Employee Health

With the General Assembly to meet next week, lobbying activity has stepped up on both sides of a contentious bill that would require large companies -- effectively just Wal-Mart -- to spend more on employee health care. The Maryland Chamber of Commerce released a legal opinion yesterday concluding that the legislation is illegal because it trumps federal law. Also yesterday, Health Care for All, an advocacy group, announced that it was airing radio ads urging the Assembly to override the governor's veto of the bill.

When first-year Superintendent Renee Foose presented her first operating budget for Howard County public schools, she lauded the proposal as being just a $7 million increase over last year's budget and said it meets the primary objective of protecting the classroom with no furloughs or decreases to staff. The $721.1 million plan also addresses such concerns as a new elementary school, accommodating 550 new students throughout the system and implementing several program enhancements.

Mid Atlantic Medical Services Inc., the Rockville HMO operator, said yesterday it expects to begin settlement discussions soon on a federal audit that said that it overcharged for premiums on federal employee health insurance from 1992 to MAMSI announced Wednesday, when it released its third quarter financial results, that it was setting aside $16.5 million for the possible settlement. It had disclosed the audit in August, in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.Elizabeth Sammis, a MAMSI senior director and spokeswoman, said the company had received the draft audit in May, had responded to the draft and was awaiting a reply from the federal Office of Personnel Management, which administers the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program.

There's a good chance during open enrollment this fall that you will be offered a high-deductible insurance plan with a savings account - if you haven't already been nudged into one. Increasingly, employers are offering this as a way to rein in their health insurance costs. The high deductible means lower premiums, benefits experts say. And employees - confronted with the prospect of potentially paying thousands of dollars before insurance kicks in - are less likely to run to the emergency room for minor problems, which also keeps costs down.

There's a good chance during open enrollment this fall that you will be offered a high-deductible insurance plan with a savings account - if you haven't already been nudged into one. Increasingly, employers are offering this as a way to rein in their health insurance costs. The high deductible means lower premiums, benefits experts say. And employees - confronted with the prospect of potentially paying thousands of dollars before insurance kicks in - are less likely to run to the emergency room for minor problems, which also keeps costs down.

Catholic leaders launched a nationwide campaign challenging the Obama administration's health policies with a Mass at Baltimore's Basilica of the Assumption on Thursday evening, filling the 200-year-old stone structure with supporters. The standing-room-only crowd stood and applauded when Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori, leader of the Roman Catholic bishops' "Fortnight for Freedom" initiative, entered. A separate crowd of people outside, most of them Catholic, held signs protesting the event, one of which read, "Bishops!

The League of American Bicyclists awarded a bronze Bicycle Friendly Business Award to Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, in North Laurel. APL was recognized for promoting employee health and social responsibility through its cycling club and cycling amenities. Some members of the APL cycling club commute daily and travel more than 24 miles each way.

Tower Federal Credit Union and Verizon Wireless, in North Laurel, received Innovations in Wellness awards from the Howard County Health Department's "Healthy Howard" program. The award recognized Tower's progressive "Wealth of Wellness" employee wellness program. Verizon Wireless earned the highest, gold level recognition from Healthy Howard, Inc. and was named among Howard County's healthiest workplaces for the third consecutive year. The Healthy Howard Initiative recognizes businesses that are committed to improving employee health and well-being.

Registered nurse Libby Fuss, director of employee health and infection control at Carroll County General Hospital, was recently awarded afive-year certification as an infection control specialist by the Certification Board of Infection Control.CBIC is an independent accreditation agency that provides technical support for health-care professionals in the field of communicable diseases.Certification requires preparation about the causes and prevention of nosocomial infections, a specialty that focuses on diseases acquired in hospitals or health-care settings.

When first-year Superintendent Renee Foose presented her first operating budget for Howard County public schools, she lauded the proposal as being just a $7 million increase over last year's budget and said it meets the primary objective of protecting the classroom with no furloughs or decreases to staff. The $721.1 million plan also addresses such concerns as a new elementary school, accommodating 550 new students throughout the system and implementing several program enhancements.

Catholic leaders launched a nationwide campaign challenging the Obama administration's health policies with a Mass at Baltimore's Basilica of the Assumption on Thursday evening, filling the 200-year-old stone structure with supporters. The standing-room-only crowd stood and applauded when Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori, leader of the Roman Catholic bishops' "Fortnight for Freedom" initiative, entered. A separate crowd of people outside, most of them Catholic, held signs protesting the event, one of which read, "Bishops!

Recently, Cardinal-designateEdwin F. O'Brienwrote a stirring letter to all those who worship in the Baltimore Archdiocese, calling on their help to "regain our religious freedom. " The impassioned call to arms suggests the federal government has dealt a "heavy blow" to Catholics and has "cast aside" the First Amendment. What could have so angered the 72-year-old soon-to-be advisor to the pope to justify his call for prayer and fasting until "religious liberty" is restored? Remarkably, it was the recent decision of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Servicesthat requires future health insurance policies, including those administered by religious hospitals and charities, to cover contraception and sterilization.

The League of American Bicyclists awarded a bronze Bicycle Friendly Business Award to Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, in North Laurel. APL was recognized for promoting employee health and social responsibility through its cycling club and cycling amenities. Some members of the APL cycling club commute daily and travel more than 24 miles each way.

Tower Federal Credit Union and Verizon Wireless, in North Laurel, received Innovations in Wellness awards from the Howard County Health Department's "Healthy Howard" program. The award recognized Tower's progressive "Wealth of Wellness" employee wellness program. Verizon Wireless earned the highest, gold level recognition from Healthy Howard, Inc. and was named among Howard County's healthiest workplaces for the third consecutive year. The Healthy Howard Initiative recognizes businesses that are committed to improving employee health and well-being.

If you don't have a wellness program yet at work, one likely will come your way soon. And if you do, count on your employer aggressively making sure you participate. Employers generally are still cutting benefits and shifting more health care costs onto you. But they are throwing more money into wellness programs, hoping you'll adopt a healthier lifestyle and that insurance costs will go down over time. "We have tried everything else. There is nothing left," says Sara Taylor with benefits consultant Hewitt Associates.

Four years ago, when Maryland legislators approved what became known as the Wal-Mart bill - a mandate that would have forced the retailing giant to either pay a minimum amount for employee health benefits or a hefty penalty to the state - it was derided by the company as both bad public policy and illegal. The latter objection proved to be true. It was thrown out by a federal appeals court as a violation of federal law that limits states' ability to regulate employee benefits. But the reasoning behind the proposal was sound: If companies are to compete on a level playing field, how can some be burdened with the obligation of providing increasingly expensive health care insurance while others are not?

The filing deadline for next year's election of a Baltimore City comptroller is not until next summer -- but already the fur is flying.On Monday, Councilwoman Jacqueline F. McLean, D-2nd, announced she would run for comptroller. Less than 24 hours later she was tangling with unannounced challenger Joseph T. "Jody" Landers, D-3rd, over whether the city should pay for optional health benefits for municipal employees called to reserve duty in the Persian Gulf.The verbal tussle began at Tuesday night's council meeting, when Councilman Landers introduced a resolution calling for continued payment of the city portion of employee health insurance premiums for reservists.

A courtroom challenge to a Maryland law requiring Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to increase spending for employee health care should be tossed out because the legislation gives the retail giant several alternatives, including setting up first-aid stations or creating health savings accounts for workers, lawyers for the state said yesterday. In February, a retail trade group filed suit on behalf of the discounter to strike down the so- called Wal-Mart law passed earlier this year by the General Assembly, saying federal rules don't allow states to specify companies' benefits.

Smart employers know that offering good salaries and perks will help attract the best and brightest employees. That's why a growing number, including a majority of Fortune 500 companies, are choosing to extend health insurance benefits to same-sex domestic partners. It's a logical step for companies that genuinely seek to end workplace discrimination. The public sector is moving to do the same, which makes it all the more unfortunate that Gov. Martin O'Malley has not chosen to provide such a benefit to state employees.

Maryland's first-in-the-nation law to compel Wal-Mart to spend more on employee health care suffered another setback yesterday, providing fresh incentive for legislative leaders in Annapolis to explore ways to boost insurance coverage that do not involve the retailing giant. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit upheld a lower court finding that struck down Maryland's legislation. A divided three-judge panel ruled that the state's Fair Share Health Care Act was incompatible with federal rules that promote uniform treatment of employees.