This audio conference was recorded on Monday - June 15, 2009

Credits:

This program has been approved for 1.5 recertification credit hours toward PHR and SPHR recertification through the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI). For more information about certification or recertification, please visit the HRCI homepage at www.hrci.org. The use of this seal is not an endorsement by HRCI of the quality of the program. It means that this program has met HRCI’s criteria to be pre-approved for recertification.

Description:

The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) got a lot of press, to say the least. The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA), which went into effect at the same time, is less well-known–but it’s crucially important for employers to get up to speed.

The MHPAEA applies to employers with more than 50 employees. It requires health insurance plans to provide the same financial and treatment coverage benefits for mental health conditions as those offered for physical ailments. The parity requirement takes effect for plan years beginning on or after Oct. 3, 2009–which means that most employer-sponsored group plans will need to be fully compliant by Jan. 1, 2010. Don’t wait until you’re down to the wire to make sure your plan documents are in order.

Order this in-depth 90-minute audio conference recording all about your obligations under the MHPAEA. Our experts–experienced employment and healthcare litigators–will explain the compliance deadlines, the available exemptions, and the potential pitfalls that could trip you up. They will also explain how the ADAAA, which defines a mental impairment, interacts with the MHPAEA.

Speaker(s):

David J. Tecson, Esq., is a partner in the Chicago office of Chuhak & Tecson, PC. He concentrates his practice in civil litigation, including cases involving complex employment and healthcare issues. Tecson also lectures and writes on legal issues. He is the co-author of the 2004 Supplement to the IICLE Practice Handbook on Employment Discrimination, and the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education selected him to write a chapter in the 2007 Practice Handbook on Employment Discrimination.

Ryan A. Haas, Esq., an associate in the Chicago office of Chuhak & Tecson, PC., concentrates his practice in the litigation of employment and complex healthcare matters in state and federal court. He has represented business, healthcare entities, not-for-profit organizations and individuals on various employment issues, including covenants not-to-compete, discrimination, wage and hour matters, and physician contract disputes. He has published several articles on issues in employment law and other areas of commercial law.

You and your colleagues will learn:

• Whether the MHPAEA applies to your organization and, if so, the crucial compliance deadlines you’ll need to meet in the next few months
• If a small employer, “one-year cost,” or other exemption applies to your organization
• Prohibited actions you shouldn’t take with regard to how co-payments, co-insurance, deductibles, and out-of-pocket costs are handled
• The new required disclosures–and what you’ll need to do to comply
• The MHPAEA’s effect on specific plan designs, including prescription drug carve-outs
• How to rewrite and redesign your healthcare plans to achieve benefits parity in time for the deadline