Audio Conferences

  March 30, 2005 at 02:00PM ET

Health care insurance costs continue to skyrocket! Now your firm will once again be faced with double-digit increases—for the fifth year in a row!

Larger law firms looking to combat high costs and still offer quality health benefits are considering a health care consortium. Could this be a valuable alternative for your firm?

Many firms across the country have been steadily pooling workforces to form health care consortia. Using their greater market clout to purchase and administer health, dental and vision coverage, firms have found more favorable premiums, a wider array of plan choices, and lower administrative costs.

In fact, statistics show that since inception, every one of the consortium groups in DC, Atlanta, Chicago and California have beaten the trend on average health care cost increases. For example, in 2003 the Chicago group’s costs increased only 9.7 percent on average, compared to 15.2 percent for the market. And—major insurers such as Cigna and Blue Cross/Blue Shield have moved from resistance to support of the model, offering top plan choices and pricing.

Join IOMA and a panel of law firm leaders currently participating in health care consortia for an in-depth discussion of the consortium model. In just 90 minutes you’ll find out:

• The background and design of law firm health consortia
• The bottom-line on financial accountability and accuracy
• How to review advantages, disadvantages—and risks of participating in a consortium
• The profile of firms that would likely benefit from consortium participation
• Why the benefits are more than just financial: i.e. aggregated data from consortium members and performance guarantees not available to a firm on its own
• How a consortium can offer greater flexibility in testing out plan design options (HSAs, HRAs, high deductible plans, etc.)
• More effective management options for post-retirement health care benefits
• How to quantify potential savings

Cheryl Troxel, Director of Administration
Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP

William Stanton, Managing Director, Palmer & Cay
Palmer & Cay is a Savannah, Ga.-based insurance and benefits consulting firm working with law firm consortia in four major areas: DC, Atlanta, Chicago and California.

Tonya K. Poole, Director of Human Resources
Arnall Golden Gregory

Pennie Hinds, Partner, Palmer & Cay