Adam V. Russo | May 29, 2009

by Bruce Shutan of Employee Benefit News, www.benefitnews.com  

With attendance declining 5% at Walt Disney Co. theme parks in the U.S. last year, these properties may not exactly be the happiest place on earth for C-suite executives.

But for more than 20,000 employees with about 1,300 occupational titles toiling away in two Disney theme parks, three hotels and retail outlets in Anaheim, Calif., some encouragement can be gleaned from Right Fit, an occupational health and safety program built on function-based testing to enhance clinical and return-to-work outcomes. (more…)

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Adam V. Russo | May 29, 2009

by Lydell C. Bridgeford of Employee Benefit News, www.benefitnews.com  

Talk of employers dropping health benefits because of the cost usually serves as background noise to an earnest conservation on health care reform. The recession, however, has made those murmurs louder. (more…)

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Adam V. Russo | May 29, 2009

by Leah Carlson Shepherd of Employee Benefit News, www.benefitnews.com

New provisions to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act that were included in the economic stimulus law signed in February could have broad implications for employers, their relationships with health insurers and their liability in protecting personal health information. (more…)

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Adam V. Russo | May 29, 2009

by Kristin Gunderson Hunt of Business Insurance, www.businessinsurance.com

Approximately $19 billion designated for health care information technology in the economic stimulus package signed into law by President Obama and the push to establish an electronic medical record for every U.S. citizen by 2014 likely will not directly affect employers and their benefits departments, experts say. (more…)

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Adam V. Russo | May 29, 2009

by Karen Pallarito of Business Insurance, www.businessinsurance.com  

The nation’s sour economy has added a new step to the tango of self-insured employers and third-party administrators handling their medical claims.

Employers still want a partner that provides first-rate claims administration and customer service, and many require TPAs to provide sophisticated data-mining tools and care management programs. Experts say employers’ efforts to stretch available dollars are keeping TPAs on their toes. (more…)

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Adam V. Russo | May 29, 2009

by Karen Pallarito of Business Insurance, www.businessinsurance.com  

Here are a few tried-and-true strategies to trim health care-related expenses without slashing benefits or shifting costs, experts say:

Compare reinsurance companies. Make sure your third-party administrator is working with well-regarded reinsurance providers, because spending on stop-loss coverage can run between 8% and 15% of total costs, said Helmut Braun, chief operating officer in the Lexington, Ky., office of UMR, a unit of UnitedHealth Group Inc. (more…)

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Adam V. Russo | May 29, 2009

SIIA Newsletter, www.siia.org

Rare single-group meeting with Senator Baucus: A SIIA delegation enjoyed the rare opportunity to meet with Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, to discuss self-insured employers’ concerns with proposed elements of national health care reform legislation. While most such meetings are held in large industry segments, the SIIA group was able to deliver its message personally and directly. (more…)

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Adam V. Russo | May 28, 2009

by Fred Schneyer of PLANSPONSOR, www.plansponsor.com

After tweaking their standard for how federal judges should handle employee benefits denial cases involving a conflicted plan administrator, federal appellate judges have ordered more hearings in just such a case. (more…)

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Adam V. Russo | May 28, 2009

by Fred Schneyer of PLANSPONSOR, www.plansponsor.com

An Indiana manufacturer has received a mixed ruling from a federal judge in a lawsuit alleging its misdeeds in the handling of its benefits program constituted a fiduciary breach. (more…)

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Adam V. Russo | May 28, 2009

by Jeremy Smerd of Workforce Management, www.workforce.com

A report Monday, May 18, that health care cost inflation hit its lowest mark in three years sounds like good news … until one takes a closer look.

Health Care Cost Inflation Appears to Slow, but Statistics Can Be Misleading (more…)

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Adam V. Russo | May 28, 2009

Reprinted from REPORT ON PATIENT PRIVACY, the industry’s most practical source of news on HIPAA patient privacy provisions.

by Eve Collins, Editor of AIS Health, www.aishealth.com

Covered entities (CEs) are stemming their panic for now regarding the new accounting for disclosures requirements for electronic health records (EHRs) that were part of the HITECH Act, at least until they see guidance from HHS, which is due in August, consultants and privacy officials tell RPP. (more…)

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Adam V. Russo | May 28, 2009

Few see chance of premium cuts in near future

by Lisa Wangsness of The Boston Globe, www.boston.com

WASHINGTON – In the final debate of the presidential campaign, while banks collapsed and layoffs mounted, Barack Obama turned to the camera to speak directly to the 56 million Americans watching at home. His healthcare plan, he said, would save families big money on insurance.

“We estimate we can cut the average family’s premium by about $2,500 per year,” he said, repeating a promise he had made in the previous debate, and in stump speeches and television ads for the better part of a year. (more…)

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Adam V. Russo | May 28, 2009

by Robert Pear of the New York Times, www.nytimes.com

WASHINGTON – President Obama’s campaign to cut health costs by $2 trillion over the next decade, announced with fanfare two weeks ago, may have hit another snag: the nation’s antitrust laws. (more…)

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Adam V. Russo | May 27, 2009

by John P. McLaughlin and Alexandra Bak-Boychuk of Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP, www.ballardspahr.com

Cities and municipalities may recover benefits paid under the Pennsylvania Heart & Lung Act (HLA) through subrogation of an employee’s tort recovery. In City of Wilkes-Barre v. Robert P. Sheils, Jr., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit upheld the common-law right of subrogation to recover such costs from police and fire personnel who obtain a tort recovery from a motor vehicle accident. (more…)

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Adam V. Russo | May 27, 2009

by Jonathan Weber of The Big Money, www.reuters.com

As the national debate on health care reform ramps up, we’re going to hear all kinds of claims about what is or is not good for business. To me, though, it’s pretty clear-cut: a system that gets me, as a small-business owner, out of the health-insurance business will be good for business, and anything else will either be no help or will make things worse. Sadly, it doesn’t look like President Obama is headed in the right direction. (more…)

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