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| February 23, 2009 |
| Here are the Web's best new links about compliance and cost aspects of plan operation, design and policy. |
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[Guidance Overview]
Stimulus' Expansion of HIPAA Privacy and Security (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "Prior to the Act, only covered entities (including health plans and providers) were subject to the requirements of the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules. Those assisting covered entities, known as business associates, were not directly subject to the Privacy and Security Rules. Instead, the covered entity was required to contract with the business associate to make sure that the health information to which the business associate had access was protected. Under the Act, the HIPAA privacy and security standards, as well as the civil and criminal penalties for violating those standards, now apply to business associates in the same manner in which they apply to covered entities." (Seyfarth Shaw LLP)
[Guidance Overview]
Expansion of HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules to Business Associates
Excerpt: "Simply put, the Act raises the HIPAA compliance bar for covered entities and significantly raises the HIPAA compliance bar for business associates. Group health plans that are subject to HIPAA will need to revisit their HIPAA privacy and security efforts to comply with the new rules. As a practical matter, however, most group health plans tend to rely heavily on their outside advisors (a/k/a business associates). As a consequence, there will be increased pressure to ensure that up-to-date business associate agreements are in place and that business associates are fully compliant." (Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo P.C.)
[Guidance Overview]
Policy Implications of Financial Incentives to Promote Health IT in Economic Stimulus Package (PDF)
24 pages. Excerpt: "This White Paper summarizes the major provisions of the HITECH Act and offers preliminary analysis on how the provisions will affect health care providers, hospitals and those who serve the health care industry. The HITECH Act is complicated legislation that includes different effective dates for different provisions. In addition, it requires HHS to issue regulations and reports on numerous health IT topics." (McDermott Will & Emery)
[Guidance Overview]
New Federal SCHIP Law Requires Amendments to Employers' Health and Cafeteria Plans
Excerpt: "Before April 1, 2009, you will need to amend your health plan and your cafeteria plan to accommodate the new qualifying event special enrollment rights. Also, assess whether your health plan's coordination of benefit rules need to be updated to reflect that SCHIP supplemental coverage will be a secondary payer to your plan." (TRI-AD)
Delphi Corporation's Salaried Retiree Health Care Benefits
Excerpt: "Delphi Corp. currently provides medical and insurance benefits to about 15,000 retired salaried workers and surviving spouses under age 65. Delphi says eliminating those benefits would save it more than $70 million a year and eliminate more than $1.1 billion in liabilities from its balance sheets." (AP via The New York Times; free registration required)
Ford in Pact to Amend Retiree Health Plans
Excerpt: "Ford Motor Co. (F) said Monday that it had reached a tentative deal over unionized retiree health benefits Monday, increasing the chances that General Motors Corp. (GM) and Chrysler LLC can secure their own concessions. United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger announced the revised pact following other changes to work rules reached with the three Detroit auto makers last week. Ford, which faces $13.6 billion in legacy health costs, said up to half of its future payments to a retiree fund could be made in stock rather than cash under the terms of the pact." (Dow Jones via CNNMoney.com)
Call for Essays on 'Visions for the Future of the U.S. Health Care System'
Excerpt: "To expand thinking on the future of the U.S. health care system, the Society of Actuaries' Health Section is issuing this Call for Essays, inviting health care professionals, academics and other interested parties to explore this issue from a variety of perspectives. The Health Section is seeking to compile a collection of essays that, when taken together, provide a multi-disciplinary, textured set of views and opinions on the topic. . . . Please submit your essay via e-mail by March 13, 2009 . . . ." (Society of Actuaries)
Obama Faces Big Challenge in Overhauling Health Care
Excerpt: "This week, Obama will start the dialogue on how to increase coverage, restrain costs and improve quality. Whether a bill can get through Congress and to Obama this year is uncertain. For half a century, the track record on health care has been one of missed opportunities, spectacular failures and hard-won incremental gains. Obama plans to stress the need for major changes in his address to Congress on Tuesday, administration officials say. He quickly will follow up with a budget that includes a commitment to expand coverage for the uninsured. A White House summit on health care is being planned in coming weeks." (AP via Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
Stimulus Law Boosts Health Privacy Rules: Notification Duty, Wider Scope Among Changes
Excerpt: "[The Economic stimulus legislation] makes sweeping changes to the Health Insurance Privacy and Portability Act that could be onerous for employers and their health care plan partners. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 requires 'covered entities,' which typically are employers or insurers who sponsor health plans, to notify individuals in writing if their personal health information is compromised. The notice must be within 60 days of discovering the privacy breach; if it involves 500 or more individuals, plan sponsors also must notify the Department of Health and Human Services and 'prominent media outlets serving a state or jurisdiction.'" (Business Insurance)
Employers Plan to Trim Benefits and Office Perks in '09
Excerpt: "Nearly four-in-ten employers (38%) say the current economy will force them to make administrative cuts sometime this year, according to a recent CareerBuilder.com survey. One-in-four employers expect to scale back on health care benefits and 11% plan to reduce wellness benefits, according to a CareerBuilder.com press release." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
'Continuity' Health Insurance: An Alternative to COBRA?
Excerpt: "A new health insurance product called continuity insurance allows people to switch their insurance on and off when they find themselves between jobs." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
Initiative Takes Aim at Obesity in Children
Excerpt: "A coalition of health groups and insurance companies yesterday unveiled an initiative, billed as the first of its kind, to help battle one of the nation's biggest health problems: childhood obesity. Officials of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a joint effort of the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation, said the initiative is designed to give children better access to health care to fight obesity. Participating insurance companies would pay for at least four visits to a dietitian and four visits to a physician each year to provide guidance to children and their parents on how to eat better and take other steps to reduce and control their weight." (The Washington Post; free registration required)
[Opinion]
14,000 Losing Health Care Coverage Each Day
Excerpt: "Addressing the economic crisis facing the United States requires action on many fronts, including boosting economic activity, restoring the financial services industry to health, and addressing the rising tide of home foreclosures. The crisis of the uninsured is another urgent economic challenge. Congress has already moved rapidly to shore up coverage for millions of families. Now, the time is right for health reform that covers everyone and reduces the growth of health care costs." (Center for American Progress Action Fund)
[Opinion]
Mapping the Way to a Transformed U.S. Health System
Excerpt: "Ours is the only industrialized nation that fails to ensure that all its citizens have access to affordable health care. We are slipping further behind what other countries achieve with their more modest investment in health care: the U.S. now ranks 19th out of a group of 19 major industrialized countries on an important measure of health system performance: mortality amenable to medical care. If we did as well as the best-performing countries, we would have 100,000 fewer deaths each year." (The Commonwealth Fund)
[Opinion]
Rationing Care: Oregon Changes Its Priorities (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "The new federal health council created to oversee medical treatments will promote government rationing of health care, a practice pioneered by Oregon, according to the National Center for Policy Analysis. A new NCPA analysis on the Oregon Health Plan shows a surprising shift in how Oregon's health care dollars for treating low-income patients are spent, previewing health care rationing on a national level. The report on Oregon shows that lifesaving services have been deemphasized in favor of less essential care. Oregon is the only government in the U.S. which explicitly rations medical treatment based on treatment cost and effectiveness, limiting doctor/patient choices." (National Center for Policy Analysis)
[Opinion]
A Vision for Health Care Cost Efficiency, Quality, and Coverage (PDF)
30 pages. (Milliman)
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Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
[Guidance Overview]
Increased Monthly Limit for Transit/Vanpool Benefits Under Qualified Transportation Plans
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: Employers will want to decide quickly how to respond to this increase. Many plans do not automatically implement increases in the qualified transportation plan limits, so for those plans a decision to implement the higher limit will require plan changes. (Employers are not required to provide the maximum benefit.) Plans that use pre-tax compensation reduction elections to fund the benefits are also likely to need new employee elections. Employers should check their plan documents and employee communications carefully to see what actions, if any, are needed. As a practical matter, many employers may find it impossible to implement the increased limit in March when it first becomes effective, and may need to delay any changes until they can be fully analyzed, documented and communicated to employees." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)
After Huge Losses, a Move to Reclaim Executives' Pay
Excerpt: "Executives at seven major financial institutions that have collapsed, were sold at distressed prices or are in deep to the taxpayer received $464 million in performance pay since 2005, according to an analysis performed for The New York Times. Almost half of that consisted of cash compensation. Yet these firms have reported losses of $107 billion since 2007, a result of their own missteps and the ensuing economic downturn. And $740 billion in stock market value has been lost since these companies' shares peaked in 2007, just before the housing bubble burst. Against that landscape, a growing chorus is demanding that executive compensation snared shortly before problems emerged be given back." (The New York Times; free registration required)
Stingier Severance Pay Adds to Workers' Woes
Excerpt: "With layoffs on the rise, companies are looking to cut the cost of firing workers. Some, like Tribune Co., are reducing their formulas for calculating severance pay, offering one week of compensation for each year of service instead of two. Others, including J. P. Morgan Chase & Co., are cutting the total amount of severance pay a worker can receive. Human resources consultants expect cuts in outplacement services and health insurance for laid-off workers next." (Crain Communications, Inc.)
Stimulus Provisions Mean Payroll Considerations
Excerpt: "The newly approved stimulus bill and other economic proposals will have practical implications on employer payroll, tax filings, and benefits offerings, according to Paychex, provider of payroll, human resource, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- to medium-sized businesses. According to a Paychex press release, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 includes a 'Making Work Pay' provision which dictates that workers receive a rebate/credit for the 2009 and 2010 tax years of the lesser of $400 for individuals and $800 for couples, or 6.2% of earned income. The credit will be received by workers in their net paychecks through adjusted tax withholding tables, Paychex points out." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Newly Posted Events
401(k) Plans After the Fall: What Now?
in Illinois on March 19, 2009
presented by Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP
ARRA Tightens Executive Compensation Rules - What do You Need to Do to Restructure Your Company's Arrangements
Nationwide on March 19, 2009
presented by ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits
Family and Medical Leave Act: What Employers Need To Know
in Virginia on March 6, 2009
presented by Capital Chapter ISCEBS
Fiduciary360 National Conference to “Uncover Trends and Opportunities in Uncertain Times”
in Arizona on May 6, 2009
presented by Fiduciary360 (fi360)
Productivity, Service, and Partnership: What They Mean to Your Law Firm's Future Webcast
Nationwide on March 3, 2009
presented by Two-Step Software, Inc.
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
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401(k) Plan Sales
for Ingham Retirement Group
in FL, SC
Defined Benefit Actuary I
for The Standard
in MA
Compliance Administrator
for Health Plans, Inc.
in MA
Retirement Sales - Inside Sales/Payroll
for ExpertPlan, Inc.
in NJ
External Wholesaler – Western PA and West Virginia
for Transamerica Life Insurance Company
in PA, VA
External Wholesaler – Eastern Pennsylvania
for Transamerica Life Insurance Company
in PA
Implementation Specialist
for ExpertPlan, Inc.
in NJ
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