ACLL News & Events

December 20, 2019

Overview of Federal Health Benefits under ERISA

Wednesday, January 8

Noon to 1:00

1 Hour of MCLE participatory credit

$3.50 advance registration, $4 day of event

Speaker: Cristina A. Collazo, Senior Benefits Advisor

Overview of Federal Health Benefits under ERISA is offered by the US Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration, which enforces Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and is presented by Cristina A. Collazo, Senior Benefits Advisor.  Some of the protective health laws and amendments under ERISA that apply to private employer-sponsored health coverage will be discussed.  ERISA imposes compliance obligations and fiduciary standards.  Church and government plans are not subject to ERISA.  Additional programs covering some of the laws listed below in more detail will be scheduled for future dates.

The following laws will be covered in this 1-hour overview with an emphasis on disclosure requirements:

• AFFORDABLE CARE ACT (ACA): Implements health coverage reforms such as eliminating pre-existing condition exclusions, the extension of coverage through age 26, prohibition of rescission of coverage, restrictions on waiting periods, prohibition on lifetime and annual limits, coverage of emergency services, and the Summary of Benefits and Coverage and Uniform Glossary.
• CONSOLIDATED OMNIBUS BUDGET RECONCILIATION ACT (COBRA): Applies to employers that have 20 or more employees on more than 50 percent of the prior calendar year. COBRA requires employers to provide eligible employees and their dependents who would otherwise lose group health coverage due to a qualifying event with an opportunity to continue group health coverage.
• GENETIC INFORMATION AND NON-DISCRIMINATION ACT (GINA): Prohibits health plans and health insurance issuers from discriminating and denying enrollment based on genetic information.
• HEALTH INSURANCE PORTABILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT (HIPPA): Prohibits discrimination based on health status and provides for special enrollment opportunities.
• MENTAL HEALTH PARITY AND ADDICTION EQUITY ACT (MHPAEA): Imposes parity requirements on group health plans that provide benefits for mental health or substance use disorder benefits.
• NEWBORNS' AND MOTHERS' HEALTH PROTECTION ACT (NMHPA): Applies to group health plans that provide maternity or newborn infant coverage. Under the NMHPA, group health plans may not restrict mothers’ and newborns’ benefits for the length of stay in connection to birth of a child.
• WOMEN'S HEALTH AND CANCER RIGHTS ACT (WHCRA): Requires coverage for certain mastectomy benefits.

Online registration HERE

Download a flyer - health benefits flyer

Alameda County Law Library is a multiple activity MCLE provider approved by the State Bar of California.

Substance Abuse in the Legal Profession January 2020

Thursday, January 9

Noon to 1:00

1 Hour MCLE competence issues credit

$30 advance registration, $40 day of event

Speaker: David Mann, Northern California Consultant, The Other Bar

Mann approaches this very serious topic in a manner that incorporates humor and irony and invites attorneys to engage in a bit of sometimes much-needed self-reflection. He incorporates his own situation as a case study of an addict. You will laugh, you may be shocked and you will be tempted to cry.

He will review the brain chemistry of addiction and alcoholism, and discuss the behavioral and health consequences of the disease. The personality traits of attorneys and the qualities of the legal profession combine to make lawyers significantly more susceptible to addiction, and more difficult to treat than the general population. A self-diagnosis exercise is provided for attorneys who are concerned that they may have a problem.  He discusses both systemic and individual solutions to the problem, with references to strategies and resources available to attorneys. The ethical rules concerning substance abuse are cited.

Online registration - HERE

Download a program flyer - SubstanceAbuseMCLE2020Janflyer.pdf

Alameda County Law Library is a multiple activity MCLE provider approved by the State Bar of California.