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October 28, 2011 Get Retirement News  |  Advertise  |  Unsubscribe  |  Past Issues  |  Search

Employee Benefits Jobs

Compliance Specialist - Retirement Plans
for Diversified in MA

Senior Benefits Account Manager
for Undisclosed near Raleigh, North Carolina in NC

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Webcasts and Conferences

An Era of New Regulations—What It Means for TPAs and Financial Advisors
in California on November 9, 2011 presented by National Institute of Pension Administrators - San Diego Chapter

HSAs From the Employer’s Perspective: Design and Compliance Issues
Nationwide on October 27, 2011 presented by Thomson Reuters / EBIA

Year End Primer Webcast
Nationwide on November 1, 2011 presented by National Institute of Pension Administrators


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[Guidance Overview]
Final Regs on Accountable Care Organizations Will Help Service-Providers
"The release of the final regulations gives health care providers the necessary tools to consider whether participation in an ACO is appropriate for their organization." (Ballard Spahr LLP)


DATAIR! More Choices – Better Guidance – Less Cost   [Advert.]

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[Guidance Overview]
CMS's Final Rule on Accountable Care Organizations (PDF)
"The Final Rule will be published in the November 2, 2011 Federal Register." (Paul Hastings LLP)

Workplaces Feel Heavy Impact of Obesity
"Studies estimate the total cost of obesity to U.S. employers—including lost productivity—at $73 bil.lion a year. But that figure doesn't include some of the smaller ways the workplace is adapting." (NPR)

The 2011 MetLife Market Long-Term Care Costs' Survey of Nursing Home, Assisted Living, Adult Day Services, and Home Care Costs (PDF)
"This market survey, conducted in conjunction with LifePlans, Inc., contains daily private-pay rates for private and semi-private rooms in licensed nursing homes, monthly base rates for assisted living communities, hourly rates for home health aides from licensed agencies and agency-provided homemaker companion services, and daily rates for adult day services across the United States." (Metropolitan Life Insurance Company)

HHS Definitions Will 'Equalize' Benefits, but Some State Mandates Won't Go Quietly
"Although the reform law says states must pick up costs for benefits mandates not deemed essential by HHS, some industry insiders warn that health insurers and their members ultimately could wind up shouldering the cost of coverage for these non-essential mandates." (Atlantic Information Services, Inc)

An Interview on EHRs and Health Care Reform
"President Obama's former national coordinator for health IT, Dr. David Blumenthal, shares his thoughts on progress with meaningful use of electronic health records, and what's next for healthcare reform." (UBM TechWeb)

Kaiser Health Tracking Poll, October 2011
"The October health tracking poll finds a more negative overall public mood about the health reform law, driven largely by changes in support for the law among Democrats." (The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)

Medicare Part B Premium Increase to Be Less Than Expected
"For the quarter of seniors who did not fall under the 'hold harmless' protections, generally new enrollees and higher-income seniors, the new Medicare premiums will actually be a decrease in fees. Those seniors, who have seen increases in the past two years, will have premiums decrease, from $115.60 in 2011 to $99.90 in 2012." (The Washington Post; free registration required)

Medicare Part B 2012 Premiums Lower than Projected
"The Obama administration [on Thurs. Oct. 27] announced that premiums for Medicare Part B coverage in 2012 will be $99.90 a month for most beneficiaries, a smaller-than-expected increase over the $96.40 paid this year by a majority of elderly and disabled beneficiaries." (The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)

Oregon Banks on Community Health Care
"Setting up so-called 'coordinated care organizations' as the front door for patients, the state aims to abandon the impersonal and fragmented way most people receive health services today." (The Pew Charitable Trusts)

High-Deductible Health Plans More Common as Employment-Based Option
"At small companies, the high-deductible option, often served with a tax-preferred savings account, may be the only choice. But larger firms are more likely to offer at least one traditional PPO or HMO plan alongside a high-deductible choice." (NPR)

Checking for Lung Cancer with Yearly X-Ray Doesn't Reduce Deaths
"Among the more than 77,000 people who got X-rays, 1,213 died from lung cancer. For those in an equal-size group who didn't get the screening test, the death toll was 1,230. Statistically, there was no difference." (NPR)

The Top Six Dangers Facing Self-Insured Health Plans (and What to Do About Them)
"This article illustrates some of the big cost-containment dangers facing self-insured health plans, and some steps plan administrators can take to minimize them." (SmartHR)

Vermont's Gov. Shumlin and the Push for Single-Payer Health Care
"[The author recently talked] with Shumlin, an experienced legislator and small business owner, about why he thinks such radical change in health care is a necessity." (Governing via Physicians for a National Health Program)

Telework: The Impact on Health and Health Improvement Strategies
"This toolkit provides information about how employers can design a successful teleworking program while complying with important federal and state laws. With a special emphasis on employee health, the toolkit provides employers important considerations about the design of their communications strategy and wellness efforts to ensure equity across all employee populations." (National Business Group on Health)

Without the Individual Mandate, Affordable Care Act Would Still Cover 23 Mil.lion; Premiums Would Rise Less than Predicted
"Many policy analysts fear that eliminating the individual health insurance mandate and penalty from the Affordable Care Act of 2010 would lead to a 'premium spiral,' in which healthy people would drop coverage, premiums would soar, and the number of people with coverage would plummet." (Health Affairs)

Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Likely to Continue Current Course in the Near Term
"Large, private-sector employers in virtually all 12 communities [studied for the report] are likely to continue shifting costs to employees by adopting benefit designs that accommodate greater cost sharing. As part of this strategy, consumer-driven health plans are likely to become the only health benefit offered in more instances." (Center for Studying Health System Change)

[Opinion]
The CLASS Act, Part of the Health Reform Bill, Quietly Abandoned
"This abandonment of what Obama saw as an ultimately unworkable program leaves open the question of just how the nation will pay for the long-term care needs of some 20 mil.lion Americans." (The Century Foundation)

[Opinion]
Testimony: Premium Tax Credits Under Affordable Care Act: How Will They Help Millions of Uninsured
"With its array of affordable health insurance programs and new consumer protections set to launch in 2014, the Affordable Care Act will substantially reverse these trends, ensuring that all Americans will have access to affordable and comprehensive health insurance coverage." (The Commonwealth Fund)

Benefits in General; Executive Compensation

BLS Employment Cost Index for Benefits, by Ownership, Occupational Group, and Industry
"[The chart i]ncludes workers in the private nonfarm economy except those in private households, and workers in the public sector, except the federal government." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Online Employee Benefits Enrollment Is the New Normal
"In the past year alone, the use of online benefits enrollment increased by 8 percentage points, which represents a significant shift in how employees learn about, evaluate and interact with their benefits programs." (Employee Benefit News)

OMB Employees Seek Work-Life Balance via Union Vote
"[The small OMB] staff works long hours. Although the employees know that comes with the territory, they also believe a better work-life balance can improve work productivity while enhancing their home life." (The Washington Post; free registration required)

Press Releases



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