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August 24, 2007
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Widow of Plan Participant Could Not Pursue ERISA Claim for Supplemental Life Insurance
Excerpt: "From Spencer's Benefits Reports: The widow of a welfare plan participant could not pursue an ERISA claim for supplemental life insurance benefits based on incorrect information provided orally to the participant. This was the ruling of the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Todisco v. Verizon Communications, Inc. (No. 06-1957)." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)
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Is this newsletter meeting your needs? Give publisher Dave Baker a birthday present today (49!) by letting us know. Click the link to go to a short online form. Thanks! (BenefitsLink.com)
CBO Says Budget Deficit Drops, but Predicts Health Care Spending Will Rise
Excerpt: "The federal budget is on an unsustainable fiscal path, largely due to increasing expenditures in the Medicare and Medicaid programs over the next 10 years, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) announced on August 23. The nonpartisan agency's annual report, 'The Budget and Economic Outlook: An Update,' shows the federal budget deficit at $158 billion --or roughly $90 billion below the deficit for 2006." (CCH INCORPORATED)
Mixed Reviews on Health Insurance Pay-for-Performance Programs
Excerpt: "Health insurers have been somewhat slow to adopt pay-for-performance programs, and payers and providers consider the system imperfect, according to a new report published by PricewaterhouseCoopers." (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)
A Brief Guide to Help Small Businesses Pick a Health Insurance Plan
Excerpt: "It can be a headache for a very small business trying to find the best health insurance, but there are a variety of tools and resources available to help alleviate the pain." (The Washington Post; free registration required)
Overview: N.Y. Attorney General's Focus on Health Plans' Doctor Rankings
Excerpt: "In letters sent to the two insurers, the state's Attorney General's Office expresses concern that the physician rating programs of Hartford, Connecticut-based Aetna and Philadelphia-based Cigna carry 'a significant risk of causing consumer confusion, if not deception.'" (Workforce Management; free registration required)
Opinion: We All Need Healthcare; Who Needs 'Insurance'?
Excerpt: "The health insurance model is flawed because it depends on people falling between the cracks after they pay their premiums and before they collect their 'benefits.' Rather than insurance, providing healthcare to everyone would cost less and deliver more in the long run. [See http://medgenmed.medscape.com/viewarticle/559758 for video commentary.]" (Medscape General Medicine via Physicians for a National Health Program)
Florida Broker Helps Form Medical Tourism Group
Excerpt: "The mission of the new Medical Tourism Association, West Palm Beach, Fla., is to 'promote positive and stable growth of medical tourism internationally, to set credentialing standards for hospitals and medical tourism companies, and to increase the awareness and utilization of overseas hospitals for Americans,' organizers say. . . . The group's Web site is at http://www.medicaltravelauthority.com" (The National Underwriter Company; free registration or paid subscription required)
AMA Touts Plans for Uninsured Americans
Excerpt: "The nation's largest doctors' group [yesterday] launched a multimillion-dollar media campaign to promote its proposals for helping uninsured Americans get health insurance. The American Medical Association calls its campaign 'Voices for the Uninsured' and placed full-page color ads promoting it in Thursday's New York Times and USA Today." (Houston Chronicle)
Opinion: Small Steps to Big Health Care Reform (PDF)
Excerpt: "Conclusion. These reforms probably won't get major headlines, but they will address several of the problems that drive up the number of uninsured. They are doable and affordable, and they don't create a risky and questionable scheme that expands government-run health care." (Council for Affordable Health Insurance)
Chart: Health Care Plans in 2007
Excerpt: "Most employees covered by medical care plans were in plans requiring employee contributions for both single and family coverage. Employee contributions for medical care premiums averaged $81.37 per month for single coverage, and $312.78 per month for family coverage." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Opinion: Beware of Subrogation Claims
Excerpt: " A subrogation clause provides that the person or company who has the right of subrogation is entitled to 'step into the shoes of' the person who makes a third party claim against a negligent party. Subrogation clauses are unfair to the insured." (Claris Law)
Health Premiums for Union Members Costlier, According to Survey
Excerpt: "The survey, released . . . by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, found that for single coverage in which employee premium contributions are required, total monthly premiums average $399.96 for union plans, compared with $341.13 for plans covering nonunion employees." (Business Insurance)
California Assembly Makes Further Changes to Health Care Legislation
Excerpt: "California employers might have to offer health coverage or contribute 7.5% to a state-run purchasing pool sooner than they thought, according to further amendments to pending legislation." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Survey Shows Workers Rank Health Insurance as Most Prized Benefit
Excerpt: "More workers ranked health insurance as the most valuable employee benefit than retirement savings plans and paid time off, a recent survey by SnagAJob.com found." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Employers Must Promote Healthy Lifestyles for Workers To Lower Costs, Health Officials Say
Excerpt: "Employers must promote good public policy, healthy lifestyles among workers and must understand determinants of health to reduce health care costs, Louisiana health officials said on Tuesday, the Baton Rouge Advocate reports." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
The 21st Century at Work: Forces Shaping the Future Workforce and Workplace in the United States
Excerpt: "Overall, the authors provide for the reader expectations about the key forces in the economy today and their implications for the future workforce and workplace, including the size, composition, and skills of the workforce; the nature of work and workplace arrangements; and worker compensation. [Free, downloadable PDF file(s) are available.]" (RAND)
Are SEC Filings Subject to ERISA Fiduciary Standards? (PDF)
Excerpt: "When defined contribution pension plans invest in company stock, a number of federal courts have held that plan fiduciaries may be liable under ERISA for misrepresentations (or omissions) contained in the sponsoring company's SEC filings. This result effectively creates a companion ERISA case for most federal securities fraud actions. Until recently, these holdings were limited to cases where the Summary Plan Description ('SPD') expressly incorporated by reference the sponsor's SEC filings." (Alston & Bird LLP)
New Resource: AltLaw Proposes to Compete with Lexis, Westlaw by Providing Free Case Law Access
Excerpt: "Search the full text of the U.S. Supreme and Circuit Appeals Courts . . . ." (Columbia Law School's Program on Law and Technology / Silicon Flatirons Program, University of Colorado Law School)
Apology Sent Over CalPERS Privacy Error
Excerpt: "State pension fund officials apologized . . . to hundreds of thousands of retirees whose Social Security numbers were printed on brochures mailed out last week and vowed to take immediate steps to ensure that such an error does not happen again." (The Sacramento Bee; free registration required)
SEC Kicks Into Phase One of Pay-Disclosure Review with Letters to Select Companies
Excerpt: "The Securities and Exchange Commission has begun sending comment letters to a select group of mostly large companies asking for more information about their executive pay programs, sources told Financial Week." (Financial Week; free registration required)
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