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BenefitsLink Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter

October 3, 2012 Get Retirement News  |  Advertise  |  Unsubscribe  |  Past Issues  |  Search

Employee Benefits Jobs


Webcasts and Conferences

Rocky Mountain Retirement Plan Conference
in Colorado on November 14, 2012 presented by Innovest Portfolio Solutions

Preparing for 2014: Should an Employer Pay or Play? Webinar
Nationwide on November 8, 2012 presented by Spencer Fane Britt & Browne LLP

Understanding Retirement Plan Fee Disclosures
Nationwide on October 16, 2012 presented by Hay Group


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[Guidance Overview]

Significant Health Plan Changes Scheduled for 2014 Are Approaching Fast
"Among other steps, an employer should: (1) determine if it will be subject to the employer mandate requirement in 2014 ...; (2) evaluate its workforce to understand who may be considered a 'full-time' employee subject to the coverage requirement of the employer mandate; (3) review current recordkeeping and administrative systems to determine whether employee hours can be properly tracked; and (4) determine if a safe harbor method for determining full-time employee status is appropriate for its workforce[.]" (Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC)


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Many Individual Health Insurance Plans Heap Healthcare Costs on Consumers
"A first-ever U.S News analysis of nearly 6,000 health insurance plans marketed to individuals and families reveals that many of the consumers who enroll in these plans may confront budget-wrecking out-of-pocket costs that deplete their savings. Large numbers of plans severely limit coverage for such services as prescription drugs, maternity coverage, mental health treatment, and rehabilitation therapy.... If consumers choose plans that fail to meet their needs, it may be because they're confused." (USNews)

Some Alaskans Get Out-of-State Options for Medical Treatment
"The high cost of many medical procedures in Alaska is driving a major insurance company, Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield, to offer coverage that pays air fare, hotel and other expenses for members to undergo the same treatment in Washington state at less cost.... The National Education Association Alaska health plan, with 17,000 members in 27 school districts, contracted with a company called BridgeHealth to find doctors and hospitals [outside Alaska] for such surgeries as knee and hip replacements and set up the trips for members who want the service ... Because of anticipated savings from this program, NEA Alaska members did not have an increase in insurance premiums this year[.]" (Anchorage Daily News)

Employee Health Premiums Will Jump Next Year As Employers Shift Cost Burden
"Amid tough economic times, the 2013 annual employee premiums will rise 8 percent to $2,385 from $2,204 this year in what workers have taken out of their paychecks for health care ... That amount is about 21 percent of next year's total-company paid premium of $11,188[.]" (Forbes)

Selling Health Insurance Across State Lines—An Assessment of State Laws and Implications for Improving Choice and Affordability of Coverage
"[P]roposals to authorize selling health insurance across states lines do not adequately take into account the complexity of how insurance products are sold and regulated. The proposals underestimate the administrative hurdles necessary for full implementation and as a result none of the laws allowing across-state-line insurance sales have resulted in a single insurer entering a new market or the sale of a single new insurance product." (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)

Domestic Medical Tourism is Taking Off
"The state of Alaska, which already pays for some medical travel, is about to become more aggressive about it, perhaps paying the travel costs of a companion to travel with a patient undergoing surgery. What's spurring medical tourism in Alaska is the state's above-average medical costs." (John Goodman's Health Policy Blog)

Analysis Shows Record-Low Health Care Cost Increases in 2012
"For 2013, average health care costs per employee are projected to jump to $11,188. Consistent with the previous two years, employees will be asked to contribute 21 percent of the total health care premium, which equates to $2,385 for 2013. Average employee out-of-pocket costs are expected to increase to $2,429. These projections mean that over the last five years, employees' share of health care costs—including employee contributions and out-of-pocket costs—will have increased more than 50 percent from $3,199 in 2008 to $4,814 in 2013." (Aon Hewitt)

One in Three Skipping Health Care Treatment Because of Expense
"Medical costs were the most important factor in making a health care decision for 27% of people, outweighing advice from their physician, according to a [recent] survey ... 45% of people worried a lot about paying medical bills in the event of a catastrophic illness or accident, and 36% are very concerned with paying for health insurance coverage." (Employee Benefit News)

Controlling Health Care Costs: Medicare and Private Health Insurance
"In 2010, U.S. health expenditures reached $2.6 trillion, or 18 percent of gross domestic product ... This fact sheet discusses Medicare expenditures in the context of the broader health care system and addresses some of the reasons why Medicare has generally grown less than private health insurance in recent years." (National Academy of Social Insurance)

SBC Rule Does Not Strictly Limit Employers to 8-Page Summaries
"The final rule requiring health insurers and group health plans to provide plan participants with a summary of benefits and coverage (SBC) contains a 'flexibility rule' that does not constrain those summaries from going over the generally required page length, an Internal Revenue Service official said ... However, the rule does not give guidance on what to do if the summaries exceed the limit[.]" (Bloomberg BNA)

ML Strategies Health Care Reform Update, October 1, 2012 (PDF)
Weekly update on developments in federal and state health care reform legislation and regulations. Includes summaries of recent announcements and regulatory activity by HHS, CCIIO, IRS and CMS. (Mintz Levin)

DC Plan Participation Rate in Healthcare Industry Reaches New High as Organizations Enhance Plan Design
"[T]he percentage of healthcare organizations offering a matching contribution in their DC plan has nearly doubled in six years—from 44% in 2006 to 79% in 2012.... 73% of healthcare sector employees now participate in a 403(b) defined contribution plan—up from the ten-year low of 58% in 2006 to the highest level of plan participation in ten years." (Diversified)

Drug Coupons: A Good Deal for Patients But Not for the Insurer
"Drugmakers say the coupons help Americans get the medicine they need. But the insurance industry is concerned that they drive patients toward more expensive brand-name drugs, leaving insurers to cover the full cost, which then gets passed on to consumers in the form of higher premiums." (Kaiser Health News)

[Opinion]

Yes, We Do Know How to Control Health Cost Inflation
"[Many] governments have successfully held down the rate of health-care cost inflation. Most of them do that through some version of price controls, where the government sets the rates that doctors can charge for various services. There are a handful of developed countries that have seen health-care inflation grow relatively slowly over the past decade ... Maryland has been quite successful at [holding down health cost inflation] for about four decades now. It is the only state that uses rate-setting for hospitals[.]" (The Washington Post; free registration required)

[Opinion]

U-Shaped Curve of Health Status and Coverage
"There is a U-shaped relationship between health status and having any type of health insurance coverage. Among all people who reported excellent health, 85.0 percent were insured. For those who reported good health, 80.2 percent had health insurance coverage. Finally, 85.1 percent of people who reported poor health also had health insurance coverage.... This seemingly mundane observation from this Census Bureau report provides great insight into the problems with health care financing in the United States." (Physicians for a National Health Program)

Benefits in General; Executive Compensation

[Official Guidance]

Text of Farm Credit Administration Regulations Requiring Disclosure by Farm Credit Banks of Officer Compensation and Benefits
"[These regulations] require disclosure of pension benefit and supplemental retirement plans and a discussion of the link between senior officer compensation and performance.... [T]hese requirements will promote transparency of and consistency in disclosures and ensure timely reporting to shareholders. In addition, the final rule establishes minimum responsibilities that a compensation committee must perform. Further, the final rule requires that System banks and associations provide for a non-binding, advisory vote on senior officer compensation by shareholders." (Farm Credit Administration)

Is It Time to Reform Executive Compensation and Stock Option Grants?
[Video.] "Governance Studies at Brookings hosted a forum on executive compensation practices and the links to economic vitality. A panel of experts discussed the changes in corporate pay since 1980 and how they have affected companies' long-term viability, as well as possible solutions that would encourage executives to focus on long-term business goals and growth." (Brookings)

Executive Pay: How Much Is Too Much?
"During the 1970s, the late management theorist Peter Drucker recommended that 20 times average worker pay was an appropriate upside ceiling for top executive compensation. Today, CEOs at S&P 500 firms are more likely to be paid more than 200 times what a typical worker earns, according to compensation specialists[.]" (Society for Human Resource Management)

Severance Packages Can Lead to Discrimination Suits
"Severance benefits are inherently discriminatory unless all employees receive the same package. Chances are a rank-and-file worker will get a less generous package than an executive, but discrimination is problematic only when it involves a protected class such as women or people of a particular religion." (Human Resource Executive Online)

Press Releases

EBRI’s Fronstin Appointed to Maryland Health Care Commission
Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI)

GASB Chairman Robert H. Attmore to Retire in June 2013
Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB)



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David Rhett Baker, J.D., Editor and Publisher
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