To BenefitsLink home page

Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter

Search Earlier Newsletters:

Sort by date
Sort by closest match
Fill your job openings fast on EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com!
October 27, 2009 \ Compliance \ Costs \ Administration \ Design \ Policy

EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com (Advert.)

EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com is where the best employers find the  best candidates! (clickable image)

EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com is where the best employers find the best candidates!

  • Stock up on job ads to use at a later time. Discount packages available at a great price.
  • A link to your ad will appear in the BenefitsLink newsletters, to which thousands of employee benefits professionals subscribe.
  • Your ad will be seen by hundreds of jobseekers who use EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com to search for available jobs.
  • The full text of your ad will be emailed to over 3,100 jobseekers.


[Guidance Overview]
Remember to Distribute Annual Medicare Part D Notices by November 15, 2009

Excerpt: "Just a reminder that it's time once again to make sure that you have distributed the Notice of Creditable Coverage required under Medicare Part D, which informs participants whether the prescription drug coverage offered under your health plan constitutes creditable or noncreditable coverage. Once again, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued updated forms that you may use to provide this notice. Employers who sponsor a health plan offering prescription drug benefits must provide an annual notice to all Medicare-eligible participants that explains whether the prescription drug benefits offered under the plan are at least as good as the benefits offered under the Medicare Part D plan. The only employers exempt from this notice requirement are those that establish their own Part D plan or who contract with a Part D plan." (Warner Norcross & Judd LLP)


[Guidance Overview]
Insurer May Consider Relevant Nonmedical Information in Deciding Disability Claim, According to Court

Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: As this case illustrates, it is not necessarily an abuse of discretion for a plan decisionmaker deciding a disability claim to provide its consulting physicians with nonmedical information about a claimant's relevant employment history (provided the plan gives the decisionmaker wide discretion in the types of evidence it may consider). Furthermore, a determination that a claimant satisfies the SSA's standard for disability benefits does not mean the claimant is automatically entitled to benefits under an ERISA plan. But although an ERISA plan administrator is not bound by an SSA disability determination when reviewing a claim for benefits under an ERISA plan, some courts have concluded that a plan's failure to consider an SSA determination is a factor in reviewing a claim denial." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)


AARP Could Benefit from the Health Insurance Reforms It Advocates
Excerpt: "From 2007 to 2008, AARP royalties from insurance plans, credit cards and other branded products shot up 31 percent -- from less than $500 million to $652 million -- making such fees the primary source of revenue for the group last year, the records show." (The Washington Post; free registration required)


Small Businesses Facing the Largest Health Insurance Premium Increases in Massachusetts
Excerpt: "Three years after Massachusetts enacted its sweeping health-reform legislation, rising health costs continue to bedevil the state and threaten to derail reform efforts. Despite a significant restructuring of the state's health sector and dominance of nonprofit health plans, Massachusetts still has the highest health-insurance costs in the nation, averaging $13,788 for a family, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. One of the reasons so many people supported the reform effort in Massachusetts is that they were told universal coverage would lead to lower costs. With universal coverage, Massachusetts politicians argued, as many in Washington do today, people would no longer have to pay the medical bills of those who don't have insurance -- the 'free riders' -- and therefore health-insurance premiums would fall, or at least level off." (The Wall Street Journal via Galen Institute)


Now-Secret Medical Care Claims Denial Rates Could Tell Consumers a Lot About Their Insurance Company
Excerpt: "There is no reliable estimate of the total number of health care claims that insurers deny annually. But Mark Rieger, chief executive of National Health care Exchange Services, which collects claims data from physicians, says the number certainly is in the millions annually. Rescissions are estimated to be only in the thousands." (California Nurses Association / National Nurses Organizing Committee)


Senate Passes Defense Authorization Bill Which Includes FMLA Military Leave Provisions
Excerpt: "The bill includes an expansion of Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provisions related to qualifying exigency leave and military caregiver leave. Qualifying exigency leave would be available to family members of active duty military and military caregiver leave would be available to family members of veterans. The House approved the conference report on October 8. The bill is expected to be signed into law by President Obama." (Hewitt Associates)


Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Erosion Continues (PDF)
22 pages. Excerpt: "This new EPI report shows that employer-sponsored health insurance (ESI) has declined every year since 2000, currently leaving 45.7 million people under 65 without any coverage and estimates suggest another 10 million people will be without ESI by 2010 unless the economy makes an unpredicted swift rebound or there is large-scale health reform." (Economic Policy Institute)


The New Health Participation and Access Data from the National Compensation Survey
Excerpt: "New data on participation in and access to health care benefits allow for the study of the correlation between health care cost and health plan participation. This article compares this correlation between two occupational groups: management, professional, and related workers and service workers. Although participation is a significant factor in determining the estimates of average employer costs for health care benefits, other factors, such as annual hours worked, mix of jobs and industries, and the percentage paid by the employer can also have substantial effects." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)


Integrate Workers Compensation to Cut Health Costs, According to Study
Excerpt: "Integrating occupational and nonoccupational treatment would produce savings between $490 billion and $560 billion during the first 10 years, according to the report by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley. 'Savings would result from the much greater efficiency with which health insurance delivers care compared to workers compensation insurance,' according to the report released late last week that was funded by a grant from the Oakland-based California HealthCare Foundation. 'Only 12% to 14% of health insurance premiums go toward administration and profit,' researchers said in the report. 'Workers compensation turns this ratio on its head, spending the majority (50-60%) of premiums on these same overhead costs,' the researchers found." (Business Insurance)


'Cadillac' Tax on Health Insurance Worries Unions
Excerpt: "Unions representing thousands of teachers and state and local government workers are bracing for the worst if Congress adopts a proposed 'Cadillac' tax on health insurance. The 40 percent levy on health care costs above $8,000 for individuals and $21,000 for families passed the U.S. Senate Finance Committee on Oct. 13. If the tax were to become law, experts said, government employees in New York would be hit hard because their powerful unions have negotiated benefits that go beyond medical and prescription drug coverage to include, among others, dental and vision. The tax would be paid by insurers who then are expected to pass it along in the form of higher premiums, deductibles and co-pays. 'A lot of state workers would qualify because of the dental and vision, and the fact that health care is the fastest growing expense,' said Kenneth Brynien, head of the 59,000-member state Public Employees Federation." (Newsday)



ALM (Advert.)

Complete Benefits Law Guidance from Law Journal Press (clickable image)

Complete Benefits Law Guidance from Law Journal Press

The nation's workforce and health care system are constantly evolving and so are the legal issues. Law Journal Press helps you handle any benefits law question with up-to-date, authoritative books on all aspects of the field. Get legal and practical advice from leading experts on everything from COBRA to ERISA, "contingent" employees to family and medical leave, and more. Browse our product listings for detailed information and special offers.

Webcasts and Conferences

Announcing the Results of Buck Consultants' 2009 Global Wellness Survey
Nationwide on November 19, 2009
presented by Buck Consultants, an ACS Company

Boosting Employee Morale - Webinar Demonstrates How To Produce Personalized Employee Benefit Statements In House On Your Own Computer
Nationwide on November 4, 2009
presented by Benefit Software Inc.

Discover The Keys To Improving Employee Morale - Total Rewards Webinar
Nationwide on October 29, 2009
presented by Benefit Software Inc.

Employee Benefit Enrollment Made Easy! Webinar Demonstrates How To Simplify Complex Benefits Enrollment
Nationwide on October 29, 2009
presented by Benefit Software Inc.

Legislative and Regulatory Overview and Legal Update
in District of Columbia on November 19, 2009
presented by Capital Chapter ISCEBS

The New Pension Funding Regulations: It's Not All It Appears To Be Webcast
Nationwide on November 4, 2009
presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans

(Click to post your webcast or conference)

Press Releases

PBGC Announces Maximum Insurance Benefit for 2010
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)

New Charles Schwab Data Reveals Increase in 401(k) Plan Participation
Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.

Transamerica Recovery Action Plan Receives Top Honors from the Profit Sharing/401k Council of America
Transamerica Retirement Services

New Benefits and Compensation Glossary Provides Essential Definitions For Benefits Professionals
International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans

Donald J. Segal Honored by the American Academy of Actuaries
American Academy of Actuaries

CDM Retirement Consultants, Inc. Announces Defined Benefit and Cash Balance Plan Services.
CDM Retirement Consultants, Inc.

(Click to post your press release)

Employee Benefits Jobs

DC / 401(k) Compliance Consultant
for The Savitz Organization
in DE, NJ, PA

Pension Administrator
for Chambers Benefit Group
in NM

Recordkeeping Manager
for Prudential
in IA

Plan Administrator/Conversion Analyst
for Employee Fiduciary
in AL

Defined Benefit Plan Administration Professional
for Goldleaf Partners
in AZ, FL, MN

Wellness Program Administrator
for Blood Systems
in AZ

Sr Benefits Administrator
for DePaul University
in IL

Executive Director - New Business Development
for GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention
in TX

Consultant-TPA (Third Party Administrator) Services, #0901438
for John Hancock Financial Services
in MA

Business Development Director - ESOP
for RSM McGladrey
in IL, MN

Staff Consultant - Retirement Plan Administrator
for BKD, LLP
in MO

Qualified Plan Administrator
for Howard Feinstein & Associates
in IL

(Click to post your job opening | View all jobs | RSS feed for jobs RSS feed of all jobs )


EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com (Sponsor)

(Click on banner to learn more.)
Where the best employers find the best candidates!

Where the best employers find the best candidates!


Handy Links:


Subscribe to the BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter, Too!

Sign-up form is at https://benefitslink.com/newsletter (free).


This email has been published by:
BenefitsLink.com, Inc.
1298 Minnesota Avenue, Suite H
Winter Park FL 32789
(407) 644-4146
Fax: (407) 644-2151

Jeanette Hull, News Editor
jeanette.hull@benefitslink.com

David Rhett Baker, J.D., Editor and Publisher
david.baker@benefitslink.com

Copyright 2009 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.; except that you can forward this email in full (including this boilerplate part) or otherwise reprint this email in full (including this boilerplate part) without obtaining our permission.

Anyone can receive these emails; just have them sign up at this web page: https://benefitslink.com/newsletter/

Other useful links: