Reforming health care should also involve you. Stay up to date on health care reform and other national issues by signing up for email updates directly from the White House. Click here to sign up.
If you would like to get more in-depth information about health reform and how you can participate, click here.
- Webinar Recording, SPDs, SBCs and Plan Documents: Communicating with Participants After Health Care (11/9/11)
- Institute of Medicine Report Ties Essential Health Benefits to Budget (10/14/11)
- Clinical Preventive Services for Women: Closing the Gaps (7/20/11)
- Final Claims and Appeal Rules: Important Changes for Employers, Insurers and TPAs (6/28/11)
- Health Policy Report April 15, 2011 (4/20/11)
Webinar Recording, SPDs, SBCs and Plan Documents: Communicating with Participants After Health Care November 9, 2011
As year-end approaches, many TPAs and employers have started the process of communicating health plan changes to participants. This normal process has now been complicated by a brand-new required communication -- the "four page" summary of benefits and coverage ("SBC"). These new SBC rules become effective March 2012 and will require employers (and perhaps TPAs) to create and distribute an entirely new health plan communication. This new requirement, combined with existing ERISA requirements could create confusion for everyone involved in the plan unless TPAs and employers understand the requirements and develop a strategy for managing the format and distribution of these communications. Speaker: John Barlament. Click here to listen to a recording of this webinar.
Institute of Medicine Report Ties Essential Health Benefits to Budget
October 14, 2011
There are a number of articles in the news today on the Institute of Medicine's (IOM's) recommendations to HHS about what constitutes "essential health benefits." The definition is important because there cannot be lifetime or annual dollar limits on essential health benefits, but no one knows what that term means. It could also impact whether an employer's plan provides enough benefits for pay or play purposes in 2014.
Read the Alert and join the conversation on what the rules should be!
Click here to view the full IOM Report.
Back to top
Clinical Preventive Services for Women: Closing the Gaps - Institue of Medicine The National Academies
July 20, 2011
Click here for a full PDF document.
Please note this file is over 3mbs and may take a few minutes to download, depending on your internet connection speed.
Back to top
Quarles & Brady LLP Client Alert:
Final Claims and Appeal Rules: Important Changes for Employers, Insurers and TPAs
June 27, 2011
Last week new -- and final -- claims and appeal regulations were released. These regulations relax several of the requirements that were first proposed in 2010. Despite these changes, the new regulations leave in place several challenging provisions for employers (especially those with self-funded health plans), insurers and third party administrators ("TPAs"). Click here to view the changes.
Back to top
Health Policy Report April 15, 2011
Click here download the full PDF.
Back to top
Webinar materials are available free to members.
If you would like to receive a copy of the materials from a previous webinar, please contact us at hcaainfo@hcaa.org.
* Please note, a fee of $25 applies to non-members who request materials. "We are members of other associations, but we are consistently extremely satisfied with the HCAA. Many of the other association conferences or meetings do not always benefit us as their topics are not always relevant to our business – or the speakers only provide a one-sided view of the issue. HCAA is always on the cutting edge and they show you the pros and cons of every issue, the ramifications and the benefits."
– Leah Ann Zogg, CEO Employee Benefits Consultant, California
