BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter June 28, 2005 Today's sponsor: ASPPA-- Working for America's Retirement (tm) (Click on company name or banner to learn more.) 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. (Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor) HSA Marketplace-- Week of June 27, 2005 Excerpt: "According to recent research from McKinsey & Company, consumer-driven health plan (CDHP) members are more than 50% more likely to ask about cost than were participants in traditional types of health plans. Here is some recent product and partnership health savings account (HSA) news." (Spencer Benefits Reports) Union Trust Funds Used For Industry Purposes Are Not 'Welfare Plans' Under ERISA Excerpt: "In Advisory Opinion 2005-14A, the Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) concludes that a union trust fund established to promote the taping industry and to improve employer-employee relations is not an 'employee welfare benefit plan' within the meaning of ERISA. The advisory opinion was written by John J. Canary, chief of the division of coverage, reporting, and disclosure in the EBSA's Office of Regulations and Interpretations." (Spencer Benefits Reports) The Rising Prevalence of Treated Disease: Effects on Private Health Insurance Spending Excerpt: "'To contain spending, the U.S. health care system needs to address rising rates of treated disease instead of requiring higher cost sharing from consumers. In this paper [the authors] present a new framework for understanding the factors driving the growth in private health insurance spending. Our analysis estimates how much of the rise in spending is attributable to a rise in treated disease prevalence and spending per treated case." (Health Affairs) Wall Street Journal Examines Health Plan Efforts to Curb Costs of Pres.cription Drug Benefits Excerpt: "The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday examined how employers and health plans are trying to encourage members to use generic medications to help control pres.cription drug costs. Employer drug costs increased by 83.4% over the past five years, an average of 16.7% annually, according to Mercer Human Resource Consulting. To control these costs, employers are launching 'aggressive' efforts aimed at 'driving employees to lower-cost medications,' the Journal reports." (Kaiser Family Foundation) PBA Model Is Defined by Full Disclosure, Low Net Cost, High Degree of Client Control Excerpt: "With more and more PBMs coming out with their own definitions of 'transparent' bids, two companies that call themselves 'pharmacy benefit administrators' (PBAs) say they've been using this kind of model since their inception. In addition to their full-disclosure philosophies, Greenwood Village, CO-based HealthTrans and Wausau, WI-based Innoviant say they focus on the lowest net cost of drugs rather than on maximizing the amount of rebates, and they encourage their clients to ...." (DRUG BENEFIT NEWS via AISHealth.com) Tax Policy Issues and Options: Tax Credits for Health Insurance (PDF) 8 pages. Excerpt: "[The authors] examine the effect of policies that would allow the credit only for individual non-group coverage (as in the president's plan), only for ESI [employer-sponsored insurance], and for insurance acquired in either market." (The Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center) Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General Deadline Approaches For The 2005 Spencer Survey Of Benefits Managers Excerpt: "Spencer Benefits Reports, Aspen Publishers, and CCH, Inc., continue to collect data for their 2005 Spencer Survey of Benefits Managers and employee benefits departments. This tenth biennial survey requests information concerning compensation, organization, and functional responsibilities of corporate employee benefits departments. All employers with employee benefits departments are encouraged to respond to the survey." (Spencer Benefits Reports) Summary of Statement No. 47, Accounting for Termination Benefits, Issued 6/27/05 Excerpt: "This Statement establishes accounting standards for termination benefits." (Governmental Accounting Standards Board) GASB Statement 47 Provides Involuntary Termination Benefits Guidance Excerpt: "The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) has issued Statement No. 47, Accounting for Termination Benefits to provide guidance for state and local governments on how to account for early retirement or severance payments." (PLANSPONSOR.com; one-time registration required) Benefits Perspectives: Current Issues in Employee Benefits, Spring 2005 Edition (PDF) 8 pages. Contents: Fiduciary Responsibilities for Stock-Based Retirement Plans; An Executive Survival Guide for Tax-Exempt Employers Sentenced to Section 457; Managing Health Care Costs: The Need for Better Cholesterol Control. (Milliman) A Popular Reward for Executives: Restricted Stock -- Job Performance Link Is Debatable Excerpt: "As stock options become costlier and more controversial for companies, another form of executive compensation is gaining favor -- and drawing criticism. It's known as restricted stock, a grant of stock that generally passes to an executive over a period of time." (The Washington Post; one-time registration required) EU Prospectus Required by July 1, 2005, for Offerings under an Employee Share Purchase Scheme Excerpt: "On June 6, 2005, the United Kingdom Financial Services Authority published its policy statement and near final rules on the implementation of the EU Directive on Prospectuses, which is effective for offers beginning July 1, 2005. .... U.S. issuers whose home member state is the United Kingdom may wish to defer offerings in July 2005 under an employee share purchase scheme until the proper documentation is prepared and distributed." (Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP) Newly Posted Events 3rd Annual Manage the Cost of Specialty Pharmaceuticals, Biotech Therapies and Injectables Nationwide on January 23, 2006 presented by The Center for Business Intelligence 3rd Annual Multicultural Marketing for Financial Services and Insurance Companies Nationwide on March 23, 2006 presented by The Center for Business Intelligence Back to Basics: Annual Reporting and Disclosure in Georgia on July 21, 2005 presented by Worldwide Employee Benefits Network (WEB) - Atlanta Chapter Get the Most Out of Your ESOP in Missouri on September 26, 2005 presented by National Center for Employee Ownership Solid Organ Transplantation in Connecticut on September 19, 2005 presented by The Center for Business Intelligence The 3rd Annual Forum for Hospitals and Health Systems on Captives and Alternative Risk Financing for Medical Liability in Texas on July 11, 2008 presented by The Center for Business Intelligence The Rising Prevalence Of Treated Disease: Effects On Private Health Insurance Spending Nationwide on June 28, 2005 presented by Kaiser Family Foundation Newly Posted Press Releases Plan Sponsor Forum July 2005: Digging Deeper with the right tools; A workshop for 401(k) (Caterpillar Investment Management Ltd.) DataPath Releases Revolutionary Claims Vault: Providing secure electronic storage of all plan participant receipts and claims (DataPath, Inc.) Baby Boomers To Hit Retirement Savings Milestone; Retirement Leader Cautions, ''Don't Touch That Nest Egg Yet''; The First Boomers Turn 59 1/2 on July 1 (Principal Financial Group) GASB Completes Accounting Standards for Termination Benefits (Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB)) Web Site Makes CRS Reports Available (Center for Democracy and Technology) Companies Offer Nation's First Credit Line to Owners of Health Savings Accounts; MedDirect Health Benefits, 1Point Solutions Team Up To Overcome Top Employer Objections to HSAs (MedDirect Health Benefits) Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings Key Account Consultant for ING U.S. Financial Services in IL Compliance Analyst for Transamerica in CA Supervisor TPA Firm for Chicago TPA Firm in IL HGB Benefits Operations Manager for Hewitt Associates in IL Underwriting Associate for M Benefit Solutions in OR Relationship Mgr/Admin : Institutional Retirement Svcs. for Channel Synergy (exec recruiter) in FL Retirement Plan Specialist for American Funds, a part of the Capital Group Companies, Inc. in TX Enrolled Actuary for Central New Jersey Wealth Management Firm in NJ Plan Administrator for Retirement Plan & ERISA Specialists for Small Chicago TPA & law firm in IL Employee Benefits Manager for Contra Costa County in AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, IL, IN, KY, MI, MO, MT, NM, NV, OH, OR, TX, UT, WA, WV, WY 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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