BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter June 20, 2005 Today's sponsor: NCEO (Click on company name or banner to learn more.) NCEO publications in the BenefitsLink Bookstore! The National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO), a nonprofit membership and research organization that provides information on broad-based employee stock plans, now has over a dozen of its most popular publications available for purchase in the BenefitsLink bookstore. Topics range from employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) to stock options to employee stock purchase plans (ESPPs). (Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor) Disease Management Programs: What's the Cost? (PDF) 6 pages. Excerpt: "This paper was prepared by the American Academy of Actuaries' Disease Management Work Group to provide policymakers and the public with a basic background on the financial evaluation of disease management programs and to highlight some of the analytical challenges." (American Academy of Actuaries) General Motor's Health Care Dilemma -- First of a Two Part Article Excerpt: "IS General Motors an automobile manufacturer that provides healthcare benefits for its workers? Or is it a health insurance provider that also happens to make cars? The question is facetious, but there's nothing funny about GM's predicament." (The Boston Globe) Consumer-Driven Health Care May Be More Acceptable As a Package Deal Excerpt: " 'We're seeing the convergence of these types of accounts,' says Jon Kessler, chief executive of WageWorks, a spending accounts provider. Seamless coordination of a flexible spending account with a health savings account or health reimbursement account is the goal for vendors, Kessler notes, and something employees will need if they are thrust in the role of health-care consumers." (Employee Benefit News) More Workers Being Pushed Into High-Deductible Health Plans Excerpt: "At least half of the employers in the survey reported their overall medical and pres.cription drug costs had fallen since they introduced high-deductible coverage. Only 6 percent of the employers said the plans had not been successful. Yet a substantial majority of the employers said their workers don't have detailed information about physician and hospital costs and quality of care to make cost-effective health-care decisions." (Business First of Columbus via bizjournals.com; one-time registration required) Overview: Group Health Plan Sponsors Required to Send New Medicare Notice Excerpt: "The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently issued guidance requiring group health plan sponsors that offer pres.cription drug coverage to provide notices of creditable or non-creditable pres.cription drug coverage to Medicare-eligible plan participants and beneficiaries. This means that even if your plan does not provide retiree pres.cription drug coverage, you are required to provide this notice if any of your participants or beneficiaries are Medicare-eligible ...." (McDermott Will & Emery) Overview: Guidance on Adoption of a Foreign-Born Child for Tax Credit and Income Exclusion Excerpt: "The IRS has issued a final revenue procedure [Rev. Proc. 2005-31: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-05-31.pdf] explaining when an adoption of a foreign-born child is 'final,' together with an announcement [Announcement 2005-45: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/a-05-45.pdf] identifying the changes made to the proposed revenue procedure ...." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.) Overview: HHS Issues New Papers in Its HIPAA Security Series Excerpt: "The papers in this series do not specifically address health plans' compliance issues, but may provide a useful introduction to the HIPAA security rule for plans that have not yet begun preparing for compliance." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.) Canadian Supreme Court Decision on Health Care Waiting Times Excerpt: "On June 9, 2005, the debate on the future of the Canadian health care system heated up with the release of the Supreme Court of Can.ada (SCC) decision in Chaoulli v. Quebec (Attorney General) (Chaoulli). The decision concerned the validity of Quebec legislation preventing a provincial resident from securing insurance for private healthcare services already available under the public health care plan." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide) Congress Taking Bipartisan View towards Improving Health Care Quality, Expanding Info Technology (PDF) 2 pages. H.R. 2234 and others would provide federal resources and incentives to improve care and safety. (HR Policy Association) Opinion: U.S. Health Care Problem too Big for Employers and Workers Excerpt: "Like a patient ignoring an ominous lump, Washington has spent years hiding from America's healthcare crisis. Now we'll soon learn whether President Bush and Congress will pay attention even if they are hit, so to speak, by a truck. General Motors Corp. and the United Auto Workers are barreling toward an explosive collision over the company's effort to shift more of its crushing healthcare burden to its unionized workers." (Los Angeles Times; one-time registration required) Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General Complications Abound in Managing Expatriate Benefits Excerpt: "However, companies have difficulty convincing employees to move abroad when they mismanage expatriate programs and don't know what to do with people when they return to the U.S., Dwyer warns. The top reasons for assignment refusal are family concerns (47%), career aspirations (14%), compensation (13%) and spouse's career (10%), according to GMAC Global Relocation Services, which surveyed 134 multinational corporations." (Employee Benefit News) Letter to the Editor: An Accounting of Stock Options -- Reply to George F. Will's June 12 Column Excerpt: "Mr. Will's attempt to illuminate and defend Mr. Cox's position on employee stock options demonstrates the danger in having accounting standards determined in a political arena rather than by an independent board of experts overseen by the SEC." (The Washington Post; one-time registration required) Newly Posted Events Employee Benefits and Compensation Under the New Bankruptcy Act Nationwide on July 12, 2005 presented by American Bar Association (ABA) IRS Updates: New Determination Letter Procedures, EPCRS and Employee Benefit Audits Nationwide on June 28, 2005 presented by American Bar Association (ABA) LM-30s How DOL's New Enforcement Program Affects Your Funds Nationwide on June 29, 2005 presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans Newly Posted Press Releases Private Sector Defined Contribution Leaders Meet in Washington, D.C. (NAGDCA (National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators, Inc.)) TIAA-CREF Institute invites you to submit an entry for the 2005 TIAA-CREF Paul A. Samuelson Award (TIAA-CREF Institute) Treasury and IRS Issue Guidance on Single Insurer Arrangements (U.S. Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service) Hedge Fund Performance Evaluation Wins With Monte Carlo (Metrics Partners) Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings 401(k)/Defined Contribution or Defined Benefit Account Manager for National Retirement Services, Inc. (NRS) in CA, NC Pension Analyst for Benetrends, Inc. in CA Retirement Plan Specialist for Diversified Investment Advisors in MI ERISA Associate for Kilpatrick Stockton LLP in NC Sr Account Executive for AXA Financial in NJ Client Participant & Services Manager for Mercer HR Services in TX Client Services Team Leader/Project Manager for Mercer HR Services in TX Retirement Plan Administrator for Findley Davies, Inc. in OH 401(k)/Defined Contribution Plan Administrator for Professional Capital Services, LLC in PA Account Executive- Retirement Services for The Principal Financial Group in MI Business Analyst for Aon Corporation - Affinity Insurance Services in PA 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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