Communicating Health Care Reform Act Changes

Q: We would like to hear from you! We'd like to know how BEDC Member Companies are communicating to their employees about the PPACA (Recently passed Healthcare Reform Act).

• Are you pushing relevant information out, proactively, in the form of Q&A's or FAQ's?
• Are you responding to employees, only if or as questions arise?
• Are you planning to wait to communicate relevant changes with your new plan year communications [i.e. Open Enrollment]?
• Are you taking a "wait and see" approach and not addressing anything at this time?

I'll gladly accept any other comments or responses you'd like to share with the group.

A: Thank for your input on the Health Care Reform survey questions last week.
17 companies responded. The response was fairly evenly split between proactive/one on one messaging and a wait and see/wait for OE approach.
Of those who responded, many were eager for the results, so I hope you will find this information valuable as you determine your own communications approach.
The breakdown:
Open Enrollment: 2
Wait & See: 7
Proactive: 5
Respond: 1 on 1/OE 3

529 Plan Speakers

Q: Can anyone recommend someone to present 529 Plan to our employees? I've tried Fidelity, but they're not interested (even though we have our 401(k) Plan through them. Thank you.

A: We received five recommendations:

1. Daniel O. Barsnica 
Financial Advisor 
at Ameriprise Financial 
(858) 795-2320 daniel.o.barsnica@ampf.com.
2. 
Brian Clark of Western Financial Planning Corporation at (949) 350-7857.
3. 
Deana Carter 858-756-1566 or dcarter@carterfinancial.biz.
4. Jason Smith 
VP Retirement Plans 
Intercare Insurance Solutions (858) 373-6935.
5. Steve Krogh (760) 438-9772.

Presentation Training

Q: Can anyone recommend a presentation trainer for an executive? (one-on-one training)
We need to start this training asap for a presentation at the end of April. The trainer does not have to understand the subject (pharma research), but of course it would be nice.

A: We received foru recommendations and hired Dana.

1. Diane West 2 Connect (858) 638-7544 dwest@twoconnect.net
2. Dana BristolSmith Speak for Success (760) 726-5272 dana@speakforsuccess.net
3. Jennifer Dreyer Tamayo Consulting
4. Barbara Rocha Barbara Rocha and Associates (626) 792-8075

Life Science Lawyer

Q: Can anyone recommend a San Diego firm that handles clinical trials?

A: I received four replies. Two of the four were for DLA Piper. The other firm recommended was Pillsbury Winthrop and the last firm recommended was a CRO.

HRIS System Selection & Implementation

Q: We are in the process of building a business case for a new HRIS and would like to collect information on the systems that others use, especially for those who have implemented a new system in the last year or two. We’re not ready to talk with vendors until we’ve completed our requirements document but would like to get a sense of whether or not we’re adequately budgeting from both a time and cost perspective. We’ve put together a short survey to collect information on those issues. Thanks so much, and will be happy to share the results.
A: Thanks to those who completed the short survey on HRIS selection and implementation. If you haven’t yet had an opportunity to respond, the survey is still open and additional responses will be added to the results. View the results.

Facility Planning

Q: In planning for a possible location change, I would like to get a sense of whether or not employees in your organization are located in offices/cubicles based on levels/function or a combination of both. If you do have a formal practice in place, I would love to hear about it.
A: Download a spreadsheet with responses.