2024 Employee Benefits Symposium
Tuesday, April 16, 2024 | 8:30 am - Noon
Renaissance Chicago Glenview Suites Hotel
1400 Milwaukee Ave, Glenview, IL 60025
Speaker’s Name
Title
Company Name
"The topic that the speaker is going to present on."
Steve Hamman
President
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois
"COVID-19 Impact to the Health Care System and What Employers Should Be Thinking About Long-Term"
Steve Hamman
President
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois
As president, Steve is responsible for the overall financial performance, long-term growth strategy and strategic planning of the state’s largest health insurance company, which serves more than 8 million members.
Steve joined BCBSIL in 1991 and has served in a variety of management roles within the company during his tenure at BCBSIL and at Health Care Service Corporation — which operates Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans in Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. He most recently served as senior vice president, Enterprise Network Solutions and Provider Partnerships, for Health Care Service Corporation.
"The Political Landscape: Health Policy Outlook and Potential Election Outcomes"
MPP, President, District Policy Group
Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
Ilisa Halpern Paul
Recognized by The Hill as a Top Lobbyist for the past several years, Ilisa Halpern Paul has deep experience and command of a wide range of issues, including health care financing and delivery system reform, the Medicare and Medicaid programs, the Affordable Care Act, digital health and telemedicine, home health, public health, behavioral health, and the federal budget and appropriations processes.
Ilisa partners with for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations to develop strategies to advance their federal legislative, regulatory, programmatic, policy and business goals. She works with clients to establish and strengthen relationships with elected officials and federal agencies, develop and implement government relations and advocacy programs, and craft effective grassroots campaigns. Clients value Ilisa’s strategic insight, creative ideas and ability to anticipate federal policy challenges and opportunities.
Ilisa Halpern Paul
MPP, President, District Policy Group
Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
Speaker’s Name
Title
Company Name
"The topic that the speaker is going to present on."
Jeff Kolker
Senior Vice President
GCG Financial
"2020 Benchmarking Results"
Jeff Kolker
Senior Vice President
GCG Financial
Jeff joined GCG 1992 and became Vice President of Employee Benefits in 1999. His responsibilities include supervision of the employee benefits resource team, product review, and the sale of new and renewal employee benefits programs including medical, dental, disability, and various other employee benefits to our clientele.
Jeff has used his accounting background and communication skills to become a leading producer in group benefits. He has been involved in speaking and advisory roles for many of the national health carriers, helping design benefit plans and providing valuable feedback on various plans’ strengths and weaknesses. His understanding and grasp of the continued pressures on businesses to remain competitive and profitable have helped make him successful in the employee benefits field. Jeff has also served on various advisory boards for insurance carriers doing business in the Chicagoland area. Jeff, along with GCG’s employee benefits division, has been recognized by several of the national carriers as a top producer and preferred broker.
Speaker’s Name
Title
Company Name
"The topic that the speaker is going to present on."
Michael Catalano
Lead Financial Analyst
GCG Financial
"2020 Benchmarking Results"
Michael Catalano
Lead Financial Analyst
GCG Financial
Michael Catalano is a Lead Financial Analyst who joined GCG in 2012. Michael’s primary responsibilities include heading up the financial analyst department and supporting GCG’s key account clients in the area of financial and data analytics. Additionally, Michael also helps to oversee GCG’s relationship with the Milliman actuary team in order to audit and interpret the deliverables they provide to GCG clients. Ultimately, Michael’s reports, observations and skills use analytics information to support the strategic goals of the advisor team and provide meaningful interpretations to GCG clients.
Karen English
Senior Vice President
Spring Consulting Group
Karen is a Partner and Senior Consultant with Spring Consulting Group, an Alera Group company. She has over 20 years of experience in the P&C and health & welfare arenas with an emphasis on product development, risk financing, process improvement and project implementation. Karen provides strategic direction, quantitative & qualitative analysis and implementation expertise for workers’ compensation, disability, absence, health and productivity programs that allows her to routinely work with alternative risk financing vehicles such as captives. Karen is committed to researching how disability, absence and health management programs can be integrated and uses that research to develop employee focused solutions that provide a cost savings for the employer. Karen is on the Executive Advisory Board for the Disability Management Employer Coalition (DMEC), where she recently served as lead editor for the DMEC’s Tools of the Trade – Guide to Integrated Programs and DMEC’s Return to Work Program Manual. Prior to joining Spring, Karen was a Senior Consultant with Watson Wyatt’s US Insurance & Financial Services division, a risk manager with US Bancorp and a P&C broker for both Marsh and Aon.
Karen English
Senior Vice President
Spring Consulting Group
"2020 Benchmarking Results"
We brought together a group of people that have devoted their time and energy to employee benefits and the healthcare industry.
"2020 Benchmarking Results" by Jeff Kolker, Michael Catalano and Karen English
"COVID-19 Impact to the Health Care System and What Employers Should Be Thinking About Long-Term" by Steve Hamman
"The Political Landscape: Health Policy Outlook and Potential Election Outcomes" by Ilisa Halpern Paul
Closing Statements
9:00-9:10 AM
10:20-11:20 AM
11:20-11:30 AM
AGENDA
THE SPEAKERS
© 2024 Alera Group
Three Parkway North, Suite 500
Deerfield, IL 60015
(847) 457-3000
Alera Group
CEOs, CFOs, COOs, and HR leaders of all industries should attend.
This event has been approved for HRCI and SHRM Credits.
The use of this seal confirms that this activity has met HR Certification Institute's® (HRCI®) criteria for recertification credit pre-approval.
Register for the Symposium Today!
9:10-9:40 AM
Introductions
9:40-10:10 AM
10:10-10:20 AM
Break
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
CEOs, CFOs, COOs, and HR leaders of all industries should attend.
This event has been submitted for HRCI and SHRM Credits.
The use of this seal confirms that this activity has met HR Certification Institute's® (HRCI®) criteria for recertification credit pre-approval.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
"2020 Benchmarking Results" by Jeff Kolker, Michael Catalano and Karen English
"COVID-19 Impact to the Health Care System and What Employers Should Be Thinking About Long-Term" by Steve Hamman
"The Political Landscape: Health Policy Outlook and Potential Election Outcomes" by Ilisa Halpern Paul
Closing Statements
9:00-9:10 AM
10:20-11:20 AM
11:20-11:30 AM
AGENDA
CEOs, CFOs, COOs, and HR leaders of all industries.
This event has been submitted for HRCI and SHRM Credits.
The use of this seal confirms that this activity has met HR Certification Institute's® (HRCI®) criteria for recertification credit pre-approval.
9:10-9:40 AM
Introductions
9:40-10:10 AM
10:10-10:20 AM
Break
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
Renaissance Chicago Glenview Suites Hotel
1400 Milwaukee Ave, Glenview, IL 60025
Location
"2020 Benchmarking Results" by Jeff Kolker, Michael Catalano and Karen English
"COVID-19 Impact to the Health Care System and What Employers Should Be Thinking About Long-Term" by Steve Hamman
"The Political Landscape: Health Policy Outlook and Potential Election Outcomes" by Ilisa Halpern Paul
Closing Statements
9:00-9:10 AM
10:20-11:20 AM
11:20-11:30 AM
AGENDA
9:10-9:40 AM
Introductions
9:40-10:10 AM
10:10-10:20 AM
Break
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!
TOPICS
- Compliance and Fiduciary Responsibility (Danielle Capilla)
- State of the Economy (Bob Janson)
- Pharmacy Trends (Bob Eisendrath)
- Leave Laws and Absence Management (Shep Sepaniak & Tiffany Brown)
- Wellbeing: Mind, Body and Wallet (Stephanie Kacoyanis)
Speakers
Bob Janson CIMA®, AIF®, Director of Investments | Alera Group Wealth Services
Bob has over 30 years of investment experience. His primary areas of knowledge are in the design, implementation, and management of investment portfolios and providing investment advisory consulting services to company-sponsored qualified retirement plans. Prior to joining the firm, Bob worked at Blunt, Ellis, & Loewi, Charles Schwab Institutional, and Retirement and Estate Advisors.
Danielle Capilla | VP, Compliance, Employee Benefits
Danielle leads Compliance for Alera's Employee Benefits division. She previously served as the Senior Vice President of Compliance and Operations and Chief Compliance officer at United Benefit Advisors (UBA). Additionally, she served as an Adjunct Professor at DePaul University. She worked as a Senior Writer Analyst at Wolters Kluwer and as a Law Clerk at Clifford Law Offices.
Bob Eisendrath | Pharmacy Solutions
Bob leads the Alera Group pharmacy solutions practice with strong PBM RFP consulting and contract analysis skills. Prior to Alera Group, Robert held a senior leadership position at CVS/Caremark with responsibility for large employer and labor coalitions and high profile large national clients.
Shep Sepaniak | Senior partner | Leave of Absence Outsourcing Solutions, National Practice
Shep helps employers, associations and insurers quickly and seamlessly develop and launch new Leave of Absence products and programs, enter new markets, and expand existing offerings at scale. His approach consistently delivers credible and compelling leave of absence products and services in a fraction of the time it takes to build upon legacy structures and systems, train staff, and calculate costs in order to develop an effective pricing model and go-to-market strategy.
Tiffany Brown | Specialty Benefits Senior Consultant, Employee Benefits
Tiffany's focus is ensuring that clients have a comprehensive non-medical benefits package designed to protect the financial security of their employees. She also develops and manages non-medical carrier relationships. Throughout her career, Tiffany has executed integrated enrollment, service, and growth strategies for her clients.
Stephanie Kacoyanis | Group Benefits Thought Leadership Content Lead, Guardian
Stephanie Kacoyanis is the Group Benefits Thought Leadership Lead at Guardian. In this role, she manages Guardian’s thought leadership strategy, overseeing its proprietary research, data-based reports, and thought leadership content development. She also launched, runs, and frequently moderates Guardian’s national webinars, a weekly series geared toward employers and benefits brokers on a variety of topics related to employee benefits, well-being, financial wellness, future of work, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Previously, she worked in public and media relations supporting clients from several industries, including in HR/benefits, healthcare, and B2B tech. She began her communications career at Harvard University, holding several communications and media relations roles there. A graduate of Wellesley College, Ms. Kacoyanis lives in the Boston area.
ABOUT THE SYMPOSIUM
Each year we bring together top experts covering key employee benefits and HR topics. Please join us for breakfast, meet with our carrier partners, and gain valuable takeaways for your organization.
- Breakfast and Carrier Partner Fair - 8:30 – 9:00 am
- Speaker Presentations - 9:00 – 11:30 am
- Carrier Partner Fair Continues - 11:30 am – Noon
