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Sessions and SpeakersPrintable version2010 Educational AgendaSunday
11:00
a.m.-5:00 p.m. 5:00 p.m. Keynote speaker: To Be Announced
8:00-8:30
a.m. 8:30-9:30 a.m.
As federal regulatory agencies begin to issue the guidance related to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the benefits community is learning what will be required to comply with the sweeping new law. But plan sponsors and advisors have only just begun to consider what the new architecture for our nation's health care coverage system will mean for the future of employer-sponsored health benefits and for the role of benefits professionals themselves. This session will examine a series of strategic questions that benefits leaders will want to consider as critical choices are made, and the potential implications of the changing political and legislative environment on those decisions. In addition, while retirement policy has not grabbed the headlines as health policy has over the past year, important developments are occurring in that arena as well. This session will review the issues that sponsors of qualified retirement plans will need to consider following the November elections. Session Preview [Listen Now]
Ms. Borzi, as agency head of EBSA, oversees the administration, regulation and enforcement of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). Ms. Borzi will provide insights on the administration's policies concerning recent legislation and regulation. C Canadian Legislative Update Attendees will gain valuable information on recent court cases, regulations and proposed legislation that will affect Canadian benefit plans.
Health care reform is a reality. The reform will profoundly impact benefit design, cost and eligibility rules. This session will provide plan sponsors with the key elements of the reform legislation to identify what they must doÑand what they can do immediatelyÑover the next six months and the next few years. R Working With the Plan Auditor This session will provide information on bridging the gap between service providers and the independent auditor. Topics covered include what an audit is comprised of, how to find the right auditor for a plan, why auditors ask for so much information, and how service providers and auditors can work together. Takeaways from this session:
G C The Intersection of Behavioral Economics and Benefits The presenter will provide an overview of behavioral economics concepts and the practical application of these concepts. Topics to be covered include how to select defaults, structuring incentives, and "before and after" results from deploying these principles. Takeaways from this session:
12:15-1:30 p.m. Consulting Practice Owners Luncheon Workshop 1:30-2:30 p.m. H Nuts and Bolts of Health Care Reform Workshop - Short- and Long-Term Implications for Plan Sponsors This presentation is designed to delve deeply into the reform legislation, getting down to the "nuts and bolts" of practical information along with the opportunity to ask questions and share information with other session attendees. R The State of Retirement Income: Preparation and Future Prospects This presentation will start with a review of EBRI's projections of retirement wealth for future retiree cohorts and then provide baseline projections of the percentage of compensation that needs to be saved every year from 2010 until retirement to have a 50%, 75% and 90% probability of "adequate" retirement income. The session will include a number of sensitivity analyses of the results to show how the prospect for future retirement income change as a result of market return assumptions, employee behavioral assumptions, and plan sponsor assumptions as well as various possible public policy modifications. Takeaways from this session:
G Long-Term (LT) Care Insurance - Employers Face a Decision Most employers have followed the health care debate with interest. Many may not be aware that the bill contains a separate piece of legislation, the Community Living Assistance Service and Supports (CLASS) Act of 2009 which introduces a national voluntary long-term care insurance program open to active employees through their employers. This session will be of interest to those employers currently offering a long-term care insurance benefit and to those who are considering one. Takeaways from this session:
C Spending Accounts: The Canadian Way Spending accounts are growing in popularity in the Canadian workplace. This session provides a valuable insight into this benefit. U.S. employers with Canadian employees may find this session helpful in keeping their welfare programs competitive in Canada. Takeaways from this session:
2:45-3:45 p.m. H Value-Based Pharmacy Networks Much like value-based plan designs reduced excessive spend within the plan design, value-based pharmacy networks (VBPN) can be designed to eliminate excessive and redundant pharmacy spend. The presentation will cover four fundamental truths: (1) lessons learned from transparency, (2) low-cost generic programs, (3) steerage and (4) targeted contracting. Takeaways from this session:
R Improving Retirement Readiness in America The speaker will present solid actions that plan sponsors can take to help maximize their employees' future retirement income. Using case studies, the presentation will cover plan design changes, investment lineup enhancements and participant education strategies that have been successful in improving participant retirement readiness. Takeaways from this session:
G Cross-Border Health Care Options to Reduce Medical Costs Increasing medical costs and the evolving government role in health care suggest the growing need for innovative responses. In this session, cross-border health care options will be discussed, including low-cost accredited hospitals in the United States offering elective medical procedures for rates comparable to Singapore and Thailand (typically from 30 to 60% less than the U.S. Medicare fee schedule). The discussion will also cover global risk factors regarding "cross-border medical options." Takeaways from this session:
C Flexible Benefits: An Agent of Change Canadian businesses continue to struggle with the competing challenges of managing benefit costs while simultaneously offering a competitive program to an increasingly diverse employee population. This session will offer insights into how Canadian employers can leverage the value of employer and employee investment in their benefit plans, and develop an approach to defining a comprehensive and sustainable benefits program. Takeaways from this session:
4:00-5:00 p.m. Speaker: Sheila Laing, Vice President, Human Resources, Hy-Vee, Inc., West Des Moines, Iowa For several years, like many other companies, Hy-Vee has implemented wellness initiatives from the packaged "wellness" programs sold by vendors and offered in the communities. The difference at Hy-Vee is that the initiatives are embedded into the Hy-Vee business model and made part of their culture. The presentation will describe how the employee benefit package blends healthy lifestyle programs and products with the resources, programs and promotions in their Hy-Vee stores targeted at their customers to further their mission and their business. Takeaways from this session:
R Retirement Plan Oversight: Balancing the Needs of the Sponsor, Participants and Vendors Today's retirement programs can be very complex. Evaluating your plan provisions, processes and vendor(s) is necessary. This presentation will cover interested parties, process and oversight team, plan issues/requirements, objectives and benchmarks to determine if a vendor change is necessary. Takeaways from this session:
G Sales Compensation in a New Era Not every salesperson is motivated by money and rewards. In fact, a major gaffe that companies ignore is that the modern sales force is not necessarily motivated by the same things as previous generations were. Three different case studies of "before" and "after" sales compensation plans will detail the results after changes were made, considerations for changes, and which aspects of the plans were changed and why. Takeaways from this session:
C Pensions and Benefits Issues in a Canadian Acquisition This session will utilize actual M&A case studies to examine retirement and group benefits programs in Canada from the perspective of U.S.-based businesses. The case studies will reflect, in a mergers and acquisitions context, both best practices employed and mistakes experienced in taking over and managing Canadian programs. Takeaways from this session:
6:00-7:30 p.m.
Ms. Hesse will provide a comprehensive update on major court decisions in the areas of benefits, employment and labor law. Her insightful commentary is a regular feature at the Symposium. C Canadian Recent Legal Decisions in Employee Benefits, Labour and Employment Law This session will provide an analysis of major court cases providing attendees with practical information on how plan sponsors can insulate their organization from liability.
In today's pharmacy benefits manager (PBM) procurement process, there are many different pricing strategies employed by PBMs. These differing approaches make it hard to understand the value of PBMs' financial offers, and even harder to compare them. In this session, different pricing approaches, and strategies within each approach, will be discussed and illustrated. Takeaways from this session:
R Retirement Plan Benchmarking With retirement plans receiving increased regulatory and legislative scrutiny, and increased interest from the plaintiff's bar, it has never been more important for plan sponsors to integrate benchmarking into their process for managing their retirement plans. This session will address best practices for benchmarking and the practical issues in creating a benchmarking process that is effective and satisfies your ERISA fiduciary duties. Takeaways from this session:
G Contingent Workers and Benefit Concerns - A Case Study The use of contingent workers is prevalent and is expected to grow. This presentation will identify the legal concerns and issues underlying the retention of these workers and the legal issues associated with contingent workers. The presenter will also provide best practices to follow. Takeaways from this session:
C Ontario Bill 102 Impact on the Pharmaceutical Landscape Many of you are aware of the recent legislative changes in drug programs across Canada. The most recent in Ontario has been viewed by many as the most aggressive reform yet. This presentation will provide an overview of the legislative reforms currently underway in Ontario which will lead to the elimination of "professional allowances" to pharmacies paid by generic-drug manufacturers and a phased-in reduction in lower generic-drug pricing. This Ontario-based legislation will have impact across the country. Takeaways from this session:
10:45-11:45 a.m. H Total Health Approach Employers often fail to consider that wellness includes not only physical lifestyle, but emotional and financial lifestyles as well. This presentation will discuss an incentive design that integrates vendors in a way that provides participant-centric support and tools to help employees set, achieve and measure meaningful goals related to health and wealth. Takeaways from this session:
R The Latest on Retirement Plan Regulations This year promises to be a major year for retirement plan regulations. The Department of Labor has announced its extensive regulatory agenda. This session will review the regulations, highlighting the most significant and/or troublesome; examine the possible problems and difficulties that plan sponsors may have with the regulations; and provide guidance on actions that need to be taken by the plan sponsor. Takeaways from this session:
G From Governance to Engagement: Maximizing Return Through Compensation and Communication Strategies The bar has been raised for both compensation and communications. Governance is demanding that companies step up as global "good citizens." Shareholders want to be informed and have a voice. It is no longer enough to be right; decisions must be perceived to be right. This presentation shows how organizations can effectively integrate communications with compensation to build commitment and engagement on the part of all constituencies. Takeaways from this session:
C What Can Be Learned From U.S. 401(k) Plan Autoenrollments? Due to the lack of regulatory guidance on CAPs, plan sponsors have been reluctant to consider features such as autoenrollment and autoincrease of contributions. Could plan members improve their returns without the need for certain investment decisions? This session will provide an overview of the pros and cons of U.S. 401(k) plan autoenrollment. Canadian plan sponsors will carry away lessons learned from a U.S. plan sponsor perspective in implementing autofeatures. Takeaways from this session:
. H Benchmark Your Health Plan's Administration The national health care reform debate has paid much attention to health plan administrative costs. In fact, health plans have a wide range of administrative costs. This presentation will assess the best strategies and investments for a benefit plan's own administrative spending. Attendees will be able to compare their own cost experience to Milliman's benchmark database. Takeaways from this session:
R Helping Employees Navigate Retirement: The State-of-the-Art in Retirement Income Solutions There has been considerable focus on helping employees accumulate assets for retirement. This session will provide insight into ways that defined contribution plan sponsors can provide retirement support to employees. The speaker will examine forces driving interest in retirement income products, the current regulatory/legislative landscape, and the scope of products available. Takeaways from this session:
G Department of Labor Update Get current, up-to-date information on recent DOL initiatives directly from an expert Department of Labor representative. C The Strength of CAPs in Canada's Retirement Market Canada has one of the leading retirement savings systems in the world. There is room for improvement, however; and, with retirement savings reform on the political agenda, a unique opportunity exists to have governments recognize the strength of Canada's employer-sponsored capital accumulation plan (CAP) market. This presentation will discuss the issues of workplace plan access and retirement income adequacy for Canadians, as well as implementation and improvements to both access coverage and retirement income adequacy. Takeaways from this session:
H Stop-Loss Coverage - Getting Even More Important Stop-loss coverage is taking on more importance because it is increasing in cost faster than underlying medical trends. Large claims are generating higher dollar amounts surpassing plan maximum and health care reform is calling for removing plan limits. What is an employer to do? The presentation will review the underlying method for setting stop-loss levels and provide simple tools for establishing the proper level for each employer. Takeaways from this session:
R Target Retirement Funds - Everything You Ever Wanted to Know This session will explain the differences in how target retirement funds are managed. Glide paths, asset inclusion, asset allocation perspectives, behavioral finance conclusions and other variations of methodologies will be discussed. Industry trends related to target retirement funds will also be covered. Takeaways from this session:
G C Benefit Communication Is so 1980s: Market Your Benefits and Thrive The stakes are too high these days to approach your benefits communication like it's the 1980s. Communication needs to drive behaviors and drive value in this new world. This session will share several exciting tactics and examples to help you better market your benefits to today's employees. Takeaways from this session:
3:45-4:45 p.m. H Understanding Fiduciary Liability for ERISA Health and Welfare Plans This session will discuss how the MetLife Vs. Glenn and Unum decisions impact the new reporting and disclosure requirements, and the risks and obligations that plan fiduciaries must adhere to in their role. Takeaways from this session:
R What Women Want (and Need) in Retirement - Retirement Living From A To Z The average American spends more than 90,000 hours working toward retirement but fewer than ten hours planning for it. The presenter will share the unique aspects affecting women (single and married) during this transition including the nonfinancial aspects of retirement. Takeaways from this session:
G Do You Know Where Your Workers Are? Update on Worker Documentation This presentation will cover several areas: an FLSA update, what happens to noncompliant employers, FLSA requirements listed by category, what these categories mean, exceptions to the rules, and best practices should you come under audit. Takeaways from this session:
C Target vs. Asset Allocation Default Option - Balancing Choice Plan sponsors face the challenge of assisting plan members who may not want to take the time to manage their own investments. Asset allocation funds provide investment options that can assist these employees in achieving their retirement and savings goals. This presentation will provide an analysis of target vs. asset allocation options. Takeaways from this session:
8:00-9:00 a.m. G Where Is the Economy Today and Where Is It Headed Tomorrow? The financial markets, labor markets, housing prices, the credit crunch, possible inflation - the economy continues to be "center stage." Dr. Hammond will provide attendees with information on the current economic state of affairs as well as projections for the remainder of 2010 and into 2011. 9:15-10:15 a.m. H Transparent Benefit Cost Reductionin a Free-Falling Economy It was the perfect storm for a health care organizationÑexperiencing reduced revenues, increased charity care and a need to substantially reduce costs. The organization continued to struggle to find and keep high-quality health care employees. Creative thinking resulted in savings to the organization of millions of dollars with very little employee disruption. The presenter will cover the key elements to review, what external benchmarking is important, how to determine what changes have to be communicated and examples of the cost savings that can be realized. Takeaways from this session:
Defined contribution plans are now the primary retirement savings vehicle for employees. Companies invest significant time and money into their retirement plans, yet how do they know if they are getting the maximum benefit from the plan? This session will discuss measurements that can help sponsors select and implement programs to drive greater success for the plan and its participants. (The discussion will also include a case study example.) Takeaways from this session:
Predictors indicate a talent shortage looming on the horizon, with significant implications for attracting and retaining key talent. The presenters will address what makes key talent stay or leave from the standpoint of psychological, career-based and competitive factors. Takeaways from this session:
10:30-11:30 a.m. H Could Your Organization Be Healthier? The workforce isn't getting any younger. One priority that shouldn't be overlooked is managing the increasing cost of health benefits for an aging workforce. This session will focus on the key drivers of health care costs; and it will provide attendees with information on how to improve employee health through workplace wellness programs and, in the process, manage short-term and long-term health care Takeaways from this session:
R The Trend in Participant Fee Disclosure for Retirement Plans Although the basics of participant fee disclosure have not changed, what is currently new for plan sponsors and what should get their attention? How about a revised Form 5500, Schedule C, another 408(b) (2) disclosure regulation coming soon, and the beginning of a new industry of fee benchmarking service providers. This session will review these trends to help plan sponsors be more informed about fee disclosure requirements, how to compare tools that are currently available, and evaluate the merits of the available fee disclosure data. Takeaways from this session:
G C Centralizing Global Benefit Programs - A Case Study Consolidating global benefits for centralized administration and control can be a complex process, yet one that can yield administrative simplification and cost savings. The session will utilize a case study of how a midsized company (2,200 employees in 34 countries) has approached the consolidation of global benefits to achieve administrative and cost savings. Takeaways from this session:
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