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| November 14, 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
Edwards Threatens to Strip Health Care Benefits from Members of Congress
Excerpt: "John Edwards is airing a new ad in Iowa. In it he repeats the threat to use presidential powers to take away health care coverage from his cabinet and from Congress if they cannot provide universal health care coverage by July 2009." (The Washington Post; free registration required)
Tests of Dubious Value Drive Up Health Costs, According to Study
Excerpt: "For all the talk about aging baby boomers bankrupting the U.S. health care system, the real cost culprits may be tests and treatments of dubious value, according to a government study . . . . Medical costs are growing far faster than the population is growing and aging, Congressional Budget Office Director Peter Orszag said in releasing the report." (Reuters)
Pharma.ceutical Lobbying Stalls Legislation That Aims to Prevent Companies Delaying Introduction of Generic Drugs to Market
Excerpt: "Legislation that would prevent brand-name drug companies from paying generic drug makers to delay market entry of generic medications 'has stalled in Congress in the face of major lobbying by the drug industry,' the AP/Houston Chronicle reports." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Taking U.S. Pulse on Paid Sick Leave
Excerpt: "Business groups say mandatory paid sick leave could force cuts in other benefits such as health care or vacation. 'Paid sick leave isn't free,' says Ty Pine, legislative director of the National Federation of Independent Business in Ohio. 'Show me where the law guarantees the business owner extra revenue to cover the costs.'" (USA TODAY)
(c) Summaries of Guidance; Filed Comments
When Must Individual Take HSA Distribution to Pay or Reimburse Qualified Medical Expenses Incurred in the Current Year?
Excerpt: "A HSA owner may defer HSA distributions to later taxable years to pay or reimburse qualified medical expenses incurred in the current year as long as the expenses were incurred after the HSA was established. Similarly, an HSA distribution in the current year can be used to pay or reimburse expenses incurred in any prior year as long as the expenses were incurred after the HSA was established." (Wolters Kluwer Financial Services)
Overview: CY Plans Must Apply HIPAA Rules on Nondiscrimination and Wellness Programs by January 1, 2008
Excerpt: "By January 1, 2008, calendar year group health plans must have adopted the nondiscrimination and wellness plan rules originally released in 2006 under the provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). /1/ 71 FR 75014 (December 13, 2006)." (Deloitte via BenefitsLink.com)
Case Sheds Light on Church Plan Exception
Excerpt: "Most benefits and insurance professionals familiar with COBRA administration clearly know that church plans are exempted from COBRA's requirements. What is less clear is when this exception actually applies. A recent district court case shed some light." (infinisource)
Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide Updated November 7, 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
How to Save on Health Care Expenses
Excerpt: "With a little research and some hard bargaining . . . . Here are 10 ways to get started, along with the savings you can expect." (The E.W. Scripps Co.)
Telehealth Adoption Could Save $4.28B Annually, Study Finds
Excerpt: "The authors noted that actual savings from telehealth could be greater because their estimate does not include potential savings from using the technology for inpatients, home monitoring, interpretive services or medical education. The study noted that the biggest barrier to telehealth adoption is that provider organizations bear the costs, while insurers accrue the savings (Health Data Management, 11/12)." (California HealthCare Foundation)
Workers' Costs Increase for Health Insurance: Most to Pay Bigger Share of Employers' 2008 Plans
Excerpt: "In fact, more than half of U.S. companies, or 56 percent, plan to trim their health-care tabs next year by requiring that their employees make a larger premium contribution or pay higher deductibles, co-pays or out-of-pocket contributions, according to survey findings from the Mercer Health & Benefits report." (azcentral.com)
Reconsidering Retiree Health Benefits at Dartmouth College
Excerpt: "At a time when many colleges are concerned about the cost of paying for their employees' post-retirement health care, Dartmouth College is floating a plan that would scale back existing coverage for some employees and eventually cut it altogether for others." (Inside Higher Ed)
Report from Massachusetts: Employers Largely Support Health Care Reform, and Few Signs of Crowd-Out Appear
Excerpt: "Based on a 2007 survey of 1,056 randomly selected Massachusetts firms, this paper presents findings about employers' attitudes about, knowledge of, and responses to recently enacted reform legislation." (Health Affairs)
As Health Care Costs Rise, More Workers Considering Private Medical Insurance
Excerpt: "For years, if an employer offered health insurance to a worker, the worker generally took it. Now some workers are for the first time entertaining another option: private health insurance. Some employees, particularly those at smaller companies, are finding it's cheaper to get spouses and children covered by private policies than under their employers' plans. A decade of inflation-topping health-care cost increases and the fact that employees are now picking up a larger slice of the bill through higher premiums and greater out-of-pocket expenses are behind the trend." (AP via CNNMoney)
Pitney Bowes Planned to Dramatically Lower Participant Co-Pays for Medications to Treat Several Chronic Illnesses, and Guess What Happened?
Excerpt: "When Pitney Bowes used predictive modeling to take a close look at its health-care costs, Mahoney says, 'We saw that our highest costs were associated with chronic disease -- not people diagnosed with chronic diseases, but people who were diagnosed with a chronic disease and not taking their medication.' The model indicated that managing the underlying medical condition and eliminating access barriers to the appropriate medications had the potential to help control these costs. So, the employer decided to drop by 50% to 85% the participant co-insurance costs for drugs used to treat asthma, diabetes, and hypertension." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Obesity Must Be Curbed to Cut Cost of Chronic Illness, Study Says
Excerpt: "The American workforce is getting older, sicker and costlier. According to a new report by the Milken Institute, the economic impact of chronic care is estimated to be $1.3 trillion per year -- a figure that will continue to grow, despite anyone's best efforts, until at least 2015." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
Health Insurer Tied Bonuses to Dropping Sick California Policyholders
Excerpt: "One of the state's largest health insurers set goals and paid bonuses based in part on how many individual policyholders were dropped and how much money was saved." (Los Angeles Times; free registration required)
Advisers, Clients in the Dark About Pharmacy Benefit Management Fees
Excerpt: "Pharmacy benefit managers make a great deal of their revenue from layers of contracts and agreements with entities like retail pharmacies, pharma.ceutical companies and rebate aggregators. These arrangements result in a variety of revenue streams that are difficult for most advisers and plan sponsors to unearth and analyze." (Employee Benefit Advisor; free registration required)
Are You a Smoker? Can't Work Here, More Firms Say
Excerpt: "Some employers reward employees who quit smoking; others fire them if they can't. Now, some are choosing not to hire smokers at all. How employers handle smoking in the workforce varies, especially since at least 30 states have passed laws protecting smokers who smoke on their own time from being barred from employment." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
HIV Programs In Workplace Save Money, According to the International Organization for Migration
Excerpt: "Companies can save money and retain more staff by offering their workers HIV programs, particularly in areas where infection rates are high, an international aid agency said . . . ." (Reuters via The New York Times; free registration required)
Fight Your Health Plan: Appealing a Denial Can Yield Victory
Excerpt: "Pursuing an appeal is not always easy, but, as the lottery commercials say, you can't win if you don't play. The key is to overcome inertia and suspend cynicism about insurance to file an appeal, and there's help available from the state and other advocates." (The Hartford Courant; free registration required)
Interview: The Public Face of Wal-Mart's Health Care Program
Excerpt: "A former information technology manager at Hewlett-Packard and then at Wal-Mart, Ms. Dillman, 51, has become the public face of Wal-Mart's health care changes. . . . [The target page contains] brief excerpts from a lengthy interview with Ms. Dillman, conducted in her office near Wal-Mart's headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., in October. Questions have been edited for clarity." (The New York Times; free registration required)
(e) Policy, Opinion, Advocacy
Hearing on Impact of Gaps in Health Coverage on Income Security, November 14, 2007
Held by the Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support. Excerpt: "The hearing will focus on how gaps in health care coverage affect the income security of Americans." (U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means)
Why Health Insurance Is Important
Excerpt: "Having health insurance is important for several reasons. Uninsured people receive less medical care and less timely care, they have worse health outcomes, and lack of insurance is a fiscal burden for them and their families. Moreover, the benefits of expanding coverage outweigh the costs for added services. Safety-net care from hospitals and clinics improves access to care but does not fully substitute for health insurance." (Urban Institute)
Opinion: The National Health Service -- Taking Public Risk Private in the United Kingdom
Excerpt: "[T]he NHS in England has undertaken a request for proposals process aimed at attracting more sophisticated skills into its system. With this initiative the NHS is looking to private insurers and other private companies with skills in risk management, including specialized areas such as disease management and utilization management." (Milliman)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Expensing Executive Stock Options: The Agency Problem and Structure of Management Compensation
Excerpt: "This research examines the valuation effect and the factors associated with firms' decisions to expense executive stock options, as well as determinants of market reaction to expensing announcements. The likelihood of expensing is found to be higher for firms subject to fewer agency problems and having a 'share-holder friendly' corporate governance structure. These results suggest that the decision to expense is heavily influenced by the extent of discipline, monitoring, and how closely the interests of management and stockholders are aligned." (Social Science Research Network)
Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide for November 7, 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)
Opinion: Levin's Stock-Options Tax Bill Careens Off-Track
Excerpt: "Under Levin's proposal, we are seemingly going to get justice at last, with federal tax revenue going up because corporate tax deductions will go down. But that's unlikely because a company now gets a tax deduction only if the option goes into the money and is exercised by the optionee. Under Levin's approach, any company granting an option would get a tax deduction, even though the option later expired underwater." (Bloomberg News)
Newly Posted Events
18th Annual Employee Benefits Conference
in Florida on November 29, 2007
presented by Greenberg Traurig, PA
2008 Chicago Advanced Pension Conference
in Illinois on September 3, 2008
presented by SunGard Relius
2008 Orlando Advanced Pension Conference
in Florida on February 6, 2008
presented by SunGard Relius
Are You Doing Enough To Protect Your Employees' Privacy?
Nationwide on December 11, 2007
presented by Thompson Interactive, A Division of Thompson Publishing Group
ASPPA Annual Conference Highlights
in Massachusetts on November 29, 2007
presented by ASPPA Benefits Council (ABC) of New England
Cafeteria Plan Regulations and Nondiscrimination Testing- Learn How the New Rules Will Affect You
Nationwide on December 12, 2007
presented by Thompson Interactive, A Division of Thompson Publishing Group
Forming a Successful Partnership With Your RIA and TPA
Nationwide on November 29, 2007
presented by TRI-AD
HIPAA Privacy and Security Training for Rookies: Basic Training for Individuals Handling Group Health Plan PHI
Nationwide on December 6, 2007
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America (EBIA)/Thomson Tax & Accounting
Recognizing and Preventing FMLA Abuse- What You Need to Know
Nationwide on December 6, 2007
presented by Thompson Interactive, A Division of Thompson Publishing Group
Shifting Retiree Health Benefits from Employers to VEBAs
Nationwide on December 6, 2007
presented by ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits
Newly Posted Press Releases
Awards for Leadership in Health System Reform Presented by the National Business Coalition on Health
National Business Coalition on Health
National Business Coalition on Health Recognizes Health Plans for Efforts to Improve Community Health
National Business Coalition on Health
MassMutual Study: Including Fixed Income Annuity in a Retirement Income Portfolio May Increase Long-Term Wealth as Well as Retirement Income Security
MassMutual
Legal Advantage, LLC Announces California Expansion to Further Solidify Position as Premier Provider of Legal Support and Document Review Services
Legal Advantage, LLC
'Traditional Retirement' at Age 65 Has Been Retired According to New Poll of U.S. Voters Age 50 and Over
Experience Wave
Health Alliance Medical Plan Joins Value-Based movement
Center for Health Value Innovation
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
(Post a Job | View All Jobs |
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In-House Counsel, Senior Benefits / Erisa Attorney
for Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
in NJ
Pension Administration Services Supervisor
for Milliman, Inc.
in TX
Benefits Analyst
for Scripps Health
in CA
Attorney -- In-house Non-profit; tax-exempt funds
for 1199SEIU Benefit and Pension Funds
in NY
Plan Administrator
for The Kagan Company
in CA
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
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