| BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter |   |
September 22, 2005
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Trims Proposed to Federal Retiree Benefits as Part of Plan to Pay for Hurricane Relief
Excerpt: "Federal retiree health benefits and pensions have been off-limits to budget cutters in recent years, but a group of conservative House Republicans yesterday included them in a budget package to pay for hurricane relief and recovery efforts." (The Washington Post; one-time registration required)
California Health Care Market Report 2005 (PDF)
109 pages. Excerpt: "Despite a year that witnessed the creation of the nation's largest health insurance company, the result of the Wellpoint-Anthem merger, and a controversial decision by CalPERS to exclude some higher-cost Sutter hospitals from its network, the latest edition of the California Health Care Market Report finds few explosive changes in the state's health care landscape." (California HealthCare Foundation)
Studies Show Electronic Medical Records Make Financial Sense
Excerpt: "The primary barriers to health information technology adoption identified by this study are high initial acquisition and implementation costs, slow and uncertain financial payoffs for health care providers, disruptive effects on physician practices during implementation, and payment systems that result in most HIT-enabled savings going to insurers and patients, while most adoption and care improvement costs are borne by providers." (CIO Insight)
The State and Pattern of Health Information Technology Adoption (PDF)
68 pages. Excerpt: "Helps focus the policy agenda for incentives to speed Healthcare Information Technology (HIT) adoption by estimating the current level and pattern of HIT adoption in the different types of healthcare organizations, ...." (RAND)
NBER WP Abstract: Aggregate Effects of Health Insurance: Evidence from the Introduction of Medicare
Excerpt: "This paper investigates the effects of market-wide changes in health insurance by examining the single largest change in health insurance coverage in American history: the introduction of Medicare in 1965. I estimate that the impact of Medicare on hospital spending is substantially larger than what the existing evidence from individual-level changes in health insurance would have predicted." (National Bureau of Economic Research)
'Choice' in Health Care: What Do People Really Want? (PDF)
12 pages. Excerpt: "Proposals to expand the individual health insurance market and promote health savings accounts are intended to provide consumers with more 'choice.' The types of choices people prefer, however, are not well understood. This analysis of survey data finds that having a choice of health care providers matters more to people than having a choice of health plans." (The Commonwealth Fund)
To Find a Doctor, Mine the Data for Quality of Care Information
Excerpt: "As their out-of-pocket health care expenses continue to grow - through rising medical costs, higher insurance premiums and heftier co-payments - many people are using consumer skills well honed by online research on everything from digital cameras to S.U.V.'s. And their employers and insurers, intent on getting the best value from their own health spending, are arming those consumers with increasingly detailed searchable databases." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)
Blues Plans Use Variety of Methods to Boost Use of Generic Rx Drugs
Excerpt: "Those strategies include both 'tried-and-true' approaches such as member and physician education, as well as more innovative models such as ATM-style generic drug vending machines and pay-for-performance programs that reward physicians for prescribing generics where appropriate." (The AIS Report on Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans via AISHealth.com)
Health Insurers Adjust Consumer-Directed Plans for New Rule on Pharmacy Benefits
Excerpt: "Health insurers and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) are adjusting health savings account (HSA)-qualified high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) to comply with a Treasury Department rule requiring pharmacy benefits to be subject to the overall plan deductible, starting Jan. 1, 2006. The rules have an exception, however, for preventive medications, and several health insurers and PBMs have rolled out health plans that allow the deductible to be waived for preventive drugs." (MANAGED CARE WEEK via AISHealth.com)
Proactive Employee Medical Exams Are a Bottom-Line Asset, Not a Benefit Expense
Excerpt: "When CYRO Industries started offering employee physicals back in 1994, the company viewed it as an employee benefit much like its 401(k) plan. Our belief was - is - that good health is an important element of a successful retirement. But now, after seeing years of bottom-line results, the company views a healthy workforce as a competitive advantage, too." (Employee Benefit News)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
House Passes Katrina Retirement Plan Relief Bill Yesterday
Excerpt: "House and Senate tax committee leaders hammered out a final agreement Tuesday on a Hurricane Katrina tax relief measure that would allow Katrina victims to withdraw retirement plan funds without federal tax penalties. Under the measure, employees in Katrina-affected areas taking pre-retirement distributions from their plans will be exempt from the 10% penalty tax that normally would apply." (Business Insurance)
Text: Hurricane Katrina Tax Relief Guidelines for Taxpayers (PDF)
Excerpt: "This notice summarizes and clarifies the relief previously granted by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) under sections 6081, 6161, 6656, and 7508A of the Internal Revenue Code with respect to taxpayers affected by Hurricane Katrina.' Taxpayers in Four States, Relief Workers and Others Impacted (U.S. Internal Revenue Service)
Review and Summary of Recent IRS Guidance on Employee Benefit Issues and Hurricane Katrina
Excerpt: "In conjunction with the News Release, the IRS issued Notice 2005-73 which summarizes and clarifies the relief previously granted by the Internal Revenue Service under sections 6081, 6161, 6656, and 7508A of the Code with respect to taxpayers affected by Hurricane Katrina.. The Release also mentions Rev. Proc. 2005-27 which contains a list of 32 employee benefit issues (pg. 1058 of the Bulletin) that are automatically impacted whenever there is a Presidentially declared disaster." (Attorney B. Janell Grenier via Benefitsblog.com)
Overview: SEC Acts to Provide Section 404 Relief to Non-Accelerated Filing Companies (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "This morning, [September 21, 2005] in an open meeting, the Securities and Exchange Commission, ('SEC') issued proposed rules amending certain requirements in connection with periodic reports filed under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934: ...." (Powell Goldstein LLP)
Overview: FASB Provides Additional Guidance on Equity Compensation Grant Date Issue
Excerpt: "On September 16, the FASB issued Proposed FASB Staff Position FAS-123(R)-b ..., which provides a 'practical exception' to the mutual understanding rule. Under this exception, the grant date will be deemed to be the date of board/committee approval of a grant, provided that (a) the employee does not have the ability to negotiate the key terms and conditions of the award and (b) the key terms and conditions of the award ...." (LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae LLP)
Securities and Exchange Commission Votes for Sarbanes-Oxley Extension for Small Businesses
Excerpt: "MarketWatch reports that the extension allows companies that have a public float of below $75 million to begin complying with Sarbanes-Oxley rules for their first fiscal year ending on or after July 15, 2007." (PLANSPONSOR.com: one-time registration required)
The 2010 Meltdown: Where Will We Find Workers When the Baby Boomers Retire?
Excerpt: "It is a mistake to think that U.S. economic gains for the past decades will continue based solely on technology breakthroughs and plentiful numbers of skilled workers. There has never been anything like today's aging population, and the potential economic meltdown it might bring on several fronts." (Employee Benefit News)
Audio: A Changing American Workplace, as Boomers Retire
Excerpt: "As baby boomers start retiring, the nation's workforce will lose an immense amount of institutional knowledge. A look at what this means for the workplace, post-boomer." (Talk of the Nation via National Public Radio)
Groups Slam G.ay-Marriage Ban: Proposed Florida Constitutional Amendment Called 'Sneak Attack'
Excerpt: "Florida civil-rights groups say a proposed constitutional amendment banning g.ay marriage amounts to a 'sneak attack' on domestic benefits available now to state- and some local-government workers. A brief filed Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union, government-employee unions and six same-sex couples claims voters aren't told the amendment's effect could be to ban same-sex couples from hospital visits, making medical decisions or planning funerals." (Gannett News Service via Tallahassee Democrat)
G.ay Couples Protest Proposal to Ban Same-Sex Marriages in Florida
Excerpt: "Like other g.ay couples in Florida, Fort Lauderdale residents Richard Rogers and Bill Mullins see a proposed state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage as much more than just a barrier to their ever being lawfully wedded. The couple complains in a legal challenge that the amendment is a 'sneaky' attempt to prohibit g.ay couples from ever accessing one another's partnership benefits, such as health and life insurance coverage that married straight couples are legally ...." (Sun-Sentinel)
Salt Lake City Allows Domestic Partner Benefits
Excerpt: "The mayor of Salt Lake City has signed an executive order extending employee benefits to the domestic partners of city employees and to the children of those domestic partners." (Business Insurance)
Newly Posted Events
Code Section 409A Workshop
Nationwide on November 1, 2005
presented by SunGard Corbel
Newly Posted Press Releases
IRS Updates Hurricane Katrina Tax Relief Guidelines For Taxpayers in Four States, Relief Workers And Others Impacted
(Internal Revenue Service (IRS))
Employers Predict Two Significant Changes to Healthcare System in Next Five Years
(United Benefit Advisors)
Is Better Health Care Less Expensive? NCQA Tool Shows Costs Fall, Productivity Rises As Quality Of Care Improves
(National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA))
Richard H. Block Named by Peers to "Best Lawyers in America" Listing
(Dreier LLP)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Defined Contribution Manager
for Established Oak Brook Administration Firm
in IL
Retirement Plan Administrator
for Northern California Retirement Plan Administration and Consultancy Firm
in CA
Employment, Labor & Benefits Attorney
for Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC
in MA
Qualified Plan Administrator
for Growing Administration Firm in Dallas, Texas
in TX
401(k) Administrator
for Geller Group Ltd.
in NY
Plan Consultant Opportunity
for Weaver Partners, Inc.
in ANY STATE
Account Executive - Client Services
for Diversified Investment Advisors
in NY
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