BenefitsLink Welfare Plans Newsletter for March 21, 2007

BenefitsLink
Welfare Plans
Newsletter

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March 21, 2007

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Basic Drug Coverage OK'd in Massachusetts' Universal Health Plan
Excerpt: "Massachusetts is poised to become the first state to require that all adults have health insurance that includes prescription drug coverage." (The Boston Globe)

Erroneous Benefits Estimates: Informal Plan Communications or Plan Documents?
Excerpt: "Crosby v. Rohm & Haas Co., -- F.3d --, 2007 WL 778146 C.A.6 (Ky.) (March 16, 2007) offers several useful pointers at the frequently litigated intersection of summary plan descriptions, benefit estimates and requests for plan information." (Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)

Aetna to Provide Employee Assistance Services to Small Group Health Plans
Excerpt: "Aetna . . . today announced that employee assistance services will be a standard part of the servicing of fully insured health plans for all small group employers." (Forbes.com)

Overview: IRS Reiterates Approval of Funding HRAs with Unused Vacation and Sick Leave
Excerpt: "A recent IRS private letter ruling (PLR) confirms that employers can fund health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) with employees' unused vacation and sick leave under certain circumstances. PLR 200708006 (February 23, 2007)." (Deloitte via BenefitsLink.com)

Evidence-Based Medicine Brings Value
Excerpt: "Jennifer Boehm, a principal at Hewitt Associates, remarked, 'Employers today can effectively influence the interaction between patients and providers through the use of evidence-based design. Companies moving in the direction of evidence-based plan design will indeed overtime have lower than average market trends, will improve the health outcome of their population and have a more present and productive workforce.'" (BenefitNews Connect)

Insurance Company Health Reimbursement Disclosure Attracts Broad Support
Excerpt: "Many health insurance company executives agree with patients and hospital executives that insurers should reveal how much they really pay for medical services." (National Underwriter Life & Health; free registration required)

Employers Push Health Plans to Integrate On-Site Health Centers with Care Management
Excerpt: "Although worksite health centers are an old idea, integrating with them may become the newest service to be offered by health insurers. Large self-funded employers are pushing the managed care organizations (MCOs) that administer their health plans to integrate these centers into their medical, disease and wellness management programs -- or even to manage the centers themselves." (MANAGED CARE WEEK via AISHealth.com)

A Pound of Flesh: Hospital Billing, Debt Collection, and Patients' Rights (PDF)
8 pages. Excerpt: "This issue brief provides an overview of some of the progressive reform measures that state policymakers have implemented to aid families struggling with medical debt." (Families USA)

Opinion: The Health Care Crisis
Excerpt: "The triumphs of modern medicine . . . are marred by the failure of health-care socioeconomics to keep pace with the brilliant advances of medical science and technology. The soaring costs of health care and the millions of medically uninsured Americans are stark testimonies of this truism." (The Washington Times via Physicians for a National Health Program)

UnitedHealth Sets Standards for Market Success - Comments on Article Excerpts
Excerpt: "And our national policies are designed to keep big government out of our health care and allow market forces to play out? If you step back and look at how Medicare functions and then look at how UnitedHealth and the other private insurers function, how could anyone seriously contend, when it comes to health insurance, that big market forces provide greater value than big government?" (Physicians for a National Health Program)

Disclosure Laws Do Not Fully Reveal Drug Company Payments to Physicians
Excerpt: "Laws that mandate disclosure of payments to physicians by pharma.ceutical companies provide limited public information, according to a new report. At present, five states and the District of Columbia have legislation requiring payment disclosure. Among these states, Minnesota and Vermont require that the information be made available to the public." (Reuters Health via Medscape; free registration required)

Firms Push Healthy Ways on Workforce
Excerpt: "The Blue Care Network program, started in October, offers enhanced insurance benefits, such as lower co-pays for medical care, to employees and their spouses who commit to healthy lifestyle goals. For now, the program centers on six high-impact health modifications that can contribute to lower health costs: Smoking cessation or at least reduction; alcohol moderation; weight reduction; and diabetes, blood pressure and cholesterol management." (Freep.com)

Health Plans and Vendors Roll Out New Risk-Assessment Strategies
Excerpt: "In January, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island launched a subsidiary that offers risk assessments and worksite wellness programs. The Health & Wellness Institute (HWI) services the Rhode Island Blues plan and is working with Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield." (INSIDE CONSUMER-DIRECTED CARE via AISHealth.com)

Congressional Health Care Bills, 2005-2007: Part I - Insurance Coverage
Excerpt: "The first of a two-part series, this report analyzes and compares leading congressional bills and Administration proposals to expand health insurance coverage introduced over 2005-2007. The Commonwealth Fund commissioned The Lewin Group to estimate the effect of the bills on stakeholder and health system costs and the projected number of people who would become newly insured through them." (The Commonwealth Fund)

Commonwealth Fund Study Analyzes 10 Health Care Proposals
Excerpt: "Several health care proposals that have been or will be introduced in Congress would provide coverage to more U.S. residents and reduce costs more than proposals by President Bush, according to a Commonwealth Fund study released Monday, Reuters/New York Times reports . . . ." (Kaiser Family Foundation)

Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

A Review of Recent Benefits Related Legislation in the House
Excerpt: "from Spencer's Benefits Reports: Between February 13 and March 8, . . . benefits related bills were introduced in the House. Included are bills to increase health care coverage (H.R.1111, 1200), improve retiree health care (H.R. 1322), and expand mental health parity . . . ." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)

Newly Posted Events

401(k) Plan Workshop
in Minnesota on April 25, 2007
presented by SunGard Relius

401(k) Plan Workshop
in Massachusetts on April 26, 2007
presented by SunGard Relius

401(k) Plan Workshop
in Washington on April 27, 2007
presented by SunGard Relius

401(k) Plan Workshop
in Iowa on April 27, 2007
presented by SunGard Relius

Form 5500 Workshop
in Minnesota on April 24, 2007
presented by SunGard Relius

Form 5500 Workshop
in Massachusetts on April 25, 2007
presented by SunGard Relius

Form 5500 Workshop
in Iowa on April 26, 2007
presented by SunGard Relius

Form 5500 Workshop
in Washington on April 26, 2007
presented by SunGard Relius

Health Coverage Revisited: Exploring Options for Expansion - Webcast
Nationwide on March 21, 2007
presented by KaiserNetwork.org

Newly Posted Press Releases

Watson Wyatt Urges Congress to Block Energy Department's Anti-Pension Policy
Watson Wyatt

U.S. Department of Labor Official Testifies Before House Subcommittee On Administration’s FY 2008 Budget Request For Employee Benefits Security
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

Survey Data Reveal Stunning Lack of Awareness of "Saver's Credit"
Transamerica Retirement Services

Workplace Options Views Recent Foreclosure Crisis as Opportunity for Employers to Educate Their Workforce
Workplace Options

dressbarn, inc. Selects CitiStreet as 401(k) Administrator
CitiStreet

Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings

Benefits Consulting VP
for Merrill Lynch
in NJ

Investment Consultant (Analyst)
for Merrill lynch
in GA

Communication Consultant
for Merrill Lynch
in NJ

Handy Links:

View Today's Active Message Threads
Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
Employee Benefits Library

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