June 26, 2018
2018 EBLF Recap Now Available for Download
The Council’s Employee Benefits Leadership Forum serves as a critical platform for market leaders to build key relationships, conduct strategic meetings and stay on top of industry trends. The 17th annual forum held May 29-June 1 in Colorado Springs, Colo., brought together more than 500 CIAB member employee benefits executives to discuss the continuing transformation of healthcare, diversity and inclusion, blockchain and regulatory developments globally.
Click here to download the recap for key themes and takeaways.
ACA Reform Legislation Tracker
Our legal team at Steptoe & Johnson is tracking healthcare reform bills as they are introduced in Congress. Recent updates are noted in the top box on the first page of the document. This tracker is updated as of June 15.
Tax Reform Podcast & Thursday Webinar
Our latest CouncilCast includes updates and insights from The Council’s government affairs team on technical implementation details for the tax bill, why ACA repeal is fading while single-payer discussion increases, the possibility of an NFIP lapse, a roundup of recent primary elections and more.
To complement our podcast, join us for a 60-minute webinar on Internal Revenue Code 199A, also known as the “passthrough section” of the recently passed tax reform law, this Thursday at 3:00 p.m. ET. The Council’s government affairs team will be joined by legal experts from Steptoe & Johnson to explain our interpretation, advocacy efforts and the current state of play.
Final Rule on Association Health Plans
Last week, the White House and the Department of Labor rolled out the Administration’s long-awaited final rule on association health plans (AHPs). The Administration has long touted AHPs as a solution for bringing small businesses’ and sole proprietors’ healthcare costs down and for opening up coverage options to those groups. CBO estimates that, as a result of the rule, four million Americans will be covered by AHPs by 2023, including approximately 400,000 who are currently uninsured.
The Rise of Cyber MGA’s
Over the last year, we’ve seen numerous tech-focused MGA’s surface with a specific interest in the cyber insurance market: Coalition, Evolve MGA, Envelope Risk, Ascent, Cyber Policy, Corvus and many more.
While they all have something different to offer, much is the same: cyber expertise, access to data, risk management strategies, and a view of insurance that is much different from the traditional players. Overall, these newcomers claim to leverage technology to better determine risk and price cyber more accurately.
Vendor Madness
The need for a design-build approach to benefits is here, and it’s beginning to play out among employers large and small. These days, brokers must increasingly work to uncover their clients’ unique needs and pull together the resources to serve them.
Joel Kopperud, VP, Government Affairs
Report on MCP Pharmacy Benefit Manager Performance
Ohio Department of Medicaid
Cheryl Matochik, SVP, Strategic Resources & Initiatives
Side Effects: An Ongoing Investigation on the Rising Costs of Prescription Drugs
The Columbus Dispatch
Susan Rushford, SVP, Marketing & Communications
Digital Marketing Trends In An Era Of Constant Change
Forbes