| BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter |   |
February 16, 2005
Today's sponsor: IQPC/Healthcare IQ
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IQPC's 2nd Annual Chronic Disease Management Strategies for Employers The 2nd Annual CHRONIC DISEASE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR EMPLOYERS - WEST: Effectively Managing Rising Costs, Increasing Productivity and Implementing Wellness Programs in the Workplace March 1 - 2, 2005 * San Francisco, CA Hear from Johnson & Johnson, Schlumberger, Union Pacific Railroad, Wachovia, HSBC, Boeing, Coca-Cola, WE Energies, Archer Daniels Midland, DMAA, Natl Assoc of Manufacturers, Pacific Business Group on Health, among many others. Click above or visit http://www.iqpc.com/na-2130-02/enews
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Is The Revolution Now? Health Savings Account Survey Tracks Market Trends
Excerpt: "Spencer Benefits Reports, Aspen Publishers, and CCH, Inc., continue to solicit employer data for the 2005 Survey Of Consumer-Driven Health, which will take the pulse of employers' responses toward consumer-driven health products such as HSAs and HRAs. Firms representing more than a quarter of a million employees already have been surveyed. Each employer that completes the survey will receive a copy of the published results upon request at no charge." (Spencer Benefits Reports)
Abstract of Working Paper: Job-Protected Maternity Leave and Mothers' Employment and Infant Health
Excerpt: "Maternity leaves can affect mothers' and infants' welfare if they first affect the amount of time working women stay at home post birth. We provide new evidence of the labor supply effects of these leaves from an analysis of the introduction and expansion of job-protected maternity leave in Can.ada. The substantial variation in leave entitlements across mothers by time and space is likely exogenous to their unobserved characteristics." (National Bureau of Economic Research)
Large Doctors' Groups Rolling Out Electronic Medical Records
Excerpt: "Two of the nation's largest groups of outpatient doctors' offices are implementing EMR systems. Hill Physicians, Inc. announced this week that it will roll out integrated electronic medical records for its 2,600 providers across California. Late last year, the San Francisco-based Brown and Toland Medical Group announced that it would do the same for its 1,500 physicians. Both IPAs (independent provider associations) allow physicians to choose whether or not to opt into the system,...." (eWeek)
Report: How Health Insurance Can Fail People with Diabetes (PDF)
56 pages. Excerpt: "This report reviews lessons that can be learned about the U.S. system of health coverage from people with diabetes who had health insurance problems. For 14 months, researchers at Georgetown University and health insurance specia.lists at the American Diabetes Association took calls from 851 people who contacted the Association's national call center (1-800-DIABETES) because they had health insurance problems." (Georgetown University Health Policy Institute and the American Diabetes Association)
'External Review' of Medical Claim Denials Is Now the Law of the Land Nearly Nationwide
Excerpt: "[N]ow that the dust has settled in the wake of last year's U.S. Supreme Court decision preventing millions of patients from suing their HMOs for medical negligence, some legal experts say the practical effects of the controversial ruling may not be all that substantial-largely because of the existence of state external-review laws." (Modern Healthcare via The Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights)
Costs Propel Consumer Dismay with Health Insurers
Excerpt: "Customer satisfaction with health insurers fell significantly in 2004, according to the latest findings of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (http://www.theacsi.org/), which tracks seven economic sectors and 39 industries. On a scale of one to 100, health insurers scored a 67 last year, roughly on par with airlines and cable companies. That's a three-point drop from 2003 and well below the aggregate score of 73.6 for all companies and industries measured." (BenefitNews Connect)
Abstract of Working Paper: Assessing Consumer Gains from a Drug Price Control Policy in the U.S.
Excerpt: "This paper uses national data for the period 1960 to 2000 to estimate an aggregate private consumer demand for pharmaceuticals in the U.S." (National Bureau of Economic Research)
Survey Says Most Health Savings Accounts Buyers Get Drug Coverage
Excerpt: "Individuals who are buying high-deductible health insurance plans seem to be getting good packages of benefits for a reasonably low price. Researchers at eHealthInsurance Services Inc., ... have published data supporting that conclusion in a study based on data drawn from the broker's sales records. Thousands of customers bought high-deductible individual and family health policies that were compatible with the new health savings account program in 2004, ...." (National Underwriter)
Specialty Pharmacy Experts Share Insights on Member Cost Sharing
Excerpt: "Many managed care organizations ... are struggling with the issue of member cost sharing for specialty pharmacy products, and the latest trend has been to shift more of the cost of injectable medications to members. Sometimes this is a direct result of specialty products being switched from the medical benefit to the pharmacy benefit. But even for drugs that are already covered under the pharmacy benefit, some payers are setting higher copay levels for certain high-cost injectables." (SPECIALTY PHARMACY NEWS via AISHealth.com)
General Motors Pays Higher Price for Some Generic Medications through Mail-Order Pharmacy System
Excerpt: "General Motors pays 'far higher' prices for some pres.cription drugs offered through its mail-order operation than individuals pay at retail pharmacies, the Wall Street Journal reports." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Insurers Use Debit Cards to Speed Consumer-Directed Options to Market
Excerpt: "Key to the success of consumer-directed health plans is allowing convenient access to linked spending accounts. Employers are pushing for options to ensure that enrollees can easily access funds to pay for eligible medical expenses -- while restricting their ability to spend down accounts on noneligible items. That demand has pushed health insurers to quickly get up-to-speed on debit cards, checkbooks and other aspects of account-based health plans ...." (MANAGED CARE WEEK via AISHealth.com)
Consumer-Directed Health Plans Need Meaningful Data to Transform Industry
Excerpt: "Three years after launching its consumer-directed health (CDH) products, Aetna, Inc.'s account-based plans have had a positive effect on member behavior, according to John Rowe, M.D., the insurer's CEO and chairman. But until consumers have access to meaningful cost and quality data about providers, CDH will lead to only incremental improvements, asserted George Halvorson, chairman and CEO of Kaiser Foundation Health Plans and Hospitals." (INSIDE CONSUMER-DIRECTED CARE via AISHealth.com)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Global Employee Share Plans: February 2005 Legislative News on Stock Options
This edition includes articles on the following countries: Denmark: Intel judgment affects prior stock option grants; France: New and improved tax concessions for employee stock; Hong Kong: Clarification of the prospectus filing requirement; Japan: Taxation of stock options clarified; Mexico: Income tax treatment (somewhat) clarified; Netherlands: Change in the taxation of stock options; and, Slovenia: New capital gains tax concession for stock. (Mercer Human Resource Consulting; one-time registration required)
Newly Posted Events
How to Investigate and Defend Harassment and Discrimination Claims and Comply with California's New Mandatory Training Requirements
in California on February 22, 2005
presented by Precept Human Capital Management
How to Investigate and Defend Harassment and Discrimination Claims and Comply with California's New Mandatory Training Requirements
in California on February 23, 2005
presented by Precept Human Capital Management
SPARK Accredited Retirement Plan Consultant (ARPC) Training and Designation Program
in Massachusetts on March 29, 2005
presented by SPARK - the Society of Professional Administrators and Recordkeepers
Today's Health & Wellness Initiatives - One Employer's Story
in Illinois on February 24, 2005
presented by WEB - Chicago West
WEB Benefits Solutions Conference
in Illinois on April 14, 2005
presented by Worldwide Employee Benefits Network (WEB)
Newly Posted Press Releases
PensionOnline Announces Professional Services Technology Group
(Metrics Partners)
401(k) Provider Offers Lowest Cost Investments to Small Employers, TPAs Hammers participant costs; rejects revenue-sharing, asset-based fees
(Employee Fiduciary Corporation)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Retirement Plan Manager
for San Diego Based Plan Administrator.
in CA
Employee Benefits Plan Specialist 1
for Union Bank of California
in CA
Retirement Plan Administrator
for CDM Retirement Consultants, Inc.
in MD
Participant Support Representative
for Decimal, Inc. (theonline401k.com)
in CA
Benefits Administrator
for Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation
in NJ
Production Manager
for The ANGELL Pension Group, Inc.
in RI
Sales and Services Specialist
for Principal Financial Group
in CA
VP Sales - Retirement Services
for Principal Financial Group
in PA
Pension Administrator
for Flynn, Shojinaga & Associates, Inc.
in CA
Sr. Professional-Benefits Administration
for DTE Energy
in MI
Health Insurance Specialist
for Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, HHS
in DC, MD, VA
Retirement Services Implementation Specialist (Bi-lingual/Spanish) Northern California
for ADP Retirement Services
in CA
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Copyright 2005 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.; except that you may reprint this newsletter in full (including this sentence) without obtaining our permission.
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