Ideal for those new to benefits and compensation, courses include
Introduction to Retirement Plans
Introduction to Health Care and Group Benefit Plans
Introduction to Compensation
Developed by industry professionals, courses can be taken at any time from any computer within a six-month period. Content is updated continuously. These courses are an ideal way to economically train your support staff.
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Personal Debt Can Drive Employees to Distraction Excerpt: "Employers are beginning to realize the negative effect that debt can have on their workforces, and many are taking action by offering financial education programs." (Workforce Management)
Employer Health Plans Can Leak Dollars When TPAs Err Excerpt: "Health-claims processors routinely cost employers thousands of dollars by letting overpayments slip by, asserts a recent report by a benefits consulting firm." (CFO.com)
Overview: Medicare Part D 'Creditable Coverage' Model Notices Updated 3 pages. Excerpt: "In its new guidance, CMS has not changed the simplified method of determining creditable coverage, but has clarified the definition of an integrated plan entitled to use the alternative simplified method of determining creditable coverage." (Aon)
Forge Your Way Through the Medicare Drug Maze Excerpt: "Some 12 million Americans eligible for Medicare's new drug insurance program have yet to enroll, and the deadline for doing so without incurring a penalty-- May 15-- is less than three weeks away." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Employer to Provide Free Diabetes Medicine in Order to Control Costs Excerpt: "The program, a two-year experiment, will cover about 2,000 people and is an effort to fend off the worst complications of a disease that is one of the leading causes of death in the United States." (AP via Washington Post; one-time registration required)
Employers Urge Clear Writing on Pres.criptions Excerpt: "[A] campaign to make doctors write legibly is being launched Wednesday by the Florida Health Care Coalition, a group representing some of the biggest employers in the state, such as FPL Group Inc. and the Palm Beach County School District.... Poor penmanship is responsible for an estimated 6 percent of hospital medication errors, according to the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality." (PalmBeachPost.com)
Makers of Generics Being Paid to Drop Patent Challenges Excerpt: "Brand-name drug companies have resumed the practice of slowing the sale of cheaper generic competitors by cutting deals that result in paying millions of dollars to makers of generic drugs while consumers continue to pay brand-name prices." (Washington Post; one-time registration required)
Lucent Retirees Fight to Keep Benefits After Merger Excerpt: "U.S. companies aren't required by law to maintain retiree health benefits. Lucent, responding to a plunge in its earnings and stock price, in the past six years cut dental and vision insurance and raised drug co-payments for retirees." (Bloomberg News via [Morris County NJ] Daily Record)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Minnesota Attorney General Keeps Heat on UnitedHealth Excerpt: "Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch, stepping up his attack on huge stock options at UnitedHealth Group Inc, urged pension funds to withhold votes for four directors seeking re-election to the health insurer's board next month, the Wall Street Journal said on Tuesday." (Washington Post; one-time registration required)
Text of DOL Semiannual Regulatory Agenda (PDF) 47 pages. Includes regulations of the Employee Benefits Security Administration in the prerule, proposed rule and final rule stages as well as 'long-term action' projects. (U.S. Department of Labor)