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| August 16, 2007 |
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NFIB's Small-Employer Plans Hit Snag on Rocky Mountain Regs
Excerpt: "A product marketed by the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) to small businesses snagged on a legal technicality in Colorado, but similar plans elsewhere in the country are being offered without any issues. The plans are health reimbursement arrangements and health savings accounts offered to small employers by the NFIB and other associations." (Health Plan Week via AISHealth.com)
Public Employers Not Considering All GASB 45 Implications
Excerpt: "The majority of public sector employers have started to address new accounting standards on non-pension retiree benefit liabilities, but few employers understand all the changes necessary to reduce their expense under the new rules, according to a survey by Aon Consulting." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Medco Creates Prescription Drug Benefit Program for Small Labor Unions
Excerpt: "Pharmacy benefit manager Medco Health Solutions, in response to a 'trend in which smaller unions were being forced to consolidate their prescription drug programs with those of larger ones to obtain the same economies of scale,' has created a pharmacy benefit program for unions with fewer than 20,000 members, the Bergen Record reports." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
1,000 Uninsured Enrolled in Healthy San Francisco Program
Excerpt: "The program, the first of its kind in the country, intends to provide health care to the 82,000 city residents without medical insurance. It started small and is currently available at just two locations: the Chinatown Public Health Center and the nonprofit North East Medical Services, on the border of Chinatown and North Beach." (San Francisco Chronicle)
Smokers Drag Down a Workplace, Study Says
Excerpt: "Some smokers argue that smoke breaks are used as a time to reflect on what's been accomplished and work that still needs to be done, thus making them more productive than non-smokers. But a new study shows smokers have poorer-than-average work performance and productivity; they also tend to call in sick more." (CNN.com)
Union Suggests Letting Dependent Children Stay on Federal Employee Health Insurance Until Age 25
Excerpt: "Federal employees may find themselves shelling out a lot more money for health insurance if their children don't secure their own coverage by the time they reach their early 20s. That's because the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program only provides insurance to dependents until they turn 22." (GovExec.com)
Overview of a Post-Sereboff Reimbursement Claim Case
Excerpt: "The Northern District of Ohio has issued a decision dealing with the issue of the 'make whole' defense raised in a case for reimbursement of medical expenses after settlement of a personal injury case." (Workplace Prof Blog)
Value-Driven Health Care Purchasing: Four States that Are Ahead of the Curve
Excerpt: "In this overview of public-private VBP efforts in Massachusetts, Minnesota, Washington, and Wisconsin, the authors find that tiered premiums, pay-for-performance measures, and the designation of high-performance providers as 'centers of excellence' are paying off." (The Commonwealth Fund)
New York Ponders Sweeping Health Finance Reforms
Excerpt: "Empire State insurance regulators want to hear members of the public talk about strategies for overhauling the way the state regulates health insurers and pays for health care. The New York State Insurance Department has put out a notice announcing a series of 5 public hearings on the future of the health care system." (The National Underwriter Company; free registration or paid subscription required)
Returns to Local-Area Health Care Spending: Using Health Shocks to Patients Far from Home
Excerpt: "Health care spending varies widely across markets, yet there is little evidence that higher spending translates into better health outcomes . . . . [T]his paper compares outcomes of patients who are exposed to different health care systems that were not designed for them: patients who are far from home when a health emergency strikes. The universe of emergencies in Florida from 1996-2003 is considered, and visitors who become ill in high-spending areas . . . ." (National Bureau of Economic Research; paid subscription or individual purchase required to retrieve fulltext)
Study Evaluated Home and Remote Based Employees' Engagement.
Excerpt: "Employees work outside of the office for many reasons including greater work/life balance, family obligations, special work schedule requirements and commuting distance to the office. Although this arrangement delivers benefits to both the employer and the employee, being a remote worker may also have its challenges. For example, do remote or home-based employees feel as though they are out of sight and out of mind, or are they as equally engaged as those who work inside the office?" (PR Newswire via Human Resource Executive Online; free registration required)
Comptroller General Discusses Long-Term Financial Effects of U.S. Health Care Costs
Excerpt: "Comptroller General David Walker in an interview with the Financial Times, said the U.S. faces 'unprecedented fiscal risks' with 'the looming retirement of baby boomers, spiraling health care costs, plummeting savings rates and increasing reliance on foreign lenders,' the Times reports." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Opinion: Hopes for California '07 Health Reform on Critical List
Excerpt: "The word out of the Capitol is that even if a healthcare bill makes it to the governor's desk, it will be so watered down that millions of Californians will remain without coverage and little if anything will be done to contain costs. The insurance industry, meanwhile, has responded to recent reform efforts by becoming even more organized. Consumer advocates say insurers are shoveling piles of cash toward controlling the healthcare debate and protecting their lucrative livelihood." (Los Angeles Times via The Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights)
Assessing Pay and Benefits for Military Personnel (PDF)
8 pages. Excerpt: "With the military's cash allowances for food and housing included (as well as the tax advantage that service members receive because those allowances are tax-exempt), enlisted personnel earn more than at least 75 percent of comparable civilians, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates. Members of the military also receive more-extensive benefits than most civilian workers do." (Congressional Budget Office)
Technology, Management, Government Innovations Required to Transform the U.S. Health Care System
Excerpt: "Richard L. Reece, a physician in Old Saybrook, Conn., in an article published in the July issue of HealthLeaders Media [identified] . . . ways to improve health coverage in his article, 'Six Innovations to Increase Productivity, Cut Costs, and Extend Coverage' . . . ." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)
CalPERS Workers Opting to Keep Current LTC Insurance Coverage and Pay Higher Premiums
Excerpt: "More than four out of five policyholders -- or 134,335 customers -- decided to absorb the average 33.6 percent rate increase, Gregory Franklin, health benefits chief at the California Public Employees' Retirement System, told trustees." (The Sacramento Bee; free registration required)
Trade Group Says More Government Action Needed on E-Health
Excerpt: "U.S. lawmakers should avoid passing net neutrality laws as a way to help electronic-health initiatives move forward, an Internet provider trade group said . . . ." (PC World via The Washington Post; free registration required)
Opinion: Facing Many Similar Challenges As U.S., Small Country of Israel Has Found Way to Cover All
Excerpt: "[F]our key themes from the Israeli healthcare system are particularly relevant to our healthcare situation here in the U.S.: [1] Israel guarantees healthcare coverage for all. If we were to set such a goal in the U.S., it is reasonable to believe that we would be successful in achieving it. While Israel is small in size and population compared with the U.S., its success in implementing universal coverage demonstrates that it can be done." (Modern Healthcare; free registration required)
Opinion: HIPAA Has Become 'Bureaucratic Nightmare'
Excerpt: "HIPAA was passed in the 1990s and became a so-called privacy protection. Instead I think it has become a bureaucratic nightmare." (Modern Healthcare; free registration required)
RTI Report Includes Controversial EHR Requirement
Excerpt: "The Bush administration has signed off on 14 recommendations in a federally funded report by RTI International on how to use electronic health-record systems to detect healthcare fraud and to gather evidence for fraud prosecutions. The 115-page report, enigmatically titled Recommended Requirements for Enhancing Data Quality in Electronic Health Record Systems, is posted on the RTI Web site." (Modern Healthcare; free registration required)
Another Question is Answered in the Consumer-Driven Healthcare Reimbursement Accounts (HSAs, HRAs, Archer MSAs, Medicare MSAs) Q&A Column
What are the requirements to make a tax free Qualified HSA Distribution (rollover from a Health FSA or HRA to a Health Savings Account)? (BenefitsLink.com)
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| September 23-26, 2007 - Las Vegas |
| Cost versus quality -- is your health care plan fit enough to survive this challenge? Many plan sponsors are implementing HSAs, HRAs, wellness and disease management programs, consumerism, prescription drug management and employee communication programs to strengthen their plans. Which features should you incorporate into your program? Find out at the Health and Welfare Plan Management for Mid-Sized Employers conference, scheduled September 23-26, 2007, at The Venetian® Resort~Hotel~Casino in Las Vegas. |
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Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Pension Picture Bright, Arizona's State Retirees Are Informed
Excerpt: "The pension system for Arizona state retirees is healthy and making progress toward fully funded status, but it could have benefited in recent years from more overseas investing, the system director told local retirees." (Arizona Daily Star)
Requests for ERISA Plan Information: Claims Administrator Held Not Subject to Penalties
Excerpt: "[P]lan information requests must be directed to the correct party for the obligations under 29 U.S.C. § 1024(b)(4) to apply. This question may not be a simple one . . . ." (Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)
Initiative Seeks Limits on California Health Care, Pension Benefits for Retired Public Workers
Excerpt: "A former state legislator and an Orange County official are working to qualify a measure for a 2008 state ballot that would impose new limits on health care benefits and pensions for retired public workers in California, the San Jose Mercury News reports." (California HealthCare Foundation; free registration may be required)
Change Is Coming to DOL's National Compensation Survey Benefits Products
The target page consists of questions and answers about the upcoming changes to NCS benefits publications. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Plan Participants Surf Their Plan Sponsors' Websites, but Conduct Fewer Transactions Than They Could
Excerpt: "Only 15% of plan participants change contribution allocations online and just 9% transfer funds among investment options online, according to a new study from Alexandria, Va.-based The Spectrum Group." (Investment News; free registration required)
Newly Posted Events
Comprehensive New IRS Regulations on Cafeteria Plans: How Has the Landscape Changed and How Should Plans Adapt?
Nationwide on August 30, 2007
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
Making Consumerism Work: A Panel Discussion on Successful Strategies for Changing Employee Behavior
in District of Columbia on September 27, 2007
presented by
Total Rewards = Compensation + Benefits + Careers
in Illinois on August 23, 2007
presented by WEB - Chicago West
Newly Posted Press Releases
U.S. Labor Department Action Clears Way To Distribute $900,000 In 401(k) Assets To Former Employees Of South Bay Company
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
U.S. Labor Department Resolves Unpaid Health Claims Of Participants Covered By Mississippi State Medical Association Plan
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
New Book: Redefining Retirement: How Will Boomers Fare?
Pension Research Council
Kaplan Financial Launches Next Generation of e-PAL Regulatory Reference Service
Kaplan Financial
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
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for Raymond James Financial, Inc.
in FL
Technical Research Consultant
for Diversified Investment Advisors
in NY
Plan Review & Enrollment/Communications Specialist
for Pension Specialists, Inc
in CA
Client Service Consultant - Regional
for Standard Insurance Company
in OH
Benefits Project Manager
for Hewitt Associates
in NJ
Nurse Case Manager
for Standard Insurance Company
in OR
Retirement Plan Administrator
for Tax Sheltered Compensation, Inc.
in MN
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