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February 17, 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)
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
Post a Help Wanted Ad

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




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