| BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter |   |
February 11, 2005
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Behavior Change Seen As Health Care's New Frontier with Information and Decision Support Tools
Excerpt: "Many employers say they've had it with cost shifting to employees and tinkering with health benefit plan design. Instead, they're trying to save money by driving behavior change. American Airlines, for example, began offering WebMD Health's online information and decision support tools to its 101,000 employees last year. Fifty-five percent of employees registered for the services, which Virginia Nisbet, the airline's director of health strategy, calls a 'huge success.'" (BenefitNews Connect)
Excessive Medical Expenses Study Finds that Half of Health Care Dollars Are Wasted
Excerpt: "About 50 percent of health care spending is eaten up by waste, excessive prices and fraud, according to a report set for release [February 9, 2005] by Boston University researchers. Major sources of unnecessary spending include administrative costs and profit in the insurance industry, high prices of pres.cription drugs and health services and, to a smaller extent, theft and fraud, according to the study." (San Francisco Chronicle)
Nicotine Test Raises Privacy & Employer Right to Bar Employees Who Smoke Away from Job Issues
Excerpt: "While many companies refuse to hire smokers, employee benefits firm Weyco Inc. took matters a step further, enacting a random testing policy and barring all smokers effective Jan. 1, 2005. Four employees resigned rather than submit to testing. Weyco executives explained the move as part of its efforts to promote healthy lifestyles and reduce health- care costs." (Whittier Daily News)
Making Patients Better Consumers with HSAs and Consumer-Directed Health Plans
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 via Forbes)
U.S. Firms Losing Health Care Battle, GM Chairman Says
Excerpt: "American manufacturers are losing their ability to compete in the global marketplace in large measure because of the crushing burden of health care costs, General Motors Corp. chairman and chief executive G. Richard Wagoner Jr. said yesterday as he called on corporate and government leaders to find 'some serious medicine' for the nation's ailing health system. In a speech at the Economic Club of Chicago, the auto executive, who is responsible for providing health insurance for ...." (The Washington Post; one-time registration required)
Bill Introduced Making Contributions to Health Savings Accounts Exempt from California State Taxes
Excerpt: "Sen. Abel Maldonado ... reintroduced a bill (SB 173) that would exempt from state taxes contributions made by residents to health savings accounts, .... Under the new Medicare law, HSAs are available to members of health plans that have a deductible higher than $1,000 for individuals and $2,000 for families. Employees, employers or both can contribute as much as a combined $2,600 annually for individuals and $5,150 annually for families for HSAs ...." (California HealthCare Foundation)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
CEO Golden Parachutes Average $4.5 Million -- Costs Hidden in Pensions, According to Study
Excerpt: "Almost 80% of Fortune 500 CEOs who retire or are pushed out of office receive separation pay with a mean present value that exceeds $4.5 million. According to a study ..., packages for fired CEOs can reach upwards of $7 million. .... [The] research also shows that companies often to hide these costs in their Securities and Exchange Commission filings by tweaking the pension formula to diminish transparency to investors, according to the study." (PLANSPONSOR.com; one-time registration required)
Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide Updated February 8, 2005
Excerpt: "Hewitt's Federal Legislation Quick Guide provides short updates on federal legislation that is currently under active consideration by Congress or has recently been enacted into law regarding health and welfare benefit plans, retirement plans, and human resources and employment law." (Hewitt Associates)
Overview: Government Audit Programs Shift Compliance Risk to Employers
Excerpt: "Employer-sponsored retirement plans, health and welfare plans, and executive compensation plans are under intensifying scrutiny as federal agencies step up their efforts to ensure compliance with relevant laws and regulations. For qualified retirement plans in particular, the government is essentially putting companies on notice that they should voluntarily correct any compliance defects with their plans or face potentially severe financial penalties if operational defects are ...." (Towers Perrin)
Newly Posted Events
Hot Topics in Employee Benefits
Nationwide on February 22, 2005
presented by Winston & Strawn
Newly Posted Press Releases
Erich Urbach Named Assist America Regional Sales Director
(Assist America, Inc.)
Dennison to Handle Middle Market Sales for ARAG
(ARAG)
Over 75 Fortune 500 Companies Choose WageWorks for Tax-Advantaged Spending Accounts
(WageWorks Inc.)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Legal Counsel
for PotashCorp
in IL
Enrollment Coordinator (Bi-Lingual)/Greenbelt, MD
for John Hancock
in MD
Sales Associate/New York, NY
for John Hancock
in NY
Client Services Analyst - US Outsourcing
for Mercer Human Resource Consulting
in IL, MA
Handy Links:
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- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
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