BenefitsLink
Health & Welfare Plans
Newsletter
January 6, 2009
Here are the Web's best new links about compliance and cost
aspects of plan operation, design and policy.
Today's sponsor is International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
Smart is not a permanent state of being. What's your maintenance plan? Take advantage of the education and information available through the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, a nonprofit educational association, and find out why over 35,000 industry professionals like Ken Bradshaw, CEBS rely on the Foundation to stay informed and educated. Make sure you have the most comprehensive information on health, pension and compensation issues. Be smart by association.
How Large Employer Health Plans Are Managing Change to Consumer-Driven Healthcare Model
3 pages. Excerpt: "This article provide tips on how to manage that change [to tax-advantaged heath accounts and wellness programs] -- how to accomplish a paradigm shift that affects every employee with a minimum amount of disruption." (Dorsey & Whitney LLP; Reprinted from BNA's Health Plan & Provider)
Giant Food To Offer Generic Antibiotics at No Cost for Three Months
Excerpt: "Giant Food stores and stores of its sister chain Stop & Shop will provide no-cost generic antibiotics to customers with prescriptions for three months beginning Jan. 2, the Washington Post reports. Numerous popular antibiotics, such as amoxicillin, penicillin and ciprofloxacin, will be included. Medications that treat common viral illnesses, such as the flu and the common cold, will not be included. According to the Post, such medications often are not available in generic form and are more costly." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Long-Term Care Premium Tax Relief a No-Go
Excerpt: "Supporters of legislation that would create tax breaks for long-term care insurance premiums will have to wait until the next Congress. A handful of measures died in committee last month that either would have provided a tax deduction for such insurance premiums or would have given a tax credit to individuals who cared for those with long term care needs." (Investment News; free registration required)
The Diabetes Prevention Program: How The Participants Did It
Excerpt: "[Color-coded dietary changes made by 3,234 participants in the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), a federally funded study that began in 1996 and ended in 2001 proved] that a diverse group of Americans -- overweight, with impaired glucose tolerance, and at risk of developing full-blown diabetes -- could successfully undertake interventions to delay the onset of diabetes or prevent it altogether. [S]tudy participants accomplished that by changing the colors of foodstuffs in their kitchens, eating a healthier diet, adding a modest amount of exercise to their daily routines, and shedding some pounds. In fact, by losing just 7 percent of body weight and exercising moderately (only two and a half hours a week), [Many] reduced their risk of developing diabetes during the study period by a whopping 58 percent." (Health Affairs)
Do Prevention or Treatment Services Save Money? The Wrong Debate
Excerpt: "Health improvements and cost savings are achievable by providing targeted, evidence-based, and cost-effective health promotion and disease prevention programs that reduce modifiable risk factors, often the cause of costly chronic diseases. Adopting commonsense health practices does not require expensive technology, medication, specialty training, or elaborate treatment facilities. Instituting environmental, policy, and normative interventions, in addition to individual behavior change programs, can shift our thinking about how we pay for health. Employers' efforts in providing health promotion programs to their workers offer a microcosm of how prevention can lead to populationwide risk reduction and cost savings." (Health Affairs)
The Crisis in Chronic Disease: Jan/Feb 2009 Issue of Health Affairs
Most articles require a subscription to Health Affairs Online. (Health Affairs)
Doctors Will Make House (Web) Calls in Hawaii
Excerpt: "American Well, a Web service that puts patients face-to-face with doctors online, will be introduced in Hawaii on Jan 15. Its first customer, Hawaii Medical Service Association, the state's Blue Cross-Blue Shield licensee, will make the Internet version of the house call available to everyone in the state, the company said. The service is for people who seek easier access to physicians because they are uninsured or do not want to wait for an appointment or spend time driving to a clinic . . . ." (The New York Times; free registration required)
Spending Rise for Health Care and Prescription Drugs Slows
Excerpt: "National health spending grew in 2007 at the lowest rate in nine years, mainly because prescription drug spending increased at the slowest pace since 1963, the government reported Monday. But other types of health spending rose at a brisk pace, pushing the total to $2.2 trillion, or 16.2 percent of the gross domestic product, a record. Spending averaged $7,421 for each person. Total health spending rose 6.1 percent, compared with a 6.7 percent increase in 2006." (The New York Times; free registration required)
Workers Lowering Medical Payments, Increasing Risk of Higher Future Costs
Excerpt: "Workers are much less willing to pay higher premiums in order to keep their out-of-pocket costs such as deductibles and co-pays lower and more predictable, according to a recent survey. As they take steps to lower their current costs, many of their actions could lead to much higher costs in the future." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)
New Model of Care Is Needed, Experts Say, for the Aged
Excerpt: "American medicine is already in a crisis mode when it comes to geriatric care, and the problem will only become worse unless new approaches are found, experts say. . . . Dr. Gawande, who examined the problems of medical care for the aged last year in The New Yorker, pointed out that as we grow older, 'we don't get one problem at a time.' 'People with multiple problems need time, and that is not cheap and is currently not paid for by medical insurance,' he said. 'It's not possible to address five different problems in a 20-minute visit.'" (Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association)
Shock and Awe on Wall Street May Pressure Custodians of Health Savings Accounts to Drop Rates and Consolidate
Excerpt: "The economic nuke that nearly leveled Wall Street . . . could lead to new pressure for financial firms to lower the interest rates they pay on health savings accounts (HSAs) and/or increase or add administrative fees, industry observers suggest. Some HSA custodians, however, say they expect to feel few, if any, tremors." (AISHealth.com)
Health Insurers Roll Out Value-Based Prescription Drug Plans, Tap a Growing Demand
Excerpt: "More and more health plans, including WellPoint, Inc. and a subsidiary of UnitedHealthcare, are rolling out value-based insurance design (VBID) programs in response to growing demand for the concept that aims to boost pharma.ceutical adherence by lowering barriers to access. Interest in value-based benefits, pharmacy executives say, will continue to expand alongside emerging evidence that the programs improve overall member health and avoid more costly medical expenses later on." (AISHealth.com)
NEJM Perspective Examines Health Care Journalism
Excerpt: "'Communicating Medical News -- Pitfalls of Health Care Journalism,' New England Journal of Medicine: In the perspective, Susan Dentzer, editor-in-chief of Health Affairs and on-air analyst on health policy for PBS' 'NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,' examines how some journalists reporting on health care developments 'all too frequently' convey a message that is 'wrong or misleading.'" (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Strings on Auto Loans Risky for Retirees: Stocks Would Be Used for Half of Health Care Trust
Excerpt: "Retirement health care for as many as three-quarters of a million Americans will be placed at high risk if conditions proposed as part of auto rescue loans are enforced by the incoming Congress and Obama administration, labor experts say. At issue is a condition of the federal loans that calls for General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC to use company stock or the equivalent to pay half, or $10.5 billion, of the cash owed to a union retiree health-care trust." (Detroit Free Press)
[Opinion]
Preventing Chronic Illness: Prologue (PDF)
1 page. Excerpt: "A core truth about chronic conditions is that most are preventable. As Susan Brink's Report from the Field recounts, the multiyear trial known as the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) demonstrated that lifestyle modifications alone could produce sharp reductions in the development of diabetes in high-risk people with prediabetic conditions. Moreover, a few key strategies -- such as improved diet, exercise, and weight loss, along with smoking cessation -- can simultaneously reduce the risk of several conditions such as cardiovascular disease and cancers. So it's no surprise that policymakers say that prevention should assume a far more prominent role in U.S. health care." (Health Affairs)
[Opinion]
Recent Editorials and Opinion Pieces Address Issues Related to Overhauling U.S. Health Care System
Excerpt: "Summaries of several recent editorials and opinion pieces that address issues related to health care reform . . . ." (Kaiser Family Foundation)
ALM (Sponsor)
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
The nation's workforce and health care system are constantly evolving and so are the legal issues. Law Journal Press helps you handle any benefits law question with up-to-date, authoritative books on all aspects of the field. Get legal and practical advice from leading experts on everything from COBRA to ERISA, "contingent" employees to family and medical leave, and more. Browse our product listings for detailed information and special offers.
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
[Guidance Overview]
Preparing for the Upcoming Annual Report and Proxy Season (PDF)
17 pages. Excerpt: "This issue highlights some of the considerations your company will need to focus on this annual meeting season. . . . Within this issue, we begin with a brief discussion on executive compensation disclosure rules as they remain an important topic for this annual meeting season in light of the recent economic crisis and the SEC's well-published messages that it will continue to focus on Compensation Discussion and Analysis ('CD&A'). We will also discuss how recent market and economic conditions will affect your disclosure in your Annual Report on Form 10-K." (Snell & Wilmer)
[Guidance Overview]
2009 Reporting & Disclosure Calendar for Benefit Plans (PDF)
27 pages. Interactive version is at http://www.sibson.com/publications-and-resources/rd-calendar/. (The Segal Group, Inc.)
Bankrupt WorldCom Wants Court to Let It Make Enhanced Payouts To 19 Top Officials Who Had Been Terminated
Excerpt: "WorldCom Inc. is seeking bankrup.tcy court approval to pay remaining severance benefits to employees it laid off or gave notice before it filed for bankrup.tcy. The company had sought authority to pay severance obligations only up to $4,650 per dismissed employee, according to a motion filed late Tuesday. The U.S. Bankrup.tcy Court in Manhattan on July 22 authorized the company to pay about $22 million. WorldCom, based in Clinton, Miss., now owes roughly $36 million in severance payments to about 4,143 dismissed employees, the filing said." (AP via The Baltimore Sun)
U.S. Considers Costly Switch to International Accounting Rules
Excerpt: "In a regulatory sea change that could cost billions of dollars, thousands of U.S. companies -- plus foreign corporations that do business here -- will adopt global financial reporting rules within five years if regulators have their way. The impact is likely to surpass that of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the tough anti-corporate fraud law of the Enron era that cost individual businesses millions of dollars in accounting fees. Whether U.S. companies like it or not, the new era of global accounting appears unstoppable, and businesses that ignore the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) will fall behind." (USA TODAY)
Company Bankruptcy: What Happens to My Benefit Plans?
Excerpt: "[T]he US Department of Labor released a Fact Sheet called Your Employers Bankrup.tcy: How Will it Affect Your Employee Benefits? Workers should find out as much information as possible about their health plans and retirement benefits as soon as they learn of possible bankrup.tcy filing. What's in the guidance? The DOL fact sheet [at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/newsroom/fsbankrup.tcy.html] explains the types of bankrup.tcy, Chapter 7 and Chapter 11, and how they can affect workers health and pension plans." (9news.com)
Employee Ownership Update for January 5, 2009
NCEO Executive Director Corey Rosen discusses a wave of stock option repricings; IRS statements to ESOP advisors that they are putting on hold approving plan provisions that segregate ESOP accounts at termination until the IRS comes up with a position on this; enhanced employee ownership opportunities in Germany; an employee ownership proposal at Change.org; and an invitation to submit stories about how your employee ownership company is dealing with the downturn. (National Center for Employee Ownership)
[Opinion]
One Prediction for Next Year: Human Resource Executives Will Be at Center of Storm in 2009
Excerpt: "One thing is certain about the coming year: It probably won't turn out as forecasted. This year certainly didn't! Benefits-related items on the agenda include health reform and issues affecting retirement savings. With money tight, however, proposals will likely be less expansive than once anticipated." (Dallas Salisbury via Human Resource Executive Online)
Newly Posted Events
2009 RMD Waiver and the Impact to You
Nationwide on January 8, 2009
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services
2009 RMD Waiver and the Impact to You
Nationwide on January 13, 2009
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services
Form 5500 Reporting Update
Nationwide on March 10, 2009
presented by Lorman Education Services
Fundamentals of Employee Benefits
in Minnesota on February 5, 2009
presented by Employers Association, Inc.
Same-Gender Marriage Rulings: Impacts on Employee Benefit Plans Across the Nation
Nationwide on March 4, 2009
presented by Lorman Education Services
Succession Planning for a TPA Business Webcast
Nationwide on February 5, 2009
presented by National Institute of Pension Administrators
Newly Posted Press Releases
PBGC Negotiates $55 Million In Pension Protection With Visteon Corp.
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)
EBRI Relaunches, Updates Website
Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI)
Obesity Comes With a Price Tag
Humana
WisdomTree Names Ernst & Young as New Independent Auditor
WisdomTree Investments, Inc.
Consumer Reports Retirement Survey: Planning Ahead May Be Just As Risky As Rewarding
Consumer Reports
Ascensus Acquires Baden Retirement Plan Services
Ascensus
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
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Client Service Representative
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in AZ, CA, CT, IA, IN, NY
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