Mid-week miscellany

The Washington Post and the Federal Times join Govexec.com and the FEHBlog in throwing cold water on the Postal Service's ill advised proposal to withdraw from the FEHBP in favor of a stand alone program.

Reuters offers an interesting column discussing the cultural differences between Express Scripts and Medco that would have to be resolved if the federal antitrust regulators permit the deal to move forward. (Reuters recently reported that the current expert consensus is that a reasonable chance exists that the deal will clear anti-trust scrutiny.) A Towers Perrin health care consultant remarks in the Reuters article that

The issues that "keep employers up at night" about the merger include the fate of customer service, mail-order prescription turnarounds and claims accuracy under a combined company. "Employers want to ensure that the newly merged organization is not distracted by any of the challenges they face during the integration," she added.

HR Morning reports on an important piece of EEOC informal guidance concerning the application of the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act ("GINA") to wellness programs sponsored by health plans or employers.