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Some Small Businesses Find It Cheaper to Help Workers Obtain Individual Health Insurance Policies
Excerpt: "Many small businesses have trouble providing health coverage because the costs of paying benefits for a handful of ailing employees drive up the premiums for their entire staffs. Now an entrepreneur in Utah, relying on a wrinkle in U.S. tax law, thinks he has found a way around the problem. His idea: Employers should stop providing group health insurance and instead help employees get individual policies." (The Wall Street Journal Online via The Miami Herald)

Segal Public Sector Letter on GASB-Mandated Disclosure of OPEB (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "Public sector plan sponsors should consider all of the steps mentioned in this Public Sector Letter, including: Understanding the possible implications, Creating a strategy for mitigating the impact, Redesigning retiree health coverage, Evaluating prefunding options and determining whether prefunding OPEB is the 'right' choice for their jurisdiction, and Drafting and designing communications to participants." (The Segal Group, Inc.)

Report on Pennsylvania's 2007 Health Care Proposal (PDF)
10 pages. Excerpt: "[The report] examines the governor's plan for comprehensive health reform. This report looks at who is eligible for new coverage, how much they'll pay, what benefits they'll get, and how the state will finance the expansion. It also discusses strengths of the plan, as well as areas of concern." (Families USA)

Some Companies Are Providing Employees with the Option of Getting a Second Opinion
Excerpt: " One strategy employed by companies like EMC Corp., ConAgra Foods and Waste Management Inc. is to provide employees the option of getting a second opinion from a company specializing in them." (Workforce Management; free registration required)

The Push for Universal Health Care Hits Congress at Last
Excerpt: "'WE'RE right at the cusp of an ideological truce on health care,' declares a beaming Ron Wyden. The Democratic senator has reason to be pleased. A version of his Healthy Americans Act, an ambitious health-reform bill aimed at universal coverage that he has already introduced into the Senate, was due to go to the House . . . ." (The Economist)

Employers Consider Benefit Expansions That Extend Into Retirement
Excerpt: "[According] to the fifth annual MetLife Study of Employee Benefits Trends, employers view postretirement benefits as a competitive strategy for attracting and retaining experienced workers. The study revealed that 40% of companies currently offer retiree benefits -- such as medical, dental, or life insurance -- and nearly two-thirds of these employers (63%) expect the breadth of these offerings to increase over the next five years." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)

Audio: Congress Asked to Mandate Vacation Time
Excerpt: "Pro-leisure group Take Back Your Time wants Congress to mandate three weeks paid vacation for all workers. But one recent survey shows that not only do U.S. workers earn fewer vacation days, but they also don't use an average of three days every year they're owed." (Morning Edition via National Public Radio)

In Civil Unions, New Challenges Over Benefits
Excerpt: "New Jersey's civil union law was supposed to fulfill the State Supreme Court's mandate that g.ay and heterose.xual couples be granted the same rights and benefits. But more than five months after its adoption, g.ay-rights groups and those who have obtained civil unions said the reality of the law's application remained a hodgepodge, and that hundreds of people were struggling to persuade their bosses to treat their partners like spouses." (The New York Times; free registration required)

Articles on Health IT and the Santa Barbara County Care Data Exchange
Excerpt: "The Santa Barbara County Care Data Exchange was once one of the most ambitious and publicized U.S. health information exchange (HIE) efforts. Eight years after its inception, and several months after providing some data, the Santa Barbara Project shut down operations. Despite its developed HIE infrastructure, participants found no compelling value proposition in initial HIE services." (Health Affairs)

Companies Tell Employees to Slim Down or Pay Up
Excerpt: "Looking for new ways to trim the fat and boost workers' health, some employers are starting to make overweight employees pay if they don't slim down. Others, citing growing medical costs tied to obesity, are offering fit workers lucrative incentives that shave thousands of dollars a year off health care premiums." (Los Angeles Times via Houston Chronicle)

Millions Don't Take Medication Correctly
Excerpt: "Poor medication adherence can cost an extra $2,000 a year for each patient in extra doctor visits alone, and it's associated with as many as 40 percent of nursing home admissions, even more costly." (MSNBC.com)

Life Insurance Most Common Voluntary Benefit Offering
Excerpt: "A new survey by a New York-based HR consultant found that 98% of employers offered some kind of voluntary benefit -- most often life insurance in 75% of the cases." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

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Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Companies Encouraging Retired Baby Boomers to Return to Workplace
Excerpt: "Fearful of staff shortages after boomers retire, companies will offer experienced workers flexible hours, part-time schedules and innovative 'snowbird' programs that let employees split a job between summer and winter locations." (Kiplinger's Personal Finance via Deseret News Publishing Company)

The Relationship Between Employee Turnover and Employee Compensation in Small Business (PDF)
45 pages. Excerpt: "The purpose of this study is to examine whether employee turnover differences between small and large firms are the result of differences in wages and benefits or of some form of self-selection where employees of small businesses are simply more prone to high turnover rates than those in larger firms." (U.S. Small Business Administration)

Performance-based Restricted Stock: Paying for Performance
Excerpt: "A series of regulatory and corporate governance developments, combined with the refinement of a key design feature, have breathed new life into the use of restricted stock in long-term incentive programs. Restricted stock--long favored by recipients but loathed by skeptical investors--has shown a 12% year-over-year increase in usage according to Hay Group's most recent Top Executive Compensation survey." (Hay Group)

Overview of Non-Executive Chairman Pay Practices
Excerpt: "Organizations that transition to a non-executive chairman structure must establish the appropriate compensation (both level and composition) for the newly defined role. To attract the right person, organizations must compensate the individual appropriately." (Hay Group)

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Newly Posted Events

Self-funded vs. Fully-insured Health Plans: What's Right For You?
Nationwide on August 9, 2007
presented by HRTrainingCenter.com

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Newly Posted Press Releases

Statement of PBGC Interim Director Charles E.F. Millard on Continuation of Defined Benefit Pensions at Tower Automotive
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)

Transcend Technologies Group Announces Strategic Acquisition and Capital Infusion; Company Positioned for Dynamic Growth in Health and Benefits Sector
Transcend Technologies Group, Inc.

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Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
( Post a Job | View All Jobs )

401k Administrator
for Vanguard
in PA

Health Consultant
for Sibson Consulting
in NY

Field Representative - Insurance & Financial Services
for National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA)
in KY, TN

Financial Analyst
for The Bostonian Group
in MA

Supervisor, Benefits Administration (Ref.# JP29083-FF)
for Southern California Edison
in CA

CDG Operations Manager
for Hewitt Associates
in NJ

Sr. Health and Welfare Benefits Analyst
for City National Bank
in CA

Senior Communications Consultant
for Boutique Communications Consulting Firm
in AZ

Regional Client Service Consultant
for Standard Insurance Company
in IL

Pension Consultant
for Merrill Lynch
in NJ

WRS Sr. Communications Specialist
for Wachovia
in NC

Defined Contribution Plan Administrator
for Employee Benefit Services, Inc.
in TN

Relationship Manager - Emerging Corporate Market
for Fidelity Investments
in TX

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Handy Links:

• View Today's Active Message Threads
• Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
• Employee Benefits Library

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