Medical Benefits articles from January 2005

Medical Benefits archives from January 2005

The MetLife study of employee benefits trends.(Workplace Health & Benefits)
January 30, 2005... "Workers sweat the big stuff--healthy care, disability, retirement--but value vacation time than savings and income protection products (Figure 1). More than one-third (34%) of the full-time employees surveyed say they are interested in...

How Whole Foods can help Wal-Mart beat scrooge rap.(Workplace Health & Benefits)
January 30, 2005... "Despite its enormous popularity with consumers, Wal-Mart is under attack for paying nonunion wages and shorting employees on health care coverage. [The company] pays on average only $10 an hour and covers roughly two-thirds of the cost of...

Making the connection.(Workplace Health & Benefits)
January 30, 2005... "When Frank's Nursery Crafts, Inc., switched to a consumer-driven health plan in January, it replaced several health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and a PPO. Employees at the United State's largest specialty lawn and garden retailer had...

Top five total rewards priorities for 2005: a survey of certified employee benefit specialists.(Workplace Health & Benefits)
January 30, 2005... "Employee benefit specialists continue to voice--in near unison--their opinion that controlling health care costs is the top benefit priority for employers in 2005. Overall, 90% of respondents identified this issue in their top five...

2004 COBRA survey.(Workplace Health & Benefits)(Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act)
January 30, 2005... "Average claims costs for Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) [continuation benefits] continue to exceed costs for active employees by about 46%. [Our survey] found that 7.6% of employees and dependents became eligible for...

Comparison of the Atkins, Ornish, Weight Watchers, and zone diets for weight loss and heart disease risk reduction.(Health Care Costs)
January 30, 2005... "The scarcity of data addressing the health effects of popular diets is an important public health concern, especially since patients and physicians are interested in using popular diets as individualized eating strategies for disease...

Drowning in health care costs?(Health Care Costs)(Children's Health Insurance Program)
January 30, 2005... "One of four Texans lack health insurance and one of five children live below the federal poverty threshold. For financially-strapped Texans, health care is a daunting challenge. Many legislators seek to give Texans relief by expanding...

Depression in the workplace: prevalence, cost and productivity impact.(Health Care Costs)
January 30, 2005... "The costs of depression, a condition affecting nearly 9% of the US population are borne disproportionately by businesses. Employers pay almost two-thirds of the $80 billion price tag for depressive disorders each year. Symptoms such as...

Treasury secretary turns down senator's request re FSAs.(Legal Pulse)(flexible spending accounts)(Excerpt)
January 30, 2005... In his letter, Grassley wrote that "the 'use it or lose it' rule causes inefficient allocation of health care dollars by providing an incentive for employees to incur unnecessary health care expenses at the end of the year to use up the...

HealthSouth to pay $325 million to settle fraud allegations.(Legal Pulse)(Corporate integrity Agreement)(Brief Article)
January 30, 2005... The allegations involving the outpatient therapy services were the subject of a federal lawsuit in San Antonio, Texas. Under the December 2004 agreement, HealthSouth will pay, in part, the following: * $169 million to resolve allegations...

PBGC announces maximum insurance benefit.(Legal Pulse)(The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)(Brief Article)
January 30, 2005... On December 6, 2004, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) announced that the maximum insurance benefit for participants in underfunded pension plans terminating in 2005 is $45,614 per year for those who retire at age 65. The amount...

IRS will revise the revised definition of dependent.(Legal Pulse)(Internal Revenue Service)(health coverage for dependent children)(Brief Article)
January 30, 2005... In anticipation of revising existing regulations, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has advised employers that the new definition of dependent in the Working Families Tax Relief Act of 2004 will not adversely affect the tax exemption for...

Health care analysts see bleak outlook for hospitals.(Health Care Industry)
January 30, 2005... "Chill is in the air for hospitals accustomed to having insurers--both public programs like Medicare and private health plans--pay ever higher prices for hospital services. That era appears to be ending, some analysts say. [Analysts feel...

Drug firms lagging on openness.
January 30, 2005... "Six months after the drug industry vowed to make its clinical trials more transparent, and three months after launching a common Web site to give the public 'unprecedented access' to studies both good and bad, drug companies have posted...

Top 10 health policy initiatives.(Health Care Policy)(Brief Article)
January 30, 2005... "During the 2004 presidential campaign, exit polls showed that 70% of voters were 'very concerned' about health care costs and availability. There were some lessons to be learned from the campaign debate about where there is common ground on...

Report on prescription drug importation.(Health Care Policy)
January 30, 2005... "The current system of drug regulation in the United States has been very effective in protecting public safety, but is facing new threats. It should be modified only with great care to ensure continued high standards of safety and...

Updated interim influenza vaccination recommendations, 2004-05 influenza season.(Health Care Policy)(Brief Article)
January 30, 2005... "This year, the reduced national supply of inactivated influenza vaccine led to interim influenza vaccination recommendations that were more restrictive than usual. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is issuing updated...

Direct access to emergency contraception through pharmacies and effect on unintended pregnancy and STIs.(Health Care Policy)(Sexually Transmitted Infection)
January 30, 2005... "It is estimated that half of unintended pregnancies could be averted if emergency contraception (EC) were easily accessible and used. [We studied] 2,117 women, ages 15 to 24 years, attending four California clinics providing family...

Stepping up to the challenge.(Health Care Policy)(the financial report of the United States government for fiscal year 2004)
January 30, 2005... "President Bush has declared that Social Security reform is his principal domestic priority this year. It is not clear what is driving the urgency of Social Security reform. It is desirable, to be sure, but nothing will happen to anyone's...

The more tired the intern, the more mistakes made.(Brief Article)
January 30, 2005... Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston tracked the medical errors made by interns in intensive care. Interns working traditional schedules averaged 80 hours per week with some shifts of 24 hours or more, and interns on shorter...

Disease management in Medicaid: 2004--A study in California.(Reference Desk)(California Healthcare Foundation report)(Brief Article)
January 30, 2005... In 2003, the California Legislature directed the Department of Health Services to apply for a federal waiver to test the efficacy of providing a disease management (DM) benefit to fee-for-service Medi-Cal beneficiaries with specific chronic...

2005 state legislators' guide to health Insurance solutions and glossary.(Reference Desk)(Brief Article)
January 30, 2005... The American Legislative Exchange Council and The Council for Affordable Health Insurance have prepared this 48-page guide to the issues confronting the health insurance market and its consumers. They have summarized each issue, highlighted...

Employee benefit consultants: selection and requests for proposal.(Reference Desk)(The International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)(Brief Article)
January 30, 2005... The International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans' most recent survey collected information from more than 400 multiemployer trust funds, corporations, and public employers in the United States and Canada. The results indicated that 80%...

Current trends and future outlook for retiree health benefits.(Workplace Health & Benefits)
January 15, 2005... Frank McArdle et al., Hewitt Associates and Kaiser Family Foundation, December 2004. Interest in employer-sponsored retiree health plans remains very high, especially because of the drug benefit provision of the Medicare Prescription...

Disability survey of full-time employees.(Workplace Health & Benefits)(Brief Article)
January 15, 2005... Ayres, McHenry & Associates, Inc., August 2004 Full-time employees are poorly informed about the issues surrounding disability insurance. [Key findings:] * 58% of adults say that they are covered by disability insurance. In reality,...

Time of lost-workday injuries and illnesses, 2002, first results.(Workplace Health & Benefits)
January 15, 2005... Bureau of Labor Statistics, December 2, 2004 "Of the 1.1 million lost worktime injuries and illnesses reported in 2002 that included data on the time of the incident, about half occurred during the first four hours on the job. ...

Back pain is a big issue for more than half of all US adults.(Workplace Health & Benefits)(Brief Article)
January 15, 2005... Harris Interactive for the North American Spine Society, November 8, 2004 "People suffering from back pain are dealing A with the issue an average of 14 days per month and often don't seek the advice of trained professionals to treat or...

2004 liberty mutual workplace safety index.(Workplace Health & Benefits)
January 15, 2005... Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety, November 2004 "The cost of serious workplace injuries grew faster than inflation at a time when the number of such accidents fell. Serious work-related injuries cost employers almost $1...

Slowdown stalls in first half of 2004.(Health Care Costs)
January 15, 2005... The recent slowdown in health care spending growth stalled in the first half of 2004 as health care costs per privately insured American increased 7.5%--virtually the same rate of increase as in 2003. Growth in spending on hospital inpatient...

Health insurance premiums continue upward climb.(Health Care Costs)
January 15, 2005... The Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers, November 23, 2004 "The cost of health insurance continued its upward climb for companies of all sizes, with more than half the smaller employers and two-thirds of the medium-size businesses...

Principles for the construct of pay-for-performance programs.(Health Care Industry)
January 15, 2005... The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Organizations, November 22, 2004 "In recent years, thought leaders and policymakers have chosen to promote and leverage experimentation in programs that offer structured incentives for...

New bill boosts Veterans Benefits.(Legal Pulse)(Veterans Benefits Improvement Act of 2004)(Brief Article)
January 15, 2005... Employers are affected by two provisions in a bill signed in December that boosts several types of benefits available to veterans. The Veterans Benefits Improvement Act of 2004 modifies and extends housing, education, and other benefits for...

New HIPAA regulations released.(Legal Pulse)
January 15, 2005... Final regulations have been issued governing the portability requirements for group health plans and issuers of health insurance coverage offered in connection with a group plan. The regulations are effective February 28, 2005, and apply for...

Indexed amounts for HSAs announced.(Legal Pulse)(Health Savings Account)(Brief Article)
January 15, 2005... The Treasury Department and IRS have issued new guidance on the maximum contribution levels for health savings accounts (HSAs) and out-of-pocket spending limits for high deductible health plans (HDHPs) that must be used in conjunction with...

Consumer-driven care: eight directions for 2005.(Health Care Industry)
January 15, 2005... Richard L. Reece, M.D, HealthLeaders News, December 6, 2004 "Consumer driven health care (CDHC) will fundamentally transform existing relationships between major health care participants by moving to a more consumer-centered system....

America's health: State health rankings 2004 edition.(Health Care Policy)
January 15, 2005... United Health Foundation, November 8, 2004 "Minnesota [is] at the top of the list of healthiest states, [and] has been among the top two states since 1990. New Hampshire is ranked second this year and has been in the top two states 11...

Summary of evidence: Bariatric surgery.(Health Care Policy)
January 15, 2005... Ross J Brechner, MD, MS(Stat.), MPH, et al., The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, November 4, 2004 "An estimated 27% of the US population is obese and an additional 34% is overweight. Morbid obesity increased from 2.9 to 4.7%...

Trends in health insurance coverage and access among black, Latino and white Americans, 2001-2003.(Health Care Policy)
January 15, 2005... J. Lee Hargraves, Center for Studying Health System Change, Issue Briefs Tracking Report No. 11, October 2004 "Cverall health insurance rates changed little among nonelderly black, Latino, and white Americans between 2001 and 2003. The...

Obesity trends among US adults from 1985 to 2003.(Reference Desk)(Brief Article)
January 15, 2005... During the past 20 years there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States. In 1985 only a few states were participating in CDC's BRFSS and providing obesity data. In 1991, four states had obesity prevalence rates of 15-19%...

The single, primary reason that consumer' health care costs are rising, according to US consumers.(MB Stat)(Brief Article)
January 15, 2005... The Single, Primary Reason That Consumer' health Care Costs Are Rising, According to US Consumers Doctors'/hospital/costs 29% Cost of prescription medicines 19% Lack of government regulation ...

Pharmacological and surgical treatment of obesity.(Reference Desk)
January 15, 2005... A new report issued the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) concludes that surgery for extremely obese patients who have tried and failed to lose weight with exercise and diet may be more effective for weight reduction. It can...

Preventing childhood obesity: health in the balance.(Reference Desk)
January 15, 2005... The increased number of obese children throughout the U.S. during the past 25 years has led policymakers to rank it as one of the most critical public health threats of the 21st-century. This report from the Committee on Prevention of Obesity...