| BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter |   |
February 1, 2005
Today's sponsor: BeneCom Associates, LLC
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
BeneCom Associates, LLC, for one-stop benefit communications Since 1992, BeneCom has produced benefit communications, including enrollment materials, SPDs, benefit statements, newsletters and more, for companies large and small, nationwide. So if you've been looking for an independent benefit communications specialist, look no further. Click above for more information, or give us a call at (860) 674-2626, Ext. 11. We're here to help.
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Pentagon to Raise Death Benefits: Plan Could Double, to $500,000, Pay for Combat Victims' Survivors
Excerpt: "Under pressure from Congress, the Pentagon yesterday announced plans to increase death payments by nearly $250,000 to families of U.S. troops killed in combat zones. The proposed rise, which defense officials are asking be made retroactive to October 2001 for relatives of U.S. troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, would effectively double, to $500,000, the cash that survivors can receive in immediate government payments and life insurance proceeds." (The Washington Post; one-time registration required)
Bush to Seek Rise in Benefits for Survivors of Those Killed in War
Excerpt: "Momentum picked up on Monday for a significant increase in government payments to the families of American troops killed in combat zones. In the 2006 budget proposal submitted to Congress next week, President Bush will recommend increasing the death benefit paid to survivors of military personnel killed in combat to $100,000, from $12,420, ...." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)
Flexibility in Work Schedules an Employee Perk that Works
Excerpt: "[F]lexible schedules have become so popular that experts estimate more than half of U.S. companies offer the perk. The growing percentage of women in the work force and the efforts of a new post-baby-boom generation to juggle the demands of work and family are contributing to the trend. About 86 percent of workers say work/life balance is their No. 1 career priority, and flexible schedules are the work/life benefit they are most likely to use, according to an emerging work-force ...." (The Seattle Times)
Reaction Mixed to Health-Related Provisions of Schwarzenegger Budget Proposal for California
Excerpt: "The governor's health spending proposals include major changes in Medi-Cal, reduced state funding for some health and human services programs such as in-home support services for seniors and people with disabilities, a new pres.cription drug discount plan, increased funding for breast and cervical cancer screenings, more money for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program and seed money for a new obesity-prevention program." (California Healthcare Foundation)
Private Health Plans Slow to Adopt Outpatient Prospective Payment
Excerpt: "When Medicare implemented its APC-based (Ambulatory Payment Classifications) hospital outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) four years ago, a rapid diffusion of this or similar payment systems into the commercial sector was expected. Many state Medicaid programs, Blue Cross plans, and commercial insurers had piggy-backed on Medicare's success with inpatient DRGs (diagnosis-related groups) and had achieved cost savings on inpatient services by implementing some variation of ...." (Managed Care Magazine)
Health Plans Strain to Contain Rapidly Rising Cost of Imaging Use
Excerpt: "These new diagnostic tools have become as basic to medicine as the stethoscope and sphygmomanometer. Plans can only hope to mitigate some of the costs by wringing waste out of the system through controls. They do not have help from doctors, who say new measures to reduce imaging costs make it harder for them to take the best care of patients. 'We are increasing technology at breakneck speed,' Haralson, the orthopedist says." (Managed Care Magazine)
More Firms May Bring MCOs' Performance Into Focus with Coalition's eValue8 Tool
Excerpt: "Many health insurers have put physicians and hospitals under the microscope, measuring their performance via quality-improvement evaluations and pay-for-performance programs. Next year, though, more MCOs may find themselves on the microscope's slide rather than at the eyepiece, as employers step up adoption of eValue8, an intensive evaluation tool aimed at sharpening the focus on insurers' performance on quality and administrative measures." (MANAGED CARE WEEK via AISHealth.com)
Health Spending Growth Rate Slowed In 2003, But Health Care Still Is Costly
Excerpt: "Although the growth rate in spending for health care slowed somewhat in 2003, to 7.7% from 9.3% in 2002, for the first time in seven years, those expenses represented 15.3% of the U.S. gross domestic product. The slower health care cost increase is partially due to reduced growth in public-sector spending (from 9.7% in 2002 to 6.6% in 2003), according to a study conducted by CMS published in the January/February 2005 issue of Health Affairs." (Spencer Benefits Reports)
Overview: CMS Final Medicare Regulations Provide Guidance on the Employer Subsidy (PDF)
6 pages. Excerpt: "The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently issued final regulations on the implementation of the Medicare Pres.cription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA),including guidance for determining eligibility for the employer subsidy for qualified pres.cription drug programs. The good news is that these regulations demonstrate CMS' willingness to accommodate retiree health plan sponsors." (Mellon Financial Corporation)
Health Care Advocates Assist Employees in Navigating Myriad Health Care and Insurance Systems
Excerpt: "Health care advocates act as intermediaries for companies that want to improve their employees' ability to navigate the mazes of medical care options. They also run interference in medical emergencies and help solve disputes that arise over whether an experimental, high-cost or high-risk procedure might actually be covered by an insurance plan." (Workforce Management)
Audio: Group of Companies Plans to Offer Discounted Health Insurance to Workers Without Coverage
Excerpt: "Sixty large companies work with three health insurers to offer a variety of health options to workers who don't qualify for regular coverage. As many as 4 million who lack insurance could be eligible, but some experts say the costs could still be prohibitive for some." (All Things Considered via National Public Radio)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Overview: FASB Issues Revised Statement on Share-Based Plans
Excerpt: "On December 16, 2004, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) published FASB Statement No. 123 (revised 2004), Share-Based Payment. Statement 123(R) provides comprehensive guidance on how to recognize the compensation cost of share-based payment transactions on company financial statements. The new rules affect current practice in a number of ways, the most important being that companies must recognize a compensation cost for the value of options granted in exchange for ...." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)
Employee Benefits in Bankrup.tcy: The Employer's Perspective and the Employee's Perspective
Excerpt: "The downturn in our economy in recent years has resulted in the frequent intersection of important federal laws, including the Bankrup.tcy Code, ERISA, the Internal Revenue Code and COBRA. This article will discuss the interplay of these laws as they relate to employee benefit issues that typically arise in a Chapter 11 bankrup.tcy of the employer who sponsors a benefit plan, and in a bankrup.tcy filing by the employee who participates in a retirement plan." (Oklahoma Bar Journal)
Newly Posted Events
Engaging Employees in Healthcare Cost Management: Care Management Programs, Consumer-Driven Health Plans and Other Options
in Ohio on February 17, 2005
presented by Worldwide Employee Benefits Network (WEB) - Cleveland Chapter
February Luncheon Meeting - "State of the Mutual Fund Industry and Mutual Fund Compliance"
in Colorado on February 8, 2005
presented by Western Pension and Benefits Conference-Denver Chapter
Nonqualified Deferred Comp. Plan Workshop with 457 Update
in Illinois on March 24, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel
Nonqualified Deferred Comp. Plan Workshop with 457 Update
in Kansas on March 24, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel
Nonqualified Deferred Comp. Plan Workshop with 457 Update
in California on March 30, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel
Nonqualified Deferred Comp. Plan Workshop with 457 Update
in Texas on April 1, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel
Nonqualified Deferred Comp. Plan Workshop with 457 Update
in New York on April 1, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel
Nonqualified Deferred Comp. Plan Workshop with 457 Update
in California on April 1, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel
Nonqualified Deferred Comp. Plan Workshop with 457 Update
in Colorado on April 7, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel
Nonqualified Deferred Comp. Plan Workshop with 457 Update
in Massachusetts on April 8, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel
Nonqualified Deferred Comp. Plan Workshop with 457 Update
in Washington on April 8, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel
Newly Posted Press Releases
Grassley, Baucus Re-introduce NESTEG Pension Bill, Announce Plans to Look at More Reforms
(U.S. Senate Finance Committee)
Alliance Benefit Group Licensees Join Forces
(Alliance Benefit Group)
BeneSync Unveils AutoBen - Automated On-line Software Allows Employers to Build Benefit Statements In-House
(BeneSync)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
401(k) Account Manager
for BISYS Retirement Services
in PA
OmniPlus Analysts and Project Managers
for Constantin Control Associates
in NJ
Plan Specialist
for Transamerica
in CA
Regional Enrollment Manager
for Diversified Investment Advisors
in CA
Employee Benefits Manager
for Pinellas County Government Unified Personnel System
in FL
Product Manager
for ICMA Retirement Corporation
in DC
Client Services Manager
for Zenith Administrators
in AZ
Senior Defined Contribution/401(k) Administrator
for BenefitStreet, Inc.
in CA
Pension Administrator
for Hunter Benefits Consulting Group, Inc.
in IL
Manager - Plan Establishment
for Lincoln Financial Group
in IN
Client Service Coordinator - Retirement Plan Services Firm
for Veratis Institutional Advisors, Inc.
in NC
DC/401K Plan Administrator
for Retirement Plan Consulting/TPA firm
in NY
Litigation Associate
for Trucker Huss, APC
in CA
Account Manager 2
for SunTrust Bank
in DC
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Search BenefitsLink
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
Copyright 2005 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.; except that you may reprint this newsletter in full (including this sentence) without obtaining our permission.
Published by:
BenefitsLink.com, Inc.
https://benefitslink.com/about.html
1298 Minnesota Avenue, Suite H
Winter Park FL 32789
(407) 644-4146
Fax: (407) 644-2151
Editor and Publisher: David Rhett Baker, J.D.
Housekeeping: