Dear Friends:

We are all too aware of the rising cost of healthcare insurance. Employers continue to struggle to provide benefits that attract and retain employees. Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRA) provide one mechanism to help (see our story below).

Recent surveys have shown that employers' health plans comply with benefits laws but new regulations and court cases still require their close scrutiny (see our stories below).

KBM Management has the expertise and experience to help you navigate these issues. Click on the link below for more information about our services.

Sincerely,
KBM Management

The end of extreme managed care is at hand and a new era of consumer-driven health care financing is beginning. Double-digit rate increases are commonplace in the health insurance marketplace today. With these rate hikes, employers are progressively more concerned with their health insurance premiums. In the past, employers have resorted to the old stand-bys: raise deductibles, raise co-pays or pass along the increase to the employees. There is now a better way to compensate for these increases with a Health Reimbursement Account (HRA).....

Read Full Story - Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRAs)

America's military reservists being called to active duty need not worry about losing their employer- sponsored health insurance while away. Thanks to two government programs designed expressly for situations like these, employers around the country remain obligated to continue to provide group health insurance for servicemen and women and their families who are participating in Operation "Iraqi Freedom".....

Read Full Story - Employers Must Provide For Continuation Of Health Benefits To Reservists

Less than two weeks in advance of the April 14 federally-mandated compliance deadline, employers appear not to have educated most employees about their privacy rights under the new Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).....

Read Full Story - Many Employees Are Not Aware Of Their New Medical Privacy Rights

Most employers are in compliance with several key federal benefit laws, according to a Labor Department survey. The survey, based on a 2001 audit of about 1,300 group health plans, found that more than 95% comply with the 1998 Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act, which requires plans offering coverage for mastectomies to cover reconstructive surgery on the same basis as they cover other surgical procedures.

In addition, nearly 95% of plans were in compliance with a 1996 maternity law that requires plans to provide coverage for hospital stays of 48 hours after normal delivery and 96 hours after delivery by Caesarian section.

The survey also found that 92% of plans comply with the 1996 federal law that bars health plans from imposing discriminatory annual or lifetime dollar limits on the treatment of mental disorders.

Thank You for Reading.

An employee's failure to exhaust the appeals procedure for a disability claim's denial does not prevent the employee from pursuing the claim in court, a federal appeals court held recently.....

Read Full Story - Watch Out for Confusing SPD Language

KBM Management is a fully-licensed risk management company providing complete management services focusing on the specialized needs of Employee Health Benefit Plans and billing and enrollment services. Our extensive knowledge and experience in both fully insured and self-funded programs allows us to provide assistance with all facets of risk management and help maximize your health care benefit dollars.

We provide a wide variety of management and analysis services as well as Group Benefits and Voluntary Benefits Our sevices and products include:

Management and Analysis.