• Toussaint Anderson
• Ulyana Bevilacqua
• Brady Bizarro
• Amanda Grogan
• Garrick Hunt
• Amanda Lima
• Maribel McLaughlin
• Victoria Pace

These fine people will represent our company at SIIA’s first foray into ensuring the future of self-funding. I would encourage all of you to identify the future leaders of your organization and send them to SIIA as well. Happy reading!

Register for The Phia Group's Next Webinar

4 Horsemen of the Plan-pocalypse

Nostradamus? Miss Cleo? The Phia Group? In a psychic feat of foresight, The Phia Group’s team has gazed into their crystal ball and identified four issues that may not presently be keeping you up at night, but will certainly be disturbing your slumber very soon. From being forced to pay for surrogate pregnancy and births, to the IRS actively issuing letters notifying employers of 2015 tax year penalties; from a new wave of fraud, errors, and abuse leading to heretofore unseen overpayments, to case law addressing the rights of plans to utilize reference based pricing – you’ve been warned! We predict this complimentary webinar, taking place at 1pm (EST) on April 19, 2018, will open your eyes. Miss this webinar at your own peril… You’ve been warned!

Click HERE to Register!

Service Focus of the Quarter: Plan Appointed Claim Evaluator® (PACE)

Making determinations on medical claim appeals is a frightening prospect. The process can involve complex factual, legal, and medical issues, and can distract an employer plan sponsor from its ordinary business functions, posing a significant resource drain. The PACE service allows the plan sponsor to shift fiduciary duty away, onto the PACE, for final, internal claim appeals. With PACE, plan sponsors and TPAs assign the riskiest fiduciary duty (that is, the power to make payment decisions in response to final, internal appeals), to The Phia Group. This authority carries with it the most risk, because it is this final payment directive that may be scrutinized upon external review or in the courtroom.

Self-funding veterans and novices alike will benefit from PACE. Groups that are moving from fully-insured or ASO arrangements can use PACE as a valuable tool to aid in the transition; these groups have never before been faced with such fiduciary liability - with the PACE, that daunting responsibility can be delegated to a neutral and capable third party. In addition to having a third party expert analyze all final, internal appeals, before they reach an external review, the PACE also ensures that legally mandated independent review organizations (IROs) are in place, and the PACE handles facilitation of external appeals with these IROs. Regardless of whether the PACE upholds or reverses a denial, the PACE's service continues to apply. This includes coordinating efforts with stop-loss, plan sponsors, brokers, and TPAs whenever these partners do not align. PACE is a way for the employer to be able to focus less on the complexities of its health plan, fiduciary duties, and stop-loss concerns, and more on what matters - its business. PACE is also a way for the payor to rest easy knowing that it is not unwittingly assuming fiduciary duties on final, internal appeals.

For years, self-funded plan sponsors and TPAs have asked how they can avoid the risks inherent in self-funding, while still enjoying the benefits of that plan structure. According to The Phia Group's CEO, Adam Russo, "With a PACE in place, we're taking a giant step in the right direction. It's a game changer." Contact Tim Callender at tcallender@phiagroup.com or 781-535-5631 to learn more about how PACE can help you.

Phia Case Study: Overpayment, Schmoverpayment!

The Phia Group was presented with a situation in which a TPA had processed a claim in error. The issue was one of eligibility; the TPA processed the claim as usual, without realizing that the member had in fact termed the prior week. The TPA had the information, but through a fairly common record update delay, the claim was paid at the appropriate out-of-network rate - but for a termed member.

The group's broker contacted the TPA and was somewhat upset at the erroneous claim processing. The TPA explained the circumstances - and the TPA's Administrative Services Agreement did not hold the TPA responsible - but the broker expressed interest in pursuing the matter, given the sizeable amount of money involved. The broker was also looking into having the group switch TPAs.

When this matter was brought to the attention of The Phia Group's consulting team, our first two actions were to try to diffuse the situation between the broker and TPA, and to try to recoup the overpayment to keep both sides happy.

As it happened, The Phia Group's dedicated overpayment team had a prior relationship with this particular provider, and our overpayment recovery specialists were able to recover $40,000.00 of the $42,000.00 erroneous payment. That recovery satisfied the broker and the group, and the TPA agreed to credit the group the remaining $2,000.00 as a gesture of good faith (and a smart business decision to boot).

The recovery obtained by The Phia Group's overpayment team not only salvaged $40,000.00 for the group, but it avoided a feud between a TPA and broker, and also helped the TPA keep a valuable block of business that it would otherwise have lost.

Fiduciary Burden of the Quarter: Following the Plan Documents…Unless…

Generally, it is fairly simple to comply with the duty to follow the terms of the plan documents. That important duty, however, applies only "insofar as such documents and instruments are consistent with the provisions of [ERISA]." In other words, you must follow the plan documents, unless the plan documents violate ERISA, in which case you must follow ERISA instead. The powers that be have interpreted this as applying not just to ERISA, but to all federal laws. The result is that federal law "overrides" any conflicting terms of the plan documents - so Plan Administrators are sometimes forced to ignore the terms of the plan documents in favor of following federal law.

So what does this mean? Well, if the plan documents have provisions that violate federal law, the fiduciary duty morphs from one requiring the fiduciary to comply with the terms of the plan documents to one requiring the fiduciary to comply with the law instead of the plan document.

An example we have seen are the new regulations promulgated under ACA Section 1557 regarding transgender surgery. There is a certain amount of legal discord at the moment surrounding the interpretation of these regulations, but the status quo is that self-funded health plans are not permitted to exclude transgender surgery, or they risk violation of the Affordable Care Act. Many employers, however, have taken a stance against this mandate, by excluding transgender surgery within their plan documents. This is a textbook instance where the fiduciary duty would change: if following the terms of the plan document would be noncompliant with other federal laws, then the fiduciary is required to follow those federal laws instead.

This can be a very tricky situation, and it emphasizes the notion that the plan documents should always be as compliant and current as possible to avoid having to analyze situations like this. As always, if you have questions about your plan documents, fiduciary duties, or how to reconcile the two, please contact PGCReferral@phiagroup.com.

Success Story of the Quarter: The Phia Group Saves an Employer Thousands of Dollars

The IRS has recently been enforcing the Employer Shared Responsibility Mandate (“employer mandate”) by sending letters to employers implicating that they may have violated the employer mandate rules and may owe a substantial penalty called an Employer Shared Responsibility Payment (“ESRP”). This employer mandate was put in place by the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). The ACA requires Applicable Large Employers (“ALEs”) who have 50 or more employees to (1) provide minimum essential health coverage to all full-time employees and their dependents (or the employer will face a subsection (a) penalty); or (2) offer eligible employer-sponsored coverage that is “affordable” and meets “minimum value” (or the employer will face a subsection (b) penalty). Employers who receive these letters may have to pay the ESRP, but have a chance to respond to the letter before the penalty is mandated.

A client was presented with one of these letters from an employer. The employer was facing over $50,000.00 dollars in penalties if they did not respond to the letter properly and explain why they were/were not at fault. The IRS has specific guidelines of how to respond to these letters. This can become very daunting and confusing for employers facing these high penalties. The client reached out to The Phia Group for consultation. Attorneys Krista Maschinot and Erin Hussey analyzed the situation and explained what the employer may or may not have done wrong to receive this large employer mandate penalty, and with their consultation, the employer was able to identify their mistake and properly respond to the IRS letter. After the employer explained their mistake and properly responded to the IRS letter, the IRS sent a second letter to the employer which lowered their penalty to less than $2,500.00, saving the employer thousands in penalties.

Disclaimer: As these forms are heavily based in IRS regulations and taxation, we strongly recommended to the broker that the employer should discuss this with their tax advisor and/or the entity that assisted in preparing their tax forms.
 

Phia Fit to Print:

• Self-Insurers Publishing Corp. - Buyer Beware - No Good Deed Goes Unpunished - January 3, 2018

• Money Inc. - Too Good to Pass Up: How we Over Come the Loss of the Individual Mandate - January 24, 2018

• Money Inc. - The Best of Times and the Worst of Times… How Imperfect Regulatory Action May Still Create Opportunities for Self-Funding - February 22, 2018

• Self-Insurers Publishing Corp. - Trump Tax Bill Signals the Swan Song for Obamacare's Individual Mandate - March 4, 2018

• Money Inc. - Freedom Blue: Why the Trump Administration Picked Obamacare over Idaho - March 29, 2018

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From the Blogosphere:

• Contraceptive Update - Appeals and Intervenors There is a process that must be followed before a party can intervene.

• What do All These New Paid Sick Laws Mean for Employers? The regulations vary by state (and city).

• Even the Best Plans can Backfire! It's very important in subrogation cases to consider all options.

• Your Plan isn't a Cadillac …Yet. The ACA Health Insurance Provider Tax is applicable for fully-insured plans

To stay up to date on other industry news, please visit our blog.

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Webinars

4 Horsemen of the Plan-pocalypse

Nostradamus? Miss Cleo? The Phia Group? In a psychic feat of foresight, The Phia Group's team has gazed into their crystal ball and identified four issues that may not presently be keeping you up at night, but will certainly be disturbing your slumber very soon. From being forced to pay for surrogate pregnancy and births, to the IRS actively issuing letters notifying employers of 2015 tax year penalties; from a new wave of fraud, errors, and abuse leading to heretofore unseen overpayments, to case law addressing the rights of plans to utilize reference based pricing - you've been warned! We predict this complimentary webinar, taking place at 1pm (EDT) on April 19, 2018, will open your eyes. Miss this webinar at your own peril… You've been warned!

Click HERE to Register!

On March 20, 2018, The Phia Group presented, "Transparency: Using it to Your Advantage," where we discussed the need for, and effects of, contractual and price transparency on the self-funded industry - and how health plans, TPAs, and brokers can use transparency to their advantage.

On February 27, 2018, The Phia Group presented, "Evolve or Dissolve - Responding to Today's Tax Law to Save the Health Benefit Plan Industry Tomorrow," where we discussed what you need to know about the new law, and how to navigate the treacherous path that lies ahead.

On February 22, 2018, The Phia Group presented, "Keeping it Under Wraps: What the Networks Don't Advertise," where we discussed how the importance of cost-containment is at an all-time high.

On January 30, 2018, The Phia Group presented, "Plan on Saving by Saving Your Plan - Applying Lessons Learned to Create the Perfect Plan Document," where we discussed The Phia Group's Flagship Template.

On January 18, 2018, The Phia Group presented, "A Taxing Time: The Tax Bill's Impact on Self-Insurance," where we discussed the latest tax law.

Be sure to check out all of our past webinars!

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Podcasts:

•On March 23, 2018, The Phia Group presented, “Loopholes, Untouchables, and An Unlikely Ally,” where Adam, Ron, and Brady went around the horn discussing a few hot button topics.

•On March 16, 2018, The Phia Group presented “Partners in Empowerment – A Prescription for Savings,” where Ron and Brady were thrilled to interview LG Hanzel of Rx Results.

•On March 1, 2018, The Phia Group presented “Red Cross Blood Drive Special Episode,” where The Phia Group in partnership with the Red Cross hosted an on-site blood drive. Ron Peck interviewed members of The Phia Group staff and Red Cross regarding personal experiences, the Phia event, and the ever present need for donors.

•On February 26, 2018, The Phia Group presented “3 Scoops of Knowledge,” where Adam, Ron and Brady celebrated the forthcoming change in seasons and warming weather, by each selecting a unique topic that was bugging them, and offered their opinions regarding how we should react.

•On February 16, 2018, The Phia Group presented “Fireside Chat with The President,” where our first Empowering Plans guest, the Self-Insurance Institute of America’s CEO and President, Michael Ferguson, sat down with Adam, Ron and Brady to discuss everything – from past wins and losses, to plans for 2018.

•On February 7, 2018, The Phia Group presented “Disruption or Not?,” where our hosts discussed the recent announcement that Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan are looking to collaborate on “health care.”

•On January 29 2018, The Phia Group presented “Game-changers” where our hosts discussed Adam’s recent travels and review events.

•On January 22, 2018, The Phia Group presented “Mandate? We don’t need no stinking mandate,” where Adam, Ron, and regular co-host – Brady Bizarro – addressed the new tax law, elimination of the individual mandate, and how it may impact benefit plans of all types.

•On January 10, 2018, The Phia Group presented “Lightning Strikes Twice – Top 2017 Issues Impacting 2018,” where the “Phia Group Boys” freestyled as they shared the issues they felt defined 2017 and are likely to influence 2018.

Be sure to check out all of our latest podcasts!

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The Phia Group’s 2018 Charity

At The Phia Group, we value our community and everyone in it. As we grow and shape our company, we hope to do the same for the people around us.

The Phia Group's 2018 charity is the Boys & Girls Club of Brockton.

The mission of The Boys & Girls Club is to nurture strong minds, healthy bodies, and community spirit through youth-driven quality programming in a safe and fun environment.

The Boys & Girls Club of Brockton (BGCB) was founded in 1990 to create a positive place for the youth of Brockton, Massachusetts. It immediately met a need in the community; in the first year alone, 500 youths, ages 8-18, signed up as club members. In the 25 years since, the club has expanded its scope exponentially by offering a mix of Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) nationally developed programs and activities unique to this club.

Since their founding, more than 20,000 Brockton youth have been welcomed through their doors. Currently, they serve more than 1,000 boys and girls ages 5-18 annually through academic year and summertime programming.

On Thursday, February 8th, CEO of The Phia Group, Adam Russo, invited 50+ children from The Boys & Girls Club of Brockton to a Seussical play at the Inly School in Adam's hometown of Scituate, MA. It was truly a pleasure to see the look on their faces while watching the play.

The Phia Group invites its staff to donate various items for the benefit of The Boys and Girls Club of Brockton. For more information or to get involved, visit www.bgcbrockton.org.

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The Stacks

Trump Tax Bill Signals the Swan Song for Obamacare's Individual Mandate

By: Sean Donnelly, Esq. - March 2018 - Self-Insurers Publishing Corp.

The "tax" bill that Congress passed in late December was somewhat of a wolf in sheep's clothing from a health care perspective. It certainly overhauled the tax code and instituted tax cuts for corporations and many American taxpayers, but it also doubled as a thinly veiled health care bill through its repealing of Obamacare's individual mandate. Authors of the tax bill postulated that such a repeal could save the federal government more than $330 billion over the next decade, as fewer Americans will end up receiving subsidies or Medicaid, savings that could then be used to finance the bill's tax cuts and lower tax rates. The tax bill was not the complete eradication of Obamacare that the Trump administration had set its sights on during the first year of Trump's presidency, but the dismantling of the individual mandate marks the first removal of a key pillar in the Obamacare foundation.

Click here to read the rest of this article

The Best of Times and the Worst of Times… How Imperfect Regulatory Action May Still Create Opportunities for Self-Funding

By: Jen McCormick, Esq. - February 2018

Regulators have been busy over the course of the past few months. Between the issuance of executive orders, a tax bill, and state regulatory action, employers are scrambling to understand the implications. And while regulatory action has been quick, it has not necessarily been thorough, creating possibilities and opportunities for self-funded health plans. Upon review of the various regulations, it seems new incentives for the creation of self-funded employer plans now exist. Employers may investigate taking advantage of this environment to form, create, or modify their self-funded benefit plans. Let's examine certain recent regulatory developments.

Click here to read the rest of this article.

Buyer Beware - No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

By: Ron E. Peck, Esq. - January 2018 - Self-Insurers Publishing Corp.

Employers and their advisors may soon find themselves accused of breaching their fiduciary duty if they continue to allow their benefit plans to pay inflated rates for medical services, without any justification for the excessive prices. Blindly paying fees that are not revealed until after the service is provided, to practitioners who cannot explain why their rates are many times more than comparable providers of equal or greater skill, is not a prudent use of plan assets and does violate one of the core tenets of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA") and fiduciary law.

Click here to read the rest of this article.

To stay up to date on other industry news, please visit our blog.

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Phia’s 2018 Speaking Events:

Adam Russo’s 2018 Speaking Engagements:

• 1/23/18 - Q4 Intelligence Conference - Tampa, FL
• 2/2/2018 - Benefit Intelligence School District Conference - Phoenix, AZ
• 3/7/2018 - SIIA Self-Insured Health Plan Executive Forum - Charleston, NC
• 3/9/2018 - CGI Business Solutions Seminar - Manchester, NH
• 3/14/2018 - Pareto StructuRE Meeting - Park City, UT
• 4/12/2018 - Caprock Health Care Forum - Dallas, TX
• 4/25/2018 - Berkley Captive Symposium - Grand Cayman Islands
• 4/26/2018 - Innovative Risk - Grand Cayman Islands
• 4/30/2018 - World Health Care Congress - Washington, DC
• 5/17/2018 - Prairie States Broker Event - Chicago, IL
• 6/21/2018 - GBSI Conference - Springfield, MO
• 6/26/2018 - Leavitt Annual Event - Big Sky, MT

Ron Peck’s 2018 Speaking Engagements:

• 1/25/2018 - HealthFirst TPA Client Conference - Tyler, TX
• 3/6/2018 - SIIA National Conference - Charleston, SC
• 3/7/2018 - CGI Business Solutions Seminar - Manchester, NH
• 3/23/18 - Health Rosetta - Module 5: Next-Gen Plan Design - Boston, MA

Tim Callender’s 2018 Speaking Engagements:

• 2/14/2018 - BevCap Captive Group, 10th Anniversary Meeting - Kona, HI
• 4/25/2018 - Cypress University - Las Vegas, NV
• 5/7/2018 - UBA Spring Conference - Chicago, IL
• 5/16/2018 - Sun Life MVP Forum - Kansas City, KS
• 5/24/2018 - Pareto Captive Services, Contrarian Re Captive Meeting - Nashville, TN
• 6/25/2018 - Leavitt Conference - Big Sky, MT
• 7/17/2018 - HCAA TPA Summit - Minneapolis, MN

Jen McCormick’s 2018 Speaking Engagements:

• 4/17/2018 – Texas Association of Benefit Advisors – Dallas, TX
• 5/16/2018 – IOA RE – Indianapolis, IN

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Get to Know Our Employee of the Quarter: Catherine Dowie

Congratulations to Catherine Dowie, The Phia Group's Q1 2018 Employee of the Quarter!

When we think of passion, we think of Catherine. Not only is she working full time, but she is also going to law school full time at night. Even with all the work she has from attending law school, she still manages to find time at night, after school and on weekends, to work. Anyone can always go to her with a question on case law, and if she does not have an answer right away, she is always able to find an argument on the Plan's side.

Congratulations Catherine and thank you for your many current and future contributions.

Phia News

2017 Community Partner of the Year Award!

The Phia Group and Adam Russo were recently awarded the "2017 Community Partner of the Year Award" in Easton, Massachusetts, on March 1, 2018. The Community Partner of the Year Award is presented annually to a company, foundation, or community organization that has made significant contributions to advance the work of the Boys & Girls Club of Brockton. In 2017, The Phia Group gave more than just financial support to propel the programs forward, and their employees and leadership gave generously of our time and talents to create special, lasting memories for the boys and girls throughout the year.

The American Red Cross Visits Phia!

The American Red Cross came to visit The Phia Group and 18 of our employees successfully donated a pint of blood. With those 18 donations, we were able to save 54 lives. We take great pride in knowing the impact this can have. To learn more about the American Red Cross and how you can help save a life, make sure you check out The American Red Cross website.

Job Opportunities:

• Health Benefit Plan Administration - Attorney
• Consultant I

See the latest job opportunities, here: https://www.phiagroup.com/About-Us/Careers

Promotions

• Brady Bizarro was promoted from Staff Attorney to Director, Healthcare Attorney

• Amanda Lima was promoted from Medical Bill Negotiator to Team Lead, Provider Relations

• Ulyana Bevilacqua was promoted from Consultant I to Supervisor, PGC

• Jillian Painten was promoted from Claim Recovery Specialist IV to Team Leader

• Toussaint Anderson was promoted from Project Manager, PGC to Manager, PDM

• Kelly Dempsey was promoted from Staff Attorney to Director, Independent Consultation & Evaluation (ICE)

• Sabrina Centeio was promoted from Case Investigator to Claim Recovery Specialist III

• Amanda Grogan was promoted from Sr. Claim Recovery Specialist to Team Lead

• Kerri Sherman was promoted from Team Lead, CI / BI to Sr. Team Lead, CI / BI

• Cara Carll was promoted from Team Lead, Recovery MPC/WC to Sr. Team Lead, CA/CSR

• Lisa Tangney was promoted from Manager, Accounting to Controller

• Rose Jardim was promoted from Accounting Administrator to Team Lead, Accounting

• Hemant Dua was promoted from Dir. Applications & Business Intelligence to Sr. Director of Technology

• Garrick Hunt was promoted from Sales Executive to Sales Manager
 

New Hires

• Grace Barron was hired as a Customer Care Representative

• Jacob Falkof was hired as a Customer Care Representative

• David Clasby was hired as an IT Technologist

• Cindy Royle was hired as a Legal Assistant
 

Fun at Phia:

The Phia Family is one good-looking group of footballers! Our Superbowl Party was a hit and we thank all those who participated. Although we did have fans from both teams in the office that day, there were no casualties; and that in itself was a huge success!

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