February 17, 2005 Today's sponsor: PensionOnline.com (Click on company name or banner to learn more.) PensionOnline creates web-based tools and management services PensionOnline offers consulting and software development services, creating On-line products for pension professionals. We provide data conversion and management counseling so clients may outsource cumbersome data issues to an experienced partner. Call us today at 800.322.0023 to see what we can do for you. (Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor) DOL Issues Opinion Letters on FMLA and Employee Drug Testing Excerpt: "The Department of Labor has released two opinion letters regarding the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The first letter release by The Wage and Hour Division stated that an employer could require employees who are on leave for illness to provide proof off such an illness that goes beyond the notice required under the FMLA, as long as unpaid FMLA leave is not jeopardized. Essentially, employers could require that employees provide a proof of illness in order to receive paid ...." (PLANSPONSOR.com; one-time registration required) Opinion: Paid Family Leave Benefits Business, Too Excerpt: "House and Senate proposals for family leave insurance have made headlines around the state. Lines are being drawn between business interests and family responsibilities but it doesn't have to be that way. We know from the experience of other states and large employers that paid family leave works. We also know that many small employers support giving their employees family leave." (Seattle Post-Intelligencer) Text: An Employer's Guide to Group Health Continuation Coverage under COBRA (PDF) 30 pages. Excerpt: "This booklet constitutes a small entity compliance guide for purposes of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996." (U.S. Employee Benefits Security Administration) U.S. Healthcare Industry HIPAA Compliance Survey Results for Winter 2005 Excerpt: "Winter 2005 marks our fifth year of tracking and reporting on the status of HIPAA compliance within the healthcare industry. For the first time, our survey focused solely on healthcare Provider and Payer organizations, requesting feedback to determine compliance status with specific HIPAA Security, Transactions and Code Sets (TCS), and Privacy requirements." (HIPAAdvisory.com) Medicare Officials Say Private Plans Should Set Drug Prices -- Would Reduce Medicare Drug Costs Excerpt: "As some lawmakers clamor for letting Medicare directly negotiate drug prices, Medicare's chief said ... that the health program for the elderly could save more money by letting the private sector set prices. .... Medicare chief Mark McClellan released ... a letter from chief Medicare actuary Richard Foster that said the private health plans delivering the drug benefit to U.S. seniors would be able to bring prices down by 15 percent at first, and by 25 percent over five years." (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Large Employer Groups Demand Full Transparency in Pharmacy Benefit Management Deals Excerpt: "Joining the growing crusade for transparency in drug pricing and pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) revenue streams, 35 large employers have formed Rx Collaborative, a full-disclosure direct-contracting arrangement with Medco Health Solutions, Inc. Meanwhile, a coalition of 53 employer groups working with consultant Hewitt Associates has reversed its plan to negotiate net prices with pharmaceutical manufacturers and instead will soon issue a request for proposals (RFP) to PBMs." (DRUG BENEFIT NEWS via AISHealth.com) Administration Officials Defend Cost of Medicare Drug Benefit; Reject Importation, Negotiation Ideas Excerpt: "Under attack from leaders in both parties over skyrocketing pres.cription drug prices, two top administration officials yesterday rebutted claims that costs could be significantly lowered if President Bush would allow drug importation and permit the government to negotiate with drugmakers on behalf of senior citizens." (The Washington Post; one-time registration required) Company Reports Saving As Much As 8 Percent by Using a Consumer-Directed Health Benefits Plan Excerpt: "Skyrocketing health care costs convinced veteran human resource manager Diana Bonogofsky to implement a consumer-directed health plan last summer. Premiums rose more than 20 percent last year at her company, Micro Focus, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based software firm. 'We had to do something to get health costs under control. We believed a consumer-directed health plan was the right way to go,' she says." (Risk & Insurance) FORTUNE 500 Company Adds Two New HSA Options for Employees for 2005 Excerpt: "A decision to 'get the individual back into the equation' prompted a FORTUNE 500 company to drop its existing health plans in favor of two PPOs and two health savings account (HSA)-powered high-deductible health plans (HDHPs)." (INSIDE CONSUMER-DIRECTED CARE via AISHealth.com) Can Taxes Force Higher Salaries from Wal-Mart? Proposal Hopes to Reduce Social Service Costs Excerpt: "Who proposes a new tax hoping to see not a penny in revenue? A Montana legislator who wants to change the way Wal-Mart pays its workers there. Sen. Ken Toole, D-Helena, is sponsoring a bill that all but names Wal-Mart as the object of the tax: A big retailer that doesn't pay an entry-level salary of at least $22,000 a year and that hires more than half part-timers will be charged a progressive tax of 1 to 2 percent on its gross receipts over $20 million a year." (Star Tribune; one-time registration required) GAO Questions Health Insurance Tax Breaks Excerpt: "A congressional think tank says a broad review of federal finances could include a look at incentives for purchases of medical coverage. A team of analysts at the U.S. Government Accountability Office has published suggestions that health insurance tax incentives deserve close attention in a major new report, '21st Century Challenges: Reexamining The Base Of The Federal Government. .... The GAO team has posted the report on the Web at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d05325sp.pdf." (National Underwriter) Comments on Akron Law Review Article Discussing Impact of Miller Case Excerpt: "Matthew Vansuch, a 3L at the University of Akron School of Law, has written a very interesting note for the Akron Law Review, discussing the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court case of Kentucky Association of Health Plans, Inc. v. Miller. The note is entitled 'Not Just Old Wine in New Bottles: Kentucky Association of Health Plans, Inc. v. Miller Bottles a New Test for State Regulation of Insurance.'" (Attorney B. Janell Grenier via BenefitsBlog.com) Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General Hewitt's Federal Legislation Quick Guide Updated as of February 15, 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) Newly Posted Events Advanced HSAs Telephone Seminar Nationwide on July 26, 2005 presented by BISYS Retirement Services Basic HSAs Telephone Seminar Nationwide on July 12, 2005 presented by BISYS Retirement Services Basic IRAs Telephone Seminar Nationwide on July 14, 2005 presented by BISYS Retirement Services Certificate Series - Basic Compensation Concepts in Wisconsin on June 21, 2005 presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans Certificate Series - Choice-Based Benefits in Wisconsin on May 18, 2005 presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans Certificate Series - Health Benefit Plan Basics in Wisconsin on May 12, 2005 presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans Certificate Series - Health Care Cost Management in Wisconsin on May 16, 2005 presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans Certificate Series - Total Compensation and Organizational Strategies in Wisconsin on June 27, 2005 presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans Certificate Series - Variable Pay in Wisconsin on June 23, 2005 presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans Certificate Series--Global Benefits Management in Illinois on May 9, 2005 presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans Defined Care 2005 Web Summit Nationwide on April 11, 2005 presented by Healthcare Web Summit Essentials of Multiemployer Trust Fund Administration in Wisconsin on June 6, 2005 presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans How To Grow Your Retirement Plans Business Part III: Marketing Advisory Services Instead Of Product in Illinois on October 4, 2005 presented by Center for Due Diligence HSAs: Where We Are Now Nationwide on February 24, 2005 presented by Healthcare Web Summit IRA to IRA Transfers and Rollovers Telephone Seminar Nationwide on July 21, 2005 presented by BISYS Retirement Services IRA Update Telephone Seminar Nationwide on July 6, 2005 presented by BISYS Retirement Services Portfolio Concepts and Management in Pennsylvania on May 10, 2005 presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans Trustees and Administrators Institutes in Nevada on June 13, 2005 presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans Washington Legislative Update in District of Columbia on May 16, 2005 presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans Newly Posted Press Releases In-the-Money Value of CEO Stock Options Soared in 2004, Watson Wyatt Analysis Finds (Watson Wyatt) American Benefits Council Releases Recommendations for Defined Benefit Pension Plan Funding Reform (American Benefits Council) Audio Conference: HSAs: Where We Are Now, February 24th, 2005 (MCOL) New Catalog Offers Variety of Employee Benefits and Compensation Resources (International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans) Fiserv Investment Support Services Offers Mandatory Rollover IRA in Advance of March 28 Deadline (Fiserv, Inc.) NBCH Announces Key 2005 Programs Emphasizing Strategies for Improving Health Care Value and Effectiveness (National Business Coalition on Health) Vertafore Benefits Unveils Software Application for Employee Benefits Brokers and Agents (Vertafore Benefits) Tandem Benefits Expanding Operations - Names Two Additional Principals (Tandem Benefits) Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings Chief Compliance Officer for Invesmart, Inc. in PA Enrolled Actuary for National Life Insurance Company in VT Regional Sales Director for BISYS Retirement Services in CT, DC, DE, MA, MD, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT Marketing Consultant for MassMutual Financial Group in MA Handy Links:
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