Fund Reporter

Changing times required changes within CCAHS. As the national political scene swung to the right, consumerism in health along with many movements against the war, seeking equality of people of color and demanding control of their bodies by women waned. The response of CCHAS was to create a new vehicle designed to address issues facing self-insured payers.

That response was The Fund Reporter which started publication in March-April 1983 and continued through January 1985. It was edited by Donald Rubin and Associate Editor Roxanne Young and restarted in January 1990 through September 1991 with Charlie Klare as the new Editor and Rubin and Young as Associate Editors). Overall the Fund Reporter’s has a run for nearly twenty years and 15 issues.

One topic that weaves its way through the Fund Reporter was the ongoing struggle of self-insured funds to gain and retain the right to negotiate discount hospital rates. The struggle, one often found in American history based on the dysfunction of the Constitution which pitted the rights of the national or federal government and the rights of the local government or state to legislate and regulate sectors of the economy, society and the political process against each other.

In this case, the argument was centered on the federal laws governing non-public and non-railroad employee unions and the efforts of states, in particular New York and New Jersey, which conflicted with federal law. The unions argued that they were exempt from local state laws which prohibited them from negotiating hospital discount rates and that federal law preempted state law. The states argued that they had the legal right to determine matters of public health and financing of hospitals within their jurisdiction and that their efforts to control financing of hospitals was for the public good and not preempted. It was a classic state’s rights argument played out in lower and appeal state and federal courts. The outcome eventually favored the federal government and the rights of self-insured non-government health and welfare plans.

This little known struggle eventually led to major changes in the medical and hospital insurance industry and brought significant changes in the landscape of the organizing, financing and insuring of medical and hospital coverage nationwide. The impact of the affirmation of federal law is still being felt today.

To reduce expenses and continue to produce a better product, opportunities were offered for people not associated with CCAHS to contribute articles on subjects important to health and welfare fund administrators. This offering to others to share their views and information was developed to increase readership and at the same time to increase financial support including acceptance of advertisements from vendors. As expected, most of the outside contributors were direct consultants or vendors to New York City and New Jersey area self-insured health and welfare funds and a few union funds in neighboring states.

The shift in policy to accept advertisements had been delayed for several years to allay Board members’ concerns that acceptance of advertisements would destroy CCAHS’s credibility or otherwise destroy CCHAS’s complete unbiased editorial control over research and content. It was a concern that ultimately proved to have no basis in experience.

Advertisers it turned out were happy to pay a modest advertising rate with no strings attached to put their names on a publication that was distributed to almost every union and self-insured labor–management fund within a hundred miles of Times Square. This site includes a list of advertisers by issue and a list of contributors.

 

The Fund Reporter Vol. 1 No. 1 March-April 1983

NEW NEWSLETTER TO PROVIDE HEALTH, WELFARE AND PENSION COMMENTARY; Occupational Disease and Injury Checklist; DISABILITY INSURANCE REAPPRAISED TO EFFECT SAVINGS IN BENEFITS; MEDICAL [...]
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The Fund Reporter Vol. 1 No. 2 May-June 1983

THE CASE FOR MANDATORY SECOND SURGICAL OPINION PROGRAM; FACTS AND GUIDELINES FOR PROPER VISION CARE; BLUEPRINT FOR HEALTH CARE; 14 Kinds of Surgery [...]
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The Fund Reporter Vol. 1 No. 3 September-October 1983

LABOR REHABILITATION COUNCIL: OASIS FOR FUND MANAGERS (RICHARD STRUNSKY) Services available From Labor Rehab Council Letters to the Editor (Irving Baldinger; James Ryan; [...]
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The Fund Reporter Vol. 1 No. 4 November-December 1983

UTILIZATION REVIEW (Donald Rubin, Editor) WHO WILL PAY THE HOSPITAL BILLS FOR BABY JANE? DENTAL TREATMENT AND CARE—Part II (Arthur A. Levin, M.P.H.) [...]
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The Fund Reporter Vol. 2 No. 1 January-February 1984

SELF-INSURED FUND WINS COURT BATTLE (Roxanne Young, Associate Editor) HOW TO BUY GROUP INSURANCE (George Perla) SERVICES FOR ALCOHOLIC AND DRUG-RELATED PROBLEMS (George [...]
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The Fund Reporter Vol. 2 No. 2 March-April 1984

NEW YORK POLICY ON HOSPITAL INSURANCE WHAT’S GOOD FOR BLUE CROSS IS GOOD FOR NEW YORK CREEPING FIASCO IN NEW JERSEY HOSPITAL COSTS [...]
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The Fund Reporter Vol. 2 No. 3 May-June 1984

UTILIZATION REVIEW: HOW TO MAKE IT WORK FOR YOUR FUND (Roxanne Young, Associate Editor) EXCERPTS FROM PHYSICIAN REVIEWS OF MEDICAL RECORDS THE ART [...]
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The Fund Reporter Vol. 2 No. 4 September-October 1984

WHO RUNS THE HOSPITALS? (Edward T. Gluckmann) MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY AND CORONARY HEART DISEASE (Arthur A. Levin, M.P.H.) EVERYONE BENEFITS (Louis L. Levine) This [...]
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The Fund Reporter Vol. 2 No. 5 November December 1984

Advertisements: Philmark Lithographics; Every Body Benefits; M.D. Sass Assciates, Inc.; Vision Screening Optical Group; American Dental Centers – American Medical Insurance Company; Paid [...]
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The Fund Reporter Vol. 3 No. 1 January-February 1985

Advertisements: Dental Administrative Programs – Amgent; Vision Screening Optical Group; Philmark Lithographics; MultiPlan, Inc.; M.D. Sass Assciates, Inc.; Stacey Braun Associates, Inc.. [...]
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The Fund Reporter January-February 1986

COST CONTROL FOR PRESCRIPTION DRUGS (David H. Shnayer) HOSPITAL RATE DISCOUNTS FOR SELF-INSURED FUNDS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH 1987 A BENEFITS NEWSLETTER TO WATCH [...]
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The Fund Reporter Vol. 3 No. 1 January 1990

NOW IS THE TIME TO AMEND UNFAIR NEW JERSEY DRG LAW Early Warning Signal! Major Attack is Anticipated On Tax-Exempt Status of Funds [...]
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The Fund Reporter Vol. 3 No. 2 March 1990

UNY*CARE: A BITTER PILL FOR TAFT-HARTLEY FUNDS (Jack Sheinman, President, Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union, ACTWU) UNY*Care Editorial HIGHLIGHTS OF UNY*CARE PLAN [...]
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The Fund Reporter Vol. 3 No. 3 June 1990

“SPECIAL ISSUE: Psychiatric/Substance Abuse/Alcoholism”  HOW TO EXPAND BENEFITS AND NOT INCREASE OVERALL COSTS (Edward T. Gluckmann, M.S.) Credits SOME SIGNIFICANT CITATIONS WHY N.J.’S [...]
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The Fund Reporter Vol. 3 No. 4 September-October 1990

NEW JERSEY’S DRG HOSPITAL PLAN FACES CHALLENGES IN U.S. COURT EXCERPTS FROM FUND’S COMPLAINT; ERISA FUNDS MUST WIN RIGHT TO NEGOTIATE DISCOUNT RATES [...]
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The Fund Reporter Vol. 4 No. 1 February 1991

Court Approves Temporary Injunction In Fund’s Hospital-Billing Suit A TAX IS A TAX IS A TAX Federal Cost Shifting: A Continuing Trend (Harvey [...]
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The Fund Reporter Vol. 4 No. 2 September 1991

How to Solve The Health Care Crisis (Jack Sheinkman) The Great Debate How To Cure The Health Care Crisis (Karen Ignagni) U.S. Health [...]
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