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Participant Education and Enrollment Specialist
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Employee Benefits Associate / Attorney
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2012 Orlando Mid-Sized Retirement & Healthcare Plan Management Conference
Nationwide on October 14, 2012 presented by University Conference Services

CFDD

 

The Health Care Sector and the Future of ACA Implementation
"The Supreme Court's decision to uphold the individual mandate provides some welcome clarity for insurers, although other sections of the law remain problematic for the sector. In particular, the industry is feeling the impact of 'medical loss ratio' restrictions, which require between 80% and 85% of premiums to go toward medical care or be returned to the customer in the form of rebates. Health insur.ance exchanges and the continued rollout of ACA consumer protections will also pose new challenges for insurers in the coming years." (Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP)

Take the Hassle Out of Enrollment   [Advert.]

BeneCom creates effective enrollment communications. And with our 20 years of experience behind you, communications is one less job you have to worry about so you can get back to what matters most—your employees!

Personal Health Records Could Produce Lower Health Care Costs
"Among American healthcare consumers, considerable interest exists in integrated personal health records (PHRs).... In a national survey, the majority of respondents reported the belief that online access to health information would have personal benefits that would improve the quality of healthcare. People pay more attention to and become more engaged in their health and medical care when they have easy online access to their health information." (American Journal of Managed Care)

The Latest Health Care-Related Legislation
Descriptive list of the latest health care-related legislation introduced in the U.S. House and Senate, including links to text of proposed bills. (AHIP Coverage)

Health Plan Administrators Likely to Call on Providers, Participants and Employers for Help Containing Costs
"[S]everal big ideas that may shape the way their constituents—consumers, employers, providers, pharma.ceutical companies and others—interact with them over the next year and beyond.... Look for health plans to target wellness, prevention and treatment of diseases through benefit design ... perks ... and outright cash ... Expect health plans to stretch the boundaries of interacting with members.... [P]roviders will be on the hook for managing their patients' risk and will need sophisticated data and analytics capabilities. Payers will be sharing more data than they ever have, and they have to do so quickly. ... With mobile technology making it possible for patients to better manage diabetes, cardiovascular health and asthma, expect to see the do-it-yourself movement stretched into areas we might not have thought imaginable.... That may be the beginning of a truly smart health system." (HealthLeaders InterStudy; free registration required)

Is Health Care Spending Beginning to Stabilize?
"[W]hile healthcare spending for employers should grow at a 'historically low' rate in 2013, it 'continues to escalate at double-digit levels' around the globe in 2012.... with trend rates expected to continue rising—even if less quickly—employers will be compelled to look for innovative solutions to manage their medical costs. In particular, many will investigate how a strategy of holistic health promotion can help curb long-term costs effectively." (Human Resource Executive Online)

CCIIO Issues Memo Compiling Resources for Preparing Summary of Benefits and Coverage
"CCIIO has issued a memo to insurers with a list of informational links to assist in completing Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) documentation... Among other things, the memo provides previously available links to the SBC Coverage Example Calculator (and related instructions), which is intended as a transitional tool to help plans and insurers complete the required coverage examples in a streamlined fashion for the first year of applicability." (Thomson Reuters / EBIA)

Finding Out If Your Health Insurer Is Providing Value for Your Premiums
"Want to know whether your health insur.ance company is required to provide a rebate? ... HealthCare.gov [has launched] a new tool that will allow you to enter your state and health insur.ance company information and see the average rebate your insurer is required to pay.... [Amounts reported are] just an average, and you may see the 'rebate' in a number of ways. These include: A lump-sum reimbursement to the same account that was used to pay your premium if it was paid by credit card or debit card; A rebate check to you in the mail; A direct reduction in your future premiums; or Your employer using one of the above rebate methods, or applying the rebate in a manner that benefits employees." (Healthcare.gov)

Most Retirees Confident They Can Pay Future Health Care Costs
"[A] recent survey ... found that nine in ten retirees with at least $250,000 in household assets are not concerned about paying for their future health care costs beyond Medicare coverage. But nearly two in five retirees (39 percent) say they wished they understood Medicare coverage better.... Baby Boomers are not so optimistic—nearly half (46 percent) of Boomers nearing retirement with the same amount of assets say they are 'terrified' of what health care costs will do to their retirement plans." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)

State-by-State Enrollment in the Pre-Existing Condition Insur.ance Plan (PCIP) Program, as of May 31, 2012
"The Affordable Care Act created the new Pre-Existing Condition Insur.ance Plan (PCIP) program to make health insur.ance available to Americans denied coverage by private insur.ance companies because of a pre-existing condition....The PCIP program began accepting applications for enrollment July, 2010 (July 1, 2010 for the federal program, dates for state programs varied). The chart below details the date when each state began providing benefits to people accepted into the program and the number of people enrolled in the program by each state as May 31, 2012." (Healthcare.gov)

IRS Issues Guidance on Treatment of Dividends Related to Restricted Stock
"A publicly held corporation may deduct compensation paid to employees, but that deduction is limited to $1 mil.lion in the case of payments of 'applicable employee remuneration' made to 'covered employees' ... Compensation is excluded from this definition ... if it is paid on account of attainment of performance goals that meet certain conditions. The IRS concluded that grants of dividends (or equivalents) are separate and apart from the related restricted stock or RSUs, and so the dividend grants must separately satisfy the above conditions in order to be excluded from applicable remuneration." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business / CCH)

Government Report Shows Wide Disparity Between Benefits for Public Employees Compared to Private Sector
"It's no secret that public employees tend to get better benefits than their private-sector counterparts. But a new report from the Labor Department this week is still striking in just how wide the gap is. As of March of this year, 89% of state and local government employees get offered some sort of retirement benefit, compared to 65% in private industry. 79% of public workers can get life insur.ance through work, versus 57% of private workers. 89% of government workers get paid sick leave, versus 61% in the private sector. The starkest contrast, though, is in health care. 73% of state and local government workers—including 83% of full-time workers—receive health benefits through their jobs. In the private sector, barely over half, 51%, of all workers get health benefits, and just under two-thirds, 64%, of full-time workers do." (The Wall Street Journal Health Blog)

Efforts to Tackle Global Obesity Shaping a New Investment Megatrend
"Increasing efforts to tackle obesity over the coming decades will form an important new investment theme for fund managers ... BofA Merrill Lynch has identified a Global Fighting Obesity Exposure Stocklist-50+ centering on four areas: Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare; Food; Commercial Weight Loss, Diet Management and Nutrition; and Sports Apparel and Equipment. ... Medical costs for treating obese patients are 40 percent higher than for non-obese patients. Treating obese patients comes at a higher premium than treating smokers. Obesity adds 50 percent to annual medical costs, while smoking adds 20 percent.... As happened with smoking, it is likely that the growing cost burden of obesity on governments, corporates and wider society will spur collective action and greater regulation." (Bank of America Merrill Lynch)