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March 12, 2009 |
| Here are the Web's best new links about compliance and cost aspects of plan operation, design and policy. |
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International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (Adv.)
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.) 
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. |
[Guidance Overview]
Stimulus Law Includes Major Changes to HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules (PDF)
Excerpt: "This Bulletin discusses the key HIPAA changes: Breach notification required by fall 2009, New approach to business associates, a term that covers third party administrators (TPAs), pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), health benefits administration system vendors, attorneys, actuaries and consultants, and Guidance required from the Secretary of Health and Human Services on the privacy rule's minimum necessary standard, which governs nearly all uses, disclosures and requests for protected health information (PHI). The Bulletin also discusses other key changes, such as significant increases in civil monetary penalties and enforcement. It concludes with a list of action steps for plan sponsors." (The Segal Group, Inc.)
[Guidance Overview]
Minnesota Imposes New Reporting Requirement on Employers
Excerpt: "Minnesota recently enacted Senate File No. 49 . . . requiring employers to annually provide each employee with a statement that shows the amount of health insurance premiums paid on a pre-tax basis each month. This change is effective for tax years beginning after December 31, 2008 for all premiums paid in 2009." (Dorsey & Whitney LLP)
Workers' Health Benefits Eyed for Taxation: Revenue Would Fund Expansion of Coverage
Excerpt: "Since companies began offering group health insurance on a large scale during World War II, the value of that benefit has never been counted as income, reducing workers' taxable earnings by an average of $9,000 a year for family coverage. In recent weeks, however, Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the tax-writing Finance Committee, has repeatedly advocated changing tax laws to include employer benefits, arguing that it makes sense to fund the health-care changes by sucking cash out of the existing system." (The Washington Post; free registration required)
House Committee Chairmen Miller, Waxman, and Rangel Pledge to Move Health Reform Forward
Excerpt: "[Chairmen] Henry A. Waxman, Charles B. Rangel, and George Miller sent a letter to President Obama regarding their commitment to work together to pass national health reform. The text of the letter follows: Dear Mr. President: We are writing to thank you for organizing the White House Forum on Health Reform last week and to let you know of our intention to work closely together to pass national health reform. Comprehensive reform is essential to controlling health care costs, reviving our economy, and expanding coverage. We are committed to working with you to pass this legislation this year. In the House, jurisdiction over health reform is shared among three primary committees. As chairs of these committees and veterans of past health reform debates, we have agreed to coordinate our efforts. Our intention is to bring similar legislation before our committees and to work from a harmonized approach to ensure success. We have also agreed on a timetable for our joint efforts. In order to achieve our shared goal of enacting health reform this year, we will coordinate our committee consideration so that action on the House floor can occur before the August recess." (U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education & Labor)
Shortchanging America's Health 2009: A State-by-State Look at How Federal Public Health Dollars are Spent and Key State Health Facts
Excerpt: "In this report, Trust for America's Health (TFAH) examines how much the federal government spends to try to keep the country well. A state-by-state review of fiscal year 2008 spending reveals that federal funding (through U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) for public health varies, often significantly, with a per capita low of $12.74 to a per capita high of $52.78. The national average is $17.60 per person, a fraction of what is spent on health care costs. The report also examines state funding for public health. Each state allocates and reports its budget in a different way. States also vary widely in the level of specific detail they provide, which makes comparisons across states a challenge." (Trust for America's Health via Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)
U.S. Shows Cost-Benefit Disparity in Health Care 'Value Gap,' According to Report
Excerpt: "In a different twist, the report took . . . costs and factored benefits into the equation. It compares statistics on life expectancy, death rates and even cholesterol readings and blood pressures. The health measures are factored together with costs into a 100-point 'value' scale. That hasn't been done before, the authors said. The results are not encouraging." (AP via Houston Chronicle)
Waste-Reduction Strategies Can Improve Health Care Quality With Reduced Costs
Excerpt: "In 'Imagining 16% to 12%: A vision for cost efficiency, improving health care quality, and covering the uninsured,' [Milliman sets] forth 'actuarial insights to help health care reformers develop better proposals' while reducing health care's share of the gross domestic product (GDP) from the current 16% to 12%. The Milliman team's strategies support those of the Obama Administration to reduce costly waste in health care by relying more on evidence-based medicine, using comparative effectiveness evaluations of new and existing treatments to identify those that are the most cost effective, setting quality standards and measures, making providers accountable for outcomes, encouraging informed patient choice, and promoting electronic medical records, among other steps." (Wolters Kluwer)
Health Plans Use Variety of Strategies to Identify and Ensure Compliance Among Diabetics
Excerpt: "On Jan. 15, United announced the launch of its Diabetes Health Plan with built-in preventive care incentives. As a value-based design, the plan eliminates copayments for many of the out-of-pocket expenses that discourage many diabetics from effectively managing their condition." (AISHealth.com)
Outlook for Consumer/Patient Engagement in Health Care: Consumer-Directed Health Plans (PDF)
12 pages. Excerpt: "The Employee Benefit Research Institute's (EBRI) December 2008 policy forum, titled 'Outlook for Consumer/Patient Engagement in Health Care -- 30 Years into the Experiment,' took a detailed look at consumer-directed health plans and related issues. Two views of consumer-directed plans: Policy forum participants heard two very different presentations on the prospects for consumer-directed plans. One speaker was optimistic, saying consumer-directed plans have worked because individuals in these plans have substituted less expensive care for more expensive care in order to minimize their out-of-pocket costs. Another speaker was skeptical, saying consumerism will have a 'marginal impact' but will not solve the problem of rising health care costs." (Employee Benefit Research Institute)
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EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com (Adv.)
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EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com is where the best employers find the best candidates!
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Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Executive Compensation: Rethinking Strategies for Challenging Times (PDF)Excerpt: "The economic downturn has caused many companies to evaluate their executive compensation programs more closely and in many cases make difficult decisions that respond to these challenging times. As a result, data regarding base salaries, annual bonuses and long-term incentives as reported by compensation surveys completed in Fall 2008 are already out-of-date. In response, Grant Thornton LLP conducted a survey of 227 U.S. companies in February of 2009 to better understand how the current economic downturn is impacting executive compensation programs." (Grant Thornton LLP via Financial Executives International)
Newly Posted Events
(Post Yours!)Employee Benefits Conference: Find Answers to Important Employee Benefits Issues
in New York on May 14, 2009
presented by Foundation for Accounting Education
Legislative Update and The Year Ahead in Healthcare Reform
in Pennsylvania on April 16, 2009
presented by ISCEBS, Greater Philadelphia Chapter
Newly Posted Press Releases
(Post Yours!)U.S. Pension Plan Funding Plunged by More Than $300 Billion in 2008, Watson Wyatt Analysis Finds
Watson Wyatt
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
(Post a Job | View All Jobs |
RSS Feed )
Senior Defined Benefit Data Analyst
for Diversified Investment Advisors, Inc.
in MA
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EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com (Adv.)
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Where the best employers find the best candidates! |
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
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