Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter |
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| July 15, 2009 \ Compliance \ Costs \ Administration \ Design \ Policy | ||
Employee Benefits Institute of America (EBIA) (Advert.)
EBIA's Recorded Web Seminars - Quality and Convenience! We know that employee benefits professionals have many demands on their time. To help ease the time-crunch, EBIA's recorded web seminars are available 24/7--any time and any place you have an internet connection. What's more, when you purchase a recorded web seminar from EBIA, you and your co-workers can view it as many times as you wish for 60 days after purchase! Visit our website and you can search for seminars by topic, experience level, or key word. |
[Guidance Overview]
Committee-Prepared Overview of House Healthcare Reform Bill (PDF)
34 pages. Excerpt: "America's Affordable Health Choices Act Section-by-Section Analysis." (U.S. House of Representative Committees on Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, and Education and Labor)
[Guidance Overview]
Preliminary Analysis of The Insurance Coverage Specifications Provided By The House Tri-Committee Group (PDF)
14 pages. July 14, 2009 letter to Rep. Charles B. Rangel. Excerpt: "The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) have completed a preliminary analysis of the specifications related to health insurance coverage that are reflected in draft legislation called America's Affordable Health Choices Act, which was released by the House tricommittee majority group on July 14, 2009. Among other things, those specifications would establish a mandate for most legal residents to obtain insurance, significantly expand eligibility for Medicaid, and set up insurance 'exchanges' through which certain individuals and families could receive federal subsidies to substantially reduce the cost of purchasing that coverage." (U.S. Congressional Budget Office)
[Guidance Overview]
Deadlines Loom for Parity In Mental Health Benefits
Excerpt: "Since provisions of the new mental-health-parity law apply to benefit-plan years beginning in January 2010, companies should assess their benefits this summer and make the necessary adjustments in time for fall open-enrollment periods, experts suggest." (CFO.com)
Senate Committee Approves Its Version of Healthcare Reform Bill
Excerpt: "The bill, named 'Quality, Affordable Health Coverage for All Americans,' would create a controversial new government-sponsored health program that would compete with the private sector. It requires that every American carry health insurance and provides generous discounts to people who cannot afford a plan." (Washington Post)
House Health Plan Outlines Higher Taxes on Rich
Excerpt: "House Democratic leaders took a big step toward guaranteeing health insurance for most Americans on Tuesday as they unveiled a bill that detailed how they would expand coverage, slow the growth of Medicare, raise taxes on high-income people and penalize employers who do not provide health benefits to their workers." (The New York Times; free registration required)
House Committee Chairs Unveil Latest Health Reform Plan
Excerpt: "Employers would be hit with a 'play or pay' mandate to either contribute to employees' health care coverage or pay a penalty as a result of a health care reform legislation introduced Tuesday by Democratic leaders in U.S. House of Representatives. Under America's Affordable Health Choices Act, H.R. 3200, employers would have to pay 72.5% of the premium for individual coverage and 65% of the premium for family coverage, according to a Business Insurance report." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Aon Consulting's 2009 Health Care Reform Survey
Excerpt: "The majority of respondents were benefits managers, compensation and benefit leaders, and senior HR representatives - the people responsible for their employers' health insurance policies and programs. Respondents represented a wide range of industries and were geographically dispersed. They also hailed from organizations with less than 50 employees to those with more than 10,000 employees, and all points in between." (Aon Consulting)
PhRMAs $80 Billion in Part D Concessions May Drive Up Health Plan Drug Costs
Excerpt: "Some analysts predict that Medicare Part D plans will see higher drug costs and possibly higher brand-name utilization as a result of the $80 billion pledge made by trade group Pharma.ceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) to defray seniors' drug expenses in the Medicare Part D 'doughnut hole' coverage gap. But others say the impact will be negligible, since Part D plans bear a low share of catastrophic drug costs." (Drug Benefit News via AISHealth.com)
GM Retirees Who Lost Health Care Benefits in Bankrup.tcy Fight to Get Them Back
Excerpt: "While retirees represented by the United Auto Workers will have a partially funded health care trust managing their health benefits, more than 50,000 retirees represented by three unions -- the IUE-CWA, the United Steelworkers and the International Union of Operating Engineers -- will have no money from the automaker to fund the more than $3 billion in health care obligations." (Workforce.com)
Health Plans, Employers Join President Obama in Targeting Tobacco Use
Excerpt: "President Obama on June 22 signed a sweeping anti-smoking law that gives the FDA unprecedented authority to regulate what goes into tobacco products and prohibits marketing campaigns geared toward children. At the same time, many private employers, including Safeway, Inc. are working more aggressively to help their employees quit smoking, with an increasing number of businesses now using 'more of a stick than a carrot' approach to create a healthier, more productive work force and reduce costs." (AISHealth.com)
University Conference Services (Advert.)
What’s Your Next Move? Managing your organization’s health and welfare plans can seem like a game of chess. You always want to be one move ahead of your "opponent"—cost increases that outpace inflation, employees who ignore the principles of good nutrition and healthy living, or regulators who impose ever more complicated rules. The Las Vegas Health and Welfare Plan Management for Mid-Sized Employers conference, September 13–16, is an unmatched educational opportunity to evaluate your health care programs and create a winning strategy for keeping costs under control. |
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Former General Motors Chief to Receive Retirement Package Worth $10 MillionExcerpt: "The benefits are worth about half the $22.1 million value that the company placed on Wagoner's retirement package at the end of 2008. The severance package is also far smaller than those afforded to many other large-company CEOs in the past . . . ." (AP via New York Times)
Employee Incentive Strategies for Private Venture-Backed Companies
Excerpt: "Summarized below are various strategies to motivate and to retain key individuals-- other than granting additional stock options -- for founders and VCs to consider implementing. These strategies include addressing underwater stock options and implementing retention, carve-out, and other bonus arrangements. " (Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP)
SEC Proposes Proxy Disclosure and Corporate Governance Revisions (PDF)
Excerpt: "On July 10th, the [SEC] issued a proposed set of rule revisions intended to improve the disclosure provided to shareholders of public companies regarding compensation and corporate governance matters. New disclosures under the revisions are designed to enhance the information included in proxy and information statements and would include information about: 1) the relationship of a company's overall compensation policies to risk; 2) company leadership structure; 3) the qualifications of directors and nominees; and 4) potential conflicts of interests of compensation consultants. In addition, the revisions would change the reporting of annual stock and option awards to company executives and directors, as well as require quicker reporting of voting results. Importantly, the proposed rules are subject to a 60-day comment period and may change based on comments received during this period." (Frederic W. Cook & Co., Inc.)
Employee Ownership Update for July 14, 2009
NCEO Executive Director Corey Rosen discusses how India and Australia are lowering barriers to employee ownership; data showing a 27% drop in the median sale price of closely held businesses in 2008; a warning against paying a percentage of the transaction as a fee to set up an ESOP; and an Ownership Thinking meeting in September. (National Center for Employee Ownership)
Webcasts and Conferences
At a Crossroads: The Financing and Future of Health Benefits for State and Local Government Retirees WebcastNationwide on July 15, 2009
presented by Center for State and Local Government Excellence
New 403(b) Plans Best Practice Webcast
Nationwide on August 6, 2009
presented by The SPARK Institute
New Reporting Rules Under the Medicare Secondary Payer Law Webcast
Nationwide on August 6, 2009
presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
Stress Testing Your Systems Before Medicare Open Enrollment
Nationwide on August 26, 2009
presented by MCOL
(Click to post your webcast or conference)
Press Releases
Bipartisan Effort Needed to Craft Balanced, Enduring Health Care System Reform LegislationAmerican Benefits Council
Milliman Analysis Reveals Significant June Decline in Pension Funding
Milliman USA
Fidelity's 401(K) Data Show Auto Enrollment Has Biggest Impact On Younger, Lower-Paid Workers
Fidelity Investments
House Democrats Introduce Bill to Provide Quality, Affordable Health Care for All Americans
U.S. House Education and Labor Committee
(Click to post your press release)
EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com (Sponsor)
(Click on banner to learn more.)
| 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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