Meeting:  September 14, 2010

Health Care Reform Law - Implementation Issues Facing Employers and Practitioners  

The new Health Care Reform Law is comprised of many provisions that require the employer to engage extensively in the open enrollment process, the adoption of plan amendments and the assessment of the costs of all the various changes.  The impact on health plans in the coming year is anticipated to be significant and in turn opportunities to effectively plan for the future may present themselves.       

Speakers: Richard Euson, the Garner Consulting Group;
Lori Meaders, Southern California Edison Co.;
Don Meaders, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP

Bios:
Mr Euson has over 25 years experience in the employee benefits field.  His background includes working in a regional claims center for Northwestern National Life Insurance Company, managing the contracts unit for Kaiser Foundation Health Plan in Southern California, and managing the employee benefits department for C.G. Anderson & Associates, a large property and casualty broker in Pasadena.  Prior to joining Garner Consulting, Mr. Euson worked with Health Agencies of the West, a third party administrator in Orange County, where he managed employee benefits programs for large, statewide professional associations.

Mr. Euson holds a B.A. degree from U.S.C. and an M.A. degree from Fuller Theological Seminar.  He is a licensed California life agent and the author of three chapters in the Health Insurance Answer Book.

At Garner Consulting, Mr. Euson's primary focus is assisting clients with regulatory compliance including ERISA, COBRA, HIPAA and other federal and state mandates.  He reviews summary plan descriptions, conducts compliance audits and drafts customized COBRA and HIPAA policy and procedure manuals.  He also conducts medical and dental claim audits and is a URAC-trained health care consultant specializing in claims processing standards.

Lori A. Meaders is a Senior Attorney with Southern California Edison Company where she is responsible for employee benefits matters for the 20,000 employees of Edison International and the Edison subsidiaries.  Her primary focus in recent years has been on welfare benefit plan matters, counseling plan fiduciaries on their obligations and liabilities under ERISA, and negotiating investment agreements for the company’s multiple benefit trusts.

Ms. Meaders has practiced in the employee benefits field for nearly 30 years.  Her experience includes serving as senior counsel at The Walt Disney Company, practicing benefits law at major California law firms, and consulting at international benefits consulting firms. 

Ms. Meaders is a member of the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Employment and Labor Law Committee (served as co-chair of the ERISA Subcommittee 2006-2009), the American Bar Association (Section of Taxation – Employee Benefits Committee), and the National Native American Bar Association.  She was formerly President of the Los Angeles chapters of the Western Pension & Benefits Conference and the International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists, and is presently vice-chair of the Board of Pensions for the California-Pacific Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Mr. Meaders' practice focuses on employee benefits and ERISA, with a broad range of experience within the specialty.  His skill set encompasses qualified plan design, drafting, counseling (including 401(k), defined benefit, and employee stock ownership plans), welfare plan drafting and compliance, executive compensation (including nonqualified deferred compensation plan drafting and counseling, and stock-based compensation, such as restricted stock and qualified and nonqualified option plan drafting and counseling), Internal Revenue Service audits and corrective programs, Department of Labor audits, tax controversy, benefits due diligence and counseling in connection with mergers and acquisitions, and strategic assistance to litigators in ERISA litigation.

Mr. Meaders is particularly known for his experience in the legal aspects of institutional pension plan investment and related fiduciary matters and in collectively-bargained multiemployer plan practice.  He has many years of experience as plan counsel to major multiemployer (Taft-Hartley) trusts.