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March 15, 2005
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HSA 'Landmines' Could Cause Problems for Insurers, Employers
Excerpt: "It's been six months since the Treasury Dept. issued its last significant round of guidance on HSAs, but questions -- and loose interpretations of the rules -- continue to baffle insurers, employers and consumers. The HSA provision of the Medicare Pres.cription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 allows anyone with a high-deductible health plan (HDHP) - at least $1,000 for single coverage and $2,000 for couples and families - to open an HSA to pay for medical expenses." (INSIDE CONSUMER-DIRECTED CARE via AISHealth.com)
Spencer Survey Finds HSAs Will Grow Throughout Employer Community To Combat Rising Costs
Excerpt: "Almost all employers will have some involvement in employee choice health care plans by the end of 2005, and for most of them, the push to implement CDHPs has a simple and clear motivation -- -the reduction of employer-provided health care costs. These are some of the findings of the 2005 Spencer Survey of Consumer-Driven Health." (Spencer Benefits Reports)
How Risky Is It to Ignore HIPAA Requirements That Appear to Be `Trivial' ?
Excerpt: "The HIPAA privacy rules require covered entities (CEs) to take certain steps that, with the benefit of nearly two years of post-deadline hindsight, appear to be somewhat trivial and unproductive. Some privacy officers have gone so far as to term them a 'waste of time,' because in many instances few patients evidently benefit from these time-consuming actions." (REPORT ON PATIENT PRIVACY via AISHealth.com)
Working Paper Abstract: Out-of-Pocket Health Cost: Who is at Risk of Having High Financial Burdens?
Excerpt: "We examined characteristics of people with little, moderate, and high burden of out-of-pocket health spending separately for low-income ... and higher-income populations. We find that public insurance appears to offer the best financial protection against high out-of-pocket burden. People with private non-group coverage, regardless of their income levels, have the highest risk of being exposed to high out-of-pocket burden. Low-income adults with employer-sponsored insurance are ...." (National Bureau of Economic Research)
Educating Employees Plays a Big Role in Pres.cription Drug Benefit Plans
Excerpt: "Pres.cription-drug costs have risen at a rate of more than 20 percent a year for the past several years, and the costs are driving up insurance premiums for all of us. Because of this, both employers and insurance carriers are looking for ways to control costs in this area. And carriers are betting in advance on costs since they guarantee premiums for a full year, even in the face of these rapidly rising expenses." (Boston Business Journal via bizjournals.com; one-time registration required)
Payer Tools for Developing Specialty Pharmacy Strategy and Management Goals
Excerpt: "With the burgeoning pipeline of specialty products, it is essential for health plans to develop an overarching strategy to manage the current products in the marketplace as well as the many new products that will become available in the upcoming years. .... This month, Rxperts will provide tools to assist with the development of a specialty pharmacy management strategy." (SPECIALTY PHARMACY NEWS via AISHealth.com)
Kaiser Family Foundation Policy Workshop on Drug Formularies and Medicare
Excerpt: "The Kaiser Family Foundation hosted a March 14, 2005 policy workshop on the use of drug formularies in the private sector and their potential implications for beneficiaries under the new Medicare drug benefit, set to go into effect January 1, 2006. .... In connection with today's workshop, the Foundation also released a number of new and updated reports and other resources [links available on the target page]." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Accounting Rule Will Hit Stock Plans: Companies Will Have to Treat Stock-Based Programs As Expense
Excerpt: "First it was stock options. Now a more-pedestrian perk, employee stock-purchase plans, could take a hit as companies get ready for a new accounting rule." (The Wall Street Journal via The Morning Call)
Regulatory Update Published in the December 2004 Employee Benefit Plan Review (PDF)
3 pages. Includes articles titled: New Rules for Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Arrangements and FASB Delays Effective Date of Stock Option Expensing Rules (Gardner Carton & Douglas)
Overview: Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plan Guidance (PDF)
14 pages. Excerpt: "The next round of guidance is expected to be issued in the first part of 2005, and will need to address distribution procedures and requirements, funding rules, guidance regarding the consequences of document failures, severance programs beyond 2005, and other critical transition rules. (Published January 14, 2005)" (Haynes and Boone, LLP)
Overview: New USERRA Notice of Employee Rights and Benefits
Excerpt: "U.S. Secretary of Labor, Elaine L. Chao announced on March 10, 2005 that the notice explaining the rights of employees under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) is now available for employers to download from the DOL Web site." (SunGard Corbel)
Overview: DOL Issues USERRA Notice – Requirement in Effect for Employers (PDF)
1 page. Excerpt: "[E]mployers must provide a notice of employees' rights under USERRA, including the right of employees and their dependents to continue employer-provided health coverage for up to 24 months while on active military duty. .... The DOL has now issued an interim final rule containing model text for this notice and has provided a notice suitable for posting. The notice requirement is now in effect." (Mellon Financial Corporation)
Newly Posted Press Releases
McKay Hochman Releases 2005 Education Programs Course Catalog
(McKay Hochman Co., Inc.)
PBGC Is Seeking Comment On A Proposed Rule To Amend The Mortality Assumption In Its Valuation Regulation
(Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC))
Council Urges Flexibility In Final Phased Retirement Regulations Issued By Treasury and IRS
(American Benefits Council)
ACLI Urges Congress To Extend Retirement Savings Provisions In EGTRRA
(American Council of Life Insurers)
Health Care Quality Bridges Political Divide- Clinton, Gingrich Accept 2005 Health Quality Awards
(National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA))
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Senior Plan Administrator
for American National Insurance Company
in TX
Retirement Plan Administrator
for Independent Retirement Plan Administration Company
in FL
Client Account Manager
for New York Life Investment Management LLC
in MA
Pension Administrator
for Lurie Besikof Lapidus and Company, LLP
in MN
401(k)/DC Plan Administrator
for Central New Jersey Wealth Management Firm
in NJ
Sr. Advisor Retiree Health Care
for Kentucky Retirement Systems
in KY
Junior Pension Administrator
for Primark Benefits
in CA
Employee Benefits Associate
for THE ESQUIRE GROUP
in MN
Pension Sales Consultant
for Polycomp Administrative Services, Inc.
in CA
Vice President - Manager of Compensation and Benefits
for Midwest Regional Bank
in NE
Software Quality Assurance Analyst
for ExpertPlan Inc.
in NJ
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- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
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