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| January 27, 2009 |
| Here are the Web's best new links about compliance and cost aspects of plan operation, design and policy. |
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2009 State Legislators' Guide to Health Insurance Solutions (PDF)
64 pages. Excerpt: "This Guide is meant to explain the issues and help you sort through the solutions that work, as well as the public policies that do more harm than good. We explain who the uninsured are and what can be done to address that problem. We have also included a glossary that explains a number of industry terms. We invite you to use this Guide as a starting point for your deliberations and proposals." (Council for Affordable Health Insurance)
Ambulatory-Care-Sensitive Admission Rates: A Key Metric in Evaluating Health Plan Medical Management (PDF)
16 pages. (Milliman)
Consumer-Driven Health Care: Promise and Performance
Excerpt: "This paper analyzes the evolution of consumer-driven health care in terms of its original vision, its subsequent implementation, and the transformations it has endured as it moves into its second decade. The market is generating product designs that combine elements of consumerism with elements of managed care, but the trend is always toward a stronger role for consumer choice and a weaker role for management of those choices by physicians, insurers, employers, and regulators." (Health Affairs)
Value in Health Care: Payment Options and Other Innovations
Excerpt: "A paramount topic at the moment is value in health care: What should we pay for and how much? Resources aren't unlimited, and desires or demands for health care should be balanced against various realities--including the effectiveness of care or the desire for other goods and services. Especially in a depressed economy, questions about value in health care may well be at the center of coming health reform debates. Value discussions raise other issues, including efficiency, measurement, the influence of the payment system, and the locus of accountability for quality. The papers in this volume take up these and other aspects of the value equation. Many of the papers were initially presented at the Fifteenth Annual Princeton Conference in May 2008, titled: 'Can Payment and Other Innovations Improve the Quality and Value of Health Care?'" (Health Affairs)
Workplace Wellness Programs Enjoying Broad Worker Support
Excerpt: "American workers with access to employer-based wellness programs are taking advantage of them in large numbers, according to a new Principal Financial Group report." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
HHS Formally Recognizes Health IT Interoperability Standards
Excerpt: "In the Jan. 21 Federal Register, HHS formally recognized three new interoperability standards related to electronic health records, personal health records and electronic quality monitoring, Government Health IT reports. Formal recognition of health IT standards is a two-step process in which Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel-established specifications are first accepted by the HHS secretary and then recognized a year later (Moore, Government Health IT , 1/22)." (California HealthCare Foundation)
Soaring Health Insurance Costs Are Problem, Even When Employers Cover More of the Tab
Excerpt: "A growing number of workers in 2009 will pay more for health benefits -- and in some cases receive less coverage -- as their employers grapple with the financial fallout of rising medical expenses and diminished revenue and profits, recent surveys of human resource officials show. The Corporate Executive Board found in its survey that a quarter of officials from 350 large corporations said they had increased deductibles an average of 9 percent in 2008. But 30 percent of the employers said they expected to raise deductibles an average of 14 percent in 2009." (The Washington Post; free registration required)
Health Information Technology Saves Lives and Costs, According to Study
Excerpt: "Hospitals in Texas that used computers to keep track of patient records and manage care had lower rates of deaths, complications and costs, U.S. researchers said on Monday, offering a strong argument for hospitals to go 'paperless.' They said patients treated in hospitals that ranked highest in use of health information technology to manage patient records and physician notes were 15 percent less likely to die compared with patients in hospitals that ranked lower." (Reuters via The New York Times; free registration required)
Employers and Insurers Increasingly Reward People Who Reduce Costs by Using Wellness Programs.
Excerpt: "Longing for a new pair of hiking boots? Rack up 30,000 points. Rather get a free iPod or a kitchen mixer? Hang in there until 50,000 points. It's the evolution of health care, where insurance companies are handing out gift cards, gadgets, cash and frequent-flier style points to get customers to take responsibility for their health. Companies and employers are moving beyond free gym memberships and organic food at the office cafeteria. Now they're dangling prizes to motivate workers to lose weight, lower their blood pressure, quit smoking -- and perhaps most important, curb spending on medical costs by kicking chronic health problems." (The Denver Post)
Health Benefits Conference & Expo (HBCE) (Sponsor)
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
| Nat'l Health Benefits Conference & Expo (HBCE), Feb. 3-4, Tampa, FL |
| Sessions by: Intel, Corning, Toyota, TECO Energy, Broward County Schools, Burger King, SAS, Gulf Power/Southern Company, Pepco Holdings, Inc. (PHI), Univ. of Pittsburgh Medical Center, U.S. Xpress, PSEG, Mayo Clinic, University of Rochester, Pinellas County, CEO Roundtable on Cancer, City of Clearwater, C-Change, Manatee County...and more. Satisfaction guaranteed...or your registration refunded. Best Value in Health Benefits Continuing Education (HBCE) - highest quality and registration only $295 - $345. SHRM credits. www.HBCE.com |
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
[Guidance Overview]
IRS's 2009 Schedule of Employee Plan User Fees
Excerpt: "The IRS has updated its user fee schedule, effective January 5, 2009, for requests for various types of employee plan letter rulings and determination letters, and other matters under the jurisdiction of the Commissioner, Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division." (Wolters Kluwer)
[Guidance Overview]
Additional Q&A Guidance on Executive Compensation Requirements for Participants in Capital Purchase Program under Troubled Asset Relief Program (PDF)
3 pages. (American Benefits Council)
Where -- And How Much -- Do Employers Spend on Compensation? (PDF)
1 page. Excerpt: "Employers spent nearly $8 trillion on total compensation for workers in 2007. Where was that money allocated? As the chart below shows, wages and salaries accounted for the largest share, $6.4 trillion (or 81.4 percent), while benefits made up the remainder, $1.5 trillion (or 18.6 percent). Also, total employer spending on health benefits is beginning to approach the amount spent on retirement benefits." (Employee Benefit Research Institute)
Federal Employment Laws Expected to Be Introduced This Year That May Create Additional Regulatory Burdens
Excerpt: "[Two of the proposed laws are the] Working Families Flexibility Act. Description: The bill's provisions would require employers to negotiate employee requests concerning a change in location or the number of hours and times the employee is required to work. . . . [And the] Family Medical Leave Act Amendment: Description: A change has been proposed to make the FMLA applicable to employers with 25 employees as opposed to 50." (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)
Presentation Handout: ERISA Litigation: An Update from the Front Lines (PDF)
20 pages. Presented to the ASPPA Benefits Council of New England. (Stephen Rosenberg of The McCormack Firm, LLC)
Florida Man Gets 4 Years for Stealing Payroll Taxes and Health Insurance Premium Deductions
Excerpt: "A federal judge today sentenced Patrick Crowe, most recently of Florida, to four years in federal prison for stealing nearly $350,000 in payroll deductions for health insurance premiums and payroll taxes from two trucking firms that he owned in Rhode Island for brief periods in 2004. Crowe is also to pay $22,000 in restitution to Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island and UnitedHealthCare along with $46,000 to Drew Oil Company and $10,000 to CSC, a payroll company . . . . As part of the sentencing, Crowe is also to pay about $127,000 in payroll taxes that his companies withheld but failed to pay to the Internal Revenue Service." (The Providence Journal Co.)
Newport News, VA, City Manager to Present Final Proposal on Retirement Pension Plan
Excerpt: "City Council Tuesday during a special meeting will hear the city manager's final proposal about changes to Newport News retirement pension plan, retiree life insurance and health benefit plans. Under the new proposal, City Manager Randy Hildebrandt would lower the city's contribution to future retirees and their families' health insurance. He would also phase out the elimination of the life insurance for all retirees over the next four years, but ramp up the current death benefit from $3,300 to $10,000, according to a recent memo." (Newport News, Va., Daily Press)
Advocates Offer Married G.ay New Yorkers Guidelines
Excerpt: "Those impacts range from eligibility for insurance coverage and workers' compensation benefits . . . . The report, which also spells out several obligations of married same-sex spouses, leaves unresolved, for the moment, key questions related to taxes -- specifically, the right to file jointly on state income tax forms and, also, freedom from having employer contributions to an employee's spousal benefits be treated as income to that employee." (G.ayCityNews)
[Opinion]
Top 12 Pension and Benefits Plan Issues for 2009
Excerpt: "Here are a dozen timely observations and fresh thoughts to consider and act upon in the coming year. They cover many specific economic topics including several of particular concern to pension managers -- and those who have to fund the plans." (Governing.com)
Newly Posted Events
Claims Procedures for Self-Funded Health Plans, Health FSAs and HRAs: What to Do, What to Avoid, and How to Monitor Claims Administration
Nationwide on February 26, 2009
presented by EBIA / Thomson Reuters
Corporate Governance – A Risk Sensitized Executive Pay Governance Process Webcast
Nationwide on February 4, 2009
presented by Buck Consultants, an ACS Company
Dealing With Retirement Issues in a Down Market (60-Minute Power Series) Webcast
Nationwide on February 10, 2009
presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
How to Comply with Health Care Claims Appeals (60-Minute Power Series) Webcast
Nationwide on February 17, 2009
presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
Maximize Your Health Plans Generic Drug Savings Webcast
Nationwide on February 12, 2009
presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
What Your Data Tells You About Health Care Cost Drivers (60-Minute Power Series) Webcast
Nationwide on February 24, 2009
presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
Newly Posted Press Releases
Americans Focus on Preventive Care, Embrace Workplace Wellness Benefits as Health Care Costs Rise
Principal Financial Group
Employee-Owned Companies Abound on Fortune Magazine’s Top 100 List for 2009
ESOP Association
Global Obesity Epidemic Weighs Heavily On Retirement Preparedness
The Hartford
Securian Retirement of St. Paul, MN Is First To Be Certified For Fiduciary Excellence
Centre for Fiduciary Excellence (CEFEX)
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