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| October 26, 2007 |
| Here are the Web's best new links about compliance and cost aspects of plan operation, design and policy. |
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(a) New Guidance Documents
(None today.)
(b) News
House Committee Unanimously Approves Health IT Legislation
Excerpt: "The House Science and Technology Committee . . . unanimously approved legislation (HR 2406) that would provide $16 million to the National Institute of Standards and Technology to increase its efforts to create a national database for patient records, CongressDaily reports." (California HealthCare Foundation)
GAO: Report Says GASB 45 Could Spark Important Govt. Health Coverage Discussions
Excerpt: "Government officials may struggle to comply with new accounting standards mandating more reporting about size of their retiree benefit obligations and how they intend to pay the bills, but a new report says the disclosure requirements will force a valuable public debate." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Maternity Leave to Be Expanded in Ohio
Excerpt: "Companies with four or more employees would be required to grant up to 12 weeks of paid or unpaid maternity leave under a new state rule approved Thursday by the Ohio Civil Rights Commission." (AP via The Enquirer)
Univ. of Cincinnati Approves Full Domestic Partner Benefits
Excerpt: "A year after agreeing to offer limited benefits to same-sex partners, the University of Cincinnati announced a contract Wednesday extending full health care and tuition benefits to the domestic partners of about 6,500 employees, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
(c) Summaries of Guidance; Filed Comments
Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide Updated October 24, 2007, for Health and Welfare Plans (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 health and welfare benefit plans. (Hewitt Associates)
(d) Trends, Surveys, Research
VEBAs in New Spotlight for Shedding Retiree Health Care Liabilities
Excerpt: "The situation involving AK Steel is most pertinent to the benefits industry because its VEBA is being established as the result of a lawsuit rather than a collective bargaining agreement. The company has approximately $2.1 billion of retiree health care liabilities, of which approximately 50% were for the 4,600 current retirees of the company's Middletown, Ohio, steel works." (Wolters Kluwer Financial Services)
Health Insurance Hearing Brings No New Ideas to the Table
Excerpt: "The Senate Finance Committee held its first hearing yesterday on the vexing problem of health insurance coverage among small businesses. 'We will help a big chunk of the uninsured, if we can figure out how to provide affordable insurance options to small-business employees,' said Sen. Max Baucus, Montana Democrat and chairman of the committee. 'A bill that comes out of this committee should provide more insurance options to the self-employed. And it should also make sure that this insurance offers real coverage that is worth the money.' But judging from yesterday's hearing, that legislation is years away." (The Washington Times)
Kaiser Health Security Watch, October 2007 (PDF)
9 pages. Excerpt: "Since February 2004, the Kaiser Health Security Watch has asked several questions to compare Americans' health care worries to their worries about other possible problems. We have consistently found that more Americans are worried about their health care costs than about losing their job, paying their rent or mortgage, losing money in the stock market, or being the victim of a terrorist attack." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Seeking Health Care Savings, Employers Help Smokers Quit
Excerpt: "Many businesses are seeking to reduce their medical bills by paying for programs to help employees stop smoking. A decade ago, such programs were rare. But recent surveys indicate that one-third of companies with at least 200 workers now offer smoking cessation as part of their employee benefits package. Among the nation's biggest companies, the number may be nearly two-thirds of employers." (The New York Times; free registration required)
Caregivers Increasingly File Lawsuits Against Employers Alleging Discrimination
Excerpt: "The number of lawsuits stemming from 'family responsibilities discrimination,' or discrimination against employees who have family care-giving responsibilities at home, has increased by 400% in the last 10 years, according to the Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California, USA Today reports." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Companies Add Concierges to Retain Staff
Excerpt: "Memorial Healthcare System's employees can get an oil change and their clothes dry cleaned without leaving work. General Mills workers can skip traffic and long lines when they mail packages or get jewelry repaired. And Ernst & Young staffers need only pick up a phone to have someone plan their vacation or research nursing homes for an elderly parent. These workplaces are part of a growing number that are embellishing their benefits packages with 'concierge services' -- everything from flower deliveries and car detailing to restaurant reservations and clothes alterations." (AP via The Washington Post; free registration required)
House Committee Unanimously Approves Health IT Legislation
Excerpt: "The House Science and Technology Committee . . . unanimously approved legislation (HR 2406) that would provide $16 million to the National Institute of Standards and Technology to increase its efforts to create a national database for patient records, CongressDaily reports." (California HealthCare Foundation)
(e) Policy, Opinion, Advocacy
Hearing: Small Business Health Insurance: Building a Gateway to Coverage
Held yesterday; target page has links to member and witness statements. (U.S. Senate Committee on Finance)
Opinion: Competing California Health Insurance Plans Equally Flawed
Excerpt: "Proponents of the two versions say they are cracking down on insurers by requiring them to provide coverage to everyone, but massive loopholes make that promise illusory." (San Jose Mercury News via Physicians for a National Health Program)
Learning from Failure in Health Care Reform
Excerpt: "The Clinton administration made no shortage of political miscalculations and strategic errors that helped to derail its campaign for health security. Yet it is easy to forget that Bill Clinton was not the first president to fail at health care reform: he was following in the footsteps of Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and Richard Nixon. Ultimately, the demise of the Clinton plan says less about the administration's mistakes than it does about the extraordinary difficulty of adopting comprehensive health care reform in the United States. For today's reformers, that is the most sobering lesson of all." (New England Journal of Medicine)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide for October 24, 2007, on Human Resources & Employment Law (PDF)
13 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)
Health Care, Retirement Challenges Make Employers, Consultants Closer Allies
Excerpt: "Consultants are working more closely with their employer clients these days, particularly as employers attempt to implement health care cost-containment programs - including wellness and weight management - as part of a broader effort to create a healthier workforce. Meanwhile, the unfamiliar regulations of PPA have employers seeking daily advice on auto-enrollment, pension funding levels, cash balance plans and other features of the law." (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)
Newly Posted Events
Form 1099 Refresher Course
Nationwide on November 7, 2007
presented by ftwilliam.com
What You Need to Know About the 2007 Required Amendments
Nationwide on November 2, 2007
presented by ftwilliam.com
Newly Posted Press Releases
NCQA & U.S.News & World Report Release Annual Rankings for "America's Best Health Plans"
National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
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Benefits Analyst - Arlington, VA
for Watson Wyatt Worldwide
in VA
Benefit Funds Administrator
for Segal on behalf of a client
in MA
Pension Plan Administrator
for Future Planning Associates, Inc.
in VT
ERISA Consultant Small Plans
for New York Life Retirement Plan Services
in MA
Employee Benefits Associate Attorney
for Gray Plant Mooty
in MN
Installation Administrator
for Transamerica Retirement Services
in CA
Consultant
for Pension Benefits Unlimited, Inc.
in CA
Market Development Specialist/Wholesaler
for Transamerica Retirement Services
in MA
409A Plan Administrator / 409A Senior Plan Administrator
for Pen-Cal Administrators
in CA
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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