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| July 30, 2008 |
| Here are the Web's best new links about compliance and cost aspects of plan operation, design and policy. |
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| Complete Benefits Law Guidance from Law Journal Press |
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Making the Business Case: How Engaging Employees in Preventive Care Can Reduce Healthcare Costs (PDF)
19 pages. Excerpt: "This white paper focuses on four leading types of cancer – breast cancer, colorectal cancer, cervical cancer and cancers associated with tobacco use. The paper illustrates how: Cancer costs burden businesses. Offering prevention and early detection health insurance benefits reduce both the direct and indirect costs of cancer for employers. Companies can start offering preventive and cancer-screening services." (C-Change)
California Cities Rally Against Paid Sick Leave Proposal
Excerpt: "A growing number of local cities are expressing opposition to a bill that would mandate paid sick leave for all California employees. Most of the attention on AB 2716, which has passed the Assembly and heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee on Aug. 4, has centered on the bill's effect on the relationship between employees and private businesses." (Pasadena Star-News)
Vision Benefits Can Provide Employees Cost Relief - Also Makes Good on Often Promised Cross-Benefit Preventative Opportunities
Excerpt: "'A vision check may be one of the few times that an employee may go see a doctor for some kind of check up,' . . . . Couple that with the fact that many vision benefits are easy to comprehend and that the check-ups rarely - if ever - involve drills or needles and before a company realizes it, they're catching medical mole hills before they morph into hospitalization mountains." (Employee Benefit Advisor; free registration required)
Ensuring Quality through Appropriate Use of Diagnostic Imaging
12 pages. Excerpt: "Published reports illustrate how initial radiology benefit management programs are able to achieve 10 to 20 percent reduction in actual expenditures; while mature programs can hold annual costs trends between 5 and 7 percent. Several health insurance plans have reported reductions in the average growth of utilization from 25% to 1% after a radiology benefit management program was implemented. Others report an 82% decrease in utilization of inappropriate imaging and reductions of up to $2.00 per member per month over two years." (America's Health Insurance Plans)
The Distribution of Public Spending for Health Care in the United States, 2002 (PDF)
11 pages. Excerpt: "We examined data for 2002 from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey aligned to the National Health Expenditure Accounts and augmented with simulated tax subsidies. The public sector accounted for 56.1 percent of health spending within the civilian noninstitutionalized population. Our analysis highlights this sector's role in financing the care of seniors and people in poor health." (Health Affairs)
Mental Health Parity Provisions Added to Tax Bill
Excerpt: "Like earlier parity measures cleared by the House and Senate, the parity provisions in the tax bill would require group health care plans to provide the same coverage for mental disorders as they do for other medical conditions." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
HHS Imposes Corrective Action Plan and First Fines Under HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules
Excerpt: "HIPAA, among other things, requires those covered entities that collect protected health information to protect and safeguard such information against loss and theft. Violations of HIPAA are policed and enforced by HHS. Earlier this month, HHS reached a settlement regarding alleged HIPAA violations ('Resolution Agreement') with Providence Health & Services, a health services company located in the western United States." (Troutman Sanders LLP)
Senate Panel to Eye Health Tax Breaks
Excerpt: "The Senate Finance Committee plans to hold a hearing Thursday on federal health benefits tax incentives. Witnesses scheduled to appear include Jonathan Gruber, associate head of the economics department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . . . . Gruber has written academic articles contending that the existing tax breaks for employer-sponsored health coverage are an inefficient tool for getting employers to cover the uninsured." (The National Underwriter Company; free registration or paid subscription required)
Can Incentives Really Maximize Wellness Program Participation? Special Report
15 pages. Excerpt: "In examining workplace wellness programs that have survived over the long-haul, [experience has shown] that successful employers position the programs as a key company benefit -- one that, if embraced, has the power to transform an employee's health status so that they'll not only experience a healthier, happier life now, but for years to come (yes, even well into the retirement years)." (Wellness Council of America)
Insurers Using Radiology Benefit Managers To Cut Down on Unnecessary, Costly Imaging Procedures
Excerpt: "Health insurers are increasingly denying coverage for medical imaging procedures recommended by physicians that are judged to be unnecessary, in an attempt to reduce health care spending by $30 billion annually, according to a report released on Monday by America's Health Insurance Plans, Bloomberg/Hartford Courant reports." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Legislation Would Increase Minimum Lifetime Benefit Caps on Group Health Plans
Excerpt: "Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) recently introduced a bill (HR 6528) that would increase the lifetime insurance caps for people enrolled in group health plans, CQ HealthBeat reports. The legislation -- co-sponsored by Reps. Jim Langevin (D-R.I.), Betty Sutton (D-Ohio) and Jason Altmire (D-Pa.) -- would raise the minimum lifetime benefits limits to $5 million for the first two years of coverage and $10 million for the third and fourth years." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
[Opinion] Unions Back Plan that Could Kill Off Real Health Care Reform
Excerpt: "If Barack Obama wins the fall election, he will be under more pressure to establish universal health insurance than any president in U.S. history. This will be due not only to public disgust with the current health care system, but to the hard work of organizations dedicated to universal health insurance. But the most powerful of these groups, including the AFL-CIO and Service Employees (the major Change to Win health care union) are promoting a solution that won't fix the problem. Their plan would fatten the insurance industry and make it an even more formidable opponent of true reform than it already is." (Labor Notes via Physicians for a National Health Program)
[Opinion] Written Statement on Impact of High Deductible Health Insurance and Health Savings Accounts on Consumers (PDF)
4 pages. Statement Before the Health Subcommittee Committee on Ways and Means, United States House of Representatives. Excerpt: "The potential for health savings accounts and encouragement of high deductible insurance to split the healthy from the sick and the rich from the poor is alarming. But of even greater concern is the distraction they pose to turning the full attention of policy makers and the health policy community toward the challenge of providing true health care security to all." (Consumers Union)
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Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
[Guidance Overview] 409A — Plan Terminations
Excerpt: "[Code] Sec. 409A allows a company to terminate its non-qualified retirement and deferred compensation plan, and pay out benefits, under specified circumstances. Because of the complexities of 409A, the possibility of a new political party in power and rising income and social security tax rates in 2009 (maybe accelerating tax into 2008 isn't such a bad idea), and the additional risk of 409A's required six-month delay in payouts to key employees, [s]ome companies have decided to terminate their non-qualified retirement and deferred compensation plans, and pay out benefits." (Michael S. Melbinger via Winston & Strawn LLP)
In Can.ada, New Disclosure Rules Expected for Executive Compensation
Excerpt: "Requirements for disclosing companies' executive compensation policies are expected to change by the end of 2008. If approved, the new regulations would be enforceable starting in the 2009 proxy season and would require substantial changes to how executive compensation is calculated and recorded for many employers." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)
GSA Raises Mileage Reimbursement Rate for Federal Employees
Excerpt: "The General Services Administration on Monday followed a recent Internal Revenue Service announcement by raising the mileage reimbursement rate for government employees using their personal vehicles on the job to 58.5 cents per mile." (GovernmentExecutive.com)
Newly Posted Events
Defined Benefit Concepts for DC People
Nationwide on August 13, 2008
presented by ASPPA (American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries)
18th Annual National Institute on ERISA Litigation
in Illinois on November 6, 2008
presented by ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits
401(k) Plans
in Minnesota on October 21, 2008
presented by EBIA / Thomson Reuters
401(k) Plans
in Maryland on November 4, 2008
presented by EBIA / Thomson Reuters
401(k) Plans
in Missouri on November 11, 2008
presented by EBIA / Thomson Reuters
All Day Summer Workshop Featuring Richard Hochman
in Ohio on August 21, 2008
presented by ASPPA Benefits Council of Cleveland
Automatic Enrollment and Beyond
in New York on August 10, 2008
presented by ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits
Cafeteria Plans
in Minnesota on October 22, 2008
presented by EBIA / Thomson Reuters
Cafeteria Plans
in Maryland on November 5, 2008
presented by EBIA / Thomson Reuters
Cafeteria Plans
in Missouri on November 12, 2008
presented by EBIA / Thomson Reuters
COBRA Compliance for Group Health Plans
in Minnesota on October 24, 2008
presented by EBIA / Thomson Reuters
COBRA Compliance for Group Health Plans
in Maryland on November 7, 2008
presented by EBIA / Thomson Reuters
COBRA Compliance for Group Health Plans
in Missouri on November 14, 2008
presented by EBIA / Thomson Reuters
ERISA Compliance for Health & Welfare Plans
in Minnesota on October 23, 2008
presented by EBIA / Thomson Reuters
ERISA Compliance for Health & Welfare Plans
in Maryland on November 6, 2008
presented by EBIA / Thomson Reuters
ERISA Compliance for Health & Welfare Plans
in Missouri on November 13, 2008
presented by EBIA / Thomson Reuters
Health & Welfare Plan Management for Mid-Sized Employers
in Nevada on September 7, 2008
presented by University Conference Services
HIPAA Portability, Privacy & Security
in Minnesota on October 24, 2008
presented by EBIA / Thomson Reuters
HIPAA Portability, Privacy & Security
in Maryland on November 7, 2008
presented by EBIA / Thomson Reuters
HIPAA Portability, Privacy & Security
in Missouri on November 14, 2008
presented by EBIA / Thomson Reuters
HSAs, HRAs, and Consumer-Driven Health Care
in Minnesota on October 23, 2008
presented by EBIA / Thomson Reuters
HSAs, HRAs, and Consumer-Driven Health Care
in Maryland on November 6, 2008
presented by EBIA / Thomson Reuters
HSAs, HRAs, and Consumer-Driven Health Care
in Missouri on November 13, 2008
presented by EBIA / Thomson Reuters
Investments and Fees: The New Disclosure Regulation
Nationwide on August 19, 2008
presented by SunGard Relius
Mid-Sized Retirement & Pension Plan Management Conference
in Illinois on October 14, 2008
presented by University Conference Services
The Healthcare Future Is Now!
in Illinois on August 28, 2008
presented by WEB - Chicago West
Third Quarter Update
Nationwide on August 19, 2008
presented by McKay Hochman Co., Inc.
Newly Posted Press Releases
U.S. Labor Department And SEC To Share Information Protecting Retirement And Investments Of American Workers
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
ERIC Registers Opposition to Legislation to Limit Pension Fund Investments in Commodities
ERIC (ERISA Industry Committee)
401(k) QDRO Kit Now Available
Benefit Publications, LLC
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
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Defined Contribution Plan Consultant
for Schloss & Co, Inc.
in NY
Senior Benefits Specialist
for The Warranty Group
in IL
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