September 4, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Mid-sized
companies offering Aetna HealthFund plan can give their
employees additional flexibility to chart their own course
for health coverage and treatment.
According to a news report from ManagedHealthcare.Info,
HealthFund members can choose what medical services they
want to have covered from their choice of health
providers.
The ManagedHealthcare story said the plan also provides
first-dollar coverage for preventive services, such as
annual physicals, mammograms, and well-child care, not
subject to the annual deductible or deducted from the
health fund.
In addition, any money left in the fund can be carried
over to provide additional plan coverage the year after,
the news story said.
The fully insured plan also offers a variety of
deductible and coinsurance options to provide additional
flexibility in health benefits to employers with as few as
51 eligible employees, according to ManagedHealthcare.
Aetna first launched a self-insured Aetna HealthFund
product in September 2001 for large national employers.
August 16, 2001 - The experience of the "average"
401(k) investor may be more interesting than practical to
most of us, but when people start trying to make policy
decisions based on those numbers, well --we figured it was
time to bring the experience a bit closer to home. This
week's survey asked how YOUR account balance performed
(though we didn't ask for age).
Those who had a rough year had a lot of company —
over three-fourths of our survey respondents lost money
last year. More than 43% lost 10% or more, while over a
third (33.65%) lost less than that. Roughly 5% managed to
eke out a small gain, while 7% did better, but gained
something less than 5%. Nearly 10% of our respondents saw
their account rise more than 10% last year, and roughly 2%
weren’t sure.
As for 2001, over half (56.4%) have lost money, 36% have
gained ground and the rest are roughly even (most noted a
strong Q2 overcoming a bad Q1).
“This was really inconvenient. I’ll have to work
longer and take the beach house, yacht and membership to
the Augusta National out of my retirement plans. There
went my dreams of opulence and splendor.”
“Fall by more than 10%… Company Stock… Not
Good…”
“This time unlike 1987 Market timing worked and asset
allocation did not.”
“Well, you did it! You forced me to look at something
short term I was trying to avoid. I have always been the
“don’t think about it, this is a long term investment”
person. But I knew if I analyzed the actual losses, I
would freak out. So you piqued my curiosity and now I
know how bad it really is. But I’m going to be strong and
not do anything rash, just worry more now. Thanks a
lot!”
“OK OK. So I didn’t want to look, but I did just for
you. ick…… where’s the caffeine… I think everyone’s
running for shelter is hurting my returns… oh
well.”
“Sadly, my 2000 balance fell in excess of 10% – no
doubt the reason I am not employed by an investment
management company?”
“I’ve got more than 30 years to go before retirement,
so I’ll just hope that the market behaves as it has
historically by bouncing back to a higher number than
ever before. Besides, if I worry about one year’s
performance, I’m not such a good salesperson to the
employees here. I try to be a cheerleader for
participation – if I can be honest about my own account,
perhaps they will feel comfortable with the occasional
loss.”
And this week’s Editor’s Choice:
“It’s ugly.”
Thanks to everyone who participated in our survey (and
we’re sorry for making you “look”)!