BenefitsLink |
 |
 |
| March 18, 2008 |
| Here are the Web's best new links about compliance and cost aspects of plan operation, design and policy. |
Today's sponsor is Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
| EBIA's InPerson Seminar Series |
| EBIA's InPerson seminars provide education on employee benefits topics to professionals, including TPAs, attorneys, benefits consultants, human resources managers, plan administrators, insurance professionals, and accountants. For information about CE credit, course materials, speakers, locations, and agenda details, and to register, please visit EBIA's InPerson Seminars. |
[Guidance Overview] Court Holds That High Tech Company Must Allow Employees One Day Off Per Week
Excerpt: "A recent decision from the Superior Court gives a very broad interpretation to a rarely addressed Massachusetts statute that requires some employers to provide their employees with one day of rest in every seven days." (Seyfarth Shaw LLP)
[Guidance Overview] 'Blanket Prohibition' on Discovery in ERISA Benefit Claims Dispute Inappropriate
Excerpt: "Hoyt v. The Prudential offers a useful analysis of when discovery may be appropriate notwithstanding the application of the deferential standard of review required under Firestone v. Bruch. In this disability case, the plaintiff alleged that the defendant carrier considered information beyond the administrative record and operated under a conflict of interest." (Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)
Insurers, Doctors at Odds Over 'Concierge' Care
Excerpt: "Doctors who charge an annual fee to patients in exchange for customized care including house calls are drawing the ire of some health insurance companies. United Healthcare confirmed it is dropping four local doctors from its network in April because the company disapproves of their so-called 'concierge medicine' model." (Houston Chronicle)
Walgreen Continues March Into Health-Care Delivery
Excerpt: "Like its archrival CVS, Walgreen is no longer content with its retail business selling prescriptions, over-the-counter drugs and a random assortment of groceries and novelty items. Walgreen and CVS have both been busy opening retail clinics to provide health care in their stores. And last year, CVS merged with the giant pharmacy benefits manager to get into the business of managing companies' prescription drug benefits." (The Wall Street Journal)
Walgreens Expands Its Work-Site Health Care Business
Excerpt: "Walgreens will manage about 350 work-site health centers and pharmacies. Clients that Walgreens would add as a result of the two health center operator acquisitions include Eastman Chemical Co., Florida Power & Light Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. The acquisitions would bring Walgreens its first work-site health clinics, although it manages several work-site pharmacies for large employers." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
Wal-Mart Estimates $1B in Nationwide Savings from Discount Drug Plan
Excerpt: "On Friday, Wal-Mart announced that its discount program for generic prescriptions saved customers more than $1 billion in 2007, with about $26.8 million in savings for California customers, the Sacramento Business Journal reports. Wal-Mart sells up to 30-day supplies of 361 generic drugs for $4 per prescription under a program it launched in September 2006 (Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 3/14)." (California HealthCare Foundation; free registration may be required)
Does Physician-Ownership Affect Referral Patterns to Ambulatory Surgery Centers?
Excerpt: "For more than three decades, Congress has struggled with potential financial conflicts of interest when physicians share in financial gain from nonprofessional services. This study asks the question: Are physicians who are leading referrers to physician-owned ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) more likely to send Medicaid patients to hospital outpatient clinics than other patients?" (Health Affairs)
Findings from the 2007 EBRI/Commonwealth Fund Consumerism in Health Survey (PDF)
52 pages. Excerpt: "The online survey of 4,217 privately insured adults ages 21-64 was conducted to provide nationally representative data regarding the growth of account-based health plans and high-deductible health plans (HDHPs), and their impact on the behavior and attitudes of health care consumers." (Employee Benefit Research Institute)
Health Leaders Seek to Change Payment System
Excerpt: "To control soaring healthcare costs in Massachusetts, the state needs to overhaul how doctors and hospitals are paid, several healthcare leaders said yesterday during legislative testimony." (The Boston Globe)
Health Plans Developing Web-Based Personal Health Records to Allow Consumers to Manage Their Health
Excerpt: "Several large health plans have begun providing Web-based PHRs that give consumers powerful tools to manage their health. Coming soon, consumers will be able to keep tabs on the financial aspects of their medical care as well." (AISHealth.com)
Los Angeles Times Health Section Examines Issues Related to Generic Medications
The Los Angeles Times health section published several articles on generic medications on March 17, 2008. (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Watson Wyatt/NBGH Study - Employers Embrace CDHPs
Excerpt: "By 2009, nearly 55% of U.S. corporations plan on offering a consumer-directed health plan, reports Watson Wyatt and the National Business Group on Health. After surveying 453 companies that employ 8.4 million workers, Watson and NBGH found that 47% of employers offer a CDHP, an increase from 39% in 2007 and 33% in 2006." (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)
Medical Tourism Is Area of Interest for Entrepreneurs, Insurance Companies and Advisers, But Will Employers Make the Leap?
Excerpt: "The medical tourism industry continues to mature, sprouting all the attendants of a healthy market - a myriad of professional conferences, trade groups and of course dedicated media. Despite the buzz, many continue to look for more concrete evidence validating the movement, namely employers and employees embracing the prospect of traveling to foreign lands in pursuit of quality care at lower prices." (Employee Benefit Advisor; free registration required)
The 2008 Presidential Candidates on Health Care Reform, Updated March 5, 2008 (PDF)
6 pages. Excerpt: "While it is still early in the campaign process and plan details are incomplete for most candidates, these summaries provide a snapshot of the candidates and their blueprint for reform. Our intent is to be thorough and accurate in compiling what they have said or indicated they want to do." (Council for Affordable Health Insurance)
Predictive Modeling Can Help Prevent Illness Before It Even Occurs
Excerpt: "Predictive modeling (PM), by basic definition, is the process of developing health care programs for at-risk populations based on statistical probabilities obtained through advanced software tools. The idea is to target patients who have a good possibility of developing a disease somewhere down the road, and then administer treatment early on in an effort to stop the illness, or at least limit its severity." (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)
[Opinion] Paid Family Leave and Gender Equality
Excerpt: "Men have a harder time, often, justifying the leave. And to the extent that gender neutral leave policies are designed to break the stereotypes of women as caregivers, providing pay during that time might make it less of a penalty for men to take leave. And if more men take leave, maybe the stereotype that reduces women to their reproductive and caregiving capacities will actually be eroded." (Workplace Prof Blog)
[Opinion] The Next Failure of Health Care Reform
Excerpt: "'A single payer health care plan, a universal health care plan. And that's what I'd like to see. And as all of you know, we may not get there immediately. Because first we have to take back the White House, we have to take back the Senate, we have to take back the House.' (Barack Obama in 2003 before the Illinois AFL-CIO) But, something happened on the way to Washington. The train derailed. Now Obama claims that his declaration was taken out of context. And Hillary Clinton, in 1993, told me that while single-payer might be the most logical model, it was politically infeasible." (Vicente Navarro via Physicians for a National Health Program)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
[Guidance Overview] Court Allows Fired Smoker to Proceed with Privacy and ERISA Claims
Excerpt: "The Scotts Company maintains a policy against employing smokers. In Rodrigues v. The Scotts Company, the plaintiff claimed that his employer wrongfully terminated him when a urine test confirmed that he smoked. After his termination, Rodrigues brought four claims in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts: (1) violation of the Massachusetts privacy statute; (2) unlawful interference with his rights in violation of the Massachusetts Civil Rights Act (MCRA); (3) wrongful termination; and (4) violation of Section 510 of the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) by terminating him in order to interfere with his right to benefits under the employer's ERISA plans." (Seyfarth Shaw LLP)
[Guidance Overview] Section 409A and Non-U.S. Retirement Arrangements - What You Should Know
Excerpt: "Are any US taxpayers participating in any of your company's non-US retirement plans? If so, you should know about Section 409A of the US Internal Revenue Code. Section 409A deals with the inclusion in gross income of deferred compensation under nonqualified deferred compensation (NQDC) plans. Failure to comply can result in harsh tax consequences for US tax-paying employees and possibly for their employers. The definition of NQDC plans is broad and includes most non-US retirement arrangements as well as other types of plans, such as nonqualified salary-deferral arrangements and severance plans." (Mercer LLC)
Stimulus Check Schedule, Calculator Unveiled
Excerpt: "The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today that it will begin sending more than 130 million economic stimulus payments starting May 2, and that those stimulus payments will be sent out in the order of the last two digits of the Social Security number used on individual tax returns." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
[Opinion] The Debate, Mostly Misguided, About Social Security's Financial Status
Excerpt: "I'll spare you the history lesson about why no one worried much about how to invest the huge -- albeit temporary -- surpluses that Social Security began to rack up in the 1980s, when Social Security taxes were raised and future benefits trimmed as a result of the famous Greenspan Commission report. It would be nice to have $2.3 trillion in useful assets in an equivalent of a sovereign wealth fund, but we can't turn back time." (Allan Sloan via The Washington Post; free registration required)
Newly Posted Events
IRC Section 436 Benefit Restrictions: Focus On Certifications, Timing Issues and Transition Rules
Nationwide on February 1, 2008
presented by College of Pension Actuaries
Live IRA Beginner and Advanced Seminar Tour
Nationwide on May 6, 2008
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services
Newly Posted Press Releases
Proposed Rule On Multiemployer Plan Withdrawal Liability
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)
2007 Willis Wellness Survey Report - Complimentary Copy
Willis
Northeast Hospitals and Healthcare Organizations Are Saving as Much as 10% Annually on Rx Drug Costs
Cammack LaRhette Consulting
Gender Gap Widens on Retirement Outlook
COUNTRY Financial
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
(Post a Job | View All Jobs |
RSS Feed )
Pension Administrator
for Jordan & Andrews
in CA
Pension Administrator
for The Senex Group
in CA
Defined Contribution Plan Administrator
for Alliance Benefit Group of Michigan, Inc.
in MI
Manager - 401(k)/Defined Contribution Valuation Processing Department
for National Retirement Services, Inc.
in NC
401(k) Daily Valuation Administrator
for Moran, G. Russell Knobel and Associates, Inc.
in WA
Pension Consultant
for Mercer Advisors
in CA
Actuary
for Tarrytown Consulting Firm
in NY
Retirement Services Manager
for Fiserv Investment Support Services
in CO
Pension Plan Administrator
for Pension Plan Services, Inc.
in MI
Plan Document / Plan Termination Specialist
for Summit Benefit & Actuarial Services, Inc.
in ANY STATE
National Accounts Retirement Services District Manager
for ADP- Retirement Services
in FL, GA
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
Subscribe to the BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter, Too!
Sign-up form is at https://benefitslink.com/newsletter (free).
This newsletter is sent to you each workday except federal holidays.
This email has been published by:
BenefitsLink.com, Inc.
1298 Minnesota Avenue, Suite H
Winter Park FL 32789
(407) 644-4146
Fax: (407) 644-2151
David Rhett Baker, J.D., Editor
Copyright 2008 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.; except that you can forward this email in full (including this boilerplate part) or otherwise reprint this email in full (including this boilerplate part) without obtaining our permission.
Anyone can receive these emails; just have them sign up at this web page: https://benefitslink.com/newsletter/
Other useful links: