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| July 5, 2007 |
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San Francisco Initiative Aimed at Universal Care Signs Up Its First Applicants
Excerpt: "Healthy San Francisco is estimated to cost $200 million a year and will be paid for through a mix of public funds, participants' premiums and co-payments and employer contributions. The city is mandating that employers who don't currently offer health insurance to their employees contribute to Healthy San Francisco starting Jan. 1." (San Francisco Chronicle)
'Country Is Watching' Massachusetts Health Insurance Plan
Excerpt: "'The question now is, will people who don't need health care buy into this plan?' . . . . 'Is it affordable enough for people who must buy their own policies?' The answer could have an impact across the nation, as lawmakers in several states and Congress search for ways to provide insurance to the nation's growing number of uninsured -- now estimated at 44.8 million." (USA TODAY)
Overview: The New Massachusetts Healthcare Law - HIRD Form Procedures
Excerpt: " 'Emergency' Regulations were issued June 20, 2007 to explain how to address some (not all) of the Health Insurance Responsibility Disclosure ('HIRD') requirements. A model form has also been issued, in PDF and WORD formats." (Rackemann, Sawyer & Brewster)
Massachusetts Healthcare Law - Links to Law and Official Guidance
Excerpt: "NOTE: These links should help those who need to know about the law in more detail." (Rackemann, Sawyer & Brewster)
Overview: Four Final Rules Implementing Key Features of the Massachusetts Health Care Reform Act
Excerpt: "At its June 5, 2007 meeting, the Massachusetts Health Insurance Connector Authority (the 'Connector') issued four final regulations implementing . . . aspects of the Massachusetts Health Care Reform Act . . . ." (Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.)
U.S. House Proposal Seeks Employer Education Contributions
Excerpt: "A recent proposal introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives is meant to propel employees to allocate money for education costs and prompt employers to contribute matching funds." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Opinion: Legislation on Family Leave Unneeded in New Jersey
Excerpt: "Paid family leave will not only cost business and taxpayers money, but also will disrupt the work/family balance for those employees who would have to work longer hours because they have to take on additional duties of those out on leave." (The Philadelphia Inquirer; free registration required)
Workplace Flexibility 2010
Excerpt: "Workplace Flexibility 2010 is a campaign to support the development of a comprehensive national policy on workplace flexibility. By the year 2010, we hope to have helped develop consensus-based policy solutions that work for business and families." (Workplace Flexibility 2010)
Vacation Policies Needed for Small Biz
Excerpt: "HR consultants uniformly advocate creating a written vacation policy, one that ideally is part of a broader employee handbook. Policies and handbooks serve an important purpose - the more that staffers understand what's expected of them, and what they can expect to do, the better off the workplace will be." (AP via Forbes.com)
Florida Law Grants Domestic Abuse Victims Leave Time
Excerpt: "Being a victim of domestic violence is a good enough reason to miss work, the state Legislature has decided. A new state law took effect this week requiring employers to grant workers up to three days of leave per year for reasons related to domestic violence." (St. Petersburg Times)
Conducting Mock Audits May Be Best Practice to Stay Compliant with Part D
Excerpt: "CMS has begun auditing Medicare Part D plans, and most plans 'simply haven't been as ready as they thought,' according to one health care consultant. Steve Arbaugh, a managing principal of ATTAC Consulting Group, LLC, says part of the problem stems from the fact that most plans haven't turned their attention sufficiently to routinely monitoring and testing compliance yet." (MEDICARE PART D COMPLIANCE NEWS via AISHealth.com)
Diagnostic Scope of and Exposure to Primary Care Physicians in Australia, New Zealand, and the U.S.
Excerpt: "Patients in the United States get far less face time with primary care physicians than do patients in Australia and New Zealand, say the authors of a Commonwealth Fund-supported study published in the June 16 issue of BMJ." (The Commonwealth Fund)
Health Care Providers Face Uphill Battle in Challenging Plan Eligibility Decisions
Excerpt: "The refunded Medicaid payment amounted to $76,291.63. The case underscores the vulnerability of health care providers to proper eligibility determinations. As an assignee, a provider will face the same difficulties as plan participants in overturning plan administrator decisions under the generous abuse of discretion standard of review." (Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)
Survey Finds U.S. Hospital and Doctor Visits Balloon
Excerpt: "The survey by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also found most people who visited emergency rooms had private health insurance, although the uninsured were twice as likely to use emergency services as people with insurance." (Reuters)
Los Angeles Times Examines Medical Tourism
Excerpt: "The Los Angeles Times on Monday examined medical tourism, a practice in which U.S. residents travel to other nations -- such as Costa Rica, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore and Thailand -- to obtain lower-cost, high-quality health care services." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
CBO's Special Collection on Health Features Publications, Cost Estimates, and Presentations
Excerpt: "Rising health care costs and their consequences for federal health insurance programs constitute the nation's central fiscal challenge. Such costs exert a significantly larger influence on the budget over the long term than other commonly cited factors, such as the aging of the population." (Congressional Budget Office)
Health Plans and PBMs Push Pill Splitting, but New Generics Lessen Impact
Excerpt: "A new U-M study that looked at financial incentives and outcomes of patients participating in a statin pill-splitting program finds that most individuals are not opposed to the practice, but they do want significant copayment reductions. According to the six-month study, published in the June issue of American Journal of Managed Care, 73% of 103 participants in the U-M program said that to continue splitting pills would require a 50% reduction in copays." (DRUG BENEFIT NEWS via AISHealth.com)
Overview of Request for Amicus Participation in ERISA/Employment Discrimination/Arbitration Case
Excerpt: "Judge Nancy Gertner, of the District Court of Massachusetts, has sent . . . a request for amicus participation in a case before her. The case is Massachusetts Nurse Assoc. v. Essent Healthcare of Massachusetts, Inc." (Workplace Prof Blog)
Defense Department Prohibits Plan Sponsors from Offering Tricare Supplements
Excerpt: "Effective January 1, 2008, group health plan sponsors cannot offer TRICARE-eligible employees a financial or other incentive not to enroll in a group health plan that would provide primary coverage. This new ban on incentives is aimed at preventing employers from shifting health costs to the Department of Defense (DoD)." (The Segal Group, Inc.)
Survey Finds Vast Majority of U.S. Workers at Large Companies Are Happy with Their Health Benefits
Excerpt: "Despite rising costs, the vast majority of U.S. workers at large companies say they're very satisfied with their health-care benefits and consider them to be the most important employer-provided benefit they receive. . . . Such attitudes were found in a recent study conducted by the National Business Group on Health, a Washington-based consortium of 266 large U.S. companies." (Human Resource Executive Online; free registration required)
NEJM Editor Calls for Health System Change in Chicago Tribune Interview
Excerpt: "The Chicago Tribune on Sunday published an interview with Arnold Relman, an editor at the New England Journal of Medicine and a professor at Harvard Medical School who has written a book, titled 'A Second Opinion,' that calls for reforms to the U.S. health care system." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Statement of Canadian doctor to Judiciary Committee, US House of Representatives, June 20, 2007
Excerpt: "It is not surprising to me that studies demonstrate that healthcare and health outcomes in Can.ada compare favorably to those in the U.S. Like any complex human system, Can.ada's Medicare is not without its problems. Wait times in our system have drawn a lot of attention and frankly some outlandish claims made in the media." (Physicians for a National Health Program)
Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide Updated July 3, 2007, for Health and Welfare Plans (PDF)
15 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)
Bank One Division Sale Not Intended to Undermine Severance Benefits
Excerpt: "The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that an employer did not wrongfully deny two Bank One employees the right to severance benefits, because the workers had turned down positions at a RBC Mortgage Co., which purchased the division from Bank One." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Overview: IRS Says CFOs Are Not Covered Employees Under Section 162(m) (PDF)
Excerpt: "Recent Internal Revenue Service Notice 2007-49 addresses the inconsistent definitions of a 'named executive officer' in the Securities and Exchange Commission disclosure rules under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and 'covered employee' in Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code." (Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP)
Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide for July 3, 2007, on Human Resources & Employment Law (PDF)
12 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
Summary Plan Descriptions (SPDs) for Health and Welfare Plans-- A Hands-On Guide to SPD Preparation and Delivery
Nationwide on June 28, 2007
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
Newly Posted Press Releases
BenefitsEssentials.com Wins 2007 APEX Award
ASC
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
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Senior Health and Welfare Benefits Specialist
for Ice Miller LLP
in IN
Experienced Employee Benefits Attorney
for Ice Miller LLP
in IN
Employee Benefits Attorney
for Ice Miller LLP
in IN
Associate Consultant
for Fidelity Investments
in IL
Implementation Manager
for Great-West Corporate
in CO
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