Health Care Reform Webinars

Cigna's health care reform webinar series helps you stay up-to-date. You’ll hear the latest news and gain valuable insights about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), the new health care reform law.

In each one-hour session, we help you stay ahead of health care reform so you can better understand the rules and potential implications for you and your business.

May 2012: Preparing for the New Exchange Marketplace
As the Exchange marketplace continues to develop, employers, brokers and consultants are eager to better understand the potential impacts on our industry. In this session, we provided an update on regulatory status, state readiness and evolving Exchange models. We also went through common employer scenarios and reviewed strategic considerations employers can take today to be prepared for 2013 and beyond.

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March 2012: Rolling Out the Summary of Benefits and Coverage
Our March Webinar began with a lively policy and politics briefing on the federal budget and relevant legislative and regulatory issues. We also offered an update on the national elections and insights into the Supreme Court and judicial processes as they relate to health care reform. Our feature topic, the Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC), focused on the February 9th final regulations and recently issued FAQs. We presented key differences between the notice of proposed rule making and the final regulations, which highlighted roles and responsibilities along with the triggers and timing for compliance. We fleshed these out with examples, and talked about what Cigna is doing to assist our stakeholders.

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February 2012: “Essential” Education
Our first Webinar of the year provided a packed regulatory, legislative and political overview including an update on the 112th Congress’ second session, a summary of the relevant provisions, a discussion of the federal budget situation and a synopsis of the upcoming Supreme Court challenge. Our feature topic, essential health benefits, included insights and analysis from the October 2011 Institute of Medicine recommendations and the December 2011 Bulletin. We outlined in detail the implications of the state-by-state approach for all stakeholders, and our panel of experts fielded questions from our record number of participants.

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2011 Webinars

November 2011: Gearing Up for 2012 and Beyond
This session dove into key legislative and regulatory topics related to health care reform, including the "Super Committee's" deficit reduction plan, an analysis of the potential outcomes of the 2012 Supreme Court hearing, perspective on the 2012 elections from a DC-insider, and a rule status review of upcoming provisions. We also shared breaking news about the potential compliance delay for the Summary of Benefit and Coverage provision.

Acknowledging the complex environment, we also offered considerations on how employers and benefit advisors can prepare for 2012 and beyond.

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September 2011: The Latest on Exchanges and the Summary of Benefits and Coverage
By 2014, states are required to operate health care exchanges for individuals and small employers to purchase health insurance, or states can defer to the federal government to establish an exchange for its citizens. This session focused on the latest exchange development. Our experts explained states’ various stages in establishing their exchanges and reviewed proposed regulations on exchanges that were published in July and August 2011. This webinar also provided an update on our July 2011 webinar topic, the Summary of Benefits and Coverage. Proposed regulations were published in August 2011, and the final rule was issued on February 9, 2012. Slides were current based on Cigna's interpretation of the most current updates available at the time of the webinar.

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July 2011: Uniform Benefit Summaries (provision name changed to Summary of Coverage and Benefits, August, 2011)
Effective with plan years beginning March 23, 2012, all health insurers and self-insured employers must give people who apply for and enroll in individual or group health plans a standardized Summary of Benefits and Coverage both pre- and post-enrollment. We reviewed the format, delivery and timing requirements, as well as the penalty for non-compliance.

NOTE: On February 9, 2012, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) issued its final rule regarding the Summary of Benefits and Coverage provision. The information in this Webinar was based on Cigna's interpretation of the most current updates available at the time.

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May 2011: Transforming the Care Delivery Marketplace
The presentation begins with court rulings affecting health care reform and an update on state insurance exchanges. This session also shares current changes and trends that are transforming the care delivery marketplace, and how reform is accelerating some of these changes.

February 2011: Exchanges 101
In this session, we cover the legal challenges to the individual mandate provision and the development of state insurance exchanges. Our experts also review the new exchange marketplace coming in 2014, including its structure and requirements, coverage levels and aspects of qualified health insurance plans. It also includes information on which employers and individuals are most likely to use an exchange.

January 2011: Strategic Cost Considerations
The first webinar of 2011 covers the PPACA court challenges and reviews a flurry of provision activity, including the Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Benefit and the Coverage Gap Discount Program. Our experts discuss interim regulations issued in December 2010, Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) rules in effect and the Department of Internal Revenue Service’s clarification on Flexible Spending Account debit cards. This webinar also offers insight into strategic cost considerations in the reform era, as well as cost saving ideas including consumer-driven health plans.

2010 Webinars

November 2010: Post-Election Legislative and Health Care Landscape
Bill Hoagland from our Washington D.C. office provides a comprehensive review of the post-election landscape and the potential implications for employers, brokers, individuals and insurers. Our discussion also includes the grandfathered status amendment allowing greater flexibility to plans effective November 17, 2010. The webinar concludes with an update on medical loss ratio (MLR) methodology, including rebates and the status of MLR calculation changes, plus the annual limits waiver process.

September 2010: Health Care Reform Readiness
Our experts give an overview of several provisions effective for plan years beginning September 23, 2010. The presentation features the status of medical loss ratio (MLR) calculations, the appeals process, annual/lifetime limits and the annual dollar limits waiver and changes affecting health savings and reimbursement accounts. The webinar also discusses the implications of grandfathered status provisions and the cost-saving opportunities driving the shift.

July 2010: Interim Final Health Care Regulations
This webinar provides you with an overview of some of the early interim final regulations and their impacts on plans and costs. Our experts discuss the Patients’ Bill of Rights, preventive services provision and the value of grandfathered status, and answer many audience questions about status updates and phased changes.