Benefits
Major Health Insurance Cost Development: Insurers Willing to Cease Health-Based Price Discrimination
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A concession by a major health insurance trade group seems to be good news on the road to implementing badly-needed healthcare reforms and controlling health insurance costs. And that’s good [...]
Charming the Stimulus Act COBRA:
New COBRA Rights and Employer Obligations
A federal subsidy of continued health coverage under COBRA is one of the main “ease-the-pain” provisions of the Stimulus Act enacted Tuesday, February 17, 2009 (the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009).
This provision is intended to keep the recession from swelling the ranks of the uninsured, by making COBRA coverage more affordable for [...]
Not Just a Bailout for the Rich; Mental Health Parity Law Comes Along for the Ride
Mental Health Parity Act: One of the “Sweeteners” Added to the Wall Street Bailout Bill
Thanks to the mess on Wall Street, over a third of Americans will have better health insurance coverage for mental illness and addiction treatments beginning January, 2010. That’s the date that the Paul Wellstone-Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity [...]
Benefits Crippling Large and Small Businesses Alike
Two New York Times items today create a useful, if discouraging, overview of the way the American reliance on employers to provide health and pension benefits hurts our economy (and health). One explores how collectively-bargained benefit commitments hampered GM and left it vulnerable to collapse. The other discusses the massive lack of health coverage in the small business sector and how states are attempting to remedy it.
Four Supreme Court Employment Decisions in One Day!
Score that employees 2, employers 2. High Court rules: disability retirement program did not discriminate on age; employer has burden of proving reasonable factor other than age in age discrimination disparate impact cases; insurer conflict of interest is factor to consider in ruling on ERISA plan claims denials; California regulation of union-related activities of state-funded employers ispreempted by National Labor Relations Act.
Supreme Court Makes ERISA Sausage
“Laws are like sausages. It’s better not to see them being made.” Otto von Bismarck
This quote came to mind as my fatigued late-night-blogging mind struggled through last week’s Supreme Court decision in LaRue v. DeWolff, Boberg & Assoc., Inc., et al.
The Court upheld the right of an individual participant in a 401(k) retirement plan to sue under ERISA for a breach of fiduciary duty in the plan’s administration.
Right result. But messy and costly process, argumentation, and judicial reasoning to get there (the sausagemaking).
2008 Workworld Predictions: Looking into the Crystal Ball, Part I — Big Picture Trends
An effort to summarize 2008 workplace trend forecasts from a number of sources and assemble them in one place for quick comparison, followed by a few humble thoughts of my own.
Hospital Comparison Tool May Lead to More Affordable Healthcare
In my humble opinion, the health insurance crisis in the U.S. has many causes, and the “solution” is a puzzle with many pieces.
I am extremely leery of solutions that merely shift costs (such as to a single government payer), without doing anything to improve quality, encourage wellness, or encourage better competition among providers.
That said, one [...]
What’s happening with employment opportunities for the “older worker”?
The subject of this post was suggested by Granite Solutions Groupe, a recruiting firm specializing in senior-level managers, analysts, and IT contractors in the financial services and high-tech industries.
As demand for highly qualified financial services and IT workers continues to strain the labor market, more attention is being put on hiring from alternative candidate [...]
Health Care Cost Crisis Inspires Sucessful New Strategies
Some things to consider in looking for savings.
The rising cost of healthcare and unaffordability of health insurance is, of course, a national problem. But with our employer-provided insurance model, it is above all a crisis for employers seeking to attract and retain the best employees with an attractive wage and benefit package.
It would be [...]
Will YOU Be Able to Afford Retirement?
Between problems with the social security fund, and the demise of the defined retirement benefit programs, there has been a great deal of discussion lately about retirement and whether people will be able to afford to retire. Now, comes this study, reporting on how many of us will be able to afford retirement (given various [...]
The FMLA 12-Month Period: How Is It Calculated?
Under FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act), if you are an “eligible” employee, you are entitled to as much as 12 weeks of leave for certain family and medical reasons during a 12-month period.
Question: How is the 12-month period calculated?
Here are four possible answers:
the calendar year;
any fixed 12-month “leave year,” such as a fiscal [...]
Wal-Mart in the News — A Lot! (Part II)
Last week, at a St. Louis bloggers’ lunch, Dennis Kennedy and I were joking about all our uncompleted posts, and all my Part I’s that never got Part II’s.
Back in November 2005, when I wrote Wal-Mart in the News — A Lot! I meant for that post to be Part I of a series, and [...]
Pensions and Distributed Work: An Unlikely Pair of Trend-to-Watch Topics
Sometimes I note a flurry of articles on related topics, which may point towards important trends.
The other day I was hurrying through a mass of headlines, looking for good stuff to post on the “Recent Reading” page, when I noticed two interesting pairings of articles — on pension and distributed work themes, respectively (which I [...]
HR/Employment Blogosphere Update for December 12, 2005
Hopefully, this week’s update brings a little something for everyone, starting with this delightful winter photo entitled “A Snow Angel.”
This great pic attracted many comments on flickr, including: “It brings me right back to being a small child bundled up in a huge snowsuit and being incredibly excited about the snow” and “It [...]
