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BenefitsLink Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter
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U.S. Supreme Court Sets 5-1/2 Hour Hearing on Legality of Health Care Reform Legislation
"The Court will hold two hours of argument on the constitutionality of the requirement that virtually every American obtain health insurance by 2014, 90 minutes on whether some or all of the overall law must fail if the mandate is struck down, one hour on whether the Anti-Injunction Act bars some or all of the challenges to the insurance mandate, and one hour on the constitutionality of the expansion of the Medicaid program for the poor and disabled."
(SCOTUSblog)
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[Guidance Overview]
New HIPAA Regulations in the Works As HHS' Office for Civil Rights Ramps Up Enforcement
"HHS officials have stated that their goal is to get new HIPAA regulations out by the end of the year. If they succeed, these revised regulations will go into effect in the middle of 2012. Some of these revised regulations will impact employers who sponsor group health plans, such as new requirements for business associate agreements, revisions to the Notice of Privacy Practices and possibly some changes to breach notification procedures. Once the new rules come out, employers will likely have six months . . . ."
(Warner Norcross & Judd LLP)
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[Guidance Overview]
The Importance of Communicating with Employees on FMLA Leave
"Because the FMLA prohibits employers from 'interfering' with an employee's right to take leave under the Act or 'retaliating' against an employee who exercises his FMLA rights, employers must carefully manage communications with employees who take or wish to take time off under the Act. Several recent court cases bear this out."
(Warner Norcross & Judd LLP)
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Health Law Puts Focus on Limits of Federal Power
"If the federal government can require people to purchase health insurance, what else can it force them to do? More to the point, what can't the government compel citizens to do?"
(The New York Times; free registration required)
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2011 Survey of Employers Utilizing HSA Programs
(Free product.) "The survey [conducted by Buck Consultants on behalf of ACS/The HSA Solution] [involves] demographics, behaviors, and opinions of individuals that own accounts."
(BuckSurveys.com; registration required)
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2011 Survey of Health Savings Account Holders
"The survey [conducted by Buck Consultants on behalf of ACS/The HSA Solution] was divided into several categories that allowed for the analysis of account holder demographics, participation with their health plan, selection and use of the HSA, behavior related to medical service usage, and satisfaction with product features."
(BuckSurveys.com)
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HHS Announces Immediate HIPAA Audit Initiative
"The audit will focus on the HIPAA privacy and security requirements. The OCR will select a broad range of entities, including health plans and health care providers of all sizes. HIPAA audits begin immediately."
(Constangy, Brooks & Smith, LLP)
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A Buoyed Health Care Law Reaches Supreme Court
"Only three of the 12 appellate judges who have reviewed the law have decided it is unconstitutional to require all Americans to have health insurance. Not a single appeals court judge has said the entire law must be tossed out, the position advocated by Florida and 25 other Republican states leading the legal assault."
(Los Angeles Times)
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37 States Allow Health Coverage Gender Bias
"In 37 states, it's legal to deny women health insurance because they're women, according to a report in the December edition of Prevention magazine. The same report says 95 percent of insurance companies that offer individual health plans practice 'gender rating,' or gender-related denials."
(CBS Interactive Inc.)
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Benefits in General; Executive Compensation
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House Panel Tries To Intervene in Same-S.ex Marriage Case
"The Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group of the U.S. House of Representatives asked a federal judge in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to grant it intervenor status, solely to defend section 3 of DOMA against challenges that it violates the equal protection clause, or substantive due process components, of the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution."
(PG Publishing Co., Inc. )
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EBSA Creates Web Page to Assist Benefit Plan Participants
"'The new consumer assistance Web page and electronic inquiry/complaint process will provide quick answers to the most frequently asked questions and connect workers to experienced benefits advisers if assistance is needed.'"
(Littler Mendelson P.C.)
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Press Releases
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