WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Phia Group, LLC, of Braintree, Massachusetts, was named a Blue Ribbon Small Business Award® winner today by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The company was recognized for its dedication to the principles of free enterprise and its contributions to restoring jobs and prosperity.
MyHealthGuide Source: Adam V. Russo, CEO, The Phia Group, 2/6/2012, www.PhiaGroup.com
To the Editors of Wall Street Journal: On January 7, 2012, Leslie Scism wrote an article for the Wall-Street Journal, titled ” When Insurance Fails: Cheaper Policies Bought in the Workplace Can Have Drawbacks.” As an attorney as well as a regular reader of the Wall-Street Journal, I was shocked to see such misinformation. At the outset, the author mentions premium increases health insurance has been imposing upon us. These premium increases apply solely to what is called “fully funded insurance policies;” whereby an insured pays premiums to an insurance carrier, and the carrier bears the risk of loss…
BRAINTREE, MASSACHUSETTS – February 10, 2012 – The guidance, scheduled for publication on February 14, 2012, sets forth the rules for group health plans to draft the mandated SBCs for the first year of their application. The Departments advise they are taking a “phased approach” to implementation, particularly since they acknowledge that January 1, 2014 will bring on new market reforms wherein additional changes will be prompted…
Braintree, MA, 01/25/2012 – To ensure that all self funded benefit plans maximize benefits while minimizing costs, The Phia Group is proud to announce its new “Plan Language Service Center.”
The Phia Group’s Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Ron E. Peck, advised that, “It is a fact that the greatest advantage of being self-funded is plan design. All of the plan’s rights, obligations, and rules are set forth in its plan document. That is why a benefit plan’s rights are only as good as its plan language.” The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) merely permits the enforcement of the plan document. If the document is ambiguous or silent as it relates to any issue, the benefits of ERISA are nullified…
December 15, 2011 – The Self-Insurance Institute of America, Inc. (SIIA) today filed an “initial” amicus brief with the Texas State Supreme Court in the case of GPA Holdings, Inc. v. Baylor Health Care Systems. This initial brief supports GPA’s request that the Supreme Court consider arguments to reverse an adverse judgment issued by the Fifth District Court of Appeals. Should the Court agree to hear arguments, SIIA will file a secondary, more comprehensive brief.
Braintree, Massachusetts – November 16, 2011 - The Phia Group is proud to announce that with the completion of its extract for the purposes of data mining, it has finalized a successful partnership with WLT Software. The Phia Group has been diligently working alongside WLT to develop this tool that allows the seamless transfer of claims data based on The Phia Group’s proprietary Phia System™.
Braintree, Massachusetts, October 7, 2011 – The IRS recently published preliminary guidelines regarding the implementation of certain provisions included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). Specifically, the ACA will require fees to be imposed on both fully and self insured health plans to help fund comparative clinical effectiveness research relating to patient-centered outcomes. The ACA creates a nonprofit corporation, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, to conduct and promote clinical effectiveness research. The Phia Group, LLC reviewed IRS Notice 2011-35 and has outlined the pertinent provisions and our concerns below.
Braintree, Massachusetts, October 7, 2011 – While considering changes to its model Stop-Loss Act, The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (“NAIC”) was recently credited with comments that misclassify self-funded benefit plans as fully-funded policies of insurance, if and when they possess stop-loss protection. In short, it has been proposed that a self-funded benefit plan which carries stop-loss is no different than any other insured product.
Braintree, Massachusetts, 10/06/11 – The Phia Group, LLC is pleased to introduce ease and flexibility to its TPA clients, in contracting with their benefit plan clientele, through a series of new ASA templates.
For the first time, The Phia Group, LLC will have two representatives speaking at SIIA’s National Conference.
