| BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter |   |
September 1, 2005
Today's sponsor: Financial Research Associates
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
| PHARMACY BENEFIT COST CONTROL STRATEGIES |
| September 26 - 27, 2005 * Hyatt Dulles * Washington D.C.
To register: 800-280-8440 Advanced Industry Symposium on Drug Utilization & Formulary Design Immediate Impact Cost Control Strategies for Employers, Health Plans and Pharmacy Benefit Managers |
| (Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor) |
Flextime to the Nth Degree: Deloitte's Long-Term Leave Program Keeps Alumni Connected
Excerpt: "[D]eloitte's Personal Pursuits program ... allows employees who leave the workforce for up to five years to stay connected through a mentor and training opportunities. .... Personal Pursuits provides a host of resources to keep participants connected, skilled and up to date, including training, mentors, networking events, short-term work assignments, career coaches and resources to maintain professional licenses and professional association memberships." (Deloitte Services LLP via Journal of Accountancy)
Ignorance Is Not Bliss When It Comes to HIPAA Business Associates
Excerpt: "The final rule required only that CEs 'enter into written contracts or other arrangements with business associates which protect the privacy of protected health information.' In addition, CEs have a duty to correct any 'breaches' and contract violations they are aware of that occur, and if they don't, the CE is considered out of compliance and faces the consequences of any government action. But beyond that, HHS stated that 'covered entities are not required to monitor or ....'" (REPORT ON PATIENT PRIVACY via AISHealth.com)
Disease Management May Not Save As Much As Believed, According to Report
Excerpt: "Disease management programs are not the automatic money saver that many believe them to be, if a new report by Cornell University and Medstat is any indication. Analysts found, after reviewing 44 studies about the economic impact and return on investment of disease management programs, that the results were mixed depending on the targeted conditions." (The Adviser)
The Disease Management Industry Is Evolving, with a Nice Boost from Uncle Sam
Excerpt: "The government joins health plans, providers, employers, and pharma.ceutical companies in seeking to establish DM's value. Disease management's legitimacy got a shot in the arm when the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services awarded multimillion dollar contracts to nine vendors last December. The 'Medicare Health Support' pilot programs carry estimated budgets of between $100 million and $200 million, a substantial investment." (MANAGED CARE)
Can a Health Plan's Free EMR 'Lite' Be Useful to Doctors & Hospitals?
Excerpt: "Insurers may not need to look any further than existing claims data to build useful payer-based health records." (MANAGED CARE)
Health Plans Increase Coverage of Unorthodox Medical Therapies
Excerpt: "Studies indicate that complementary and alternative medicine may save on drug costs." (MANAGED CARE)
USA TODAY/Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health's Health Care Costs Survey
Excerpt: "This comprehensive survey ... examines how Americans are being affected by health care costs. The survey includes information on the barriers health care costs pose to obtaining medical care and the alternative measures people take to lower their medical and pres.cription drug bills. .... A three-day series based on the results of the survey appeared in USA Today. [The target page provides links to the USA Today Articles; the Survey Summary and Chartpack; and Toplines.]" (Kaiser Family Foundation)
The Health Care Crunch -- How Americans Pay for Medical Care
The USA Today Series continues by focusing on health costs' effect on people with chronic conditions. (USA TODAY)
Employee Contributions to Employer-Based Health Plans by Bargaining Status, Private Industry, 2005
Excerpt: "The percentage of employees required to contribute to employer-provided medical insurance plans, single or family coverage, varies among all major occupational categories and other worker characteristics; however, the gap in contribution requirements between union and nonunion employees is especially notable." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Graphics: Medical Insurance Premiums and Establishment Size, 2005
Excerpt: "According to the 2005 National Compensation Survey (NCS) benefits data, 76 percent of all private industry employees with single coverage medical insurance plans are required to contribute toward their premiums; 88 percent of those with family coverage plans are required to contribute." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
CBO Background Paper: The Price Sensitivity of Demand for Nongroup Health Insurance (PDF)
29 pages. Excerpt: "In this background paper, CBO estimates the effect of the level of nongroup insurance premiums on the decision to enroll in nongroup insurance by workers who do not have health insurance available to them through their employer. In keeping with CBO's mandate to provide objective, impartial analysis, this paper makes no policy recommendations." (U.S. Congressional Budget Office)
Evaluating the Nondrug Costs of Formulary Coverage Restrictions
Excerpt: "Substantial nondrug costs result from switching prescribed medications in response to changes in insurance coverage, and many nonreimbursed costs shift to providers and patients." (MANAGED CARE)
Mail-Service Pharmacy Savings: A Ten-Year Outlook for Public and Private Healthcare Purchasers (PDF)
17 pages. Excerpt: "Mail-service pharmacies -- technologically advanced facilities operated primarily by pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) -- dispense millions of pres.criptions each year with a high degree of accuracy and cost efficiency. This study seeks to quantify the savings associated with the mail-service pharmacy distribution channel being used to full potential." (Pharma.ceutical Care Management Association)
Overview: Part D Creditable Coverage and Subsidy -- Employer Obligations & Opportunities
Excerpt: "The Medicare Pres.cription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 ('MMA'), added a new pres.cription drug program to Medicare, referred to as 'Part D.' Pres.cription drug coverage under Part D will be available to eligible individuals starting January 1, 2006. In January 2005, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ('CMS') issued final regulations establishing many of the rules and requirements for Part D coverage." (Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham LLP)
Graphic: Medical Plan Choices in Private Industry, 2005
Excerpt: "Data are derived from internal files of the 2005 National Compensation Survey (NCS). Published 2005 benefits data are available from 'National Compensation Survey: Employee Benefits in Private Industry in the United States, March 2005,' Summary 05-01 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 2005); available on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs/sp/ebsm0003.pdf." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
GAO Reports No Access Problems Related to 'Concierge Health Care'
Excerpt: "The fraud and abuse minefield of 'concierge care' may be one reason it never has become widespread. As an Aug. 12 Government Accountability Office report states, only 146 physicians nationwide practice concierge care -- a number so low GAO reported that Congress doesn't have to worry whether the elite practice is affecting beneficiary access to physicians." (REPORT ON MEDICARE COMPLIANCE via AISHealth.com)
Audio: Understanding Health Savings Accounts
Guests on the broadcast included: Dr. Henry Simmons, president of the National Coalition on Health Care; Frank Ciotola, co-owner and vice president of DaVinci Restaurant in Columbus, Ohio; and Uwe Reinhardt, professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton University. (Talk of the Nation via National Public Radio)
Overview: IRS Proposes Rules for Determining Comparable Contributions to Health Savings Accounts (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "Under the proposed rules, employers that elect to make contributions to their employees' HSAs are required to make comparable contributions for all employees who (1) are eligible individuals enrolled in a high deductible health plan (HDHP), (2) are in the same category of employment and (3) have the same category of coverage." (Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP)
Opinion: PNHP Fact Sheet: Health Savings Accounts-- No Savings (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "Advocates of HSAs contend that health insurance 'disguises' the true cost of health care. Patients with health insurance, advocates say, see the health services they receive as being 'free,' and therefore overuse them, causing health care costs to rise. This is known as the theory of 'moral hazard.' Health savings accounts purportedly solve this problem by forcing consumers to purchase health services 'with their own money.'" (Physicians for a National Health Program)
HSA Guidebook Part 6: Employer Involvement and Comparability Rules
Excerpt: "There are no limitations (e.g. size or type) on which employers can contribute to an HSA for their employees. Any employer may contribute HSAs to eligible employees. HSAs are available for tax years beginning after December 31, 2003. If an employer wants to terminate contributions to employees' HSAs, it is suggested that prior notice is given to the employees." (Chicago Consulting Actuaries, LLC)
Legislators in Most States Have Cleared the Way for Health Savings Accounts
Excerpt: "Insurance commissioners in Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and Florida tell ICDC that lawmakers in their states recently removed legal roadblocks that would have made it impossible, or at least difficult, to pair a health savings account (HSA) with a high-deductible health plan (HDHP). But the clock is ticking for legislators in several states that still have laws on the books that could prevent or impede the adoption of HSA-based health plans on Jan. 1, 2006, ...." (INSIDE CONSUMER-DIRECTED CARE via AISHealth.com)
Notes on the Katrina Disaster: Health Insurers Can Help Katrina Survivors Find Employers
Excerpt: "A health insurance company is a natural source of communications assistance for displaced employees, because many employees who have no idea how to reach their employers under current conditions may still have their health insurance cards and health insurance company 800 numbers in their wallets, ...." (National Underwriter Life & Health; free one-time registration or paid subscription required)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Firms Replacing Stock Options with Restricted Shares Face a Tough Sell to Employees
Excerpt: "Getting information out early--even before all of the details are worked out--may help workers better understand how such changes in compensation will affect them." (Workforce Management; one-time registration required)
GASB Staff Position: Classification and Measurement ... under FASB Statement No. 123(R) (PDF)
6 pages. Excerpt: "The Board directed the FASB staff to issue this FASB Staff Position ... to defer at this time the requirement of FASB Statement No. 123 ..., Share-Based Payment, that a freestanding financial instrument originally subject to Statement 123(R) becomes subject to the recognition and measurement requirements of other applicable generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) when the rights conveyed by the instrument to the holder are no longer dependent on the ...." (Financial Accounting Standards Board)
A Guide to Protecting Your Benefits When Leaving Your Job
Excerpt: "[W]hile finding new employment may be getting easier, making the switch to a new employer is increasingly complicated. With changes in tax laws and a growing selection of benefits to keep track of (such as flexible spending and health-savings accounts), it's become just as critical to have a job-exit strategy as a job-hunting plan." (The Wall Street Journal via Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Commentary on the DOL Mandate for E-filing of Form 5500
Excerpt: "On August 30, 2005 the Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration published a proposal that would require all Form 5500 filings due for reporting years beginning after 2006 be filed electronically." (form5500help.com)
Stock Options in S Corporations - It Keeps Getting More Complicated
Excerpt: "[W]hat's the best program format, or vehicle, for an employee equity program? Is it stock options? Restricted Stock? An ESOP? Not-quite-real stock such as SARs? Maybe purchase plans? Over the years that the Beyster Institute has been helping business leaders to sort through these issues, we've seen popular approaches change - and change again. It's certainly understandable. Congress and the regulators periodically change the rules; trends and fads ebb and flow; and experience ...." (Leading Companies Online Magazine via Beyster Institute)
Newly Posted Events
AJCA: The Latest Guidance on Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation Plans
in Ohio on September 20, 2005
presented by WEB (Worldwide Employee Benefits Network) Cleveland Chapter
Health Savings Accounts: Are They Right For Your Organization?
Nationwide on September 21, 2005
presented by Alexander Hamilton Institute
Update on Retirement Plans
in New York on September 12, 2005
presented by Monroe County Bar Association - Center for Education
Newly Posted Press Releases
Hewitt Study Shows Base Pay Increases Flat for 2006 With Variable Pay Plans Picking Up the Slack; Health Care and Energy Cost Increases Threaten Salary Gains
(Hewitt Associates LLC)
The Principal Financial Group Offers New Service for Group Life Insurance Beneficiaries; Financial Professionals Now Provide Investment Assistance Through Toll-Free Hotline
(Principal Financial Group)
InvestLink Has New Strategic Ownership
(InvestLink)
U.S. Department Of Labor, AICPA, And State CPA Societies Partner On Small Business Seminar Series
(U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)
U. S. Labor Department Extends Annual Reports Deadline After Hurricane Katrina Hits Mississippi
(U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Trust Officer - Retirement Benefits Group
for Old Second National Bank
in IL
Benefits Consultant
for Carilion Health System
in VA
Retirement Plans Consultant
for U.S. Foodservice
in DC, MD
Employee Benefits - Customer Service Specialist
for Kelley & Swain - Employee Benefits Brokerage Firm
in CA
Pension Analyst
for Security Administrators, Inc.
in NY
Marketing Coordinator
for American Express
in AZ
Participant Services Representative
for New York Life Investment Management LLC
in MA
Enrolled Actuary, Manager
for American Express
in AZ
Pension Administrator
for Upstate SC Firm
in SC
Employee Benefits Attorney
for Chang, Ruthenberg & Long, PC
in CA
Sr. Compliance Analyst
for T. Rowe Price
in MD
Senior Compliance Analyst
for Ceridian
in FL
Assistant Pension Administrator
for Schloss & Co. Benefits Consulting Firm
in
Account Manager, Employee Benefits
for ABD Insurance and Financial Services
in CA
Plan Administrator for Retirement Plan & ERISA Specialists
for Small Chicago TPA & law firm
in IL
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