Around 3,000 executives from the health insurance sector and related industries will converge beginning Wednesday in Salt Lake City for AHIP Institute 2012. This year's event is sure to be lively considering the impending Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Care Act and the upcoming presidential election.
The premiere event for health insurance executives has once again this year attracted topnotch keynote speakers and presenters who will bring attendees up-to-date on both the latest trends in the healthcare industry as well as provide a bit of insight into the politics of healthcare.
Thursday's general session will be kicked off by AHIP CEO Karen Ignagni who will speak about the efforts some individual states have made in reforming their health insurance laws without an accompanying individual mandate and the effects these efforts had on the costs of premiums.
"We are heading into a very critical time for the insurance industry," said AHIP spokesman Robert Zirklebach. "This is likely the week before the Supeme Court is going to make their decision. Our CEO will speak about the states that tried insurance market reform with an individual mandate and the disastrous consequences consumers saw in those states where consumers saw significantly higher premiums, fewer choices and states didn't see any reduction in the number of uninsured. This will provide important insight as we get ready for the ruling."
People arriving the day before, on Wednesday, will be able to attend two day-long programs focused on compliance and the ongoing work on the state health insurance exchanges.
The compliance forum will tackle pressing issues related to the Affordable Care Act and the rules and regulations that are affecting and will affect how health plans operate. It will cover issues such as the status of the ACA litigation, controversial health reform initiatives and emerging implementation projects that are already under way that can directly affect the operations of payers.
The exchange conference continues a series of conferences on health insurance exchanges that AHIP has run in conjunction with a number of its other events including the winter Policy Summit held annually in Washington and the AHIP Fall Forum held each November in Chicago.
The conference will bring attendees up-to-date with the latest policy and operational issues facing health plans as they look to participate in the state health insurance exchanges that will be up and running by Jan. 1, 2014. According to AHIP, speakers will "examine issues including how to prepare for year one of implementation, the linkages between Medicaid and the exchanges, and quality improvement strategies."
One general session Zircklebach anticipates will draw a lot of interest from attendees will be Thursday's "Politics, Public Perception, and Health Reform: Implications for the 2012 Elections" at 1:30 p.m., which will feature Washington insiders and current CNN political analysts Ari Fleischer and Paul Begala.
"They are both very smart political minds who will provide perspectives from both sides of the aisle," noted Zirkelbach. "They both know what it is like to be working on the inside. They will give people a balanced perspective on what is happening in the political environment and what that might mean for the industry."
Wrapping up Institute 2012 on Friday at 12:45 p.m. will be noted healthcare pioneer and author Deepak Chopra who will discuss issues of health and well-being.
"AHIP is continually looking for ways to engage our membership and to provide them with the latest new information and thought leadership on key healthcare issues and this is another opportunity for us to provide our membership with information about what is happening in the industry," Zirklebach said.