24, 2005] featured a special report on employee benefits and their impact on business finances and management. The series of articles included pieces about reforms to employer-sponsored health insurance and other methods some businesses are adapting to improve employee health. The articles related to health care are summarized [on the target page]." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Neither HIPAA nor Fed Substance Abuse Rules Prohibited Disclosure of Employment Records
[Beard v. City of Chicago, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 374 (N.D. Ill. 2005)] For a copy: go to http://www.ilnd.uscourts.gov/, select recent opinions, and then enter 3527 under case number. Excerpt: "A terminated fire department paramedic filed an employment discrimination lawsuit against her former employer and sought disclosure of the employer's records of other paramedics' leaves of absence for psychological and substance abuse reasons." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.)
Overview: FAQs Explaining Permitted Uses and Disclosures of PHI in Litigation
Excerpt: "HHS' Office of Civil Rights (OCR) recently posted nine FAQs addressing disclosure of PHI by covered entities (including health plans) in the context of lawsuits. [Target page addresses] some highlights." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.)
Pitney Bowes Marks 10 Years of Disease Management Progress
Excerpt: "Exciting developments are on the horizon for disease management, and Pitney Bowes is poised to turn a corner after implementing the approach 10 years ago. .... Pitney Bowes has come a long way since launching our effort in 1995 ... and refocusing our activity in late 2000 after noticing that claim costs were rising on a per-employee basis." (Employee Benefit News)
When the Best Health Care Turns Out to Be a Bargain
Excerpt: "It's a natural assumption that top-flight care costs the most money. But David Crowder, a doctor who trained at the Mayo Clinic, has compelling evidence that in many cases, the best costs less--in both the long and short run." (Workforce Management)
The Problem Is -- You Have Health Insurance
Excerpt: " My daughter is a teacher; her benefits include a health care plan with no employee contributions. If she stops working she can become covered under her husband's plan - for $3,200 a year in employee contributions. Paying for health care, even for those with good employer-provided coverage, has become significant in figuring life expenses and sometimes life decisions." (Richard D. Quinn via Employee Benefit News)
Commonwealth Fund President's Message in 2004 Annual Report: Health Care Reform Ten-Point Strategy (PDF)
16 pages. Excerpt: "In her 2004 Annual Report Message, Commonwealth Fund president Karen Davis, Ph.D., lays out a detailed plan to transform the system to achieve 'commensurate value for what we spend on health care.'" (The Commonwealth Fund)
Specialty Pharmacy Carve-Out Can Yield Health Care Cost Savings
Excerpt: "Employers searching for ways to reduce health care costs should take a closer look at their specialty pharmacy costs. Specialty pharmaceuticals are mainly characterized as expensive medications that treat rare, chronic diseases inflicting a small proportion of people, such as Gaucher's disease and hemophilia. They require special handling, often refrigeration, and special administration, often through either subcutaneous or intramuscular injections." (Employee Benefit News)
Millions to Be Automatically Enrolled in Medicare Drug Plan
Excerpt: "After a lackluster response to its Medicare drug discount card, the Bush administration announced yesterday that it will automatically enroll millions of low-income seniors in the full drug benefit program when registration begins next fall. Other retirees will have until May 2006 to choose a pres.cription plan -- or pay higher fees if they enroll after that date -- under the final regulations, published yesterday." (The Washington Post; one-time registration required)
Employers Embrace Consumer-Driven Health Plans: Providers Surprised at Interest in HSAs
Excerpt: "As the cost of health insurance continues to climb, employers are finding high-deductible plans more attractive. Health insurers, in turn, are responding with a greater variety of high-deductible plans, including those with health savings accounts (HSAs), created last year by the Medicare Modernization Act." (Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) via bizjournals.com; one-time registration required)
Florida Proposes to Fight Medicaid Cost by Having Private Companies Decide Scope/Extent of Services
Excerpt: "America's governors, struggling for a grip on mounting Medicaid costs, are restricting access, squeezing providers and chipping away at services. But perhaps no one is proposing changes as far-reaching and fundamental as Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida. Mr. Bush is proposing that the state's 2.1 million Medicaid recipients be allotted money to buy their own health care coverage from managed care organizations and other private medical networks." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)
Health Savings Accounts: Making Patients Better Consumers
Excerpt: "For the first time since the introduction of employer-funded health premiums during the Second World War, the government is authorizing health insurance plans that are consistent with efficient markets. These plans at least partially end the third-party-payer system and force people to make economic trade-offs between consuming more health care and other goods and services." (The McKinsey Quarterly; registration required)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Overview: IRS Issues Proposed Regulations Regarding Withholding on Supplemental Wages (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "The American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 (AJCA) created a new rule on withholding for supplemental wages in excess of one million dollars received by an employee in a calendar year, effective for payments made after December 31, 2004. .... The IRS has now released proposed regulations that, among other things, clarify the definition of supplemental wages." (Mellon Financial Corporation)
Life Insurers Fighting Major Bush Initiative -- Lifetime Savings Accounts
Excerpt: "[T]he White House plan, which is coveted by the mutual fund industry as a potential bonanza, so far has faltered largely because of the opposition of the American Council of Life Insurers, which fears the idea could cost it billions of dollars of business. Vice President Cheney vowed just before Election Day the administration would revive it if the Republican ticket won reelection, setting off a new flurry of lobbying." (The Boston Globe)
Newly Posted Events
Recent Legal Decisions
in Florida on February 17, 2005
presented by International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists - Orlando Chapter
The Future of the Determination Letter Program Webcast
Nationwide on February 17, 2005
presented by ASPPA (American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries)
Newly Posted Press Releases
American Benefits Council Commends HHS for Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Regulations
(American Benefits Council)
Education & Enrollment Kit Upstart Gets 2005 Off to a Quick Start
(Metrics Partners)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
401k Account Executive
for BISYS Retirement Services
in PA
ERISA Attorney/ Consultant
for Towers Perrin
in MA
Chief of Pension Education
for ASPPA
in DC
Daily 401(k) Plan Administrator
for The Newport Group
in NC
Implementation Specialist
for ADP TotalSource
in MA, NH
Retirement Plan Administrator
for MGKS, Inc.
in AZ
Client Relationship Manager
for Great-West Financial Services
in FL, NJ, WA
VP, Corporate Counsel
for Prudential Financial
in NJ
Pension Technical Specialist
for Louis Kravitz & Associates, Inc.
in CA
Pension and Retirement Plan Service Representative
for CBIZ Actuarial & Benefit Consultants
in CA
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