Healthcare Reform Updates

I have been really amazed recently with the total lackadaisical attitude of many people in the health insurance industry who for some reason have like ostriches put their heads in the sand.  Who am I specifically talking about?  Insurers, Insurance Agents, Trade Associations, Employers, Consultants and other industry participants.  I guess that’s better than people jumping out of windows in a panic, but the attitude in the insurance industry is actually the exact opposite of a panic, a total calm.  A wait and see approach, meaning let’s wait and see how it affects us.   No one is actually actively trying to figure out how healthcare reform affects them, and rather than be proactive and figure it out so they can create a game plan of how do to deal with healthcare reform, literally a large portion of the industry is waiting for someone else to do their job for them and let them know how healthcare reform affects them.  The funny part about it is, they don’t know who this “mysterious” informant will be, just a blind faith that someone, somewhere will let them know what to do.

I don’t know in any business where a “wait and see” approach ever lead to positive results or success.   It usually leads to catastrophic failure.  Can you imagine a professional football team going into a game, without having any plays memorized or studying their opponents, or a military force attacking the enemy without any strategy.  Unless something changes in this area and people wake up and pull their head out of the sand, a lot of employers will find themselves facing fines for non-compliance and potential liability in other areas also.  The same goes for health insurance agents and consultants.  I personally believe that over the next few years there will be a large turnover of agents and consultants by employers, as the employers realize their adviser actually has not advised.  Employers will switch to agents and consultants who are experts in healthcare reform, and employers will recruit benefit managers and human resource directors who they know have a special expertise in healthcare reform.  Being knowledgeable in the topic now makes you invaluable in the future.

Healthcare Reform Certification

Attendees of the National Healthcare Reform Conference this year are able to attend the post conference certification workshop and upon completion receive a certification in healthcare reform.  This certification is designed specifically for CFO’s, Benefit Managers/HR, health insurance agents and consultants, TPA’s, and insurers.  The purpose of the workshop is to certify that the recipient has received advanced education in healthcare reform and has an understanding of the rules, regulations and compliance issues under healthcare reform.  The certification shows that the recipient also has been educated by some of the nation’s experts on healthcare reform and has the ability to better advise those involved in the healthcare industry on the true affects and compliance issues under healthcare reform.

The certification will be held on September 22nd and is sure to be one of the main attractions of the National Healthcare Reform Conference™, which is the first conference in the country that solely focuses on healthcare reform and how healthcare reform affects the insurance and healthcare industries.

www.healthcarereformconference.com

About the Author

Jonathan Edelheit is editor-in-chief of the Healthcare Reform Magazine and has been involved in Health Insurance industry for over ten  years.  His background includes running a national healthcare administrator, designing insurance products for employers and insurance companies and working with thousands of health insurance agents and consultants around the country.  Mr. Edelheit has been mentioned or featured in hundreds of magazines and media over the past few years and is  considered an expert in health insurance and healthcare.  Mr. Edelheit is also the editor of the Self Funding Magazine, the Corporate Wellness Magazine, the Voluntary Benefits Magazine and the Expatriate Healthcare and Travel Insurance Magazine.  Mr. Edelheit also runs one of the largest healthcare conferences in the country, the Employer Healthcare Congress, www.employerhealthcarecongress.com which takes place September 20-22nd, 2010 in Los Angeles, which also includes the National Healthcare Reform Conference, www.healthcarereformconference.com , the Corporate Wellness Conference, www.corporatewellnessconference.com, the Self Funding Employer Healthcare and Workers Compensation Conference, www.selffundingconference.com, and the Voluntary Benefits and Limited Medical Conference, www.voluntarybenefitsconference.com