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February 15, 2005
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(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Summary of the Final Rule to Implement the Medicare Pres.cription Drug Benefit
111 pages. Excerpt: "The Kaiser Family Foundation has posted a summary of the final regulations implementing the new Medicare pres.cription drug benefit. The regulations were published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) as a final rule in the Jan. 28 Federal Register. The summary, prepared for the Foundation by Health Policy Alternatives, Inc., updates an earlier summary of the proposed regulations published last year." (Kaiser Family Foundation)

Plan Sponsors Undecided on MMA Retiree Drug Coverage Options, According to GAO Report
Excerpt: "A study of plan sponsors' reaction to the Medicare Pres.cription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) shows that most are still undecided on which drug coverage option they will choose for their Medicare-eligible retirees. [The 68 page PDF is at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d05205.pdf]" (PLANSPONSOR.com; one-time registration required)

Text of GAO Report: Options for Employment-Based Pres.cription Drug Benefits Under Medicare
68 pages. Highlights are online at http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d05205high.pdf (U.S. Governmental Accountability Office)

Part D Waiver Guidance for Employer/Union Retiree Coverage (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "[T]he Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) [released] initial guidance on the waivers that CMS will grant so that the Medicare pres.cription drug benefit can be customized for employer and union retiree plans when the benefit takes effect in 2006. [T]he Medicare Modernization Act gives CMS the authority to waive or modify requirements that hinder the design of, offering of, or enrollment in, Medicare pres.cription drug benefit arrangements sponsored by employers ...." (The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services via The ERISA Industry Committee)

Employer-Provided Backup Child Care Programs Aim to Offer Parents Options They Can Trust
Excerpt: "Finding good backup care is the bane of working parents, and by some yardsticks the picture's getting bleaker. Although parents lose an estimated five to eight days annually due to child-care breakdowns, just 9 percent of companies offer backup care, down from 14 percent in 2001, according to the Society for Human Resource Management." (The Boston Globe)

Overview: Paid Time Off for Partial Day Absences and Maintaining 'Exempt' Employee Status
Excerpt: "On January 7, 2005, the U.S Department of Labor (DOL) issued an Opinion Letter confirming that employers may deduct less than a full day from a salaried, overtime- exempt white-collar employee's PTO bank for absences due to personal reasons, accident, or illness, without causing the loss of the exempt status of the employee. This opinion letter confirms what had been the DOL's position under the previous regulations regarding the white-collar exemptions for executive, ...." (Littler Mendelson, P.C.)

Letter: Coalition Urges HHS to Modify HIPAA Privacy Rule Disclosures Requirement (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "The undersigned members of the more than 100 health care organizations that make up the Confidentiality Coalition urge you to use the authority provided in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to modify the HIPAA privacy rule's accounting of disclosures requirement." (HIPAAdvisory.com)

With Time Running Out, Compliance with HIPAA Security Rule Is Lagging
Excerpt: "Can the case be made that slow compliance has resulted from an overly complex rule? Apgar says 'no.' 'It is actually fairly short, and an easy ready for a federal regulation,' he says of the security rule. 'If anything, the rule is too simple. It was constructed to mesh with privacy, and to be less prescriptive and technology neutral. For the larger provider this means there is less guidance.'" (REPORT ON PATIENT PRIVACY via AISHealth.com)

Electronic Records Adoption May Be Accelerating
Excerpt: "Sixty-two percent of hospitals and other provider organizations plan to have electronic medical records within two years, according to a survey of technology directors at 550 healthcare organizations. And 76% of respondents said their information technology budgets would increase in the next 12 months, up from 72% last year." (modernhealthcare.com)

5th District Court of Appeal Rules that Exclusive Remedy Comp Rule Protects TPAs
Excerpt: "The exclusive remedy provision giving employers and insurers immunity from civil suits extends to a workers compensation insurer's third-party administrator, .... In Protegrity Services Inc. vs. Theresa Brehm, Ms. Brehm sued after a doctor, authorized by Protegrity Services Inc., operated on the wrong portion of her spine in attempt to treat a work injury. The third-party administrator had 'deauthorized' Ms. Brehm's physician from performing the surgery, court records show." (Business Insurance)

Bill Would Increase HHS' IT Support for Providers
Excerpt: "An HHS program would offer providers grants, revolving loans and tax credits to buy information technology and provide incentives, such as add-on Medicare payments, to use technology to improve patient care, under legislation introduced by Reps. Charlie Gonzalez (D-Texas) and John McHugh (R-N.Y.)." (modernhealthcare.com)

Wall Street Journal Examines 'Tepid Response' to State Pres.cription Drug Reimportation Programs
Excerpt: "The Wall Street Journal [February 14] examined how several state programs that allow residents to reimport lower-cost pres.cription drugs from other nations 'have failed to take off,' which has prompted some governors 'to rethink their strategies.' New Hampshire, Vermont, Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri and Kansas are among states that have reimportation programs." (Kaiser Family Foundation)

Drug Companies Examine Themselves Among Waves of Bad Publicity
Excerpt: "A close inspection of financial reports reveals that the top 10 drug companies spend between two and three times on marketing what they spend on research (see chart, page 26). Marketing at those companies accounted for anywhere from 26% to 33% of sales. (In other industries, a more typical sales to marketing ratio would be 5-15%.) Put another way, for every dollar drug companies make in sales, the first 26 cents, at least, goes to marketing." (Brandweek - VNU Business Media, Inc. via The Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights)

Cut-Rate Pres.cription Medicine Available for All
Excerpt: "Looking to cut the cost of your pres.cription drugs? Well, you could move to Montgomery County [Maryland]. 'Montgomery Rx' offers discounts to anyone -- no age restrictions, no income limits. And the program is free, widely available and devoid of paperwork: After picking up a Montgomery Rx card, you can present it at almost any pharmacy in the county and ask how much your pres.cription would cost." (The Washington Post; one-time registration required)

Making Association Health Plans a Success
Excerpt: "President George W. Bush wants to expand health care coverage for Americans and their families. A key part of his agenda would allow small-business owners to join together through trade and professional associations to purchase health insurance for themselves and their employees through arrangements known as association health plans (AHPs)." (The Heritage Foundation)

Key KFF Resources on the Health Related Proposals of the President's FY2006 Budget
Excerpt: "The Kaiser Family Foundation has some resources to help examine the health care priorities detailed in the President's FY2006 budget proposal." (Kaiser Family Foundation)


Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Perspective: Outlook for Executive Compensation Governance 2005: A Recommended Plan of Action
Excerpt: "This Perspective sets out ten steps, based on our experience with companies across the country, that we believe will strengthen executive compensation governance in 2005. At the end of the article, we include a checklist for compensation committees of 'must-do' items for the first quarter of 2005." (Mercer Human Resource Consulting; one-time registration required)


Newly Posted Events

Care Management: Take Advantage of Future Cost Savings Strategies Today.
in California on March 31, 2005
presented by Precept Human Capital Management


Newly Posted Press Releases

CPI Provides Financial Consultants a Management Tool with the Potential to Triple Assets Under Management
(CPI Qualified Plan Consultants, Inc.)

Managing and Reducing Health Care Costs.....Better Communications Saved Fortune 500 Company $1 Million in Rx
(Smith Strategic Inc)


Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

Account Executive - Client Services
for Diversified Investment Advisors
in NY

Account Manager Trainee (Group Employee Benefits)
for The Protector Group Insurance Agency, Inc.
in MA

Copy Director
for T. Rowe Price
in MD

Participant Education Consultant
for The Vanguard Group
in PA

Benefits Administrator
for United Way of Central Carolinas, Inc.
in NC




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