BenefitsLink
Health & Welfare Plans
Newsletter
November 20, 2007
Here are the Web's best new links about compliance and cost
aspects of plan operation, design and policy.
Today's sponsor is BeneCom Associates, LLC
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
Since 1992, BeneCom has provided one-stop benefit communications for organizations large and small, nationwide. Staffed by people who know benefits, we write, design and produce effective media, including SPDs, enrollment materials, newsletters, benefit statements and more. So whether you're an employer, plan administrator or consultant in need of traditional or online capabilities, we're here to help. Call (860) 674-2626 today.
(a) New Guidance Documents
(None today.)
(b) News
FCC Launches Rural Health Care Broadband Networks Initiative
Excerpt: "According to the FCC, the new networks will deliver health services more efficiently, reducing costs and travel time for consumers, decreasing medical errors, and allowing health care providers to share critical information." (eWEEK.com)
Health Insurance Scams Targeting Small Businesses, Individuals Increasing
Excerpt: "The Wall Street Journal on Sunday examined the increasing number of small employers and individuals 'searching for affordable health insurance' who fall 'victim to scams and misleading offers.'" (Kaiser Family Foundation)
(c) Summaries of Guidance; Filed Comments
Minnesota Supreme Court Rules on Employers Vacation Pay Liabilities
Excerpt: "On November 15 2007, the Minnesota Supreme Court decided Lee v. Fresenius Medical Care, Inc. (Case No. A05-1887, 2007 WL 3378653), resolving in favor of employers the question whether an employer is required to pay out all accrued vacation and paid-time-off (PTO) to terminating employees in all cases. The Court held that this issue is purely a matter of contract between the employer and employee, such that an employer need not pay out unused vacation and PTO in accordance with its internal written policies." (Dorsey & Whitney LLP)
(d) Trends, Surveys, Research
A Survey of Preventive Benefits in Health Savings Account Plans, July 2007 (PDF)
8 pages. Excerpt: "The study shows that most HSA/HDHP policies being purchased in the market today provide coverage for recommended preventive services, as allowed under Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rules, without requiring enrollees to first meet their plan deductibles ('first-dollar' coverage)." (America's Health Insurance Plans)
On-Site Health Centers: Survey on Offerings and Satisfaction (PDF)
2 pages. (The Segal Group, Inc.)
More Employers Face Caregiver-Related Suits
Excerpt: "As the number of employees with elder and child care demands grows, more workers are filing lawsuits claiming they've been discriminated against on the job because of their family care-giving obligations. The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which recently issued its first guidance for employers about the issue, reports an 'upsurge' in cases -- with many resulting in awards to plaintiffs. The guidance provides examples of how bias can occur so that employers are aware of the risk." (Asbury Park Press)
Texas Seeks to Illuminate Health Care Pricing
Excerpt: "Add Texas to the growing list of states that have passed laws to increase transparency in their health-care systems. Effective Sept. 1, 2007, a new Texas law (SB 1731) focuses almost wholly on prices and billing, in an effort to enable consumers to understand what treatments are covered, what they will be responsible for paying and why." (State Health Notes via National Conference of State Legislatures)
Campaign Launched to Help Employees Balance Work and Caregiving
Excerpt: "The National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a) -- in cooperation with the National Alliance for Caregiving -- has launched a campaign to help businesses and employees work together on the growing problem of balancing the responsibilities of work with caring for a family member." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Wal-Mart Reduces Price of Popular Birth Control Drugs
Excerpt: "Wal-Mart's latest expansion of its low-cost prescription drug program makes it less expensive for employers to provide health care coverage of generic oral contraceptives." (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)
Worksite Sales Require a Much Different Approach by Health Advisors Than Group Medical
Excerpt: "The market is there. Statistics show that more and more employers are looking to voluntary benefits market sold through worksite distribution to fill gaps created by their health care cost management efforts." (Employee Benefit Advisor; free registration required)
(e) Policy, Opinion, Advocacy
Opinion: Now We Have to Make Health Care Cost Transparency Meaningful
Excerpt: "The degree to which transparency will lead to improvements in the healthcare system is dependent largely on how effectively it helps consumers and clinicians. Information has to be sufficiently relevant, accurate and understandable to drive improvement. And if patients are the 'customers' of transparency, then providers are the key stakeholders. Engaging both parties is critical to success." (Modern Healthcare Online; free registration required)
Health Care Opinion Leaders' Views on the Transparency of Health Care Quality and Price Information in the U.S.
Excerpt: "The 12th Commonwealth Fund/Modern Healthcare Health Care Opinion Leaders Survey found that increased transparency in the quality and price of health care is important, according to a diverse group of experts. More than 80 percent of health care opinion leaders called for transparency on prescription drug prices and medical loss ratios (i.e., the share of premium dollars that private insurance companies spend on medical care)." (The Commonwealth Fund/Modern Healthcare)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Tracking Trends: Benefits Benchmarking Data
Excerpt: "Mercer's biannual 'Spotlight on Benefits' report has been benchmarking U.S. benefits information and tracking benefits trends for 14 years, and the 2007 edition of the report highlights information from 1,000 U.S. employers, representing organizations in all regions and industries, ranging from organizations of less than 2,000 employees to those of more than 50,000." (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)
Year in Review - Benefits Pros Address 2007's Biggest Benefits Management Challenges
Excerpt: "As 2007 draws to a close, EBN is reflecting on some of the year's largest happenings in benefits management, health care and retirement. See Year in Review: A look back at consumer-driven health and Year in Review: Pension Protection Act marks one-year anniversary recapping 2007 events and research findings in consumer-driven health and our happy first-birthday wish to the Pension Protection Act." (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)
Courts Continue to Take a Narrow View of the Scope of Relief Under ERISA §502(a)(3)
Excerpt: "The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has just taken up the same issue in a slightly different context; in Amschwand v. ___________, No. 06-20346 (5th Cir., October 18, 2007), a beneficiary was suing a plan fiduciary for life insurance proceeds. But in spite of the sympathetic facts, the court -- in keeping with precedent -- denied the claim because it was not equitable in nature." (Deloitte via BenefitsLink.com)
Highlights of the IFEBP Employee Benefits Survey: U.S. and Can.ada 2007
Excerpt: "Based on member requests and need, the International Foundation has developed a broad employee benefits survey to benchmark the benefits offerings and design of four distinct employment sectors throughout the United States and Can.ada. Members of both the International Foundation and the International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists were surveyed online in May, resulting in 1,233 responses from corporations, multiemployer benefit plans, professional service firms and public employers." (International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)
Assessing the Value of a Promise - A Primer on ERISA Estoppel Claims
Excerpt: "A recent Seventh Circuit decision sets forth a helpful overview of the narrow circumstances in which ERISA plan participants may successful state a claim based upon misrepresentations of benefits." (Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)
Los Angeles Workers' Costs Up 7.5% a Year, But Revenue Up Just 5.7%
Excerpt: "Salaries, pensions and benefits for Los Angeles city workers have soared in the past seven years, outstripping revenue growth and pushing the city toward a serious budget crisis, according to a Daily News study." (LA Daily News)
Newly Posted Events
Are You Present: What's Happening in Absence Management Teleweb
Nationwide on December 3, 2007
presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
PSCA QDIA Webinar
Nationwide on November 20, 2007
presented by Financial Engines, Inc.
Newly Posted Press Releases
Hewitt Associates Launches Global Risk Services for Retirement Plans
Hewitt Associates LLC
U. S. Labor Department Proposes Expansion Of The Class Exemption On Settlement Of Litigation
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
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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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