| BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter |   |
March 3, 2005
Today's sponsor: World Congress
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
Innovation in the Cost-Appropriateness of Behavioral Health & Wellness The Leadership Summit on Innovation in the Cost-Appropriateness of Behavioral Health & Wellness explores the costs of behavioral health to the Nation and the workplace. Stakeholders will discuss economic incentives and present successful cost-effective initiatives to provide quality, cost-appropriate behavioral health and wellness services. Featuring employer and government driven cost-reduction demands with health plan and provider collaboration the Summit showcases innovative behavioral health, pharma and wellness interventions and how to combine the best of both.
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Will Consumer-Directed Health Care Increase Personal Bankruptcies?
Excerpt: "The growth of consumer-directed health (CDH) plans is 'a potential disaster that is certain to drive up medical bankruptcies,' says David Himmelstein, M.D., co-author of a recently released study that ties half of all personal bankruptcies to medical debts. The study, first reported in the journal Health Affairs and cited widely in the general media this month, was conducted by researchers at Harvard Law School and Harvard Medical School, and was supported by a grant from the ...." (INSIDE CONSUMER-DIRECTED CARE via AISHealth.com)
More DC Area Firms Paying Employees to Relax: Yoga and Meditation Seen As Health Care Boons
Excerpt: "Having a company softball team used to be a good way to get employees to blow off steam and to build morale. But today, companies are just as likely to encourage workers to hit a yoga mat as they are the outfield." (The Washington Post; one-time registration required)
Bill Would Give Mississippi State Employees Option to Pay for More Health Insurance Coverage
Excerpt: "Lawmakers are proposing changes to the health insurance program for state employees, hoping to root out abuse and save money. The Senate approved a House bill today that requires an employee to work four years before being eligible for the retirement health plan. The bill was amended to give a state board the option of providing various levels of coverage to employees." (AP via The Clarion-Ledger)
Understanding the HIPAA Privacy Rule's Implications for Employers
Excerpt: "[M]any employers -- including hospitals, health plans and other health care entities -- have additional HIPAA privacy obligations as a result of the health benefit they offer to their work force. 'Employee welfare benefit plans' ... are HIPAA covered entities ... if they provide 'medical care' ... to employees or dependents, directly or through insurance, reimbursement or otherwise, and they either (1) have 50 or more participants, or (2) are administered by an entity other than ...." (REPORT ON PATIENT PRIVACY via AISHealth.com)
Patient Medical Records' Digitization Offers a Quick Cure for New Regulatory Compliance Rules
Excerpt: "The digitization of patients' medical records is drawing strong interest from a wide range of sources, from medical facilities hoping to radically alter patient care and existing IT systems all the way to the desk of President George Bush. In the broadest sense, the move to digital patient records is mandated by new regulatory compliance rules." (eWEEK Enterprise News & Reviews)
Snapshot: California and National Health Care Costs -- 2005 Edition
Excerpt: "This snapshot provides a visual representation of costs and financing trends over the past decade, as well as predictions of future costs. Taken from several public and private data sources, the presentation is meant for anyone interested in an overview of health care financing issues in California and the nation. [Target page provides links to the California Addendum, National snapshot, and National Quick Reference Guide.]" (California HealthCare Foundation)
A Flight Plan for Healthcare Product Development
Excerpt: "Successful development of new products is critical to creating competitive advantage in all industries. Healthcare organizations, whether delivering or financing services, are not spared this requirement. What's more, product development in healthcare presents opportunities for controlling rising costs and for improving the quality of lives. Despite its having vast potential, the process of developing new products or services is met 'against a gale' in many healthcare organizations." (HealthLeaders News)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
DOL Information Letter: Guidance under ERISA on Campaign Contributions made by Service Providers
Excerpt: "Whether a plan fiduciary engages in a breach by accepting, and then returning, contributions to his political campaign from current and prospective service providers to the plan, and recusing himself from decisions relating to those service providers." (U.S. Department of Labor)
New Jersey Governor Proposes Public Employee Benefit Hike Halt
Excerpt: "Faced with what he described as a 'fiscal crisis' in the Garden State, Acting New Jersey Governor Richard Codey has called for a moratorium on public employee benefit increases." (PLANSPONSOR.com; one-time registration required)
Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide Updated as of March 1, 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)
Mergers and Retiree Questions: Benefits Changes, Usually for the Worse, Often Follow M&A
Excerpt: "Mergers and acquisitions may be great for shareholders. But they don't seem so great so for retirees and future retirees whose pension, health and life-insurance benefits change, often for the worse.' (MarketWatch)
Newly Posted Events
401(k) Plan Workshop
Nationwide on April 21, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel
Back to Basics: 401(k) Plans
in Georgia on March 17, 2005
presented by Worldwide Employee Benefits Network (WEB) - Atlanta Chapter
Doing "Good," While Doing Well - Inside Socially Responsible Investing
Nationwide on March 10, 2005
presented by PLANSPONSOR
Health Savings Accounts 2005: Market Adoption, Acceptance, Growth, and Regulatory Refinements
Nationwide on March 10, 2005
presented by Health Resources Online
Newly Posted Press Releases
BAN Educational Conference Termed Outstanding
(Benefit Advisors Network)
Lifting Wage Cap Would Aid Greatest Portion of Workers
(Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI))
Council Submits Pension Funding Proposals to House Government Reform Subcommittee
(American Benefits Council)
The Standard Ranked Number One Retirement Plan Provider in Boston Research Group Survey
(Standard Insurance Company)
Treasury and IRS Issue Proposed rules for Roth Contributions to 401(k) Plans
(U.S. Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service)
Metrics Partners Rolls Out Sales and Marketing Interactive Blog
(Metrics Partners)
MetLife Retirement & Savings Delivers New Way of Educating 401k Plan Participants Through Macromedia Breeze Technology
(MetLife)
Testimony of Assistant Secretary of Treasury Mark J. Warshawsky before the United States House Education and the Workforce Committee
(U.S. Department of Treasury)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Health & Welfare Associate
for Towers Perrin
in CA, CO, DC, NJ
Pension Manager
for Growing Major Midtown Union Health Plan
in NY
401(k) Client Service Representative
for ADP TotalSource
in FL
Pension Analyst
for REPTECH
in CO
Retirement Administrator
for Suburban Philadelphia financial service and administrative firm
in PA
Trust Accounting Administrator
for Associated Pension Consultants
in CA
Administrative Associate
for Tegra Financial Partners, a subsidiary of Habif, Arogeti & Wynne, LLP
in GA
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Search BenefitsLink
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
Copyright 2005 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.; except that you may reprint this newsletter in full (including this sentence) without obtaining our permission.
Published by:
BenefitsLink.com, Inc.
https://benefitslink.com/about.html
1298 Minnesota Avenue, Suite H
Winter Park FL 32789
(407) 644-4146
Fax: (407) 644-2151
Editor and Publisher: David Rhett Baker, J.D.
Housekeeping: