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Consumer-Centric Healthcare Strategies for Employers, Payers and Providers

1st Annual World Congress Leadership Summit on Consumer-Centric Healthcare Strategies for Employers, Payers and Providers, November 2 - 3, 2005- Marriott Fisherman's Wharf Hotel- San Francisco, CA.

The Summit will address the major opportunities and challenges in the growing consumer-centric marketplace.

For more information, please visit: www.worldcongress.com/consumer, call 800-817-8601 or email e.musto@worldcongress.com.


(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
Text: Proposed HIPAA Standards for Electronic Health Care Claims Attachments (PDF)
Excerpt: "This proposed rule describes requirements that health plans, covered health care providers, and health care clearinghouses would have to meet to comply with the statutory requirement to use a standard for electronic health care claims attachment transactions, and to facilitate the transmission of certain types of detailed clinical information to support an electronic health care claim." (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)

Sears Announces that Its Retirees Under Age 65 Will Soon Have to Pay Their Own Health Care Premiums
Excerpt: "Reuters reports that, beginning January 1, 2006, those who retired prior to 2000 and are younger than age 65 will have to pay the full cost of their medical premiums. They will receive subsidies again when they reach age 65 and are eligible for Medicare, a spokesman told Reuters." (PLANSPONSOR.com: one-time registration required)

The Benefits of Cafeteria Plans -- for Employers and Employees
Excerpt: "One of the most underrated and underused employee benefits available for small businesses today is outlined in section 125 of the U.S. tax code. A section 125 or 'cafeteria' plan allows employees to withhold a portion of their pre-tax salary to cover certain medical or child-care expenses." (Entrepreneur.com)

EEOC Says, in Informal Advisory Letter, to Treat Pregnancy-Related Disabilities As Disabilities
Excerpt: "The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has said in an informal advisory letter that pregnancy-related disabilities should be treated in the same manner as other disabilities for purposes of fringe benefits, including retirement benefits." (PLANSPONSOR.com: one-time registration required)

Happy Employees Mean Happy Customers-- Lessons Learned from USAA's Generous Perks & Mission
Excerpt: "To make sure its employees are able to focus on the trials of their members, USAA, which ... offers insurance, mutual funds, and banking services to its 5 million members, serves up an army of employee-friendly perks. Last year, all employees, from execs to reps, saw bonuses nearing 22% of their pay; that's on top of generous 401(k) matches and a company-funded pension. Employees receive full tuition reimbursement, free financial advice, and extras such as on-site child care and ...." (Fast Company)

NorthStar Financial Services Group LLC Introduces an Employee Gasoline Assistance Program
Excerpt: "A company press release says the program will subsidize gas costs of the daily commute to work for all of its employees. The amount each employee receives, NorthStar says, is based on several factors including the distance of the commute, a baseline gas price (currently set at $1.80 per gallon), and the current price of gasoline." (PLANSPONSOR.com: one-time registration required)

South Carolina Taking Bids for 'Evidence-Based' Program for State Workers' Health Plan
Excerpt: "The state's health insurance plan for public employees is taking proposals from companies to examine data on the treatments provided to its more than 330,000 members, then use scientific evidence to determine whether another treatment might work better. Officials hope the plan, based on a concept called 'evidence-based medicine,' can save money by improving quality, reducing conflicting or duplicative treatments and thus the need for more expensive procedures later." (The Post and Courier via BlueCross BlueShield Association)

CMS Delivers Electronic Health Record Software to Physician Offices
Excerpt: "The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) ... released an evaluation version of VistA-Office Electronic Health Record (VistA-Office), an adaptation of the Veterans Health Administration electronic health record (EHR) technology. This version of the technology will allow for an evaluation of VistA-Office EHR and an assessment of its effectiveness in private physicians offices." (HIPAAdvisory.com)

Businesses Say Their Employees Can't Reduce Health Care Costs on Their Own
Excerpt: "United Benefit Advisors and Ingenix, a health research and information company, surveyed 794 U.S. employers, ranging from workplaces with fewer than 49 employees to large employers with more than a thousand.Thirty-nine percent of employers surveyed said they're more supportive of federal intervention to address health care costs than they were a year ago." (Workforce Management; one-time registration required)

Employer Health Care Costs Will Continue to Rise in 2006, but Not As Much As in Previous Years
Excerpt: "Buck Consultants 14th National Health Care Trend Survey shows that health care trends (forecast change in claims costs) for 2006 are lower than they were for 2005, according to a company press release. Specifically, trends for Preferred Provider Organizations (PPO) and Point of Service (POS) plans are each down 1% to 12.4% and 12.3% respectively. Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) trends are down .8% to 11.3%." (PLANSPONSOR.com: one-time registration required)

Current Strategies to Expand Dependent Health Coverage (PDF)
28 pages. Excerpt: "The proportion of children with employer-sponsored health insurance (ESI) edged up over the late 1990s but has fallen steadily since then. Lower-income children have been particularly hard hit -- only about a third of them have ESI, a little more than half the proportion for all children. The decline in ESI is highly linked with the rising cost of health coverage-- which has substantially outpaced the rise in wages." (The Economic and Social Research Institute for The California Endowment)

Brief Analysis: Crisis of the Uninsured? -- A 2005 Update
Excerpt: "Despite claims that there is a health insurance crisis in the United States, the proportion of Americans without health coverage has changed little in the past decade. The increase in the number of uninsured is largely due to immigration and population growth." (National Center for Policy Analysis)

Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Katrina Emergency Tax Relief Act of 2005 ('KETRA') -- Summary of Benefits-Related Provisions
Excerpt: "Late on Tuesday, September 20, House and Senate negotiators reached agreement on H.R. 3768, the 'Katrina Emergency Tax Relief Act of 2005' (KETRA). On Wednesday, September 21, the House approved the measure by a unanimous vote, and late in the evening of Wednesday, September 21, the Senate passed it by unanimous consent. The President is expected to sign the measure into law." (Attorney B. Janell Grenier via Benefitsblog.com)

Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide Updated as of September 20, 2005
Excerpt: "Hewitt's Federal Legislation Quick Guide provides short updates on federal legislation that is currently under active consideration by Congress or has recently been enacted into law regarding health and welfare benefit plans, retirement plans, and human resources and employment law." (Hewitt Associates)

Newly Posted Events

Benefit Plan Administration in Hurricane Disaster Areas
Nationwide on September 27, 2005
presented by Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Newly Posted Press Releases

Hewitt Offers Employees Tips to Maximize Benefit Choices During Open Enrollment Season
(Hewitt Associates LLC)

ERIC Asks Influential Members of Congress to Maintain Medicare Part D Implementation Schedule
(ERIC (ERISA Industry Committee))

PlanTools And FI360 Join Forces To Provide Integrated Reporting Services To 401(k) Advisors & Service Platforms
(McHenry Group, The)

24th Annual ISCEBS Employee Benefits Symposium - Canceled
(International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists (ISCEBS))

Olney Associates and LaRhette Manin Complete Employee Benefits Survey for New England Healthcare Organizations
(Olney Associates and LaRhette Manin)

Pace the Matchmaker? Newest Transit Website Feature Links Potential Riders to Existing Vanpool
(Pace Suburban Bus Service)

BNA Web Site Offers Employers Tools for Disaster Recovery In the Wake of Hurricane Katrina
(BNA, Inc.)

Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

Defined Contribution Analyst I/II/Sr
for Standard Insurance Company
in OR

Operations Manager
for The Todd Organization
in MO

Retirement Plan Supervisor
for American Funds
in IN

Enrolled Actuary
for Tegra Financial Partners a subsidiary of Habif, Arogeti & Wynne, LLP
in GA

Qualified Plan Administrator
for Growing Administration Firm
in NC

Research Director
for Milliman, Inc.
in DC

Compliance Analyst
for Prudential Financial-Retirement Division
in CT, IA, NJ, PA



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