To The Agent and Consultant Briefing Archive
Agent and Consultant Briefing: June 2010
In this issue:
By:
Cheryl DeMars, President & CEO
At the suggestion of several members, we’re going to convene a series of roundtables over the summer to allow Alliance members to learn with and from each other about the implications of various components of PPACA and how best to manage them. Some of the questions we’ll be considering include:
- What plan design changes should you be considering that will allow you to comply with the new laws while avoiding penalties and additional regulations?
- Will your plan be considered a “Cadillac plan” by 2014 and what steps will you take to minimize the financial burden of the excise tax?
- What is the impact on your plan if some employees buy health insurance through the Exchange? What happens to your company and your employees if you drop health benefits altogether?
These roundtables will provide the benefit of more heads to consider different perspectives and solutions. In addition, we’ll be looking for member input to see if there are aspects of this new law that they would like us to advocate for policy changes to be made.
And to avoid contributing to the “electronic noise” we’re all contending with, we’ve made some changes to how and when we’ll share information that we think is relevant to our members. See the article below.
Twenty years ago, The Alliance was formed by employers who came together after major shifts in the market led to cost increases and a new set of challenges. Now, as then, we’ll figure this out together.
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We’ve recently redesigned the Health Policy section of our Web site, making it easy for members to find information on the parts of the bill that will impact their plans as well as the bigger concepts of this new system. Members can now find new documents on the following topics in an area devoted to PPACA:
Plan Design Requirements for Grandfathered and Non-Grandfathered Plans Under PPACA
Information Related to the Early Retirement Insurance Program
“Employer Responsibility” Provisions
Exchanges and Subsidies Under Federal Reform
Each includes links and references to government sources and other information. We will continue to add new pieces and update these as the legislation continues to be worked into policy. You can find all this pieces here. We will continue to e-mail members with breaking news, but also encourage them to bookmark this page and check back often for updates to earlier pieces, which will be noted. We encourage members to work with you and their attorney about their plan’s compliance with these items.
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Summer is just around the corner; which means our summer hours are about to begin. Between Friday, June 4 and Friday, September 3, our office closes at 11:30 on Fridays. For your reference, here are our hours during the summer:
Main Switchboard: 608.276.6620
Monday-Thursday: 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Customer Service: 608.276.6630 or 800.223.4139
Monday-Thursday: 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Friday: 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
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Annually, 5.1 billion years of potential life is lost due to cigarette smoking in the United States. Cigarette smoking increases the risk for many types of cancer, including cancers of the lip, oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus, pancreas, larynx (voice box), lung, uterine cervix, urinary bladder, and kidneys. The risk of dying from lung cancer is more than 22 times higher among men who smoke cigarettes and about 12 times higher among women who smoke cigarettes compared with those who have never smoked.
On July 5, 2010 the state of Wisconsin will follow in the footsteps of many other state governments and implement Act 12 into law. Act 12 requires that all workplaces, restaurants and bars must be a smoke-free establishment. This law will be enforced by the Department of Justice, and individuals and/or establishments that are in violation of the law will be fined $100 to $250 per incident. Local authorities also have the right to further restrict outside smoking on public properties such as parks, fairgrounds, etc. Establishments do have the right to designate an outside area that is a reasonable distance from any entrance where people can smoke.
There are many health promotion strategies employers can implement to support and encourage their employees to stop smoking for good. Onsite smoking cessation classes, educational forums and/or presentations, nicotine replacement therapy product reimbursements and online Web tools are popular strategies being used in today’s workplaces. Health Solutions Ltd® can help identify the need for these strategies and customize a plan that will best reach employees to make positive behavior changes. For more information about Health Solutions Ltd®, or their partnership with The Alliance, contact Bobbi Jones, product management specialist, 800.223.4139 x 6638.
The Alliance has gathered a number of resources on tobacco cessation for our members. To find them, visit the
Employer Resource Center. You will need to log in first. If you are unsure of your username or password, please contact
Tierney Jensen, 800.223.4139 x 6642.
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The Alliance Annual Seminar, on May 4, was a morning filled with learning, networking and a little fun. More than 250 members and other guests came together to hear our two speakers and celebrate the kickoff to our 20 year anniversary celebration.
If you weren’t able to attend, event resources — including an executive summary, speaker slides and other handouts, and a video recording of Dr. Edington and Dr. Lynch’s presentations — are available In the Circle.
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Our annual seminar also included an anniversary retrospective delivered by members, which highlighted our 20 greatest accomplishments of the past 20 years. You can see the retrospective and learn more on our 20-Year Anniversary page.
We thank all of our members who were able to participate in this portion of the program, including:
Pat Whitmore, Vice President of Administration, HUFCOR, Inc., member since 2006
Jerry Ward, Vice President – Operations, Seats Incorporated, member since 1994
Mike McDonald, VP Human Resources, Foremost Farms USA, member since 1993
Mary Ann Reichling, Director, Benefits, Compensation and EIS, Lands’ End, member since 1992
Tim Wolff, Director of Human Resources, The Swiss Colony, member since 1996
Jennifer Pagels, Manager of Human Resources, Trek Bicycle Corporation, member since 1993
Judy Pierick, Vice President of Human Resources, Webcrafters, Inc., founding member
Did you know that 36 percent of members have been with The Alliance 10 years or more? It’s number one on our list of 20 accomplishments for 20 years. Read them all, and learn more about our beginnings
here.
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As a founding member of WisconsinRx, The Alliance offers a preferred relationship with this cooperative of employers and organizations. Together they are able to achieve greater value for their pharmaceutical benefit dollar through deep discounts, clinical programs, a national network and enhanced data reporting. WisconsinRx/NationalCooperativeRx serves as employers' PBM watchdog and offers the following benefits to member companies and organizations:
Independently audits 100 percent of claims for pricing guarantees, rebates accuracy, financial accuracy and claims adjudication.
Negotiates a set rebate for every prescription, paid to members after each quarter ends.
Has secured for members a "95% Rebate True-Up”; a supplemental payment can equal or exceed the typical quarterly rebate for member-employers.
Offers a broad choice of no-cost clinical programs for members and contributes additional funds to allow members to choose among fee-based clinical programs.
Provides a full-time staff pharmacist to help members evaluate clinical programs and make recommendations for cost containment.
Returns net earnings to members in the form of patronage dividends. Historically, over 80 percent of monthly membership fees have been returned to members.
To learn more about Alliance preferred pricing from WisconsinRx, contact Bobbi Jones, product management specialist, 800.223.4139 x 6638.
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Congratulations to Alliance member Trek Bicycle for their recent award:
- Richard Burke, founder of Trek Bicycle Corporation, was inducted posthumously into the Wisconsin Business Hall of Fame.
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Connect with Jesse Oberloh, Alliance member services manager, on LinkedIn. Jesse is your contact for current Alliance members. Click here and click on Add Jesse Oberloh to your network.
You can also connect with Diane Loram, Alliance business development manager, your contact for prospective Alliance members. Click here and click on Add Diane Loram to your network.
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The Alliance’s Healthy People at Work program can help members rein in costs on workers’ compensation claims. Using the The Alliance’s comprehensive, cost-efficient network of providers for workers’ compensation health-care related claims, Healthy People at Work participants save an average of 30.1 percent on compensable billed charges.
For more information, see our product sheet or contact Jesse Oberloh, 800.223.4139 x6645.
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The Alliance encourages employers to distribute the monthly Provider Update listing to their employees.
Just a reminder: Always check the online provider directory for the most current provider information!
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The Alliance encourages employers to distribute the monthly QualityCounts for Employees informational piece to their employees.
In advance of our upcoming release of QualityCounts (watch for more information in the coming month), this piece provides some tips for choosing same-day or outpatient surgery.
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Each month, The Alliance highlights health care and benefit management news for employers in News You Can Use, with a link to take you to the original story or report.
This month we provide
findings from the annual Hewitt Associates health care trends survey.
Read an interview with Jerry Burgess, CEO of Healthcare 21, an employer-based nonprofit coalition, and Chris McSwain, director of Global Benefits at Whirlpool Corporation, to get their perspective on the challenge of integrating care from diverse teams of vendors. From
Purchasing High Performance, a quarterly bulletin from the National Business Coalition on Health and the Commonwealth Fund.
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Each month, The Alliance Agent and Consultant Briefing delivers the latest news to third-party administrators about Alliance services, programs and events as well as information on health benefit trends, issues and ideas of interest to our mutual clients.
Subscriptions are available on a complimentary basis. To subscribe, please send an e-mail with your name, title and organization to the marketing and member services department.
Reader comments, suggestions and topics are always welcome.
Cathy Lanser, Editor
Daniel Lehnherr, Design
Diane Loram, Business Development Manager
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