| BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter |   |
January 12, 2007
Sponsored by: Health Benefits Conference & Expo (HBCE)
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| 16th Annual National Health Benefits Conference & Expo (HBCE) |
| 16th Annual Nat'l Health Benefits Conference & Expo - Jan. 25-26, Tampa
Title: The biggest cost problem facing American employers. Leading Employers & Best Practices from: IBM – State of MN – AOL – IAP World Services – Schneider National, Inc. - Univ. of Pittsburgh – MO State Univ – Perkins’ Restaurants & Marie Callender – San Mateo Co. – HEB Retail – Martin Co. Schools - Manatee Co. - and many more. Actionable Advice: info@HBCE.com • 941-484-1430 • www.HBCE.com |
HIPAA Security Guidance for Remote Use of and Access to Electronic Protected Health Information (PDF)
7 pages. Excerpt: "This guidance document has been prepared with the main objective of reinforcing some of the ways a covered entity may protect EPHI when it is accessed or used outside of the organization's physical purview." (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services)
Bush Threatens Veto of Medicare Drug Bill, but a Senator Is Seeking a Middle Ground
Excerpt: "[C]hances for passage of some version of the legislation increased when a pivotal figure, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said Congress should repeal a provision of the 2003 Medicare law that prohibits such negotiations. The chairman, Senator Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana, said he did not favor price controls, but did believe that Medicare should be able to negotiate prices in 'discrete areas where seniors need our help the most.'" (The New York Times; free registration required)
Employees to Own Share of Assisted Living Sites
Excerpt: "Miller's Health Systems Inc. will go from a family-owned business to employee-owned as the company implements an employee stock ownership plan. Employees of the Warsaw-based chain of retirement and assisted living centers who have worked for the company at least one year for 20 hours a week or more will be eligible for the program." (The Journal Gazette)
Insight from 7th Circuit's Judge Posner on the Abuse of Discretion Standard
Excerpt: "He states, '. . . the term 'abuse of discretion' covers a range of degrees of deference rather than denoting a point within that range, and where a particular case falls in the range depends on the precise character of the ruling being reviewed.' Then, after noting that the lack of any reasoned basis for an interpretation of an ERISA plan document is unreasonable, Posner goes on to say . . . ." (Brian S. King, ERISA Law Blog)
Lack of HHS and Justice Dept. Coordination Hampers HIPAA Privacy Enforcement
Excerpt: "The HHS Office for Civil Rights says it has no real idea why the Department of Justice (DOJ) has failed to act on any of the privacy cases OCR has referred for possible criminal prosecution." (REPORT ON PATIENT PRIVACY via AISHealth.com)
Opinion: The Best and Worst in Health Care, 2006
Excerpt: "'Every day in every way I'm getting better and better.' In ordinary years, health care in the U.S. hardly lives up to the words of that famous 1920s mantra. We're more used to grafting medical triumphs onto an increasingly dysfunctional system of health financing and delivery. But 2006 saw real promise toward two longstanding goals: covering all Americans with health insurance and getting hospitals and doctors to take simple and proven steps to reduce the number of preventable deaths." (The Century Foundation)
Effective Prior Authorization Can Ensure Proper Drug Use Without Denying Care
Excerpt: "A well-designed approach to PA can achieve a return on investment (ROI) up to at least 3-to-1, and can help ensure that patients are receiving not only the most appropriate therapy, but also the most cost-effective therapy, experts say." (DRUG BENEFIT NEWS via AISHealth.com)
Opinion: Health Cost Insulation vs. Health Insurance
Excerpt: "The health coverage most Americans have is what I call 'insulation,' not insurance. Rather than insuring them against risk, most families' health plans insulate them from paying for most health care bills, large and small. [Replies and reactions are linked from the target page.]" (Cato Unbound)
Data Brief: Health Care Spending Slows -- An Encouraging Sign? (PDF)
8 pages. Excerpt: "A federal report on national health care spending in 2005, published in Health Affairs, indicates that spending slowed for a third straight year and, as a percentage of gross domestic product, held nearly constant from 2004 to 2005." (The Commonwealth Fund)
Bulletin on 2007 New York State Health Care Reform Act Rates (PDF)
2 pages. (The Segal Group, Inc.)
Editorial: Negotiating Lower Drug Prices
Excerpt: "The secretary of health and human services should be able to exert his bargaining power with drug companies in those cases in which the private plans have failed to rein in unduly high prices -- leaving the rest to the drug plans. The result could be lower costs for consumers and savings for the taxpayers who support Medicare." (The New York Times; free registration required)
GAO Testimony: Prescription Drugs -- An Overview of Approaches to Negotiate Drug Prices
Excerpt: "GAO was asked to describe how prescription drug prices are negotiated. This testimony provides an overview of such efforts (1) by governments in other countries; (2) by U.S. private payers, such as employer-based health plans; and (3) by federal programs other than Medicare Part D. [Highlights of the report are at http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d07358thigh.pdf.]" (U.S. Government Accountability Office)
Government Says Health Care Improving
Excerpt: "The nation's minorities, poor and uninsured especially are missing out on the preventive screening and counseling they need, according to government reports [yesterday]. Overall, the quality of the U.S. health care system continues to improve at a modest pace. When it comes to preventive care, though, the rate of improvement lags." (AP via The New York Times; free registration required)
Different Perspectives on Smoking Cessation Programs
Excerpt: "The Centers for Disease Control suggests that insurers offer tobacco cessation benefits that cover: Four to six counseling sessions of at least 30 minutes each. Both prescription and over-the-counter medications. At least two quit attempts each year. Communicating the availability of supports. Employers can access a tool for implementing smoking cessation programs through NBGH's Purchaser's Guide at www.businessgrouphealth.org." (BenefitNews Connect)
Opinion: Observations on a Broken System -- Health Care
Excerpt: "For those that argue our current 'free market' concept is the solution, WAKE UP. Those that buy insurance today are subsidizing the commitments of the federal government to provide care regardless if the patient can afford it. Uninsured patients have hospital bills dismissed for pennies on the dollar because they do not have a means to pay. You cannot have a successful 'free market' with an open-ended commitment such as this." (The PRECEPT Employee Benefits Blog)
Comments on Jacob Hacker's 'Health Care for America'
Excerpt: "Jacob Hacker is gifted, really (though some might contend that 'gifted political scientist' is an oxymoron). Jacob Hacker cares about people. He knows that we must do something to make health care accessible and affordable for everyone. His proposal does not break new ground in health policy. He has merely combined various concepts that have been under consideration for some time." (Physicians for a National Health Program)
Senator Wyden Crafts Universal Health Coverage Bill
Excerpt: "[Sen. Ron Wyden] wants to provide private health insurance for all Americans while eliminating the employer-based coverage system." (MANAGED CARE WEEK via AISHealth.com)
Opinion: Health Care Reform Packages All Inferior, Except for One -- Single-Payer
Excerpt: "Under single-payer, one public entity collects all the financing and pays for all medical services through the existing private-care delivery system, with adequate funding for our doctors, hospitals, clinics and other care. All the other approaches are fundamentally flawed. They continue to rely on a wasteful insurance industry whose focus is on making money by denying care to those who need it the most and other market-based mechanisms that created the current mess." (Deborah Burger via Ventura County Star via California Nurses Association)
Opinion: U.S. Health Care Puts Profit Over People
Excerpt: "However dismal the health care situation has become for individuals and families, the for-profit health care industry still churns out billions in profits. In a democratic nation founded on principles of 'liberty and justice for all,' the health and well-being of the many should not come second to the financial benefit for the few." (Joanna Garritano via Seattle Post-Intelligencer via Physicians for a National Health Program)
Opinion: The Money Is Already in the System for Universal Health Care
Excerpt: "Our current system allowing private insurers to cover the healthy and profitable while screening out everyone else allows one-third of our health spending to be diverted to needless bureaucracy and paperwork. Eliminating the private insurance companies and replacing them with a single public payer would save more than $350 billion per year, enough to provide coverage for all of the uninsured." (Ana Malinow via The Houston Chronicle via Physicians for a National Health Program)
HSA Funding: Are Health Care Consumers Leaving Money on the Table? (PDF)
14 pages. Excerpt: "This Vimo Report™ will discuss funding trends that have emerged within the HSA market over the past several years. From Vimo's perspective, HSA funding levels are a key indicator of the health of the consumer directed movement. By focusing on recent enrollment statistics, it is clear that there is a significant gap between high deductible health plan enrollment and HSA adoption. Not surprisingly, it is also evident that HSA asset levels are deficient." (Vimo Research Group)
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Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
IRA to Health Account Transfer Makes Little Sense for Most
Excerpt: "There may be a more stupid tax law. But you would be hard pressed to find it, according to Natalie Choate, one of the world's foremost authorities on retirement plans. Here's the skinny: President Bush signed into law in late 2006 the Tax Relief and Health Care Act, a law that offers $45.1 billion in tax breaks and creates some 200 changes to the tax code. Among the changes there's a law that lets Americans transfer money from their IRAs into their health savings accounts (HSA)." (MarketWatch)
Newly Posted Events
Employee Benefits in Mergers & Acquisitions
in New York on April 19, 2007
presented by ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits
Employer Stock Issues: New Requirements under the PPA and More
Nationwide on February 13, 2007
presented by ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits
Newly Posted Press Releases
Former Policy And Research Director Stuart Sirkin Retires
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)
RolloverSystems Platform Awarded U.S. Patent No. 7,155,407 for Its Automated Retirement Savings Rollover Process
RolloverSystems
SEI Poll: Plan Sponsors Feel Resources Are Not Aligned With New Post-Reform Priorities
SEI
Sens. Salazar, Kerry Introduce Legislation to Deny Pensions to Lawbreaking Lawmakers
U.S. Senators Ken Salazar and John Kerry
Tax Time Is Now an Even Better Time to Save for Retirement
Retirement Security Project
Six More Companies Awarded 'CEO Cancer Gold Standard(TM)' That Promotes Workplace Wellness
CEO Roundtable on Cancer, Inc.
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
ERISA Compliance Consultant/Paralegal
for Alston & Bird LLP
in DC
Director - Internal Wholesale Team
for MassMutual Financial Group
in CT
401k Administrator
for Vanguard
in PA
Administrator
for Aris Corporation of America
in PA
Retirement Program Director
for Fidelity Investments
in RI
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
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