| BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter |   |
February 27, 2007
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Text of EBSA Extension of Mental Health Parity Act Through December 31, 2007
Excerpt: "The requirements of the interim final amendment apply to group health plans and health insurance issuers offering health insurance coverage in connection with a group healthplan beginning December 31, 2006. The MHPA interim final amendment extends the sunset date from December 31, 2006 to December 31, 2007. Pursuant to the extended sunset date, MHPA requirements apply to benefits for services furnished before December 31, 2007." (U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)
Opinion: Are the Pharmacy Benefit Managers Really Helping Health Plans?
Excerpt: "PBM's promise to deliver cost savings to health plans through plan design, effective purchases of appropriate pharma.ceuticals, disease management and various ancillary services. The PBM's dictate the formularies that drive traffic toward certain drugs and away from others based on reimbursements that the PBM's specify. Inasmuch as the big are posed to get even bigger, [this is an occasion] reflect on the utility and effect of the PBM mechanism in the American health care system." (Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)
Automakers' Health Care Costs To Exceed Savings From Concessions
Excerpt: "Health care expenses for General Motors and Ford Motor likely will increase at a rate that exceeds savings from health care concessions made by the United Auto Workers in agreements reached in 2005, according to a report issued on Monday by credit rating company Fitch Ratings, the Wall Street Journal reports." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Starbucks Has Extended Healthcare Coverage to Part-Time Employees
Excerpt: "Starbucks is one of the few national retailers -- and one of a minority of employers of all types –– that provide health benefits to part-time workers . . . . The Seattle-based company is so committed to providing the benefit that it raised the cup of coffee by about a dime two years ago to keep up with rising health costs and went public with it. Consumers responded by buying more Starbucks." (Palm Beach Post)
Players Assemble for Another Fight Over Association Health Plan Proposal
Excerpt: "In order to get passed through both chambers Congress, the small-business health care bill will most likely have to respond to the concerns about substandard coverage by the attorneys generals and other groups including AARP, the American Cancer Society and the American Diabetes Association. In the end, 'if Congress can come up with a compromise, it would be hard for the President not to sign it,' [EBRI officer Paul Fronstin] said." (CNNMoney.com)
Set to Soar -- General Motors' Health Costs
Excerpt: "Assuming a modest health care inflation rate of 6.5 percent, Fitch found that health care cash costs for each vehicle built in the United States would climb to $1,064 at Ford and $1,783 at GM this year." (Detroit News)
An Option for Some Health Plans: Nonurgent Medical Procedures Done Overseas
Excerpt: "[N]ational attention to medical tourism [has arisen], which some employers and insurers have been considering as a voluntary option (for nonurgent medical procedures) in employer-sponsored health plans. But when such considerations are undertaken, health coverage experts say, HR professionals and benefits specialists should take into account a number of issues, including various medical, legal and financial questions." (HR Magazine)
White Paper: Comparing the Effects of Health Insurance Proposals: Mandates, Medicare and Tax Credits
Excerpt: "[This] analysis includes estimates of eligibility, the number of individuals predicted to take up a policy, the number of individuals switching from private coverage to a policy's coverage, changes in spending on health insurance (both private and public), and changes in wages and employment levels." (Employment Policies Institute)
Nurses Campaign for Single-Payer Health Care in California; Bill is Reintroduced in Legislature
Excerpt: "'Politicians say they're serious about health reform. But most of their solutions are not,' begins a new ad by the California Nurses Association that is running on news radio stations across California this week as a bill to provide genuine universal health coverage is re-introduced Tuesday." (California Nurses Association)
Opinion: Medicare for All -- The Need for Single-Payer Healthcare
The web site can be reached at SinglePayer.com. (California Nurses Association)
Newspapers Address Issues Related to Long-Term Care Insurance
Excerpt: "Three newspapers recently published articles and an opinion piece on issues related to long-term care insurance. Summaries appear below." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Text of 2007 'Medicare & You' Handbook (PDF)
116 pages. Provides insight into what individuals are being told about coordination with employer-provided health plans (p. 61), long-term care insurance (p. 62), and Medical Savings Accounts (p. 39). (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Mayors in New York State Want More Control Over Skyrocketing Health and Pension Costs
Excerpt: "The cost of health insurance and pension benefits provided by cities climbed 76 percent from 1999 to 2004 and 67 percent for villages, according to the state Conference of Mayors. Those costs now account for 21 percent of city budgets. Pension costs have risen from just 1.5 percent of payroll four years ago for most employees to 10.7 percent this year. The increase has been heavier for police and firefighters: from 1.4 percent of payroll in 2003 to 17 percent this year." (The Journal News)
Newly Posted Press Releases
Gilsbar, Inc. to Manage Employee Benefits for TABASCO® Manufacturer McIlhenny Company
Gilsbar, Inc.
Significant Number of Employers Unaware of Short-Term Disability Benefit Costs
International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists (ISCEBS)
CalPERS Launches Prefunding Plan for Retiree Health Benefits
CalPERS (California Public Employees' Retirement System)
The STAR Group Named PLANSPONSOR’s Retirement Plan Adviser Team of the Year
PLANSPONSOR
New Study Reveals Devastating Consequences of Employer-Mandated Healthcare
Employment Policies Institute
Employee Benefits Consulting Firms Charles W. Cammack Associates, Inc. and LaRhette Manin Benefits Service Group Announce Merger
Cammack LaRhette Consulting
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Actuarial/Defined Benefit Professional
for The Pension Service
in CT, MA, ME
401(k) Administrator Assistant
for Pension Performance, Inc.
in IL
ACS Service Delivery Manager
for ACS
in NJ
ACS Health & Welfare Operations Coordinator
for ACS
in NJ
Retirement Benefits Manager
for Ameriprise Financial
in MN
Assistant Administrator
for WESPAC, a BenefitStreet, Inc. company
in CA
Education Specialist
for ADP Retirement Services
in DC, MD, MI, MN
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
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