Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter |
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| September 1, 2009 \ Compliance \ Costs \ Administration \ Design \ Policy | ||
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Democrat Representatives Probe Insurers on Small Business Health Plans
Excerpt: "Democrats heading the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee widened their probe of the health insurance industry on Monday, seeking information on companies' policies for small businesses. In letters sent to several insurers, including Aetna Inc, UnitedHealth Group Inc, WellPoint Inc and Humana Inc, Chairman Henry Waxman sought information on policies sold to businesses with 100 or fewer workers, citing concerns that insurers were sharply raising premiums or terminating coverage when workers got sick. Medica and Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield also received letters, which seek the information by September 14." (Reuters via The New York Times; free registration required)
Employers Lure Spouses into Wellness Programs to Help Cut Costs
Excerpt: "Nearly half of U.S. employers include spouses in wellness programs, up from roughly 10% five years ago, estimates Helen Darling, head of the National Business Group on Health, which represents 280 employers. But Syngenta's aggressive pursuit of spouses is 'very unusual,' she said. Such programs seek to cut health-care costs by altering lifestyles and identifying diseases early. It generally costs employers more to insure spouses' health than workers, concludes an analysis of 21 companies' experience by Dee W. Edington, a University of Michigan health researcher. At those companies, spouses' health-care costs averaged $3,738 annually, 9.7% more than employees'." (The Wall Street Journal)
With LA Rx, City of Los Angeles Puts Prescription Drug Bulk Purchasing Card in the Hands of Every Resident
Excerpt: "Consumers who use the free prescription drug discount card, available at www.forlaxrx.com can save up to 40% on their prescription drugs. It's a Costco card without the Costco membership. And the savings are bigger than Costco on the top 20 most used drugs. Five years ago the idea of giving Angelenos a bulk buy on their prescription drugs took shape on the floor of the City Council when Villaraigosa hatched the plan with my colleaugues and I. He had been hearing about the high price of prescription drugs from seniors in his district and we told him if Costco could do it why not the City of Los Angeles. A reporter today asked why it had taken so long. The Mayor said City Bureaucracy. The fact is that public programs like LA Rx are not only hard to get off the ground. They also are hard to get people to use. It will take marketing on the part of the Mayor, the City and low income groups to let people know how a simple LA Rx card can give them big discounts on their prescription drugs. Insured and uninsured can benefit." (Consumer Watchdog)
EBSA Web Page on COBRA Rights Now Includes Video on Protecting Benefits After Job Loss
Accompanying link takes you to the video; Internet Explorer web browser seems to be required. The EBSA web page is at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/cobra.html (Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor)
Using Clinical Information to Project Federal Health Care Spending
Excerpt: "Complications from chronic illnesses often do not emerge for many years. Current federal cost projection methods are constrained by ten-year cost estimates, which capture increases in near-term intervention costs but not changes in long-term costs. Current methods also cannot easily capture the cost implications of changes in disease progression. Type 2 diabetes is a prime example of a chronic illness with long-term health and cost consequences. We present results from an epidemiologically based model that projects federal costs for diabetes under alternative policies, and we discuss the potential changes in the federal budget process needed to capture the full impact of these interventions." (Health Affairs)
Study Raises Questions About Cost Savings from Preventive Care
Excerpt: "Preventive services for the chronically ill may reduce health-care costs, but they are unlikely to generate the kind of fantastic savings that President Obama and other Democrats have said could help pay for an overhaul of the nation's health system, according to a study being published Tuesday. . . . 'There's no free lunch here. Prevention will not pay for everything. But it's not as expensive as it looks at first blush,' said Michael J. O'Grady, a senior fellow at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, and one of four authors whose work is being published on the Web site of Health Affairs, a leading journal of health policy research." (The Washington Post; free registration required)
Sabbatical Programs Aid Work/Life Balance
Excerpt: "In addition to family and medical leave programs, some employers offer their employees extended leaves of absence to pursue personal endeavors or just rejuvenate. The purpose of such leaves or sabbaticals is simple: Give valued employees the time off they want and avoid the costs associated with turnover by keeping them tethered to the company. Given today's turbulent economic times, such leave programs offer employers an alternative to layoffs, experts say." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
Private Health Insurance: Research on Competition in the Insurance Industry (PDF)
13 pages. Excerpt: "Health care providers and members of Congress have raised concerns that consolidation in the private health insurance industry may be resulting in less competitive markets and contributing to rising health insurance rates paid by consumers and employers. However, measuring the extent of changes in market competition over time or the effects of changes is challenging. . . . Despite [the] challenges, researchers have used the data available to study competition in health insurance markets, typically using one of two measures of competition: (1) HMO market concentration or (2) the number of HMOs in a market." (U.S. Government Accountability Office)
California Highway Patrol Union to Pre-Fund Retiree Health Benefits with Pay Hikes
Excerpt: "On Thursday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) announced that the California Association of Highway Patrolmen agreed to amend a negotiated contract to redirect scheduled wage increases to prepay officers' retiree health benefits, the Sacramento Bee reports. The union, which represents California Highway Patrol officers, amended its contract with the Department of Personnel Administration and agreed to forgo the 0.5% pay hike scheduled to take effect last month." (California HealthCare Foundation)
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Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
[Guidance Overview]2009 Q&As: EEOC Meeting with ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits (PDF)
3 pages; May 6, 2009. Excerpt: "Each year, the Joint Committee on Employee Benefits (JCEB) of the American Bar Association meets with officials of federal agencies in Washington, D.C., to discuss issues of interest to employee benefits practitioners. . . . The question and answer transcripts . . . are based on these informal discussions between private sector representatives of the JCEB and agency officials." (American Bar Association)
[Guidance Overview]
2009 Q&As: DOL Meeting with ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits (PDF)
25 pages; May 7, 2009. Excerpt: "Each year, the Joint Committee on Employee Benefits (JCEB) of the American Bar Association meets with officials of federal agencies in Washington, D.C., to discuss issues of interest to employee benefits practitioners. . . . The question and answer transcripts . . . are based on these informal discussions between private sector representatives of the JCEB and agency officials." (American Bar Association)
[Guidance Overview]
Employee Benefits Developments, August 2009
Excerpt: "A brief look at developments in Employee Benefits law from July and August 2009, including cases, rulings, and opinions." (Hodgson Russ LLP)
[Guidance Overview]
Seventh Circuit Emphasizes Need to Assess the 'Gravity' of Any Conflict of Interest in Its Latest Post-Glenn Decision
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: At this point, most of the federal circuit courts have weighed in on the impact of the Glenn case, which was decided over a year ago. This latest Seventh Circuit decision is notable among these post-Glenn decisions for its re-examination of the multifactor analysis and its attempt to make this standard 'more directive' for courts and plan administrators. One byproduct of this decision's emphasis on the gravity of a conflict of interest is that it may justify more discovery of information regarding the conflict -- an issue that has divided the courts post-Glenn." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)
Highlights of DOL Staff Members' Informal Views on Uncashed Checks, Plan Audits, and Class Action Lawsuits
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: We chose these highlights from the report's 22 Q&As covering a variety of retirement and welfare plan issues (welfare plan topics will be covered in a future Weekly article). Other topics covered by the Q&As include fiduciary and QDRO questions and a valuation question (Q&A-21) that could be of great interest to companies that match contributions with employer stock. Even though the DOL staff members' responses 'do not necessarily represent the official position of the DOL,' the report provides helpful insight regarding the issues addressed." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)
Webcasts and Conferences
"Safe Harbor 401(k) Plan Workshop" - A 3-part Web SeminarNationwide on September 9, 2009
presented by SunGard Relius
2009 Silicon Valley Meeting at Cadence: "Health Care Reform, ERISA Litigation, And 401(k) Changes Making Your Head Spin? Help Is On The Way"
in California on September 16, 2009
presented by Western Pension & Benefits Conference, San Francisco Chapter
Fundamental Changes in How Prescription Drugs Are Priced - Actions Plan Sponsors Need to Take Before September 26th Webcast
Nationwide on September 10, 2009
presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
Important Year-End Compliance Requirements-Don't Be Late!
in New York on September 23, 2009
presented by WEB (Worldwide Employee Benefits Network ), New York Chapter
Webcast: The Wage and Hour Laws – So Who Really Is Exempt?
Nationwide on September 22, 2009
presented by National Institute of Pension Administrators
Webinar: Produce Total Rewards Compensation & Benefit Statements On Your Own PC
Nationwide on September 9, 2009
presented by Benefit Software Inc.
(Click to post your webcast or conference)
Press Releases
Employees Satisfied With Retirement Plans Despite Economy, Watson Wyatt Survey FindsWatson Wyatt
PBGC Publishes Pension Insurance Data Book 2008
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)
U.S. Department of Labor Sues President of Defunct Western Pennsylvania Company to Recover 401(k) Retirement Contributions
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
TRI-AD and Paylocity Integrate their Payroll/HRIS and 401(k) Recordkeeping Services to Offer the Velocity 401(k)
TRI-AD
Levenfeld Pearlstein Boosts ESOP and Employee Benefits Groups With Addition of Megan Sandquist
Levenfeld Pearlstein, LLC
(Click to post your press release)
Employee Benefits Jobs
Retirement Plan & Benefits Analystfor Williams Kastner
in WA
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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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