Healthcare Reform and the New Grandfathering Rules: What You Need to Know

On March 23, President Obama signed into law the most sweeping health care reform legislation in our nation’s history. Since then, the government agencies have been issuing comprehensive and complex guidance. The U.S. Department of Labor has already issued guidance on covering dependent children up to age 26 (mandated under reform). The IRS outlined the tax advantages of providing such coverage. And the U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources has described how plans may apply for government-sponsored reinsurance for retirees over age 55 who have not yet aged into Medicare. Very important rules on the grandfathering of existing health plans will come out any day now. These and other rules and guidance raise daunting administrative issues.

This webinar will demystify the provisions of reform and offer insight into implementation of the laws’ coverage mandates. Join noted experts Paul M. Hamburger and James R. Napoli, who will present practical guidance on making the mandated changes to your healthcare plans and documentation in this 90-minute interactive webinar.

What You'll Learn From This Webinar:

• What a grandfathered plan is and which reform mandates apply to such a plan.
• The new law’s coverage mandates and the issues related to the implementation of those mandates.
• New definitions you need to understand to implement the dependent child coverage mandate.

Attendees Who Will Benefit From This Webinar Include:

• Employee Benefits Professionals
• Plan Administrators
• Third-Party Administrators (TPAs)
• Human Resources Managers who oversee employee benefit plans
• Corporate Counsel
• Health Plan Actuaries
• Anyone who works on healthcare plans and plan administration

Paul Hamburger

Paul M. Hamburger is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Proskauer Rose LLP, where he heads the D.C. Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Practice Center. In employee benefits planning and consultation, Mr. Hamburger advises employers on all aspects of their employee benefit programs, including matters affecting tax-qualified retirement plans (such as 401(k) plans, ESOPs, cash balance pension plans, and other retirement plan designs), executive compensation plans, and welfare benefit plans (including cafeteria plan, COBRA and other group health plan issues). He also advises employee benefit plan trustees and service providers on various ERISA, COBRA, and other employee benefit plan related matters. Mr. Hamburger has extensive experience in representing clients before government regulatory agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Labor and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. Mr. Hamburger currently serves as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center teaching the LLM tax course on ERISA Health and Welfare Benefit Plans. He is also a fellow of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel, a member of the Health Plan Advisory Panel for Thompson Publishing Group publications, a member of the editorial advisory board for the “Benefits Law Journal” and a member of the Employee Benefits Committee of the Tax Section of the American Bar Association. Mr. Hamburger is a frequent speaker on employee benefit matters, including annual presentations at the ABA National Institute on Welfare Plans since 1987. He is also an author of numerous articles and other publications on employee benefits matters, including three nationally-circulated loose leaf publications, each published by Thompson Publishing Group: “Mandated Health Benefits -- The COBRA Guide,” “The Guide to Assigning & Loaning Benefit Plan Money,” and “The Pension Plan Fix-It Handbook.”

James R. Napoli
James R. Napoli is a Senior Counsel in in the Washington, D.C. office of Proskauer Rose LLP. Jim counsels employers on all aspects of their employee benefit programs, including matters affecting tax-qualified retirement plans such as: 401(k) plans and defined benefit plans, including cash balance plans; executive compensation plans; and welfare benefit plans. Recognized by US Legal 500 as a leading lawyer in his field, Jim maintains an active controversy practice that includes advising clients on ERISA fiduciary matters and related litigation, as well as government compliance. Jim partners with clients to assist them in the design, implementation and maintenance of their employee benefit programs. This includes assisting clients in managing third-party service provider relationships; counseling clients on the implementation of fiduciary hierarchies to achieve optimum administrative efficiencies and protections; and counseling clients on ongoing compliance issues. Jim routinely negotiates administrative services agreements, investment management agreements, and various other forms of agreements that establish relationships between employers, ERISA fiduciaries, employer sponsored plans and their service providers. He is experienced in representing clients before the Internal Revenue Service, Department of Labor and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. This experience includes his work on the Chrysler retiree medical prohibited transaction exemption currently proposed by the Department of Labor. In addition, he has experience litigating matters involving claims to benefits under pension plans, long-term disability plans, employer sponsored medical plans, and general insurance contracts. He has litigated matters involving claims for breach of fiduciary duty and fiduciary misrepresentation under pension plans, long-term disability plans, and employer sponsored medical plans. The defense of actions raising ESOP valuation issues, defined contribution account balance valuation issues, executive compensation issues, ERISA §510 claims, and preemption issues have all been an important part of Jim’s experience. Jim also has brought claims for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and reimbursement on behalf of his ERISA party clients. Jim has lectured frequently to local and regional bar associations regarding various employee benefit matters and he has also addressed professional groups regarding employee benefit matters.

This program has been approved for (General) recertification credit hours toward PHR, SPHR and GPHR recertification through the HR Certification Institute. Please be sure to note the program ID number on your recertification application form. For more information about certification or recertification, please visit the HR Certification Institute website at www.hrci.org.
The use of this seal is not an endorsement by the HR Certification Institute of the quality of the program. It means that this program has met the HR Certification Institute’s criteria to be pre-approved for recertification credit.