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Free Hay Group Web Seminar on Medicare Part D
Are you ready for the changes taking place later this year? Let Hay
Group's actuarial consultants help you decide how best to take
advantage of the Medicare Part D prescription drug program.
Register today for a free 1-hour web seminar, which explains,
in plain English, if your retiree plan qualifies for the federal
subsidy, what your options are, and how much you can expect to
save. Deadlines are rapidly approaching.
For more information go to:
http://www.haygroup.com/expertise/commitment/medicare_part_d.asp
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
U.S. Government's Brief in Case of AARP v. EEOC (PDF)
55 pages. Excerpt: "This is a case about the unintended consequences of a rule and subsequent administrative decision making designed to alleviate those consequences. Defendant Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ('EEOC') took the position that the Age Discrimination in Employment Act's equal benefit or equal cost rule applies to retiree health benefits, and the Third Circuit agreed." (American Benefits Council)
Text: DOL Advisory Opinion on ERISA Applicability to Georgia's State Health Benefit Plan
Excerpt: "This is in response to your request for an opinion on behalf of the Georgia Department of Community Health (GDCH) regarding the applicability of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended ('ERISA') to Georgia's State Health Benefit Plan (SHBP)." (U.S. Department of Labor)
U.S. Health Spending Projections for 2004–2014
Excerpt: "Shifts in funding for pres.cription drugs and lower private health insurance premium growth are expected over the next ten years." (Health Affairs)
A Gap in Insurance GAAP? New Life Insurance Markets Demand New Accounting Method
Excerpt: "We believe it's time to change the method of accounting for life insurance, and in this article we'll describe an alternative method we think FASB should consider." (Journal of Accountancy Online)
Employee Benefit Program Governance — Why Should You Be Concerned?
Excerpt: "Your employee benefit plans represent an expensive investment in your employees. Remember the old saying 'An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.' A review such as the one described is a way for you to protect your investment and can become 'your ounce of prevention.' In addition, such a review will help your HR staff focus on core businesses knowing that the compliance aspect of the employee benefit plans is under control." (ERISAdiagnostics Inc.)
Cost Cutting Gets Creative: How Managed Care Works in 2005
Excerpt: "Health plans are tweaking details and offering small bonuses to enlist doctors in programs to cut expenses in the name of improving care." (American Medical News)
Health Costs Will Keep Rising, U.S. Says, Along with Government Share
Excerpt: "The Bush administration predicted Wednesday that government would account for nearly half of all the nation's health care spending by 2014. Further, it said, total health spending will double in a decade, to $3.6 trillion in 2014 from $1.8 trillion last year, while gross domestic product, the total output of goods and services, grows more slowly. As a result, health spending will constitute 18.7 percent of the economy by 2014, up from an estimated 15.4 percent last year, ...." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)
Food Fight: Obesity Raises Difficult Marketing Questions
Excerpt: "Consider just a few of the latest, some would say confusing, developments in the heated debate over junk food, advertising and obesity: ...." (Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania)
Voluntary Benefits Bring Goodwill With a Small Price Tag, but Watch Out for Liabilities to Firm
Excerpt: "One key mistake employers make is not in how they choose the voluntary benefits to offer, but in how they communicate those benefits to their workers. 'Employers think that the only time they need to communicate is during annual enrollment,' says Herbster. 'They communicate it once and then forget about it.' She advises employers to have a link that describes benefits -- and allows for registration -- on a Web page that workers access frequently.' (CFO Magazine)
Overview: Becoming a Pres.cription Drug Plan Sponsor under the Medicare Modernization Act (PDF)
3 pages. (The Segal Company)
Towers Perrin U.S. Legislative Tracking Charts — Health and Welfare -- Updated February 22, 2005 (PDF)
7 pages. Excerpt: "These charts summarize selected federal legislation that would affect employee benefit programs. The bills included on the charts are based on judgments regarding the prominence of the issue, the likelihood of enactment, and the influence of the sponsors." (Towers Perrin)
The Health Care Safety Net We Want and Need: First in the Series on the U.S. Health Care System (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "One of the most vexing public policy problems is how to ensure that people have access to affordable health care. Currently, the U.S. health care system relies on a patchwork of funding mechanisms. Most Americans get their health insurance through the private sector, but millions are covered by an ad hoc safety net." (Council for Affordable Health Insurance)
Montana Bill Would Use Tobacco Tax to Help Small Employers Provide Insurance
Excerpt: "Montana lawmakers last week introduced a bill (HB 667) that would provide small businesses with incentives to offer their employees health insurance and 'se[t] the framework' for the state to form an insurance purchasing pool for small employers, the AP/Billings Gazette reports." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Combating Employee Benefit Cost and Control Issues: The Case for Coalition Purchasing (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "Employee benefit coalitions can impact an employer's bottom line and are becoming a market factor to be dealt with in every industry and business setting. This article examines how modern-day coalitions are bringing classic aggregation theory into the 21st century and the reasons behind growing popularity of employee benefit coalitions." (Benefits Quarterly via Aon Consulting)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Small Steps Can Go a Long Way Toward Easing the Benefits Burden on Companies
Excerpt: "Neither HMOs nor HSAs nor 401(k)s nor grand government programs are likely to fix the problem of rising health-care expenses and inadequate retirement plans. But companies that look for every little advantage will fair better than those that chalk these problems up to unmanageable trends. For companies facing a benefits crisis, the modest proposals highlighted here may offer some relief." (CFO Magazine)
Towers Perrin U.S. Legislative Tracking Charts — Human Resources -- Updated February 22, 2005 (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "These charts summarize selected federal legislation that would affect employee benefit programs. The bills included on the charts are based on judgments regarding the prominence of the issue, the likelihood of enactment, and the influence of the sponsors" (Towers Perrin)
CFO Magazine Devotes an Entire Issue to Health Care, Retirement Plans, IT/Outsourcing, and Perks
Excerpt: "CFO magazine has devoted many stories to the topic [of the cost of employee benefits], but because the problem has reached critical proportions, and because other research suggests that companies don't think they manage the problem well, we decided the time had come to devote an entire issue to the subject." (CFO Magazine)
Newly Posted Events
1st Quarter 2005 Meeting of the Montana Chapter of the Western Pension & Benefits Conference
in Montana on March 29, 2005
presented by Western Pension & Benefits Conference - Montana Chapter
In-Pats, Ex-Pats... St. Pat's: Providing Benefits in an Increasingly Global Economy
in Ohio on March 17, 2005
presented by Worldwide Employee Benefits Network (WEB) - Cleveland Chapter
National Conference of State Social Security Administrators Annual Conference
in Colorado on July 24, 2005
presented by NCSSSA (National Conference of State Social Security Administrators)
Newly Posted Press Releases
PBGC Pays Pensions At Penn Traffic
(Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC))
Pension Focus Announces Speakers for 2005 Conference
(Pension Consultants, Inc.)
New Health Benefit Program Now Available For Dealership And Franchise Organizations
(Dealer Benefits Network, LLC)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Director, Client Services
for BISYS Retirement Services
in PA
Account/Client Services Manager (Seattle)
for Zenith Administrators
in WA
Account/New Business Development Manager
for Zenith Administrators
in WA
Pension & Benefits Specialist
for Benefit Consultants Group
in NJ
Your Total Rewards Analyst
for Hewitt Associates
in IL
Resource Planning Leader
for Hewitt Associates
in IL
Plan Administrator
for The Allocation Company, Inc.
in TX
Benefits Administrator
for WT Benefits. L.L.C.
in TX
Handy Links:
Copyright 2005 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.; except that you may reprint this newsletter in full (including this sentence) without obtaining our permission.
Published by:
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Editor and Publisher: David Rhett Baker, J.D.
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