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June 18, 2003 - 8,334 subscribers
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GOP Medicare Bill Clears House Ways and Means Committee
Excerpt: "House Republicans advanced their Medicare plan past sharp Democratic objections, defending their heavy reliance on the private sector to deliver a new prescription drug benefit. The GOP bill, approved late Tuesday by the House Ways and Means Committee, would pay a share of seniors' drug bills, a goal of lawmakers in both parties. But Democrats complained that the House bill was too stingy ..." (AP via Washington Post)
CalPERS Approves 17% Health Premium Hike for Next Year
Excerpt: "The California Public Employees' Retirement System is facing a growing member revolt as the giant pension fund Tuesday approved a nearly 17% rate increase in health insurance payments for next year." (Los Angeles Times; one-time registration required)
Where Is the Consumer-Directed Healthcare Movement Headed in 2004?
Excerpt: "AIS asked consultants, CDH providers and others where CDH is headed in the second half of 2003 and what to expect for 2004. Here's what they predict:" (Inside Consumer-Directed Care via AISHealth.com)
Defined Contribution Health Plans-- a Green Light for Health Reimbursement Arrangements (PDF)
Excerpt: "[T]he new guidance stands out for its reasonable positions and its inherent flexibility-- flexibility that should spark innovation through plan design freedom." (Mark L. Stember, Esq. of Kilpatrick Stockton LLP)
Great Complexity Surrounds Question of Which Employers Are Regulated by HIPAA
Excerpt: "If employers receive PHI from their group health plans, they must formalize safeguards to ensure it's used only for the purpose of running the plan. Employers themselves are not covered entities under HIPAA. But HHS includes employers in the scope of the regulation through their sponsorship of health plans." (Report on Patient Privacy via AISHealth.com)
Employers Plan Obesity Fight, Citing $12 Billion-a-Year Cost
Excerpt: "A group of large employers headed by Ford Motor, Honeywell, General Mills and PepsiCo announced a campaign yesterday to encourage overweight workers to slim down as a way to improve both their personal health and the corporate bottom line." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Cutting Pills, Cutting Costs: Insurers Split on Practice of Halving Double Doses to Save Money
Excerpt: "As the practice of pill splitting has grown in recent years, debate has intensified over whether patients should be urged to participate. On one side stand companies such as CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield ... and the giant national insurer Aetna Inc. Their concern centers on the possibility that patients might medicate themselves incorrectly.... On the other side, Kaiser Permanente asserts that splitting pills saves money for the HMO and, in some cases, its members." (Washington Post)
Healthcare Coverage a Growing Issue in Labor Negotiations
Excerpt: "'Health care is the number one issue in most bargaining this year, and the reason is because of the dramatic increase in the cost of providing health benefits in the last couple years,' Rick Banks, director of collective bargaining for the AFL-CIO, said in an interview." (Washington Post)
Statement by the Galen Institute on Health Savings Accounts
Excerpt: "Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are unified health accounts that would combine the best aspects of Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs), Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs), and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) to create one tax-advantaged account that can be used for health care expenses when coupled with qualified health insurance." (The Galen Institute)
America's Uninsured: a Closer Look
Excerpt: "The United States loses an estimated $65 billion to $130 billion every year because of the poorer health and earlier death experienced by the 41 million Americans without health insurance-- a hidden cost of uninsurance that could be recouped by extending health coverage to all, says the new Institute of Medicine report Hidden Costs, Value Lost: Uninsurance in America." (National Academy of Sciences)
Managing Care: Utilization Review In Action At Two Capitated Medical Groups
Excerpt: "Prospective denials of coverage on grounds of medical necessity are only a small part of the overall picture." (Health Affairs)
States Are Not Protected From Their Employees' FMLA Suits, According To Supreme Court
States are not protected from state employees' suits for money damages for a state's failure to comply with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the U.S. Supreme Court has held. The Court's decision in Nevada Department of Human Resources v. Hibbs (Docket No. 01-1368) appears to run counter to its previous decisions with regard to age and disability discrimination. (Spencer Benefits Reports)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Technology Reshaping HR Function
Excerpt: "Human resources receives far more lip service than respect, but it may be about to get its due. Web-based technologies, the sour economy, and other factors are making HR the subject of some truly substantive executive discussions -- and expenditures." (CFO.com)
Opinion: Repealing the Estate Tax Would Reduce Charitable Giving
Excerpt: "[W]ithout the estate tax, charitable giving in 2001 would have been reduced by about $10 billion-- an amount 'equivalent to the total grants currently made by the largest 110 foundations in the United States.'" (Center on Budget Policies and Priorities)
Opinion: Estate Tax Affects Very Few Family Businesses
Excerpt: "[C]ontrary to the popular impression, today's estate tax has little impact on the vast majority of family businesses and farms. (The American Farm Bureau Federation acknowledged to the New York Times in 2001 that it could not cite a single example of a farm having to be sold to pay estate taxes.)" (Center on Budget Policies and Priorities)
Opinion: Estate Tax Should be Reformed, Not Repealed
Excerpt: "[R]eforming the estate tax would be far less costly than full repeal and would ensure that only a tiny fraction of extremely wealthy estates would face estate taxes." (Center on Budget Policies and Priorities)
Opinion: Permanent Repeal of the Estate Tax Would Be Costly, Yet Would Benefit Only a Few
Excerpt: "The House of Representatives is scheduled to continue its tax-cutting spree this week when it considers legislation to make permanent the repeal of the estate tax." (Center on Budget Policies and Priorities)
CalPERS Approves Plan To Crack Down On Executive Compensation
Press release. Excerpt: "The plan calls for CalPERS to publicly scrutinize companies with the worst and best trends in executive compensation, and outlines a model executive compensation policy statement for companies to use as a blueprint to develop their own policy. It also unveils specific areas where CalPERS will vote its shares against compensation issues." (California Public Employees' Retirement System)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Retirement Plan Sales Director
for First Mercantile Trust/National Commerce Financial
in DC, IN, KY, MD, MI, NC, OH, PA, VA, WV
Qualified Retirement Plan Administrator
for RSM McGladrey, Inc.
in IL
Associate Plan Administrator
for RSM McGladrey, Inc.
in IL
Manager, Health and Insurance Benefit Plans - Santa Ana, CA
for recruitingmanager.com, Inc. for $4+ Billion, Fortune 500 Company
in CA
Retirement Plan Specialist
for Diversified Investment Advisors
in TN
Administrative Assistant
for Pension & Estate Planners, Inc.
in PA
Account Manager - Employee Benefits
for Reliance Trust Company
in GA
Newly Posted Press Releases
( Post Yours! )
The Newport Group Finalizes Integration of Teamvest Retirement Services
(The Newport Group)
Hewitt Associates Completes Northern Trust Retirement Consulting Acquisition
(Hewitt Associates)
The Principal Financial Group Debuts E-Signatures on Prototype Plans
(The Principal Financial Group)
Deputy Secretary of Labor Joins Bipartisan Congressional Delegation Urging Passage of Association Health Plans
(U.S. Department of Labor)
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