BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter August 11, 2005 Today's sponsor: BeneCom Associates, LLC (Click on company name or banner to learn more.) BeneCom Associates, LLC, for one-stop benefit communications Since 1992, BeneCom has provided one-stop benefit communications for organizations large and small, nationwide. Staffed by people who know benefits, we write, design and produce effective media, including SPDs, enrollment materials, newsletters, benefit statements and more. So whether you're an employer, plan administrator or consultant in need of traditional or online capabilities, we're here to help. Call (860) 674-2626 today. (Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor) Employees Pass on Health Flex Accounts Excerpt: "For years, employers have complained that too many workers reject a benefit designed to help them with child care or medical expenses because they don't want to risk forfeiting any money still in the account at year's end. In response, the Internal Revenue Service has relaxed the 'use-it-or-lose it' rule for flexible spending accounts by letting employees carry over any unspent funds for an extra two-and-a-half-months. But a survey of 318 of the nation's largest employers shows ...." (AP via The New York Times; one-time registration required) Half of U.S. Employers Surveyed Report They Will Permit FSA Carry Over of Unused Amounts Excerpt: "The ... study was released ... by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions and the ERISA Industry Committee." (AXcess News Network, Inc.) Text: EBSA Advisory Opinion 2005-18A Excerpt: "[This advisory opinion addresses w]hether section 514(a) of ERISA preempts amendments to the Washington State Insurance Code that provide for a premium tax and high-risk pool assessment to be paid by self-funded multiple employer welfare arrangements (MEWAs)." (U.S. Employee Benefits Security Administration) OPM Vows to Procure Dental and Vision Care Plans Favorable to Federal Workers Excerpt: "The Office of Personnel Management has reassured its House oversight committee that a dental and vision benefits program being planned for federal employees will leverage the government's purchasing power to hold down premiums." (The Washington Post; one-time registration required) Nosy Employees Are a Major HIPAA Privacy Risk in Health Care Settings Excerpt: "To protect the privacy of patients who are particularly vulnerable to nosy employees, such as celebrities and employees treated at their employer-hospital, University of California -- Davis Health System has added a warning screen to its electronic medical records (EMRs). It requires employees to stop and consider their motives before entering the inner protected health information (PHI) sanctum." (REPORT ON PATIENT PRIVACY via AISHealth.com) Health Care Players Look at Possible Effects of Future Health Insurance Mergers Excerpt: "One of the tenets of a free and open marketplace is that competition keeps prices down and quality up. What happens, then, when competitors merge, effectively reducing and maybe eventually eliminating competition? Consumer groups, doctors and state government officials worry that consolidation in the health insurance industry is resulting in higher costs and less coverage. They protest large payoffs for insurance executives, write letters to the Department of Justice and require ...." (California HealthCare Foundation) Senators Plan to Move Forward with Health Care Pay-for-Performance Bill Excerpt: "Senate leaders say they will move forward with their pay-for-performance bill (S 1356) after the August congressional recess despite concerns from physicians groups that the bill does not call for a reimbursement overhaul, American Medical News reports." (California HealthCare Foundation) Several Bright Spots Lead to Enrollment Gains for Health Plans Excerpt: "The second quarter typically shows very slow enrollment gains for health insurers because of the seasonal nature of sales and renewal cycles. But some publicly traded managed care companies reported a few bright spots in member profiles, including consumer-directed health plans, individual products and national accounts." (MANAGED CARE WEEK via AISHealth.com) Paper in Progress: Family Decision Making When Two Workers Are Offered Group Coverage (PDF) 26 pages. Excerpt: "About 60 percent of married women are in the labor force .... As a result, many families can now choose among health insurance benefit plans offered by two employers. The choices that families make potentially have important policy implications and distributional consequences. Recent work using the 1996 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey has shown that two-earner households are more likely to be offered health insurance, to be covered by health insurance, ...." (U.S. Employee Benefits Security Administration) Press Briefing by Director, National Economic Council, and Chairman, Council of Economic Advisors The briefing addressed the state of the economy and, in particular, health care costs and their effect on workers. (The White House) Walgreens, Rivals to Pass Drug Rebates on to Clients Excerpt: "Deerfield-based Walgreen Co., Aetna Inc. and MedImpact Healthcare Systems Inc. have agreed to a deal under which they will pass along drugmaker rebates and provide more pricing information to help clients cut employee drug costs by as much as 9 percent, the HR Policy Association said Wednesday." (Bloomberg News via Chicago Tribune; one-time registration required) Specialty Pharmacies Use Therapy Management to Add Value for Health Plans Excerpt: "With disease management (DM) becoming ever more popular among health plans, more specialty pharmacies are turning to therapy management (TM) as a value-added proposition for payers. And savvy payers are increasingly looking for such programs to produce cost savings." (SPECIALTY PHARMACY NEWS via AISHealth.com) Overview: Medicare Part D Drug Benefit -- Employer Group Health Plan Compliance Responsibilities Excerpt: "Medicare's new pres.cription drug benefit (called 'Medicare Part D') becomes effective January 1, 2006. Every employer that sponsors a group health plan that provides pres.cription drug coverage (whether for active employees or retirees, insured or self-insured) must: ...." (Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly LLP) NPR Examines Commercial Testing Cos Offering Preventive Health Screenings without Pres.criptions Excerpt: "NPR's 'Morning Edition' on Thursday examined commercial testing companies offering preventive health screenings for a variety of conditions and diseases -- such as high cholesterol, HIV and cysts -- without a pres.cription. For example, HealthFair USA uses technicians to conduct tests in a mobile health unit, sends test results to be interpreted by a company physician and mails test results to the consumer." (Kaiser Family Foundation) Health Savings Account Guidebook Part 5: Trustees and Custodians Excerpt: "Only insurance companies defined in Code Section 816 or any bank (or a similar financial institution as defined in Code Section 408(n)) can be an HSA trustee or custodian. In addition, any other person already approved by the IRS to be a trustee or custodian of IRAs or MSAs is automatically approved to be an HSA trustee or custodian. Other persons may request approval to be a trustee or custodian." (Chicago Consulting Actuaries, LLC) Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General Overview: Proposed Treasury Regs Regarding Use of Electronic Media for Benefit Communications (PDF) 3 pages. Excerpt: "In addition to the [proposed] requirements ..., electronic benefit communications must: (a) continue to meet any other requirements of the Code (e.g., timing, content, etc.); and (b) be as understandable in electronic form as if they were provided on paper." (Gardner Carton & Douglas LLP) Shareholder Groups Keeping Pressure on Morgan Stanley to Link Executive Pay with Performance Excerpt: "The controversy surrounding the huge compensation packages awarded top Morgan Stanley executives may soon start an all out war between the legendary investment firm's board of directors and officials at two shareholder groups, NEWSWEEK has learned." (Newsweek via MSNBC.com) Union Sues Boeing Over Early Retirement Benefits Lost as a Result of Sale of Division Excerpt: "The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace is suing Boeing Corp. to force it to reinstate early retirees' medical and pension benefits for union members that were lost when the Chicago-based aircraft manufacturer sold its commercial aircraft division in Wichita to Canadian investment firm Onex Corp." (Business Insurance) Paper in Progress: Employee Benefits and Two-Earner Households -- A Research Prospectus (PDF) 5 pages. Excerpt: "Employer-provided benefits are an essential part of workers' total compensation package. Once known as 'fringe' benefits, their costs to employers and value to employees are now often quite substantial. The main employer benefits are health insurance and pensions. It is well known that health insurance and pension plans affect many dimensions of worker choices: part-time vs. full-time work, self-employment vs. traditional employment, retirement age, etc." (U.S. Employee Benefits Security Administration) Overview: IRS Issues Rev. Rul. on Rules Governing Exercise of Certain Nonstatutory Stock Options (PDF) 2 pages. Excerpt: "On August 2, 2005, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued an advance copy of Revenue Ruling 2005-48, defining the term 'substantially vested' under Internal Revenue Code (I.R.C.) section 83 with respect to the exercise of certain nonstatutory stock options." (KPMG LLP) Benefits Vernacular and How Many Acronyms Do You Know and Love? Excerpt: "[Ms Grenier] was thinking ... about all of the acronyms that benefits professionals utilize when they 'talk shop.' .... Anyway, here is a list and [she is] sure there are more, so email [her] ones that come to mind, and [she] will add them: ...." (Attorney B. Janell Grenier via Benefitsblog.com) Newly Posted Press Releases Survey: Half of U.S. Employers Plan To Allow Employees To Carry Over Unused Flexible Health Care Spending Account Money (Deloitte) ERIC and Deloitte Receive Results of Flexible Spending Arrangement Survey (ERIC (ERISA Industry Committee)) New Great-West Healthcare Pharmacy Program Complies with 2006 HSA Regulations; Implementation Well Ahead of Mandated Jan. 1 Deadline (Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company) Schwab Introduces Participant Retirement Tool For Clients Of Third Party Administrators (Metrics Partners) National Investment Managers Acquires Stephen H. Rosen & Associates, Inc. Retirement Consulting, Pension Plan Design And Administration Services (National Investment Managers Inc.) Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings Retirement Operations Manager for JELD-WEN, Inc. in OR Sr. Analyst - Due Diligence for ING US Financial Services in CA HR Specialist for Hewitt Associates in FL Relationship Manager for CitiStreet in NJ 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. 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