Medicare and Medicaid (BenefitsLink.com)Headlines re Medicare and Medicaid, gathered by BenefitsLink.comMedicare Part D Accounting Practice Note (PDF)- (Found July 5, 2008 ) 29 pages. Excerpt: "The purpose of this practice note is to assist actuaries involved in valuation, accounting, and financialreporting work relating to Medicare Part D products." (American Academy of Actuaries)http://www.actuary.org/pdf/practnotes/medicare_d_08.pdf Guidance Overview CMS Releases 2009 Medicare Part D Benefit Parameters (PDF)- (Found July 5, 2008 ) Excerpt: "The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has updated the Medicare Part D standard benefit parameters and the cost thresholds and limits for qualified retiree prescription drug plans for 2009." (Buck Consultants)http://www.buckconsultants.com/buckconsultants/Portals/0/Documents/PUBLICATIONS/Newsletter... 'The American Prospect' Special Report Focuses on U.S. Health Care System- (Found July 5, 2008 ) Excerpt: "The May 2008 issue of The American Prospect features a special report on health care issues in the U.S. Issues covered include state reform efforts; medical debt; and Medicare." (Kaiser Family Foundation)http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=51734 Ultimatum to City of Duluth Retirees: Sign up for Medicare or Lose Coverage- (Found July 5, 2008 ) Excerpt: "Thirty-seven city of Duluth retirees are getting letters in the mail saying they need to sign up for Medicare or lose their retiree health-care benefits. All city retirees who are eligible must sign up for Medicare. Mayor Don Ness said the 37 who have not done so were discovered during a review of the retiree health-care program last year. Once the retirees sign up, he said, the city stands to save $400,000 to $600,000 a year." (Duluth News-Tribune via NewsEdge via Human...http://dialog.newsedge.com/portal.asp?site=2006120817070303800165&searchfolderid=pg200... Opinion Employers' Coalition on Medicare Writes to Express Concerns with Medicare Legislation Currently Under Development (PDF)- (Found July 5, 2008 ) 1 page. Excerpt: "Limitations on employers' ability to offer the Medicare Advantage Private Fee-for-Service option, as well as severe reductions in MA payments, would hurt retirees who prefer these plans, and would disproportionately hurt beneficiaries who are located in areas where there are no other Medicare Advantage options available." (American Benefits Council)http://www.americanbenefitscouncil.org/documents/ecomltr062008.pdf Opinion A Retirement Income Solution - Create a Senior Class of Worker- (Found July 5, 2008 ) Excerpt: "To get back to the real world, employers will need incentives to hire older workers. So here's my plan, inspired in part by this article in last Sunday's New York Times: create a 'senior class' of employee for those 62 and up. Employers would no longer have to contribute their share of Social Security taxes for such employees 62 and over -- although employees would continue contributing their share and continue to earn credit for paying into the system." (Investment News;..http://www.investmentnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080625/REG/628706122/1094/INDai... Opinion High Medicare Costs, Courtesy of Congress- (Found July 5, 2008 ) Excerpt: "For years, Congress has set the price for walkers and various medical equipment, and it has consistently set them well above the market rate, effectively handing out a few hundred million dollars of corporate welfare every year to the equipment makers. But as of July 1, this system is set to change. Companies will instead have to submit bids -- to compete with one another, just as Wal-Mart competes with Target -- if they want to continue selling products to Medicare."...http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/25/business/25leonhardt.html?partner=rssuserland&emc=rs... Public and Private Health Insurance: Comparing the Costs- (Found July 5, 2008 ) Excerpt: "Analyses of data from the 2005 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey indicate that total medical spending is much lower when coverage is provided by Medicaid or SCHIP than it is when coverage is provided by private insurance. Public insurance is particularly advantageous from the consumer's perspective because associated out-of-pocket spending is far lower." (Health Affairs)http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/hlthaff.27.4.w318 Guidance Overview Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Issues Additional Guidance on Rebate Adjustments for the Retiree Drug Subsidy Program (- (Found July 5, 2008 ) 2 pages. Excerpt: "Recent CMS guidance clarifies that the requirement that plan sponsors report rebates retained by a Pharmacy Benefit Manager applies only to RDS applications with plan years starting on or after January 1, 2007." (Buck Consultants)http://www.buckconsultants.com/buckconsultants/Portals/0/Documents/PUBLICATIONS/Newsletter... Opinion The Battle to Save Medicare- (Found July 5, 2008 ) Excerpt: "Reader Jack Wajda, 69, of Orlando, a retired AT&T executive and financial planner, identifies the single greatest problem with the American health-care system as well as anyone. He writes: 'To allow private for-profit insurance companies to decide whether and what type of care we receive is incomprehensible to me.'" (Saul Friedman via Newsday)http://www.newsday.com/news/columnists/ny-bzsaul0627,0,4451877.column |