Connell Holds First Health Care Reform Seminar
Attendees learn about the changes
brought about by the reform
September 24, 2010
Connell held another popular and successful event in their Seminar Series on Friday morning. This was Connell's first seminar devoted to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), and ran from 8:45 a.m. to noon at the Branson Convention Center's Taneycomo A Ballroom.
William K. Mahoney, FACHE of Skaggs Regional Medical Center, started off the presentation with "Healthcare Reform: The Upcoming Effects On Your Local Health System." His presentation included a quote from Len Nichols, PHD, that states, "[The] Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a huge, ambitious, not-smooth-sailing-but-gotta-start-somewhere package of reforms." Mr. Mahoney ended his presentation with, "Where do providers go from here?", stating that attendees should keep educating themselves about the changes; focus on what can be controlled – providing high quality healthcare to patients they are blessed to serve; look for the silver lining; and provide feedback to all interested parties.
Sam Drysdale, Director of Regional Sales at Mercy Health Plans, explained the immediate impacts of the reforms that took effect on 09-23-2010 as they relate to employers and insurance carriers, what changes take place in 2011, and discussed Grandfathered versus Non-Grandfathered plans under the new law. Some of the changes for 2010 include (but are not limited to): no lifetime benefit limits; no cost sharing for preventive services; children covered up to age 26 on family policies; discrimination based on salary is prohibited; no exclusions for pre-existing conditions for covered individuals younger than 19. Mr. Drysdale mentioned that this reform is confusing and we are on "Implementation Overload" – don't panic yet!! We are at the end of the beginning – 7 to 10 years of rule making and changes!
Are you wondering what you may have missed? If you are an HR professional who likes to stay abreast of the latest developments, our Seminar Series is the perfect resource. Selections from the conference are available in our Media Library for listening and viewing online, or simply subscribe to the Connell Seminar Series iTunes podcast to automaticaly download the latest seminar- and HR-related audio and video recordings as soon as they are released.
Like most of our events, this seminar was pre-approved for continuing education credit for HR professionals who are PHR or SPHR certified. If you'd like to be notified of future conferences about Work Comp and other topics of interest to HR Managers, please contact Randall Gammill. Be sure to check back often for new events in our popular Seminar Series, and we look forward to seeing you at the next seminar!
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