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February 5, 2007
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Family Leave Can Use Up Accumulated Sick Time
Excerpt: "During a leave under the act, employees can use their paid sick time concurrently, so they wind up with paid time off. Employers also can require employees to use their accumulated sick time concurrently with the leave time off, unless the employee is receiving disability payments, said attorney Steven Davi, an associate at Farrell Fritz in Uniondale, N.Y." (Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.)
Employers Want Plans & PBMs To Push Hard for Generics
Excerpt: "Employers want their employees using generics -- so much so that many employers are seeking out insurers offering pharmacy benefit designs that very aggressively push alternatives over brand names. They are demanding that the insurers they hire do whatever it takes to make generics the preferred choice of employees." (Managed Care)
Senator Dodd Seeks Expansion of FMLA
Excerpt: "The author of the law that allows U.S. workers 12 weeks of unpaid leave for family or medical needs is set to introduce a bill that would expand the scope of the original measure." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
Intermittent FMLA Leave Is Rare
Excerpt: "Taking intermittent leave through the Family and Medical Leave Act is relatively uncommon, a recent survey from the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans shows. Three out of four employers find handling intermittent family and medical leave challenging; however, half of employers say less than 5% of FMLA leaves in their workforce are intermittent." (BenefitNews Connect)
Seven Questions to Ask When Evaluating a Health Plan's Subrogation Provision
Excerpt: "If your subrogation/reimbursement provision satisfies these seven areas, then there is a good chance that your plan is entitled to recover 100% of the medical expenses paid in subrogation/reimbursement matters." (Benefit Recovery, Inc. via BNA Tax Management)
Overview: Final Regulations on HIPAA Nondiscrimination Provisions and Wellness Programs (PDF)
Pages 1-5 of 10 pages. Excerpt: "The regulations define as 'health factors' eight health-status related factors that may not be used to discriminate in health coverage among individuals. These are: Health status; Medical condition . . .; Claims experience; Receipt of health care Medical history; Genetic information; Evidence of insurability . . .; Disability." (Trucker Huss)
Health IT: Early Efforts Initiated but Comprehensive Privacy Approach Needed for National Strategy
23 pages. GAO Testimony by Linda D. Koontz, and David A. Powner, directors, information technology, before the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia, Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on February 1. Highlights are at http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d07400thigh.pdf. (U.S. Government Accountability Office)
Opinion: How Would Single Payer Control Costs?
Excerpt: "[T]o those who support the Medicare for all approach, or any other form of single payer, please help us understand: after cutting out the 'administrative fat,' marketing and profits that are part of a private system, how would it control the cost of health care? Anyone?" (Physicians for a National Health Program)
DOJ Joins Lawsuit Filed Over Alleged Prescription Drug Price Inflation
Excerpt: "The Department of Justice has joined a whistleblower lawsuit filed against Ohio-based Boehringer Ingelheim Roxane, a subsidiary of Connecticut-based Boehringer Ingelheim that manufactures generic medications, over allegations that the company inflated prices reported to federal health insurance programs for several treatments, CQ HealthBeat reports." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Opinion: Health Coverage's Momentum
Excerpt: "Piece by piece, the stage is being set for the long-overdue effort to rebuild America's creaky health-care system into one that can meet the needs of the 21st century. It probably won't happen until 2009, but the outlines of the big change are starting to become clear." (The Washington Post; free registration required)
Opinion: The Race to Provide Universal Health Care: Proceed with Caution
Excerpt: "Gov. Romney [of Massachusetts] had a vision of creating a competitive marketplace for affordable health insurance and reallocating subsidies to provide health insurance for uninsured citizens who use hospital emergency rooms for medical care at taxpayer expense; but the compromises demanded by the heavily Democratic state legislature are jeopardizing its success." (National Review Online)
Opinion: The World of Retirement Is Changing
Excerpt: "As we define and review the challenges--which include rising healthcare costs and overextended long-term-care capacity, broken safety-net programs, underfunded retirements and a wholesale reengineering of the workplace--it becomes clear that Americans are going to need all their ingenuity in the years ahead." (Financial-Planning)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Compensation Costs in State and Local Government, September-December 2006
Excerpt: "Benefit costs for State and local government workers increased 1.4 percent in the December quarter, compared with the 1.5-percent gain in September." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Overview: New Jersey Becomes Third State to Recognize Civil Unions (PDF)
Excerpt: "When considering the new law plan sponsors should: Determine what changes in their benefit offerings must be made in light of the new law, Review what coverage is insured (under a New Jersey contract) and what is self-funded, Identify changes they would like to make in their benefit offerings that may or may not be legally required, Address imputed income issues, as health benefits for civil union partners will likely not be federally tax qualified . . . ." (The Segal Group, Inc.)
Court Bars Government Benefit for Same-Sex Domestic Partners in Michigan
Excerpt: "Same-sex domestic partners are not entitled to health benefits from public universities or local and state governments under the State Constitution's two-year-old marriage amendment, the Michigan Court of Appeals said in a ruling released Friday." (The New York Times; free registration required)
Michigan Court Rebuffs Appeal for Same-Sex Domestic Partner Benefits
Excerpt: "The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that a 2004 amendment barring same-sex marriages prevents public employers from offering health benefits to same-sex domestic partners." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
New York City Employees' Retirement System Alleges Questionable Stock Option Practices at Apple
Excerpt: "The intent of this post is not to single out any one company nor to imply that the filing of a complaint supports any or all of the allegations. That's for the trier of fact to determine. What is important is to understand that executive compensation practices can (and often do) impact shareholder value." (Pension Risk Matters)
Senators Say Deferred Compensation Provisions 'Overreached' and Will Be Changed
Excerpt: "Key members of the Senate Finance Committee made clear late last week that provisions of Senate legislation that would severely deter use of deferred compensation plans as a retirement tool are not the final word." (National Underwriter Life & Health; free registration or paid subscription required)
Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation Provision Survives Senate Vote
Excerpt: "U.S. Senators may have overwhelmingly approved a bill that includes a provision limiting non-qualified deferred compensation programs (NQDC), but the NQDC provision may still be changed in a later legislative conference committee, according to one lawmaker." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Bush Says Medicare and Social Security Must Change As He Prepares to Release Budget
Excerpt: "President Bush, poised to submit his new budget to Congress next week, warned Saturday that unless programs like Medicare and Social Security are changed, future generations will face tax hikes, government red ink or huge cuts in benefits." (AP via The New York Times; free registration required)
Newly Posted Events
Best Practices for Managing Absenteeism and Presenteeism
Nationwide on February 14, 2007
presented by CCH Incorporated
FMLA and Workers' Compensation -- What Employers Need to Know A 90-minute, interactive audio conference
Nationwide on March 6, 2007
presented by Thompson Interactive, A Division of Thompson Publishing Group
Health & Wealth: The Use of Tax Policy to Shift Responsibility to the Individual
in District of Columbia on February 23, 2007
presented by Corporate & Business Law Society at The George Washington University Law School
Labor Law Issues in the Health Care Arena - Webcast
Nationwide on February 8, 2007
presented by West LegalEdcenter
Newly Posted Press Releases
New Course Helps Evaluate Role of Alternative Investments in Institutional Portfolios
International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Reacts to Michigan Court Ruling Stripping Domestic Partner Benefits from Public Employees
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Pension Administrator
for Pension Dynamics Corporation
in CA
Relationship Manager for Institutional Trust and Custody
for U.S. Bank
in CA
Account Executive - Client Relationship Development
for Diversified Investment Advisors
in NY
Associate Account Executive
for Lockton Companies, LLC
in TX
Senior Associate
for Benefits Group WorldWide, Inc.
in CA
401(k) Client Service Representative
for Professional Capital Services, LLC
in PA
Senior Project Representative, Retirement Services
for NRECA
in VA
Recruiter Specializing in Retirement Services
for Professional Staffing of St. Louis, LLC
in ANY STATE
Defined Contribution Pension Administrator
for American Pensions, Inc.
in SC
Retirement Compliance Testing Manager
for Vanguard
in PA
Senior Relationship Manager / Relationship Manager
for Fidelity Investments
in TX
Plan Review Consultant
for Vanguard
in AZ
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
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