| BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter |   |
March 28, 2005
Today's sponsor: International Foundation Bookstore
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
Benefits and Compensation Glossary Just Published. Order Today! Benefits and Compensation Glossary--the most indispensable resource for employee benefit practitioners--has just been updated. This practical, easy-to-use guide provides clear meanings for over 3,000 employee benefits and compensation terms and acronyms. Published by the International Foundation, it draws from U.S. and Canadian sources and includes recent compliance definitions. Visit www.ifebp.org/bookstore or call (888) 334-3327, option 4.
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Plaintiffs Could Not Recover Medical Expenses Incurred Due To Cancellation Of COBRA Coverage
Excerpt: "Plaintiffs were not entitled under ERISA to recover medical expenses that they had paid as a result of the termination of their COBRA continuation of health care coverage. This was the decision of the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Calhoon v. Trans World Airlines, Inc. and Aetna Insurance Agency, Inc. (No. 04-2070)." (Spencer Benefits Reports)
DOL Steps Up Health Plan Enforcement: Employers Should Take Advantage of DOL Guidance
Excerpt: "After years of tackling compliance with the privacy and electronic data interchange requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, employers that sponsor group health plans should now focus renewed attention on requirements of other health laws." (Employee Benefit News)
Court Says No Claim against Third-Party COBRA Administrator for Reimbursement of Medical Bills
Excerpt: "Although the court focused on who could be sued and what the appropriate remedy might be under ERISA, we were left wondering whether there were any COBRA violations in this case. The participant received the required COBRA election materials and elected and paid for COBRA coverage." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA))
Overview: HHS Gives Additional Guidance on Security Rule
Excerpt: "The Department of Health and Human Services has released the third of seven planned papers that give guidance on implementing the HIPAA security rule. The paper comes less than a month before the April 20 compliance date for most covered entities. Very small payers have an additional year. .... The first three security rule guidance papers are available for downloading at www.cms.hhs.gov/hipaa/hipaa2." (Health Data Management)
HIPAA Security Rule Deadline Is April 21, 2005
Excerpt: "Maybe you thought that you were finished with HIPAA compliance when you sent out your Privacy Notices on April 15, 2003. But there is yet another section of Title II of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act that comes due this year - the HIPAA Security Rule - and the deadline is April 21, 2005. What is the Security Rule? The Security Rule finishes what the Privacy Rule started in terms of protecting an employee's individually identifiable health information." (Employee Benefit News)
Creditable Coverage HIPAA Definition Applies for Purposes of Determining Who Is Eligible Individual
Excerpt: "It's helpful to have this confirmation that the new definition of creditable coverage will apply in the context of the individual market rules. The final HIPAA regulations become applicable on the first day of the first plan year starting on or after July 1, 2005." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA))
Opinion: Taking a Walk on the Supply Side: 10 Steps to Control Health Care Costs
Excerpt: "Combined, these 10 supply-side approaches could generate substantial savings. Some would lower costs and improve care. None would require patients to forgo effective care or incur higher out-of-pocket costs. These steps would result in changes in the health sector that would likely affect the profitability of the insurance and pharmaceutical sectors. Other steps would reduce incomes of specia.list physicians, which might reduce the attractiveness of pursuing medicine as a career." (Karen Davis via The Commonwealth Fund)
Health Crisis Index Rose 37 Percent, 1987 - 2003: Higher Spending Associated with Uninsured Number (PDF)
13 pages. Excerpt: "[The authors] have constructed a Health Care Cost and Coverage Crisis Index by adding health care's share of U.S. gross domestic product to the share of Americans lacking health insurance (also called the HCCCCI or the Health Crisis Index). The Health Crisis Index rose from 22.5 percent in 1987 to 30.9 percent in 2003, rise of nearly two-fifths. It reached new heights in 2001, 2002, and 2003." (Boston University School of Public Health)
Employer's Guide to the Medicare Part D Outpatient Pres.cription Drug Benefit
Excerpt: "This client advisory describes the particulars of the standard Medicare Part D benefit and explains how the Act affects employer-sponsored group health plans in ... two important respects: .... [Notices of Creditable Coverage and the Retiree Pres.cription Drug Subsidy.]" (Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.)
Pressure Building at State Level to Compel Employers to Provide Health Insurance Coverage (PDF)
15 pages. A brief analyses of bills pending in 30 states and a chart showing State Health Care Mandates/Incentive legislation. (HR Policy Association)
Text: H.R. 525: Allowing Small Business to Provide Health Insurance Via Association Health Plans (PDF)
64 pages. Bill to amend Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to improve access and choice for entrepreneurs with small businesses with respect to medical care for their employees. (U.S. House of Representatives via The ERISA Industry Committee)
Text: EEOC Motion for Summary Judgment in the Case of AARP v. EEOC re: Retiree Health Benefits (PDF)
4 pages. Defendant's Opposition to Plaintiffs' Cross-Motion for Summary Judgement (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission via American Benefits Council)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Making Multiemployer Mergers Work -- Pension Plan Considerations (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "Work on multiemployer mergers can involve multiple areas. Here are some of the tasks that those considering multiemployer mergers will have to work on with their professional advisors: review actuarial valuations of plans considering a merger; review pension and vesting credit; and, study withdrawal liability issues." (The Segal Company)
Utah State University Weighs Issue of Employee Benefits for Same-Sex Domestic Partners
Excerpt: "Despite potential backlash, Utah State University officials are exploring a proposal to offer employee benefits to same-sex couples. .... The issue gained momentum when a draft proposal - dated Jan. 27 and written by four USU faculty members - requested domestic-partner benefits on demand to same-sex partners of USU faculty and staff." (The Salt Lake Tribune)
The November 2004 Edition of 'Benefits in Brief' (PDF)
16 pages. Includes articles on: The Changing Landscape of Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plans: The American Jobs Creation Act of 2004; Top Hat Plan Basics; Requirements Under the New Relative Value Regulations for Certain Retirement Plans; Employer Not Liable Under ERISA for Acts of its Human Resources Manager; Proposed Procedures for Determination Letters; When a Person is a 'Dependent,' for Tax and Plan Purposes Has Changed; and, COBRA Notice Requirement Changes, Beginning January 1, 2005 (Jenkens & Gilchrist)
Congress Takes Another Run at Giving Breaks to Federal and Military Retirees
Excerpt: "The legislative table has been set, once again, for federal retirees. Bills have been introduced in the House and Senate to repeal two parts of Social Security law that penalize numerous government retirees. Bills that would permit federal and military retirees to pay their health insurance premiums with pretax dollars also have been put in the legislative hopper." (The Washington Post; one-time registration required)
Newly Posted Press Releases
Assistant Treasury Secretary Mark Warshawsky's Remarks to the American Enterprise Institute on the Urgent Need for Social Security Reform
(U.S. Department of Treasury)
ASC & GBA Announce the Formation of The ASC Institute
(ASC)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Marketing/Sales/Enrollments
for South Florida RIA, TPA and Record Keeping Firm
in FL
Senior Actuarial Analyst
for Conrad Siegel Actuaries
in PA
Defined Benefit Client Account Manager
for New York Life Investment Management LLC
in MA
Daily Retirement Plan Administrator
for American Pensions, Inc.
in SC
Trust Officer II - Business Trust and Investments
for City National Bank
in CA
Benefits Case Manager
for Pension Professionals of America, Inc.
in AZ
Retirement Plan Administration Specialist
for Consulting Actuaries Incorporated
in NJ
Defined Contribution Specialist
for Constantin Control Associates
in ANY STATE
Defined Contribution - Technical Analyst
for Constantin Control Associates
in ANY STATE
Business Development Manager
for Schloss & Co.
in NY
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: