| BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter |   |
May 3, 2005
Today's sponsor: ASPPA • Working for America's Retirement™
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| Meeting Midway Conference |
| July 24-27, 2005 * San Diego, CA
Health and welfare issues * 401(k) plans Employee compensation * Actuarial pension issues Health Savings Accounts * Legal & fiduciary issues You don't want to miss this one! Register online today. Brought to you by WP&BC and ASPPA. |
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Update on Erie County: District Court Bars Publication of EEOC Regulation (PDF)
Excerpt: "If the anticipated appeal of the district court's decision is unsuccessful or an appellate decision is substantially delayed (for example, if the case is ultimately appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court),legislative action reiterating Congressional intent that the ADEA does not apply to retiree health benefits may be necessary to reduce the threat to retiree benefits posed by Erie County." (America’s Health Insurance Plans via American Benefits Council)
Overview of Two Court Rulings that May Increase Employers' Age Discrimination Liability
Excerpt: "Two recent court rulings concerning age discrimination have given employers reason to be especially careful with their benefit plan designs. The rulings call into question some widespread corporate practices, such as coordinating retiree health benefits with Medicare and adopting policies that might negatively impact older workers more than younger workers." (Employee Benefit News)
HR Consultant Says Workplace Technology Effects Are Numerous
Excerpt: "With dramatic gains in technology and a pending wave of large-scare boomer retirements, differences in the workplace landscape are becoming increasingly apparent, one HR consultant says. Bernadette Kenny, executive vice president of global career management services company Lee Hecht Harrison, listed five workplace trends she said will continue to gain traction in the months ahead: ...." (PLANSPONSOR.com; one-time registration required)
Pregnancy Is Latest Addition to Employers' Disease Management Programs
Excerpt: "To ward off the risk of premature births and costly hospitalizations, some employers are beginning to weave prenatal care into the disease management programs that they offer to workers." (Employee Benefit News)
Pilot Program Underway: Hospital Tiering at Boeing Shows Promise
Excerpt: "With employers looking for ways to reward quality in health care - but without necessarily paying more - a Boeing pilot program associated with the Leapfrog Group could help navigate a route forward. The program is getting buzz from employers as well as academic researchers who are closing in on tracking its results." (Employee Benefit News)
IBM to Launch Prototype of Health Information Network
Excerpt: "A few months after the nation's health IT czar asked for input on how to create a national health information network, IBM on Monday announced plans to build a prototype of sorts. By building a test system to move data from one place to another, IBM Research aims to show that easy electronic sharing of medical information can not only provide better care at lower costs, but can enable new kinds of services." (Ziff Davis Internet)
American Medical News Looks at Growing Popularity of Personal Health Records
Excerpt: "American Medical News ... looked at the growing popularity of personal health records, identifying barriers to adoption and spotlighting organizations that are making headway in empowering patients to compile their own medical data. Although the concept of a PHR is evolving, a Connecting for Health task force in 2003 defined PHR as an Internet-based set of tools that enable patients to access and record their health information and make parts of that information available to others." (California HealthCare Foundation)
Washington Times Examines Changes in Employer-Based Health Coverage as Costs Rise
Excerpt: "The Washington Times [May 3, 2005] examined how some large businesses are slowing their rising health care costs by 'sharing more of their health care burden with employees.' Employees' health care costs are expected to increase 12% this year, while benefits levels are expected to decrease by 2%, according to a study released in October by consulting firm Towers Perrin." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Some States Push for Health Care Pooling for Public School Systems
Excerpt: "[A]dvocates in at least a half dozen states where insurance pooling plans are being considered say it makes little sense for school systems to negotiate health plans individually. .... Opponents of insurance pooling - including many teachers' unions and districts with generous benefits - say a state-run bureaucracy can diminish benefits and strip them of collective bargaining rights." (AP via Las Vegas Sun)
Medicare Part D: A Nuts and Bolts Look at the Next Steps for Employers (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "The Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) and the final Medicare Part D regulations released in January 2005 signal a major opportunity for employers to reduce their cash costs for retiree pres.cription drug coverage, as well as their accounting costs under FAS 106. Employers face several broad alternatives in deciding whether and how to provide pres.cription drug benefits to Medicare-eligible retirees, which include: ...." (Towers Perrin)
Court Finds PharmaCare Unfairly Aided CVS's Business in Managed Care Deal
Excerpt: "The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts [in March 2005] ruled that Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Inc., CVS Corp. and PharmaCare Management Services, Inc. violated the state's 'any willing provider law' by trying to preserve an agreement that would maintain at least 80% of CVS's market share with Harvard Pilgrim." (DRUG BENEFIT NEWS via AISHealth.com)
States Push for Employer Tax to Expand Health Coverage for Workers
Excerpt: "Rising health care costs have taken their toll on public health assistance programs for low-income families, prompting several states to examine which companies have a large number of workers enrolled in Medicaid. In some cases, state lawmakers have called for a tax on employers to pay for their employees' health care coverage through Medicaid, saying they shouldn't have to subsidize the employee benefits of companies who can afford to offer health insurance to more workers." (Employee Benefit News)
Investing Platform Specifically for HSAs Uses Schwab Products
Excerpt: "Recognizing that the medical-savings purpose of health savings accounts often requires a different investment approach than retirement and education savings accounts, Devenir LLC, a two-year-old broker-dealer, has developed an investment platform specifically for the HSA market." (Investment News)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Overview: New Bankrup.tcy Law
Excerpt: "President Bush signed the bankrup.tcy reform act on April 20, 2005. The new law provides qualified plan participants and individual retirement account (IRA) owners with more protection for their retirement assets." (McKay Hochman Co., Inc.)
Benefiting from ERISA: Exclusions Allow Benefits for Small Business Owners and Key Managers
Excerpt: "Before ERISA went into effect in 1974, many business owners and high-income professionals routinely provided themselves with extraordinary retirement and health benefits while their rank-and-file employees received substantially less. ERISA, with its draconian nondiscrimination rules, appeared to have changed all of that forever. ERISA, however, also created opportunities for owners to continue providing an array of exclusive executive benefits under certain codified exclusions, ...." (Financial Advisor)
DHL Benefit Offerings Tell Employees They Count with All Inclusive Employee Web Portal
Excerpt: "When DHL consummated its deal for Airborne in 2003, the benefits and compensation workload was considerable - manage plans for 25,000 employees, redesign the programs from the ground up, launch an employee education portal, and oh, yeah, save some money while you're at it." (Employee Benefit News)
Workers Lack Benefits Knowledge, Mistrust Drug Makers, According to Survey
Excerpt: "Many workers misunderstand their benefits and do not spend much time learning about them, reveals a recent survey from MetLife. About 60% of employees do not understand which benefits best meet their needs. To fill the gap, 27% of employees rely on friends and relatives for financial advice, while 46% do not consult anyone, according to MetLife, .... Furthermore, 55% of employees spend 30 minutes or less making benefits decisions during the open enrollment period." (Employee Benefit News)
Newly Posted Events
Clinical Trials
in California on September 19, 2005
presented by American Conference Institute
Washington Update: HR Policy Association and CMS
in Ohio on May 19, 2005
presented by Worldwide Employee Benefits Network (WEB) - Cleveland Chapter
Western Pension & Benefits Conference -- MT Chapter Quarterly Meeting
in Montana on June 8, 2005
presented by Western Pension & Benefits Conference - Montana Chapter
Newly Posted Press Releases
McKay Hochman eSeminar on Roth 401(k) Deferrals Announced
(McKay Hochman Co., Inc.)
The Honorable John W. Snow Prepared Remarks: The American Academy of Actuaries’ Spring Meeting Washington, DC
(U.S. Treasury Department)
Discover 412(i) CD by Nick Paleveda MBA J.D. LL.M.
(412i Company)
Leaves of Absences (Including FMLA and Military Leaves)
(Worldwide Employee Benefits Network (WEB) - NJ)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Defined Contribution Plan Administrator
for Pension Works, Inc.
in VT
Defined Benefit Plan Representative
for United Airlines
in IL
Operations Manager (Las Vegas)
for Zenith Administrators
in NV
Benefits Analyst
for Global Financial Firm - NYC
in NY
ERISA Associate
for Kilpatrick Stockton LLP
in NC
Java Programmer
for ExpertPlan Inc.
in NJ
ERISA Associate
for Kilpatrick Stockton LLP
in DC
Pension Association
for UFCW-Employers Benefit Plans of Northern California Group Admin., LLC
in CA
401k Plan Administrator
for Boston Financial Data Services
in MA
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.
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