Employee Benefit News back issues from May 2009:
No stone unturned; Rather than continue layoffs, employers ' want to turn over every rock' to achieve cost savings amid recession.(Cover Story)
May 01, 2009 ... Byline: Lynn Gresham This winter's blizzard of pink slips took unemployment to a staggering 8.1% in February. Unlike in previous recessions, though, many employers have not continued slashing staff to cut costs, says Scott Olsen, a consultant in the human resource services ...
Readers sound off on March editorial.(Editor's Desk)(Editorial)
May 01, 2009 ... Byline: Kelley Butler Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined the response to my March editorial, "I regret enrolling in an HSA." For all the mail I've received since it was published - which ranged from congratulatory to condescending to critical - I am heartened by ...
Panning for gold in health care.(Editor's Desk)
May 01, 2009 ... Byline: Karrie Andes I saw a billboard the other day that caught my attention. It featured a glamorous model, her hands full of gold necklaces and jewelry, coupled with piles of cash. "Go Green - Turn Your Gold Into Cash Now!" the ad screamed. I thought that was ...
Corrections.(Correction notice)
May 01, 2009 ... Byline: Editorial Staff In EBN April 1, the article "To improve access, first increase awareness" should have stated that Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield provides bilingual and bicultural "consejeros" to aid its Hispanic members in Idaho, Oregon, Utah and Washington. PlanBien is ...
Who needs Prada when you have a pedometer? Customized program gets full 'Worth' from Fla. wellness effort.(Benefits Corner Office)
May 01, 2009 ... Byline: Nancy L. Bolton Palm Beach County, Fla., may include Worth Avenue - home to upscale gems like Gucci, Chanel and Sachs Fifth Avenue - but the hottest fashion accessory among Palm Beach County government employees is the pedometer. You've seen it - that little gadget that ...
Trained in triage: Nurse lines managing workers' comp calls.(Benefits Corner Office)
May 01, 2009 ... Byline: Paul Binsfeld Although work-related injuries have decreased, related medical and indemnity costs are continuing to rise. To address these challenges, employers are using outsourced nurse call centers to field calls from injured employees. Over the phone, ...
Moving beyond vanilla; Diversity among employees means communication must come in different flavors.(Employee-Consumer)
May 01, 2009 ... Byline: Jill Hudgins Obvious fact No. 1: Diversity in employees' age, ethnicity and job station presents inherent communication challenges and opportunities. At a time when the cry for health care cost mitigation and increased ownership of one's own health has ...
Redefining hope: Erasing misperceptions about hospice.(Employee-Consumer)
May 01, 2009 ... Byline: Betty Long "Maybe I'm not dying after all," she said after an ambitious attempt at breakfast. "Nothing would make me happier," I responded, trying to hide my sadness at watching my dearest aunt wither away. When doctors told Aunt Betty that the stroke she ...
Doctors prove key in changing behavior, reducing costs.(Employee-Consumer)
May 01, 2009 ... Byline: Les C. Meyer Medical science has cracked genetic codes and prolonged life. However, workforce behavior change remains a mystery - an inextricable link to job performance and improved corporate well-being. This new moral and business imperative is rapidly gaining the ...
Considering the exit ramp; Employers rethink offering health benefits.(HealthCare)
May 01, 2009 ... Byline: Lydell C. Bridgeford 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. In a new survey on ...
What's in it for me? Workers want to know how CDHPs work for them, not the company.(HealthCare)
May 01, 2009 ... Byline: Jennifer Benz Consumer-driven health care is again on the radar of many companies as they search for ways to cut costs and keep their health plan budgets under control. Unfortunately, if not done properly, a move to consumer-driven health care can be perceived as no more ...
'Freak case' reminds employers of delicacy of layoffs.(Court ruling)
May 01, 2009 ... Byline: Kathleen Koster In February, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that Claire Cole, a former secretary for the department of public works in Salem, Mass., should have received full disability benefits after she suffered a heart attack within an hour of learning she ...
Finding an answer to the 'million-dollar question'.(HealthCare)
May 01, 2009 ... Byline: Michael Puck I implemented my first wellness program in 2001. After researching recommendations and case studies about successful wellness programs, my plan included a comprehensive health risks assessment addressing a broad spectrum of lifestyle choices, including ...
Health and productivity management programs provide savings spark to employers.(HealthCare)
May 01, 2009 ... Byline: Bruce Shutan 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 ...
New study tracks employer exodus from retiree medical.(HealthCare)
May 01, 2009 ... Byline: Kathleen Koster As business operations costs have continued to skyrocket - particularly health benefits for active and retired employees - employers have done a steady march away from providing retiree medical benefits, a departure followed in a recent study by the ...
Pros and cons of 401(k) loans and early distributions.(Laws and Regs)
May 01, 2009 ... Byline: Frank Palmieri Retirement plans are intended to help employees save for retirement. Although fundamental, this concept has been eroded in the context of 401(k) plans. Many employees believe that loans, hardship distributions and in-service distributions should be ...
Natural foods store uses 'organic' training approach.(Success Stories)
May 01, 2009 ... Byline: Todd Hudson Whenever I'm in Portland, Ore., my favorite place to shop is a natural foods chain called New Seasons Market. The produce is fresh. The selection is great. But what really sets them apart from every other grocery store is their top-notch customer service. ...
Which way to go? Plotting the future course of liability-driven investing.(Investment Insider)
May 01, 2009; ... Byline: Bob Collie In the midst of the current economic crisis, the most important trend among U.S. defined benefit pension plans is liability-driven investing (LDI). While pension plan sponsors always have had good reason to look at risk in terms of assets relative to ...
Auto-enrollment alphabet soup; If employers can successfully sort through the acronyms, auto-enrollment boosts 401(k) participation.(Retirement Planning)
May 01, 2009; ... Byline: Jerry Kalish Automatic enrollment has been around since the late 1990s, but it never really gained traction until the passage of the Pension Protection Act of 2006, which states auto-enrollment is permissible so long as employees are given the opportunity to elect not to ...
Roundup of latest retirement news.(Retirement Planning)(Survey)
May 01, 2009 ... Byline: From staff reports ICI tells Congress 401(k) model is still strong Investment Company Institute President Paul Schott Stevens recently testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Education and Labor Committee, avowing that the 401(k) model is working, ...
8 steps for measuring the cost of employee financial stress.(Retirement Planning)
May 01, 2009 ... Byline: Mark A. Nadler Even before the current economic crisis, evidence indicated that close to 70 million American workers suffered from financial stress, with 30 million severely affected. Employee financial stress adds to operational costs in the form of ...
Investors learn not to gamble with life savings.(Retirement Planning)
May 01, 2009 ... Byline: John Morgan Like gambling addicts who just need one more big win before they cash out, millions of baby boomers on the verge of retirement took extremely risky bets with their life savings, hoping to score that big jackpot that would make up for all their past mistakes. ...
HR policy high on Washington agenda.(Employment law)
May 01, 2009 ... Byline: Lydell C. Bridgeford "It's an exciting and important time for our voices and leadership to be heard in Washington, D.C.," said Lon O'Neil, president and CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management, during the organization's employment law and legislative conference ....
Crumbling coverage; Will the recession contribute to the erosion of life coverage?(Voluntary)
May 01, 2009 ... Byline: Robert L. Whiddon Experts everywhere are gazing into their crystal balls trying to divine exactly when and how severely the economic malaise will impact their business. Some industry brains say that the voluntary market, which has experienced significant ...
Happiness money can't buy; In tough economic times, adoption benefits strengthen employee satisfaction, loyalty.(Quality of Life)
May 01, 2009 ... Byline: Leah Carlson Shepherd At a time when financial uncertainty could discourage some people from adopting a child, many employers are staying committed to providing adoption benefits to their workers. Such offerings could enable a family to proceed with adoption plans, and ...
New HIPAA regs could bring more enforcement, lawsuits.(Privacy rules)(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)
May 01, 2009; ... Byline: Leah Carlson Shepherd 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 ...
5 Point Plan; Five steps to developing a long-term total compensation plan.(Feature Story)
May 01, 2009; ... Byline: Elliot Dinkin Employers today are facing some of their most difficult decisions when it comes to one of their most important asset: their employees. Layoffs, salary and retirement plan freezes, pay cuts, healthcare benefit reductions - nothing is off the table in this ...
Getting to your fighting weight; Employers slim down for open enrollment.(Feature Story)
May 01, 2009 ... Byline: Kathleen Koster This article is the first in a three-part Open Enrollment Boot Camp series that offers benefits professionals tools and tips to prepare for this year's open enrollment. Employers are fighting the downward economy and upward health care costs ...
Brokers insist they are essential; Benefit advisers say they are more essential today than in the recent past, but not everyone agrees. Is your broker meeting your needs?(Feature Story)(Survey)
May 01, 2009; ... Byline: Robert L. Whiddon As employers and individuals workers across the country scour their books for savings, the benefit community's ranks of employee benefit brokers, advisers and consultants maintain their essential status in the elaborate system to review, purchase and ...
This month at BenefitNews.com; May's don't-miss Web-only content at ebn.benefitnews.com, your best online resource for benefits news and information.(Online content)(Survey)
May 01, 2009 ... Byline: Editorial Staff "Five Minutes With ..." EBN's monthly podcast series, where we get exclusive insights from benefit managers, consultants and innovators behind great new products. This month, EBN spends five minutes with: EBN's Contributing Editors ....
Ask and you shall receive: Introducing EBN's new columnists.(employee benefit news)(Editorial)
May 01, 2009; ... Byline: Kelley M. Butler When I issued a call in January for folks interested in writing for EBN and BenefitNews.com as featured columnists, I never anticipated such a strong response. I received dozens of e-mails from benefits professionals, authors, consultants and ...