January 2000 EBRI Issue Brief:
"Sources of Health Insurance and Characteristics of the Uninsured: Analysis of the
March 1999 Current Population Survey"
Janaury 2000 EBRI Notes:
"Retirement Planning and Saving Among Women: Results From the 1999 Women's Retirement
Confidence Survey"
EBRI
Press Release: For enhancing Americans' economic security, Jack Treynor is
honored with the EBRI Lillywhite Award.
Iowa
Retirement Confidence Survey: Results of the Iowa Retirement Confidence
Survey were released by EBRI and the Principal Financial Group on Dec. 20, 1999, in Des
Moines, Iowa.
EBRI Health Benefits Databook
Released: EBRI released its new Health Benefits Databook on December
7. The 200-page book includes an overview of the health policy issues--including sources
of coverage, the most recent information on the uninsured, and public opinion--along with
more than 100 tables and charts of statistical data.
EBRI-ERF Policy Forum Materials:
Background materials for the December 1, 1999, EBRI-ERF policy forum are available by clicking
here (follow the links from the agenda).
1999 Women's Retirement Confidence Survey
(WRCS): Results of the 1999 WRCS were released on November 17 during the American
Savings Education Council (ASEC) Partners' meeting. Click
here for the press release, fact sheets, a full report, and charts from the survey.
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What's new in employee benefits:
- HR
News Online -- a daily update from the Society for Human Resource Management
- The following items have been added to the General Accounting Office's Web site in
Portable Document (PDF) format:
If a title link above no longer works, click
here for the GAO Index of Reports and Testimony, FY99, and search for the report by
entering words or phrases from the title. Reports will also be added to GAO's
searchable WAIS database in ASCII and PDF formats within 24 hours of the original
posting. Any individual report may be retrieved directly in text and PDF formats with the
following URL: http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?RPTNO replacing RPTNO with the report
number (e.g., GAO/OCG-98-1).
If your computer does not already have the free Adobe Acrobat viewer
software to read PDF files, click
here for the one-time download necessary to read PDF publications.
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(1/28/00) The
Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2001-2010, an annual report from the
Congressional Budget Office is available online.
(1/27/00) The White House Web site has posted a 2000
State of the Union Address page.
(1/27/00) "Structuring
and Regulating Individual Social Security Accounts" by David C. John is a January
21, 2000, Backgrounder published by The Heritage Foundation.
(1/27/00) Ernst
& Young's online resource for health care privacy provides information about the
development of health care privacy legislation, regulation, and other standards.
(1/27/00) Click
here for the January 2000, AARP Bulletin feature "Interview With Robert D.
Reischauer on the Social Security Trust fund."
(1/26/00) The Survey
of Consumer Finances (SCF) is a triennial survey of the balance sheet, pension,
income, and other demographic characteristics of U.S. families. Using data from the
Federal Reserve Board's two most recent Surveys of Consumer Finances, this article from
the Federal Reserve Bulletin provides a detailed picture of changes in the
financial condition of U.S. families between 1995 and 1998: "Recent
Changes in U.S. Family Finances: Results from the 1998 Survey of Consumer Finances."
(1/25/00) On January 20, 2000, the Board of Directors of the Hispanic Business
Roundtable (HBR) released the results of a national survey on U.S. Hispanics and their
attitudes toward health care reform. Click
here for the press release.
(1/25/00) "
Health Insurance Public Policy Issues for Y2K and Beyond" by Dwight K. Bartlett
III is available from Contingencies (Jan/Feb 2000 issue) which is published by the
American Academy of Actuaries.
(1/25/00) Health
care is a leading issue on voters’ minds for the 2000 election. More than one in
four say health care will be a top issue when they cast their vote.
(1/24/00) Click
here for the January 19 address of Senator Edward M. Kennedy, "New Opportunities
for a New Century," in which he outlines a comprehensive health and pension agenda
for the year. It includes:
- Pension reform, including a ban on cash balance wear-away; broadening participation
levels; prohibiting employer from excluding part-time workers; reducing vesting limits and
increasing portability; and providing refundable tax credits for pension contributions by
low- and moderate-income workers. He also endorsed Clinton's USA plan.
- Health care reform, including expansion of the CHIP program and creation of what he
calls the Basic Access to Secure Insurance Coverage Health plan -- or BASIC Health. He
says this would be based on "emphasizing the role of the states, and using a
voluntary private system to contribute to the cost of coverage -- without employer
mandates."
Senator Kennedy is the ranking minority member of the Senate Committee on Health,
Education, Labor and Pensions.
(1/24/00) The
Clinton-Gore administration unveils a major new health insurance initiative January 19,
2000.
(1/24/00) Click
here for the Pension Research Council's working paper 2000-1: New Trends in Pension
Benefit and Retirement Provisions by Olivia S. Mitchell.
(1/24/00) The Heritage Foundation has published Issues 2000: The Candidate's
Briefing Book. Click
here for "Social Security: Improving Retirement Income," chapter 3, by David
C. John.
(1/21/00) What
Happens When You Show Them the Money?: Lump-Sum Distributions, Retirement Income Security,
and Public Policy by Leonard E. Burman, Norma B. Coe, and William G. Gale,
November 1999, is available from the Urban Institute.
(1/21/00) Increasing
Small-Firm Health Insurance Coverage Through Association Health Plans and HealthMarts,
January 2000, is available from the Congressional Budget Office ftp site.
(1/21/00) The Center - San Diego County Web site provides information to employers on
its page titled Corporate
Services - Domestic Partner Benefit Information which includes:
- A standard definition of domestic partner
- Justification for providing domestic partner benefits
- Basic facts and statistics
- A sample policy
- Cost factors to employers
- Tax treatment
- Insurance carriers providing benefits in California (partial list)
(1/20/00) The ERISA Advisory Council Working Group Reports for 1999 are:
(1/19/00) A cross-industry survey by Philadelphia-based Intracorp reveals that over 50
percent of employers voluntarily investing in injury prevention services are less likely
to experience high rates of ergonomics-related work injuries. Click
here for the press release. Click
here for detailed findings from this survey.
(1/18/00) U.S. Senator John Chafee's Web site provides links to "some important
information to help employers and employees understand the Commuter
Choice program and take full advantage of its benefits."
(1/17/000 "The
Capital Ownership Group is an informal association of people from 14 countries on 6
continents whose mission is to: create a coalition that promotes broadened ownership of
productive capital; reduce inequality of income and wealth; increase sustainable economic
growth; expand opportunities for people to realize their productive and creative
potential; stabilize local communities by improving living standards; and enhance the
quality of life for all." The "initial project focuses on employee ownership as
a capital broadening method."
(1/17/00) The Employment Policy Foundation's Bargaining Trends issue of January
12, is "2003
Could Be A Big Bargaining Year."
(1/14/00) Click
here for the IRAjunction feature article "Hey, Big Spender! Why The Low US
Savings Rate Doesn't Tell the Whole Story."
(1/14/00) Click
here to view The Baby Boom Chart Book 2000 on Dr. Ed Yardeni's Economics
Network.
(1/13/00) Click
here for Fortune's third annual survey to determine the "100 Best
Companies to Work For in America."
(1/13/00) The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research released Use
of Health Care Services, 1996 (AHCPR Publication No. 99-0018).
(1/13/00) Dental
Benefits: The Next 5 Years is posted by the CIGNA Health Corporation.
(1/12/00) The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco’s Economic Letter of
November 12, 1999, (Number 99-34) is entitled "Rates
of Return from Social Security."
(1/12/00) Click
here to read Social Insurance Programs: Defined Benefit Versus Defined Contribution,
a working paper by Alicia Munnell from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston
College.
(1/12/00) Workforce Online provides a multi-item feature, a Telecommuting
Toolkit including:
- Experts available to answer your questions on a wide variety of aspects of telecommuting
- Attorneys addressing your legal/OSHA concerns
- Guidelines on what a telecommuting proposal should contain
- Sample telecommuting agreement
- Assistance deciding who should telecommute
- Seven rules for a virtual workplace
- A copy of OSHA's recent controversial advisory, as well as their letter withdrawing the
policy
(1/11/00) This week in the policy and politics e-zine IntellectualCapital.com
-- A Look Ahead:
(1/11/00) "A detailed discussion of how data on workers' compensation benefits in
each state were assembled can be found in Sources
and Methods: A Companion to Workers' Compensation: Benefits, Coverage, and Costs, 1996 New
Estimates" by The National Academy of Social Insurance.
(1/11/00) "The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), formerly the
Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, has released preliminary
1996 data on medical expenditures from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS)
Household Component."
(1/11/00) According
to an annual report from the Health Care Financing Administration, published in the public
policy journal Health Affairs, total U.S. health care spending rose 5.6 percent in
1998.
(1/10/00) The Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics has recently
released its biennial report entitled Contingent and Alternative Employment
Arrangements. Click
here to go to the table of contents.
(1/10/00) "The
Federal Labor Relations Authority announced that it has added a search engine to its
web site. This addition makes it possible to search the more than 2,000 documents
currently housed on the site. Documents available for searches include: all FLRA decisions
published since August 1993; General Counsel's Guidance Documents and Manuals; Federal
Service Impasses Panel decisions and dispute resolution guidance; forms and checklists;
information about filing arbitration and negotiability appeals to the Authority; and press
releases.
(1/10/00) A
study of mothers leaving welfare, published today in the journal Health Affairs,
found that one-third of those who took jobs weren't covered by health insurance.
(1/7/00) The Society of Actuaries recently released a study entitled Managed
Care and Performance Measurement: Implications for Insurance Markets.
(1/7/00) The Health Care Financing Administration and 27 other government agencies
recently received scores on the American Customer Satisfaction Index survey. Click
here to read about HCFA's results.
(1/7/00)
Stop Loss 101, from The Hartford, explains self-insurance programs.
"Historically, employers have turned to alternative means of financing risk when
traditional insurance financing methods failed to meet their needs. Today, over 50 million
employees receive benefits from a self-insured program."
(1/6/00) The Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America released the 401(k)
and Profit Sharing Plan Eligibility Survey.
(1/6/00) The 401(k) Exchange at www.401kExchange.com
has just been launched by Insight In Formation. "The 401(k) Exchange provides the
only independent rating system for the retirement planning industry. The site contains
ratings of more than 500 401(k) service providers, based on satisfaction surveys conducted
with more than 80,000 Plan Sponsors -- the companies who invest in plans on behalf of
their employees."
(1/6/00) The Congressional Budget Office has posted a "
Pay-As-You-Go Estimate, December 29, 1999," of H.R. 2116, The Veterans Millennium
Health Care and Benefits Act, as cleared by the Congress on November 19, 1999.
(1/4/00) President
Clinton is preparing to revive his previously proposed Universal Savings Accounts (USA
Accounts).
(1/4/00) The Corporate Governance site has a
large links page with sites on corporate governance and related subjects.
(1/3/00) Hewitt Associates summarizes the Major
Events That Revolutionized the U.S. Workplace in the 20th Century.
(1/3/00) The Employee Benefits Institute of America provides a What's
New page of Statutes, Regulations, Administrative Items, and Court Cases for each of the
following:
- COBRA: The Developing Law
- Cafeteria Plans
- ERISA Compliance for Health & Welfare Plans
- 401(k) Plans
- HIPAA Compliance for Group Health Plans
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