If this HTML newsletter is not readable or the links do not work, please request the plain text version via e-mail to jetaun.sinclair@bsg.com.

A free monthly newsletter for plan sponsors and employee benefits 
professionals published by The Benefit Services Group, Inc.

More Employers Adopting Health Management, Consumer-Directed Programs to Control Costs
EXCERPT: "Nearly seven of ten respondents (69 percent) are using disease management programs through a health plan this year, a 50 percent increase over last year. Similarly, the number of employers adopting lifestyle behavior change through a health plan doubled to 40 percent this year. Additionally, 32 percent offer obesity reduction programs, compared with just 14 percent in 2004.

The survey found that employers that are doing the best job of controlling health care cost trends have a much greater focus on health management than those with higher cost increases. They also tend to set their health care strategy on quantitative analysis and rely on evidence to confirm their approach to health care benefits."
Full Article
March 17, 2005—Watson Wyatt Worldwide 


Understanding the HIPAA Privacy Rule's Implications for Employers 
EXCERPT: "Most HIPAA-implementation attention has been focused on how hospitals and physicians interact with patients and handle their protected health information (PHI), or how traditional health insurers protect their enrollees. But many employers — including hospitals, health plans and other health care entities — have additional HIPAA privacy obligations as a result of the health benefit they offer to their work force. "Employee welfare benefit plans" (as defined in ERISA section 3(1)) are HIPAA covered entities (CEs) if they provide "medical care" (as defined in the Public Health Service Act) to employees or dependents, directly or through insurance, reimbursement or otherwise, and they either (1) have 50 or more participants, or (2) are administered by an entity other than the employer that established and maintains the plan."
Full Article 
March 2005—AISHealth.com 


The HIPAA Security Rule: Questions and Answers for Employer Group Health Plans
EXCERPT: "The administrative simplification rules apply to “covered entities,” which include health plans, health care providers, and health care clearing houses. As a practical matter, the focus is on hospitals and physicians. Employer-sponsored group health plans appear to be something of an afterthought, and they don’t always fit naturally with the rule’s basic concepts. For example, employers are treated as separate legal entities from their group health plans—an approach that is counterintuitive to say the least."
Full Article 
February 17, 2005—Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo P.C.

Combating Employee Benefit Cost and Control Issues: The Case for Coalition Purchasing
EXCERPT: "Employee benefit coalitions can impact an employer's bottom line and are becoming a market factor to be dealt with in every industry and business setting. This article examines how modern-day coalitions are bringing classic aggregation theory into the 21st century and the reasons behind growing popularity of employee benefit coalitions."
Full Article 
First Quarter, 2005—Aon 

$177 billion
Overall economic impact of obesity, including lost productivity, etc. $75.1 billion--Annual direct medical costs of obesity.
January 2004 issue of the journal Obesity Research. 

$6.7 billion
Estimated annual economic costs of hospital-acquired infections.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

$111.3 billion
Total aggregate healthcare debt, all ratings, as of late November 2004, for debt rated by Moody's Investors Service.

$4.8 billion
Amount General Motors Corp.—the nation’s largest private purchaser of healthcare—spent in cash during 2003 on healthcare for its 1.1 million U.S. employees, retirees and their dependents. That’s more than GM spent on steel.
General Motors Corp., 2004 Annual Report

$39 billion
Annual cost of health insurance fraud.
National Healthcare Anti-Fraud Association

By providing links to other sites, The Benefit Services Group, Inc. does not guarantee, approve or endorse the information or products available at these sites, nor does a link indicate any association with or endorsement by the linked site to The Benefit Services Group, Inc.

The preceding is not intended to be and is not offered as legal advice. We are prohibited from the practice of law. Compliance is the responsibility of the employer or Plan sponsor and affected employees, who should seek their own legal counsel regarding questions about information presented in this newsletter.

PlanAhead Direct is a monthly newsletter provided free of charge to select BSG® client representatives and associates. View and search back issues at www.bsg.com/news/PADirect/index.htm. 

To comment on newsletter content, write to tess.richardson@bsg.com. If you would like to change your subscription address, or request a plain text version, please e-mail your request to jetaun.sinclair@bsg.com.

Copyright 2005 The Benefit Services Group, Inc. BSG® is a registered trademark of The Benefit Services Group, Inc.

N25 W23050 Paul Rd.
Pewaukee, WI 53072-4078
tel 262-521-5700
fax 262-521-5710
www.bsg.com