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March 4, 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)
Connecticut Report Slams Benefit Policies: Health Insurance at Big Companies Often Left to State
Excerpt: "The state is paying an estimated $43 million annually for health care insurance to cover workers at the top 25 major employers, led by Wal-Mart, officials said Thursday." (The Hartford Courant; one-time registration required)

Maternity Programs Monitor High-Risk Pregnancies
Excerpt: "Many employers are focusing care management efforts on identifying pregnancies that could result in premature births -- and big-money claims." (Business Insurance via Workforce Management)

Governors Call for IT Demonstration Projects for National Health Care Innovations Program
Excerpt: "A group of governors ... called on Congress to establish a National Health Care Innovations Program that would support large-scale demonstration programs ..., including the use of information technology to improve health care, .... The white paper, which was released at the National Governors Association's winter meeting ..., calls for state-led partnerships between the government and the private sector. [The 12-page paper is at http://www.nga.org/cda/files/0502HEALTHCARE.pdf.]" (California HealthCare Foundation)

Pharmaco-Actuarial Approach to Formulary Decision Making (PDF)
9 pages. (Milliman)

Severe Obesity Linked to Increased Healthcare Costs, Says Study in International Journal of Obesity
Excerpt: "As waistlines grow bigger, healthcare costs get higher, according to the results of a study that found healthcare expenses to be nearly twice as high in morbidly obese individuals than in their normal-weight peers. An analysis of 2000 data show that 10 percent of all healthcare expenditures in the US that year, a total $56 billion, were somehow linked to excess body weight, according to study author Dr. David E. Arterburn and his colleagues." (Reuters Health via Yahoo! News)

Drug Import Bill to Pass
Excerpt: "U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the Finance Committee chairman, said Thursday the Senate will pass a bill this summer allowing the importation of drugs from Can.ada. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn.; House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, oppose the bill. They say the U.S. government should first guarantee the safety of the drugs before allowing importation." (Detroit Free Press)

ERIC Posts Medicare Regulation Summary Written by Covington & Burling
Excerpt: "[A] summary of the final Medicare Part D regulations written by the Employee Benefits Practice Group of Covington & Burling [and] a short explanation of the document. .... The paper is well written and identifies and explains the key issues relevant to employers." (The ERISA Industry Committee)

New Employer Approach Addresses Root Causes of Illnesses
Excerpt: "In the past, employers have taken on 'disease management' to cut costs for the small number of employees generating the greatest health care costs. The goal now is to avoid chronic problems in the first place. More employers are finding that disability management programs, while important, are not going far enough to curb rising health care costs." (Business Insurance via Workforce Management)

Bill Proposes Constitutional Right to Healthcare
Excerpt: "Reps. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) and Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) proposed a constitutional amendment to establish healthcare as a basic right. The amendment -- 'All persons shall enjoy the right to healthcare of equal high quality' -- must pass the House and Senate by a two-thirds majority." (modernhealthcare.com)

Focusing on Advanced LTC Plan Design: Risks of Fully Insured and Self-Funded Coverage (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "Three important elements drive the cost of long-term care benefits: the cost of the benefits, the investment earnings on the fund, and the lapse rates of employees dropping their coverage. Variation in each of these items represents risk to a self-funded plan. There is an additional key element of risk: the risk of adverse selection. Plans also face the risks that legislation or tax rules will change." (Milliman)

SEC Extends Internal Control Reporting Deadline for Small Companies and Foreign Companies
Excerpt: "On March 2, 2005, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (... announced it has again extended the compliance deadline for non-accelerated filers ... and foreign private issuers ('foreign companies') to provide their reports on internal control over financial reporting, and related auditor's report thereon, as required under SEC rules implementing Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act ...." (Financial Executives International)


Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Staying Ahead of the Curve 2004: Employer Best Practices for Mature Workers
Excerpt: "In light of [the] demographic shift [to larger numbers of older workers], AARP engaged Mercer Human Resource Consulting in 2004 to conduct an analysis of the workforce practices of current and former AARP Best Employers for Workers Over 50 in order to identify how best to address the needs of mature workers. [The 20-page executive summary is at http://assets.aarp.org/www.aarp.org_/build/templates/money/BE_stayingahead.pdf.]" (AARP)

New edition of Selected Issues in Equity Compensation
The NCEO presents excerpts from the new edition of the 276-page book Selected Issues in Equity Compensation (2nd ed., 2005). The book covers administration, state securities laws, federal securities laws, preparing for an IPO, handling death under a stock option plan, stock options and divorce, evergreen provisions, underwater options and repricing, and designing and implementing an employee stock purchase plan (ESPP). A lengthy glossary and an index round out the book. (National Center for Employee Ownership)

Reshaping Executive Compensation: Institutional Shareholders Offer Ideas for Improvement
Excerpt: "Executive compensation is as controversial as ever -- from trials over allegedly excessive severance payments to ongoing criticism of ultra-high pay levels and putative lack of pay for performance. And while corporate America and its shareholders thrive, large institutional shareholders continue to press for improvement. An influential group of large institutional investors is weighing in on what works -- and what doesn't work -- in executive pay design." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)

Milliman's March 2005 Edition of Monthly Benefit News & Developments (PDF)
2 pages. A summary of the previous month's legislative, regulatory, and judicial information on employee benefits (Milliman)

SEC Extends Sarbanes-Oxley Reporting Deadline
Excerpt: "The Securities and Exchange Commission has formally extended until July 15, 2006, the deadline by which smaller firms and foreign companies have to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act's internal control reporting requirements." (Business Insurance)


Newly Posted Events

HIPAA Security & Privacy for Beginners
Nationwide on March 24, 2005
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)


Newly Posted Press Releases

65% of Employers Conduct Online Employee Benefit Attitude Surveys
(International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)


Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

Actuary
for The Mayer Benefits Advisory, LLC
in CT

Qualified Retirement Plan Administrator
for Benefit Solutions Corporation
in WI

Benefit Plan Administrator
for Benmark, Inc, a division of Century Business Services
in GA

Third Party Administration Manager
for Security Health Plan of Wisconsin, Inc
in WI

Counsel: Employee Benefits/Exec. Compensation-Florida
for Davis Search
in FL

Pension Compliance Administrator
for CBIZ Benefits & Insurance Services, Inc.
in MD, PA

Senior Manager - Health Claims Services
for Zenith Administrators
in WA

Pension Analyst
for City of Kalamazoo
in MI

Employee Benefits Analyst
for Virchow Krause
in WI

Sales Representative
for South Bay Consulting and Administration Firm
in CA

Retirement Plan Manager
for Benetrends
in PA

Director of Compensation & Benefits
for Confidential
in AL, FL, GA, NC, SC, TN

Employee Benefits/ERISA Associate
for Keating, Muething & Klekamp, P.L.L.
in OH




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