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| January 20, 2009 |
| Here are the Web's best new links about compliance and cost aspects of plan operation, design and policy. |
Today's sponsor is International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
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| Be Smart by Association with the International Foundation |
| Smart is not a permanent state of being. What's your maintenance plan? Take advantage of the education and information available through the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, a nonprofit educational association, and find out why over 35,000 industry professionals like Ken Bradshaw, CEBS rely on the Foundation to stay informed and educated. Make sure you have the most comprehensive information on health, pension and compensation issues. Be smart by association. |
Tackling Union Opposition to Single-Payer - Medicare for All
Excerpt: "Labor activists from 31 states gathered in St. Louis last weekend, solidifying their strategies to push 'Medicare for all' -- and to oppose the half-hearted health care plans circulating in Washington. The meeting launched Labor for Single-Payer Healthcare, a campaign whose reform would cut the insurance industry out of health care and expand an improved Medicare system to everyone. The single-payer concept has been endorsed by 39 state AFL-CIO federations, 100 central labor councils, and more than 400 local unions." (California Nurses Association / National Nurses Organizing Committee)
American Greetings Employee Files Suit Over FMLA Benefits
Excerpt: "A longtime employee of American Greetings Corporation has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court here claiming the company has violated his rights under the federal Family Medical Leave Act. Roger Ward filed the lawsuit on Oct. 8 seeking an unspecified amount of damages. American Greetings filed an answer on Dec. 30, denying the allegations, stating that it did not violate any law, and seeking dismissal of the case. Also named as a defendant in both the complaint and answer is Matrix Absence Management Inc., the FMLA coordinator for American Greetings." (The Greeneville Sun)
Abstract of the Ohio, Kentucky & Indiana Health Plan Analysis
The scope of the report covers the Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana health plan industry. (HealthLeaders InterStudy)
Abstract of the Colorado Health Plan Analysis
Companies Mentioned In This Report include Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Colorado, Colorado Access, CIGNA HealthCare, Denver Health, Humana, Kaiser Permanente, Lockton Benefits Group Denver, Rocky Mountain Health Plans, The Children's Hospital, and University of Colorado Hospital." (HealthLeaders InterStudy)
Abstract of the Illinois Health Plan Analysis
Excerpt: "Questions Answered In This Report: How are plans reacting to the economic pressures, and how will public programs respond to the increase enrollment in Medicaid? What public program expansions may see benefits ratcheted down in order to control costs? What value-based design programs are working in Illinois, and which are likely to expand? Do any involve partnerships with drug companies? How are health plans covering fertility drugs and drugs related to IVF treatments? How does the maturation of pay-for-performance programs appear to me working?" (HealthLeaders InterStudy)
A Conversation With Robert L. Martensen: A Front-Row Seat as a Health Care System Goes Awry
Excerpt: "Over a long medical career, Dr. Robert L. Martensen, 62, has been an emergency room and intensive care unit physician, treating an estimated 75,000 patients. He has taught bioethics and medical history at Harvard Medical School and Tulane University in New Orleans. After Hurricane Katrina wiped out his home and Tulane professorship, Dr. Martensen moved to Bethesda, Md., to direct the National Institutes of Health Office of History. Recently, Farrar, Straus & Giroux published Dr. Martensen's critique of the American health care system, 'A Life Worth Living: A Doctor's Reflections on Illness in a High-Tech Era.' We spoke in New York City during his book tour and later on the telephone. An edited version of the conversations follows." (The New York Times; free registration required)
[Opinion]
Why America Won't Get the Health Care System It Needs
Excerpt: "The market price of maintaining or slightly modifying the current system is indeed quite low; the health-care lobby -- which is to say, all of the people who benefit from the current system -- gave just under $150 million to Congress and the presidential candidates last year. That is a terrific bargain for them, but it does not explain why the rest of us are willing to sell our health so cheaply." (California Nurses Association / National Nurses Organizing Committee)
[Opinion]
Globalization Is No Longer an Uncertain Trend in the Distant Future: U.S. Providers Compete in a Marketplace That Is Broader Than Ever Before
Excerpt: "By any name, the globalization of the healthcare industry is a certainty. Joint Commission International had 178 accredited hospitals listed on its Web site last month, and the organization anticipates a 34% jump in the number of JCI-accredited facilities by the end of 2009. Less certain, however, is the real impact that these international facilities will have on the U.S. healthcare system. Some predict that soon millions of Americans will head to other countries for cheap access to elective surgeries. Others say the so-called medical travel trend has little appeal and, therefore, limited influence." (Rick Johnson, for HealthLeaders Magazine)
EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com (Sponsor)
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Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
[Guidance Overview]
IRS Expansion of Relief for Section 409A Operational Failures
Excerpt: "The new corrections program, like the earlier one, provides a limited opportunity to correct certain failures that arise in the operation of a plan. The new corrections program does not cover failures by nonqualified deferred compensation plan documents to comply with section 409A in form (i.e., a failure of the plan to meet the written plan document requirements specified in applicable regulations)." (McGuireWoods LLP)
Recessions and Older Workers
Excerpt: "With the economy sliding ever deeper into recession, questions arise about how older workers are faring and how their fate relative to younger workers compares to the past. The answer to these questions turns out to be a little complicated. Two forces are at work. On the one hand, labor force participation among older workers has been rising since the early 1990s, a reversal of the long-standing trend toward ever-earlier retirement. Participation rates among older workers have even continued to rise during both of the recessions in this decade - a dramatic change from previous experience. On the other hand, the edge that older workers used to have relative to younger workers when it comes to layoffs seems to have disappeared, so the rise in the unemployment rate for older workers in recessions now looks similar to that for younger workers." (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)
2008 Legislative and Regulatory Year in Review and the Outlook for 2009
Excerpt: "This two-part report rounds up key legislation and regulatory guidance enacted in 2008 and forecasts the outlook for legislative activity in 2009 under a new Congress and the new Obama administration." (Hewitt Associates)
[Opinion]
Surviving and Thriving in Economic Turbulence: HR's Response
Excerpt: "As the impact of the financial crisis spreads, no organization will remain untouched. Most of the risks inherent in the crisis are easy to recognize. In tough times, there is a natural tendency to retrench, cut costs, and wait things out. Organizations often overlook or shy away from the growth side of the equation. Companies that first manage the risks and then exploit the opportunities of this crisis in a strategic, deliberate, and speedy manner will emerge as the winners." (Hewitt Associates)
Newly Posted Press Releases
What Recession? Executive Benefits Pension Annuity Plan Post Gains In 2008.
Executive Benefits Design Group
Altigro Pension Services Makes TPA Acquisition
Altigro Pension Services
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
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Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
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