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February 1, 2007


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Retiree Health Benefit Costs Increase 10% Annually for Cities
Excerpt: "Retiree health care costs for 55 large U.S. cities increased by an average of 10% annually from 1999 through 2004, Moody's Investors Services said in a note issued on Tuesday, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports." (Kaiser Family Foundation)

Retirees' Benefits Reviewed: New Mexico Public Workers May Pay More, Face Cuts
Excerpt: "State officials are talking about changing retirees' medical benefits and raising the premiums they pay to comply with a new accounting rule affecting public entities across the country. Starting in December, New Mexico had to report the cost of health care benefits promised to public sector workers who are retired or will retire in the decades to come. According to a recent study for the New Mexico Retiree Healthcare Authority, that number is $5 billion over the next 30 years." (Albuquerque Journal via Human Resource Executive Online)

Hitting Retirees and Baby Boomers Where it Hurts Most
Excerpt: "An estimated 20 million baby boomers and retirees in the United States are bearing the brunt of recent major corporate employers' moves to eliminate or drastically reduce healthcare benefits promised to their employees during their working careers." (WorldNow and KOLD,)

Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide Updated January 30, 2007, for Health and Welfare Plans (PDF)
6 pages. This 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. (Hewitt Associates)

When in Doubt, Offer a Nice Perk
Excerpt: "Small-business owners are becoming increasingly creative in how they reward their staff members. In a tight labor market where large employers can lure workers with bigger salaries and the opportunity to work for a known company, entrepreneurs said they could gain an edge by offering generous perks." (The New York Times; free registration required)

State's Top HMO Regulator Calls for Outside Oversight of Insurers' Attempts to Drop Policyholders
Excerpt: "Cindy Ehnes, director of the Department of Managed Health Care, said she hadn't yet developed details on how such a requirement would work. But she said any external input -- possibly by the department or some independent panel -- could significantly enhance policyholders' safeguards against the loss of coverage." (The Los Angeles Times via The Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights)

Overview of Security Guidance on Portable Electronic Devices
Excerpt: "In the waning days of 2006, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a HIPAA security guidance concerning the use of portable media and devices as well as the offsite access and transmission of electronic protected health information. The guidance comes in the wake of numerous security incidents that have been covered by the press over the last year or so." (Davis Wright Tremaine LLP)

Major Health Care, Technology Firms Will Provide Free Electronic Prescribing Tools to All Physicians
Excerpt: "from Spencer's Benefits Reports: On January 16, a coalition of major technology firms and health care organizations in the U.S. announced a national initiative to provide free electronic prescribing for every physician in the country." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)

Federal Government Should Drive Health IT, Report Urges
Excerpt: "The American Health Information Management Association released a new report calling for the federal government to consolidate oversight of health IT, quality and transparency initiatives under the American Health Information Community, Health Data Management reports." (California HealthCare Foundation)

200,000 in Mass. May Need to Get More Insurance: State Health Care Law Sets Higher Minimums
Excerpt: "Most of the individuals do not have coverage for prescription drugs or have drug coverage that is more restrictive than the minimum proposed by the state board implementing the law. The Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector board is scheduled to vote on the standards in March.' (The Boston Globe)

A Checkup on Your Benefits in Light of the President's Health Insurance Proposal
Excerpt: "When you get your next paycheck, take a closer look. One thing you might notice, though it's not always obvious, is that the health insurance benefits you receive as an employee don't get taxed. President Bush proposed changing that during his State of the Union address last week. Here's what the idea might mean for you." (The Motley Fool)

Opinion: Prescribing a Better Solution Under Bush's Health Plan (PDF)
1 page. Excerpt: "A properly designed voucher is a much better vehicle for addressing many . . . problems. It can be extended to people who pay little or no tax; it can be integrated with state Medicaid and related children's insurance for the poor; and, if it were worth the same amount per person, it would be much easier to administer by employers and insurance companies alike." (C. Eugene Steuerle via Urban Institute)

RILA v. MD, Mass. Health Care Reform Act, & Future of State 'Pay/Play' Health Insurance Arrangements
Excerpt: "The sense one gets from reading both the majority opinion and the dissent is that these are close issues and that the result could have gone either way. But only one view could prevail, and the result does not bode well for pay-or-play arrangements." (Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.)

Proposed Massachusetts Minimum Coverage Requirements Not Met by 200,000 Insured Residents
Excerpt: "More than 200,000 Massachusetts residents who already have health insurance would need to buy additional coverage to meet minimum standards proposed by the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector, according to a survey by the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans, the Boston Globe reports." (Kaiser Family Foundation)

PBM Mail Order Rx Services Are Expanding, But Cost Savings Are Not Clear
Excerpt: "The Pharma.ceutical Care Management Association (PCMA), which represents PBMs, also claims mail order is more cost-effective. PCMA recently released a study from health care consulting firm The Lewin Group that concludes mail service is projected to save at least $85 billion on drug costs over the next 10 years." (DRUG BENEFIT NEWS via AISHealth.com)

Wellness Coupled with Consumer-Directed Care Yields Lower Costs and Healthier Members
Excerpt: "As much as 70% of all health care costs is related to personal health behaviors. But a CDH plan that includes financial incentives can keep some of those expenses in check . . . ." (INSIDE CONSUMER-DIRECTED CARE via AISHealth.com)

A Dearth of Information Leaves Health Care Consumers in the Dark
Excerpt: "[M]aking informed choices about medical care requires the ability to gain data on everything from the merits of specific generic drugs to physician performance records and nurse-to-patient ratios. And that's the catch with consumer-driven health plans. 'There is less information on the health-care system than on any other industry,' says Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health, in Washington, D.C." (CFO.com)

House Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Bill to Ban Genetic Discrimination by Employers, Health Insurers
Excerpt: "The House Education and Labor Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee on Tuesday held a hearing on legislation (HR 493) that would ban employers and insurers from using genetic test results to discriminate against U.S. residents, CQ HealthBeat reports." (Kaiser Family Foundation)

Toolkit for President Bush's Health Coverage Plan
Excerpt: "To help you digest the plan and its implications, the Alliance for Health Reform has compiled a toolkit with links to six representative articles from across the political spectrum. To download, go to www.allhealth.org/publications/pub_41.doc You will also find a list of expert sources and websites on the uninsured." (Alliance for Health Reform)

For New York, A Health Care Plan Both Ambitious and Contentious
Excerpt: "The budget Gov. Eliot Spitzer laid out yesterday represents the first stages of an ambitious health care agenda, including covering hundreds of thousands of uninsured people with government health plans, and broadly revising how Medicaid money is distributed." (The New York Times; free registration required)

More U.S. Employers Covering Gender Transition Surgery
Excerpt: "In the past few years, . . . following the model of San Francisco, some of the world's largest employers have begun covering surgical procedures, including gender-reassignment surgery, and a host of other related care." (San Francisco Chronicle)


Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Case Remanded for Interpretation of PPA Amendment Including Some Tribal Plans As Governmental Plans
Excerpt: "In Dobbs v. Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield, -- F.3d -- -, 2007 WL 241282 C.A.10 (Colo.),2007, the Tenth Circuit remanded a case for a determination of whether plan sponsored by the Southern Ute Indian Tribe was preempted by ERISA." (Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)

Overview: Securities and Exchange Commission Interpretive Guidance on Item 402 of Regulation S-K (PDF)
6 pages. Excerpt: "With regard to particular disclosure timing concerns, the January 24, 2007 interpretive guidance generally affirms the interpretations originally published in the Manual of Publicly Available Telephone Interpretations." (LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae LLP)

Overview: SEC Interpretations Regarding Executive Compensation (PDF)
Excerpt: "These interpretations replace the Commission's Publicly Available Telephone Interpretations Manual regarding Item 402 of Regulation S-K. Summaries of certain of the interpretations are set forth [in the target document]." (Haynes and Boone LLP)

Overview of Deferred Compensation Provisions in Senate Minimum Wage Bill (PDF)
Excerpt: "At this time, it seems unlikely that the deferred compensation provisions will be enacted as part of minimum wage legislation, but now that these proposals are on the table, they bear close watching." (Buck Consultants)

Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide for January 30, 2007, on Human Resources & Employment Law (PDF)
4 pages. This 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 human resources and employment law. (Hewitt Associates)


Newly Posted Events

CFDD 07 Advisor Conference: "Transitioning From Salesperson To Businessperson"
in Arizona on October 1, 2007
presented by Center for Due Diligence

Final HIPAA Nondiscrimination & Wellness Program Rules -- The Changes Employers Must Make
Nationwide on February 6, 2007
presented by Thompson Interactive, A Division of Thompson Publishing Group

Fundamentals of Employee Benefits Law (Part 1) - Webcast
Nationwide on February 22, 2007
presented by West LegalEdcenter

Fundamentals of Employee Benefits Law (Part 2) - Webcast
Nationwide on February 22, 2007
presented by West LegalEdcenter

Fundamentals of Employee Benefits Law (Part 3) - Webcast
Nationwide on February 23, 2007
presented by West LegalEdcenter

Fundamentals of Employee Benefits Law (Part 4) - Webcast
Nationwide on February 23, 2007
presented by West LegalEdcenter

Fundamentals of Employee Benefits Law (Part 5) - Webcast
Nationwide on February 24, 2007
presented by West LegalEdcenter

Interactive Test Drive of New Tools Available to Plan Sponsors
in Colorado on March 1, 2006
presented by A.G. Edwards

Seven Deadly Sins of Planning for Retirement Distributions - Webcast
Nationwide on January 31, 2007
presented by West LegalEdcenter


Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

Account Executive Assistant
for The Paragon Alliance Group
in PA

Compliance Specialist for Retirement Plans
for The Paragon Alliance Group
in PA

Associate Daily Plan Administrator
for Tegra Financial Partners
in GA

401(k) Compliance Specialist
for 401k ASP, Inc.
in FL

Retirement Plan Administrator
for Pension House
in WA

Business Analyst, Product Development (Employee Benefits)
for WageWorks, Inc.
in CA

Consultant
for Buck Consultants an ACS Company Human Resources & Benefits Consultants
in NY, TX

Consulting/Marketing Manager
for successful TPA
in CA

Investment Advisory Regional Director
for The Newport Group
in CA, FL




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