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| June 15, 2007 |
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Study Offers Ways to Improve Results with Account-Based Health Plans
Excerpt: "A new Towers Perrin study identifies potential problem areas and suggests ways that employers can close this gap and enhance the results under account-based plans." (Towers Perrin)
A Way to Keep Domestic Partner Benefits
Excerpt: "Michigan's public colleges and universities were barred by a state appeals court in February from offering health and other benefits to the same-sex domestic partners of employees. So Michigan State University is trying another tack: extending benefits to people it labels 'other eligible individuals.'" (Inside Higher Ed)
Web Tool Provides Samples of Report Cards on Health Care Quality
Excerpt: "The new Health Care Report Card Compendium is a searchable directory of more than 200 samples of report cards produced by a variety of organizations." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)
Candidate Edwards Proposes Cash Incentive to End Drug Company Monopolies
Excerpt: "Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards [yesterday] proposed cutting health care costs by overhauling the patent process for breakthrough drugs and requiring health insurance companies to spend at least 85 percent of their premiums on patient care." (AP via Houston Chronicle)
Explaining Rising Health Care Costs, a Major Threat to Economic Security of the Middle Class
Excerpt: "Adoption of new technology is the driving force behind recent [health care cost] increases, which presents tough choices for insurers and clinicians: obviously they want to give patients the best care possible, but that comes at a price -- or does it? Are patients gaining value for their higher payments? " (The Washington Post; free registration required)
Cost-Sharing in Health Plans Prompts Selection of Lower-Cost Services, According to Survey
Excerpt: "Consumers with more cost-sharing responsibility in their health plans are more likely to use lower-cost alternatives for medical care, according to a report by Booz Allen Hamilton, the Bergen Record reports." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Affordable Health Care Solutions for Lower-Income Employees
Excerpt: "If your organization is encountering difficulties implementing a health care strategy for lower-income employees, it could face significant business risks, including lower productivity due to poor health among workers, increased business costs and possible public relation issues if employment practices are perceived as unfair." (Towers Perrin)
Chart: Privatizers Lose Social Security Battle, but Make Inroads in Medicare
Excerpt: "The share of Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in privatized plans has grown rapidly since Congress passed the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, which ratcheted up payments to private plans. At the current pace, one in four beneficiaries will be in a private plan by the end of the decade . . . ." (The Economic Policy Institute)
American Benefits Council Testimony on Mental Health Parity (PDF)
8 pages. Testimony of James A. Klein, President, American Benefits Council, at the Hearing on the 'Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007' for the Subcommittee on Health, Committee on Energy and Commerce, United States House of Representatives, June 15, 2007 (American Benefits Council)
Parity for Whom? Exemptions and the Extent of State Mental Health Parity Legislation
Excerpt: "[B]ecause of exemptions for self-insured firms and small firms, coverage is much lower than a simple tally of state mandates would suggest. Limits on the types of conditions covered further weaken these laws. This paper summarizes the extent and scope of state parity legislation in terms of the number of insured private-sector employees covered." (Health Affairs)
Is There a Role for Markets in Health Care?
Excerpt: "The Galen Institute and the International Policy Network co-hosted an event on Thursday, June 14, on 'Is There a Role for Markets in Health Care?' Is there a way to use the dynamic, global marketplace to advance common international goals of making health care more affordable and more accessible? [The target page links to] summaries of remarks by the international panelists.]" (Galen Institute)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
State Law Misrepresentation of Benefits Claim Under ERISA Plan Not Basis for Preemption
Excerpt: "An employee's state law claims seeking rescission of his participation in a pension plan and reliance damages in the form of benefits he relinquished by leaving his former job were not preempted by ERISA, ruled the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)
Clawbacks Make a Comeback - Many Firms Adopting Some Type of Formal Recoupment Policy
Excerpt: "Clawback. Disgorgement. Recoupment. These are all pretty harsh words to describe a company's decision to take back an executive's compensation that wasn't deserved. But most shareholders today expect companies to have and use recoupment policies when justified." (Towers Perrin)
Newly Posted Events
Dept. of Labor Workshop for Defined Contribution Plans
in Connecticut on June 20, 2007
presented by National Institute of Pension Administrators-CT Chapter
Guns and Hoses
in California on September 16, 2007
presented by Institute for International Research
The Savvy Self-Funding Healthcare Conference & Expo
in Missouri on August 20, 2007
presented by Savvy Self-Funding Healthcare Conference & Expo
Newly Posted Press Releases
GREAT-WEST RETIREMENT SERVICES® ANNOUNCES MANAGED ACCOUNT PROGRAM SURPASSES $1 BILLION
Great-West Retirement Services
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
(Post a Job | View All Jobs)
Market Development Specialist / Wholesaler
for Transamerica Retirement Services
in CA, CO, GA, IL, IN, MA, MN, NJ, PA, TX
Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Associate
for Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
in PA
Manager, Client Services
for AST Capital Trust Company
in AZ
Conversion Manager
for AST Capital Trust Company
in AZ
Senior Trust Administrator
for AST Capital Trust Company
in DE
Vice President, Legal
for AST Capital Trust Company
in AZ
Manager HR Compensation
for Philip Morris USA
in VA
Training Coordinator
for The Newport Group
in FL
Consulting Actuary
for CBIZ Benefits & Insurance Services
in MD, NJ
Retirement Plans Analyst
for Saks Fifth Avenue
in NY
Pension Plan Administrator/Pension Plan Actuary
for The Waage Law Firm
in CA
Quality Improvement Director
for Great-West Corporate
in KS
Signing Bonus / Senior DC Plan Administrator
for Berlin, Ramos & Company
in MD
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
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