| BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter |   |
October 20, 2005
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Massachusetts Unveils Web Site for Health Care Quality and Cost Comparisons
Excerpt: "Massachusetts officials have launched a Web site that will enable consumers to access cost and quality information on medical procedures and the facilities that provide them. The new site, which went live [yesterday], is at www.mass.gov/healthcareqc." (Boston Business Journal via bizjournals.com; one-time registration required)
A Hole In GM's Safety Net: Health Benefit Cut Seen as Bellwether
Excerpt: "[General Motors] provides health insurance for 1.1 million people. Its health care costs in 2004 totaled $5.2 billion, and of that, $4 billion went to retirees. Now that safety net is about to change. The agreement announced this week by the company and its union to reduce benefits will save the flailing corporation $1 billion in cash annually -- at a cost to current and former workers." (The Washington Post; one-time registration required)
Employer to Employee: 'Fend for Yourself' -- A Result of Rising Health Insurance Costs
Excerpt: "'Employers are telling their employees to go out and get individual insurance and we'll compensate you for that,' said Sandy Kirchenberg, a broker-agent with Diversified Insurance Services, Waukesha. 'When you look at group benefits, they are always more expensive because they cover so much more.'" (The Business Journal of Milwaukee via bizjournals.com; one-time registration required)
Employers Face 8% Increase in Health Care Costs in 2006, According to Survey
Excerpt: "U.S. companies are facing an 8% increase in their 2006 health care costs, according to the 2006 Towers Perrin health care survey of more than 200 of the largest U.S. employers. While this marks the second annual single-digit increase in a row , the health care crisis has clearly become a chronic and persistent challenge for employers and employees alike." (Towers Perrin)
Opinion by George Will: GM Taking a Right Turn Back to Making Cars
Excerpt: "Herb Stein, the University of Chicago economist who served as chairman of President Richard Nixon's Council of Economic Advisers, famously said: If something cannot go on forever, it won't. Delphi's resort to bankrup.tcy and GM's attempt, with the cooperation of the UAW, to avoid, for now, doing that, suggest that America's welfare state -- its private sector as well as its public-sector components -- is reaching its Herb Stein Moment." (The Washington Post; one-time registration required)
Children's Health Insurance at Risk with Decline in Employment-Based Dependent Coverage
Excerpt: "An important source of health insurance for children is dependent coverage through their parents' employer. But in recent years, there has been a substantial decline in employer-provided health insurance for children. In fact, from 2000 to 2004, children fared the worst of any group in terms of declines in employer-provided health coverage." (The Economic Policy Institute)
Opinion: U.S. Health Insurance System Imploding
Excerpt: "And so the demolition derby that is the U.S. health care system shifts into high gear. Mighty General Motors, the world's largest automaker and biggest private-sector purchaser of health insurance, said this week that it'll slash its $5.6 billion annual health care spending for workers, retirees and their families by about $1 billion a year." (San Francisco Chronicle via Physicians for a National Health Program)
Experts Debate Possible Effects of Long-Term Care Insurance Bill
Excerpt: "A new bipartisan bill (S 1602) sponsored by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) would attempt to address the issue by creating incentives for middle-income consumers to buy private long-term care insurance -- a product which has been met with lackluster support in the past." (California HealthCare Foundation)
Concessions on Health Care Have Left Early Retirement of United Auto Workers Members in Jeopardy
Excerpt: "[T]he changes in the health care plans are undermining the 30-and-out retirement system that has been the cornerstone of the pension plan for unionized employees at GM, Ford and DaimlerChrysler since the early 1970s. .... 'In addition, taking a 30-and-out-pension constitutes early retirement under the federal pension insurance rules administered by the [PBGC]. If their employer files for bankrup.tcy, workers would get a much smaller pension because they have retired early,' ...." (The Oakland Press)
Court Dismisses Retirees' Claim that Simpson Paper Breached Its ERISA Fiduciary Duties
Excerpt: "An Oregon federal judge has ruled that a group of retirees did not prove their health benefits were vested, and therefore protected by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). For that reason, US District Judge Ancer Haggerty of the US District Court for the District of Oregon ruled that their former employer, Simpson Paper Co., had not unlawfully cut off their health care plan, BNA reported." (PLANSPONSOR.com: one-time registration required)
Blues Plans Eye Potentially Lucrative Long-Term Care Markets
Excerpt: "Last month, BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina became the latest Blues plan to introduce a long-term care (LTC) product. The insurer joins a handful of other Blues plans in Michigan, Florida, Arkansas and other states in entering this growing market. Another Blues plan has kept the door open on a recently discontinued product, in case the insurer decides to return to the market in the future." (The AIS Report on Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans via AISHealth.com)
Flexible Spending Account Extension Expected to Be Little-Used
Excerpt: "While participants have more time to incur expenses and use money they set aside at the beginning of the prior year, many in the benefits industry-who have called for regulations that would allow carryover of unused funds to the next year consider the new rule a disappointment." (Indianapolis Business Journal via SmartPros Ltd.)
Abstract of Working Paper: Work Hours, Wages, and Vacation Leave
Excerpt: "Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and the Health and Retirement Study, we provide a set of facts about vacation leave and its relationship to hours worked, hours constraints, wage rates, worker characteristics, spouse's vacation leave, labor market experience, job tenure, occupation, industry, and labor market conditions." (National Bureau of Economic Research)
Bill Would Give Feds E-Health Records
Excerpt: "Rep. Jon Porter (R-Nev.) said yesterday that he plans to introduce legislation to mandate the creation of an electronic health record (EHR) for every person covered by the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program." (Government Health IT)
Perception, Reality and Health Insurance: Uninsured Half as Likely to Get Care as Insured (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "However, among people who believed that they needed medical care, the uninsured were less than half as likely to see or talk to a doctor, indicating that lack of insurance is a major barrier to uninsured people getting needed medical care." (Center for Studying Health System Change)
The Costs of Mental Health Parity (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "It should be noted that mental health benefits in health insurance policies typically include services provided by specialty mental health providers such as psychiatrists, psychologists, masters-level social workers, and other approved mental health specia.lists. Services provided by primary care physicians and psychotropic drugs are considered to be medical benefits and are not restricted by limited mental health benefits." (Health Section News via Towers Perrin)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Towers Perrin News Briefs: United States
Briefings included on Deferred Compensation Regulations Issued by IRS; Employers Split on Long-Term Strategies for Medicare Part D Coverage; CMS to Accept RDS Census Updates from Multiple Sources; IRS Clarifies W-2 Reporting for Dependent Care FSAs; CMS Announces 2006 Rates for Medicare Parts A and B; and, FASB Shifts Position on Grant Date for Stock-Based Awards. (Towers Perrin)
Overview: Congress, Fed Agencies Provide Relief for Plan Sponsors & Participants Affected by Katrina
Excerpt: "Employers and employees affected by Hurricane Katrina can take advantage of a number of regulatory relief measures announced by federal agencies, as well as legislative relief passed by Congress." (Towers Perrin)
Remarks by Frederic W. Cook, Stanford Directors' College, June 20, 2005, on Executive Compensation (PDF)
21 pages. Excerpt: "There is much to report that is positive about executive compensation practices and trends in corporate America – namely a focus on pay-for-performance, equity incentives and ownership. And there is a new dynamic taking place in board rooms across America. Power to influence compensation practices is moving from the CEO to the Compensation Committee, and from the HR and compensation staff to the committee's outside advisors and consultants who are not beholden ...." (Frederic W. Cook & Co.)
Nordic Welfare States Working Just Fine -- Lessons for U.S.?
Excerpt: "For years, American critics have argued that the European social model, with its cushy work hours and cradle-to-grave nanny plans, cannot survive in a global economy. Just look at France, Germany and Italy, whose economies have suffered high unemployment and low growth for a decade, these critics say. .... But there is more than one European model, and some have been more successful than others." (Knight Ridder Newspapers via The Tallahassee Democrat)
Employees Seeking Better Information on Compensation and Benefits
Excerpt: "Many employees want better compensation and benefit information from their employer and would like to have it communicated to them directly on their desktops at work or in other creative ways, according to new Towers Perrin research." (Towers Perrin)
Newly Posted Events
Difficult Health FSA Expenses--To Reimburse or Not to Reimburse?
Nationwide on November 10, 2005
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
Managing Fiduciary Risk
in California on February 16, 2006
presented by Western Pension & Benefits Conference - Orange County Chapter
Newly Posted Press Releases
Mercer Human Resource Consulting Builds Employee Portal for Client Using Trustgenix Identity Management Product; IdentityBridge Provides Employees with Single Sign-On to Third-Party Payroll, Investment, and Healthcare Provider Sites
(Mercer Human Resource Consulting)
CapTrust Financial Advisors selects ICC Plan Solutions as enrollment kit provider
(Metrics Partners)
ERISA Advisory Council to Hold Final 2005
(U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Account Manager
for Kibble & Prentice
in WA
Human Resources Support Specialist
for CitiStreet
in FL
Benefits Administrator
for The Rosen Group
in DE, NJ, PA, VA, WV
OmniPlus Consultants
for Chesapeake Benefit Partners
in ANY STATE
Senior Human Resources (Benefits) Specialist
for Fluor Corporation
in TX
Health & Welfare Specialist
for Administaff
in TX
Retirement Services Consultant
for Nationally Recognized Retirement Services, Education and Consulting Firm
in MN
401(k) Implementation Specialist
for 1st Global
in TX
Vice President, Mid-Market Sales
for CitiStreet - A State Street and Citigroup company
in MA, NJ
Pension Administrator
for Sheffler & Martin, Inc.
in CA
ERISA/Benefits Attorney
for Parker, Poe, Adams & Bernstein L.L.P.
in NC
Retirement Services Specialist
for Administaff
in TX
Benefit Analyst
for Mercer HR Services
in MA
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