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| November 26, 2007 |
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(a) New Guidance Documents
(None today.)
(b) News
Simple $20 Device Increases Amount of Useful Exercise
Excerpt: "Pedometers, also called step counters, clip to a belt or waistband and count the steps the wearer takes during the day. . . . The research showed that pedometer users increased their physical activity by about 27 percent . . . . [Users'] blood pressure dropped enough to lower their risk for stroke and heart disease . . . ." (Washington Post)
Jet Engine Maker Asks to Fund Benefits Through Vermont Captive Insurance Company
Excerpt: "Hartford-based United Technologies wants to use its 12-year-old Vermont captive, United Technologies Insurance (Vermont) Inc., to reinsure group term life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment and long-term disability policies. . . . [It] is the first employer this year to ask for Labor Department approval to fund employee benefits through a captive . . . . Earlier this year, financial services giant Wells Fargo & Co. of San Francisco received approval to reinsure group and LTD policies through its Vermont captive." (Business Insurance)
(c) Summaries of Guidance; Filed Comments
Overview: Massachusetts Connector Releases Guidance on Minimum Creditable Coverage and End-of-Year Enrollment Issues
Excerpt: "This minimum level of coverage is referred to as 'creditable coverage.' . . . The Connector recently issued guidance on what qualifies as creditable coverage. For calendar years 2007 and 2008, generally any fully-insured or self-insured group health plan will qualify as creditable coverage . . . ." (Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis LLP)
Legal Implications of General Motors/United Auto Workers VEBA
Excerpt: "This research note provides an initial exploration of the potential securities law implications of the proposed Voluntary Employees Beneficiary Association (VEBA) of General Motors and the UAW." (Law Professor Stephen E. Diamond on the Social Science Research Network)
(d) Trends, Surveys, Research
Seven Ways to Lower Benefit Costs Without Decreasing Coverage
Excerpt: "Fear not, my HR brothers and sisters. Here are my Cliff notes for the top seven strategies to drop benefit costs without decreasing coverage. There's still time to get these in for 2008." (Workforce Management)
Bridging the Mental Health Divide in Coverage by Health Plans
Excerpt: "The symbiotic relationship between behavioral health and physical health is often not recognized. . . . [A] dramatic transformation for the healthcare industry is ahead as a handful of insurers and employers are beginning to identify the opportunities and economic incentives related to (1) providing benefits for behavioral illnesses on par with physical illnesses, and (2) integrating medical and behavioral healthcare for insured populations." (Milliman)
National Committee for Quality Assurance Turns Healthcare Focus to Primary Care Physicians
Excerpt: "[T]he NCQA has presented physicians, insurers and employers with a new health-care model that helps identify the best primary-care doctors and direct patients to them. . . . Steve Raetzman, a senior consultant for Watson Wyatt in Arlington, Va., believes the new model will have broad appeal among employers because it will contribute to improved care and reduced costs." (Human Resource Executive Online)
Hospital Drug Errors Far from Uncommon
Excerpt: "At least 1.5 million Americans a year are injured after receiving the wrong medication or the incorrect dose, according to the Institute of Medicine, part of the National Academies of Science. Such incidents have more than doubled in the last decade." (Los Angeles Times)
Large Employers Do Not Use Value-Based Strategies When Purchasing Health Plans, JAMA Study Finds
Excerpt: "For the study, Harvard University researchers conducted telephone interviews with executives from some of the largest employers in 41 U.S. markets and found that, in large part, respondents did not use value-based and related strategies when purchasing health plans." (KaiserNetwork.org)
Exposure Draft from American Academy of Actuaries on Actuarial Equivalence for Prescription Drug Plans and the Medicare Part D Drug Plan (PDF)
18 pages; published November 2007; 'Exposure Draft for Peer Review.' Excerpt: "It provides examples of current methods, techniques and considerations for actuaries practicing in this area, as well as possible responses to certain situations and issues, but should not be considered a complete representation. This note describes what the work group believes to be the common practices of U.S. health actuaries." (American Academy of Actuaries)
(e) Policy, Opinion, Advocacy
New York Times Editorial: The High Cost of Health Care
The article does not strongly advocate any particular solutions, but provides a fairly accurate sketch of the issues. It also observes that 'the cascade of knowledge flowing from the human genome project, new nanotechnologies and the advent of treatments tailor-made for individual patients may well accelerate, not mitigate, the rise in medical spending. If we want the benefits, we will need to make them affordable." (New York Times)
National Health Care Reform: Opportunity or Crisis?
Policy speech by president of U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Nov. 14, 2007. Excerpt: "[B]ecause we use an employer-based system, skyrocketing costs have become a burden for our companies as they compete with foreign counterparts whose health care systems operate under different models. Then there is what I call the 'good news problem' with American health care. . . . The more success we have in achieving breakthroughs, saving lives, and keeping people around longer, the more costs we are creating for our society and the bigger drag we are putting on our competitiveness." (U.S. Chamber of Commerce)
Republicans Turning Out to Be the Real Healthcare Radicals
Excerpt: "[I]n recent years, most Republicans have come to believe that our health-care system is dysfunctional because it is employer-based and that this dysfunction has to be attacked at the root. In this view, everything people dislike about our system results from the tax break for employer coverage. It makes costs rise, since people are less careful when they're not paying out of pocket." (Time Magazine)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Audio: Report From the 'Other' Washington -- What Is Happening on the Employee Benefits Agenda
Approximately one hour; emphasizes proposed federal healthcare legislation. available for a limited time from the International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists. Presented at the ISCEBS 27th Annual Symposium. Additional selected audio presentations are online at http://www.iscebs.org/Symposium/default.asp#listen (James A. Klein of the American Benefits Council)
ISS 2008 Policy Updates to Proxy Policies Pertaining to Executive Compensation (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "On November 19, ISS Governance Services ('ISS') . . . issued updates to its U.S., Can.ada, International, and U.K. proxy voting policies for 2008, which will be applicable to companies with annual meetings after February 1. This letter summarizes five policy updates pertaining to executive compensation in U.S. companies." (Frederic W. Cook and Co., Inc.)
Policy: Protecting Social Security's Beneficiaries -- Avoiding Benefit Cuts
Excerpt: "Social Security's actuaries project that the long-term cost of Social Security will level off at just above 6% of GDP in about 25 years. That percentage, the projected long-range cost of the program, is a substantially smaller percentage than a number of other nations currently spend on their Social Security programs today." (Nancy J. Altman published by the Economic Policy Institute)
Online DOL Booklet for Individuals: Retirement And Health Care Coverage -- Q&As For Dislocated Workers
Excerpt: "This booklet addresses some of the common questions dislocated workers ask. In addition, there is a brief guide to additional resources at the back. Together, they can help you in making critical decisions about your health care coverage and your retirement benefits." (Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor)
Newly Posted Events
Cafeteria Plans: Drafting for the Recent IRS Regulation Changes - Webcast
Nationwide on November 29, 2007
presented by ALI-ABA (American Law Institute-American Bar Association)
Deferred Compensation: Policy and Practice Conference
in District of Columbia on December 5, 2007
presented by U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness and the ERISA Industry Committee
HR Executives Summit 2008
in Texas on March 17, 2008
presented by World Trade Group
Newly Posted Press Releases
U.S. Department of Labor Sues Defunct Telford, Pennsylvania Company to Protect Participants of 401(k) Plan
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
U.S. Chamber President Addresses the Need for Comprehensive Health Care Reform
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
CAPTRUST Announces New Corporate Tower Headquarters
CAPTRUST Financial Advisors
Guaranteed Retirement Accounts Offer Rescue Plan For Failing Retirement Security System
Economic Policy Institute (EPI)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
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Senior Communications Consultant
for Boutique Communications Consulting Firm
in AZ
401(k) Senior Plan Administrator
for Matthews Benefit Group, Inc
in FL
Benefit and Planning Counselor
for The Principal Financial Group
in TX
Sr. Employee Benefit Specialist
for The Principal Financial Group
in TX
Benefits Analyst
for Towers Perrin
in NJ
Benefits Manager
for Gerdau Ameristeel
in FL
Compliance Officer, Retirement Plans
for Dyatech
in MS
Bilingual: Spanish / English Enroller - Employee Benefits Meeting Presenter
for Total Benefit Communications, Inc.
in DC
Senior Investment Consultant
for Merrill Lynch
in CO
Regional Sales Consultant, San Francisco area
for Gallagher Retirement Services
in CA
Pension Recordkeeper
for Northern NJ Pension Consulting Firm
in NJ
Benefits Associate - Mid-level
for Mazursky Constantine LLC
in GA
Health & Welfare Specialist
for Long Island Employee Benefits Group, Ltd.
in NY
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
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