Don’t miss issue #26 of the Self Funding Magazine, released the beginning of February, http://www.selffundingmagazine.com/. This magazine is dedicated strictly to solutions in the self funded industry. This issue features articles about defined contribution health benefits, Tennessee’s Captive Insurance Law, care management technology and much more!

Read the 26th issue of the monthly magazine dedicated to insurance products, vendor services and solutions at http://www.selffundingmagazine.com/.

The 26th issue of Health Care Reform Magazine features an article by Rick Lindquist on the advantages of defined contribution health benefits. R. Scott Boots also shares details about The Health Cares Exchange Initiative, a caregiver network in his “Comparing the Caring” article.

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Self Funding Magazine is also the official sponsor of the 4th Annual Self Funding Employer Healthcare & Workers Compensation Conference, http://www.selffundingconference.com/, which will take place October 26-28th, 2012 in Ft. Lauderdale/Miami Beach.

In its 3rd year, the Self Funding Employer Healthcare & Workers Compensation Conference is part of one the largest employee benefits conference and it brings together hundreds of senior level domestic and international benefits managers/HR, insurers, TPA’s, agents and brokers who are involved in implementing and maintain self funded programs. For 2012 the SFEA will add an international track focused on Global Self Funded Programs because of the increased participation from Multinational and Foreign Employers who are interested in learning from US, International and Global Self Funded Program case models.

When you register for The 4th Annual Employer Healthcare & Benefits Congress, you automatically gain access to the Self Funding Employer Healthcare & Workers Compensation Conference, Voluntary Benefits & Limited Medical Conference, Corporate Wellness Conference, and National Healthcare Reform Conference, the Global Benefits Conference, and the 5th World Medical Tourism & Global Healthcare Congress. Last year’s event in 2011 had approximately 2,000 attendees making the event one of the largest employee benefits conferences of its kind.

For more information please contact:
Juel Grange
Associate Editor
Self Funding Magazine
info@selffundingmagazine.com

Award Recognizes CyberKnife Benefits for Employees and Employers

SUNNYVALE, Calif., November 30, 2011 – Accuray Incorporated (Nasdaq: ARAY), the premier radiation oncology company, today announced that the company received the Outstanding Innovative Improvement Award for its CyberKnife® Robotic Radiosurgery System at the 3rd Annual Employer Healthcare Congress, which took place October 25 – 28, 2011 in Chicago.

The award was presented to Accuray in recognition of the fact that patients treated with the CyberKnife System are able to complete treatment in five days or less, compared to radiation therapy treatments, which typically require up to 40 treatment sessions. This significant reduction in the number of daily treatments helps patients get back to work faster, benefitting employees and employers alike. The CyberKnife System targets tumors anywhere in the body and delivers high doses of radiation with pinpoint accuracy. Unlike any other radiation delivery system, the CyberKnife System tracks and adjusts treatment delivery to compensate for tumor motion, including respiration.

“Treatment with the CyberKnife System is typically completed in five or fewer outpatient sessions, compared to the six weeks of daily treatments typical with conventional radiation. Fewer daily treatments allow the employee to get back to their normal schedule, including work, resulting in less stress for the employee and a more efficient workplace for the employer,” said Jonathan Edelheit, president of the Employer Healthcare Congress. “Accuray has made a tremendous effort to ensure that employees are aware of the full range of options so they can make an informed treatment decision. We wanted to recognize Accuray’s innovative technology, as well as its education efforts with this award.”

The Employer Healthcare Congress is among the largest healthcare conferences in the United States. One of the major highlights of the conference is the Leadership Awards given for both excellence in Corporate Wellness and Voluntary Benefits. The Outstanding Innovative Improvement Award honors a company that not only has brought a healthy innovation to employees, but also a cutting-edge approach to changing the way we deal with chronic illness and critical care, all while helping employers reduce healthcare costs.

“Accuray is honored to receive this award from the Employer Healthcare Congress recognizing the advantages that the CyberKnife System offers not only to employees, but employers as well,” said Euan S. Thomson, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Accuray. “This award reaffirms our commitment to developing personalized, leading-edge treatment solutions that help cancer patients live longer, better lives. This means not only treating their tumors, but also helping them return to their normal lives as soon as possible.”

About Accuray
Accuray Incorporated (Nasdaq: ARAY), based in Sunnyvale, Calif., is the premier radiation oncology company that develops, manufactures and sells personalized innovative treatment solutions that set the standard of care, with the aim of helping patients live longer, better lives. The Company’s leading edge technologies – the CyberKnife and TomoTherapy Systems – are designed to deliver radiosurgery, stereotactic body radiation therapy, intensity modulated radiation therapy, image guided radiation therapy, and adaptive radiation therapy. To date, more than 200,000 patients worldwide have been treated using the Company’s technologies and more than 598 systems have been installed in leading hospitals around the world. For more information, please visit www.accuray.com.

Safe Harbor Statement 
The foregoing may contain certain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including uncertainties associated with the medical device industry. Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release, including statements relating to patient experience and employee & employer benefits are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date the statements are made and are based on information available at the time those statements are made and/or management’s good faith belief as of that time with respect to future events. You should not put undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual performance and results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements we make include: clinical effectiveness, range of treatment options, clinical applications, and market acceptance of products and other risks detailed from time to time under the heading “Risk Factors” in our report on Form 10-K for our 2011 fiscal year, our form 10-Q filed on November 8, 2011 and our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company’s actual results of operations may differ significantly from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements as a result of these and other factors. We assume no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect actual performance or results, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting forward-looking information, except to the extent required by applicable securities laws.

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Contacts: Rebecca Phillips / Helen Shik
Public Relations Manager, Accuray Schwartz MSL
+1 (408) 716-4773 +1 (781) 684-0770
rphillips@accuray.com Accuray@schwartzmsl.com

Legal and subrogation recovery firm provides new software
to generate Health Plan Documents on demand

Willow Grove, PA / December 14, 2011 / Strategic Recovery Partnership (SRP) Inc. today announced the availability of Plan Doc Builder™, a subscription service that allows Third Party Administrators (TPAs), brokers, and other users to easily generate Health Plan Documents on demand. Replacing outdated software tools and the need for expensive outsourcing, SRP’s Plan Doc Builder is available at fixed, affordable licensing rates with no initial subscription fees.

Employers require Health Plan Documents containing clear language about available benefits that are compliant with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the Patient Protection and Affordable Care ACT (PPACA), and other regulations.

Created specifically for the generation of Health Plan Documents including Prescription, Dental, Vision and Cafeteria benefits, SRP’s Plan Doc Builder allows users to:

· Easily collaborate with experts to produce customized, attorney-approved Health Plan Documents

· Create or clone Health Plan Documents in an intuitive web interface

· “See as you go” by continuously reviewing and updating content during document preparation

· Generate thorough, easy-to-read, and compliant Health Plan Documents and Summary Plan Descriptions (SPDs), with Regulatory and Benefit amendment capability.

“Ongoing client collaborations and our experience with health plan document preparation and compliance enabled us to develop a fully automated approach for in-house users at competitive rates,” explains Robert A. Marcino, Esq., principal at Strategic Recovery Partnership. “We are excited to offer a better tool through Plan Doc Builder, especially to TPAs and brokers.”

SRP’s web-based Builder is flexible and allows one or multiple users to modify content during document generation. TPAs can clone documents, providing a significant shortcut when creating similar plans. Users can also leverage objective analysis and legal advice from SRP on approaches to current or new health plans.

TPAs and brokers can learn more, schedule a personal demonstration, and request a quote for affordable licensing rates by visiting www.srpsubro.com/plandocs.

About SRP

Strategic Recovery Partnership (SRP) is a legal and claim recovery resource that provides Subrogation and Plan Document solutions nationwide to Third Party Administrators (TPAs), Stop Loss carriers, HMOs, and Fully-Insured Healthcare Plans. SRP delivers low-cost attorney representation with technical expertise—consistently achieving proven revenue streams for health claim payers. With nearly 20 years of experience, SRP has expertise with TPA claim and benefit practices, technical writing, plan consulting, and ERISA. SRP attorney review helps avoid the risks of noncompliance, including penalties from Department of Labor (DOL) audits, lawsuits, and insufficient understanding and inconsistent application of benefits by employers and administrators. For more information, visit www.srpsubro.com.

Media Contact:

Erin Flynn Jay
TME Communications for Strategic Recovery Partnership Inc.
917-213-0936
eflynn@tmecom.com

OptumHealth has amended its stop loss contract to provide protection to self-insured plan sponsors who may face additional exposure resulting from changes in the claims appeal process under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

The amendment, called an “extended liability endorsement,” is included in all new and renewal OptumHealth® stop loss contracts that take effect on or after January 1, 2012, subject to state approval. OptumHealth has received approval in twenty states to date, with more state approvals expected to follow.

Beginning in 2012, PPACA allows individuals whose claim is denied by a health plan through its internal claims review process to appeal to an independent review organization (IRO). A claim that is initially denied may eventually have to be paid by the health plan if the IRO overturns the denial.

Typically with most stop loss contracts, claims paid outside the time frame set out in the contract are not eligible for reimbursement. Under this new appeal process, however, payment on an overturned denial may be made months later, even beyond the benefit period in the stop loss contract. In such cases, OptumHealth will extend the paid date in the contract by up to 12 months.

“Many of our third party administrator clients have expressed concern about employers’ potential liability as a result of the new claims appeal process, said Scott Avery, stop loss product director of OptumHealth. “With our new policy endorsement, OptumHealth is helping self-insured employers to maintain their high quality stop loss protection while minimizing potential gaps in coverage.”

There are an estimated 1.3 external appeals for every 10,000 plan participants, and there will be approximately 2,600 external appeals in 2011, according to the US Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury.

On average, about 40 percent of denials are reversed on external appeal, with the amount per reversed claim averaging $12,400. According to the government, $13.4 million in additional claims will be reversed by the external review process in 2011, increasing to $33.1 million in 2013.

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The complete list of attendees as of August 8, 2011, for the Self Funding Conference has been released.

Participation in the Self Funding Conference is up 93 percent from previous years, making this the largest number of participants ever. Promising to be “bigger and better than before,” the conference plans to welcome 1,500 attendees, up to 100 speakers, up to 140 sponsors and 400 top employer groups around the country.

To view the entire 2011 List of Attendees at the Self Funding Conference website please visit http://www.selffundingconference.com/2011-list-of-attendees.html.

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The Self Funding Magazine was created by healthcare executives who have run and administers self funded plans for employers for years. The creators of self funding magazine is Free Health LLC, www.freehealth.com a leading multi-media and publishing company and the creator of the Employer Healthcare Congress, www.employerhealthcarecongress.com, the leading national healthcare conference for employers.

Thousands of companies provide either insurance products or vendor services and solutions in the self funded industry, and yet there is not a single dedicated online magazine with a large readership base. Employers and agents even to this day do not know where to look for quality TPA’s, administrators, networks, reinsurers, MGU’s and where to look for vendors who provide unique solutions and where to find the best self funded solutions.

Assistant Editor, Jenny Dodson with Self Funding Magazine attended the 81st Annual convention for the National Association of Health Underwriters in San Antonio, Texas June 26-29, 2011. The National Association of Health Underwriters is made up of over 100,000 professional health insurance agents and brokers who provide insurance for millions of Americans.

The first day they began with a very patriotic start as NAHU member Jennifer Davault sang the National Anthem followed by Past NAHU President, Donna Carnall leading the Pledge of Allegiance. CEO Janet Trautwein began the session with discussion surrounding some of the challenges and opportunities that faced the industry over the last year. She was joined on stage by the President of NAHU, Steve Selinsky and they both had a candid discussion on health care reform and the efforts made by NAHU to continue involvement with change in the Health Care industry. They both gave very positive outlooks on the future for agents in this industry. Following Janet and Steve’s discussions, Keynote speaker, Theo Androus gave an enthusiastic presentation on selling concepts as well as his experience as it relates to the selling process. The day wrapped up with a reception in the Exhibit Hall where attendees seemed to catch up with old friends and mingle with exhibitors.

The next day proved to be even more engaging as the morning kicked off with an Exhibitor Continental Breakfast featuring a variety of providers such as Conexis, Access Plans, USA, vsp, Humana, Vertafore and many more. In many Exhibitions you find exhibitors on their phones and basically uninterested in the networking experience. Here the exhibitors mentioned along with most at this conference came out from behind their displays and offered valuable information to the attendees leaving the impression that they truly wanted to be there and were enthusiastic about the networking taking place. This was followed by an energetic and hilarious motivational speech delivered by Jason Young, author of Culturetopia. In his opening remarks, he sarcastically referred to the book title by stating, “I chose that name of the book so it would be easy to Google.” This spawned laughter from the group that did not stop. In the end, Jason received a standing ovation for his motivational teambuilding speech. The rest of the day had various professional development breakout sessions. The Self Funding breakout sessions seemed well received. A particularly interesting presentation was delivered by Gerald W. Frye, President and owner of The Benefit Service Group, Inc where he gave NAHU members a discussion entitled “Get n the Driver’s Seat with the Right Strategy, Data and Tactical Execution.” He sited reasons for why data may not be up to the task of meaningful decision making on benefits due to various analytical data discrepancies. He further said that more attention to the way the data is developed and reported is needed. He gave insight on why a strategic plan for the agent’s clients’ benefits can be in need of realignment.

Another interesting touch at the conference were the Daily News Papers which detailed the previous day’s event and spoke of the events to come. The attendees seemed to feel this was a nice touch as many were heard discussing the candid photos that had been taken and printed during the event. The event was well attended and overall appeared to be an informative event for the members of NAHU.

Excited to learn how the new Healthcare Reform Law will effect employers, insurers and agents by attending the Healthcare Reform’s Effect on Employers, Insurers and Agents Webinar hosted by the Employer Healthcare Congress, Voluntary Benefits Magazine, Corporate Wellness Magazine and the Self Funding Magazine. It will be good to hear about key provisions on healthcare reform and hear how it affects fully insured health plans, self funded healthcare plans, corporate wellness programs, voluntary benefits and more.

April 8th, 2010 2:00PM-3:00PM EST 11:00am-12:00PM PST
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/619685248

The Self Funding Employer Healthcare & Workers Compensation Conference would like to announce that it be will be addressing today’s biggest news-Healthcare Reform! We have brought in the industry’s experts for speaker sessions and workshops all focused on providing answers and solutions to the questions we are all asking. With the health reform bill now passed the self funding industry has a great growth opportunity. Join us at this year’s event and see how to position your company!! The Self Funding Employer Healthcare & Workers Compensation Conference will be held Sept 20-22nd, 2010 in Los Angeles, CA.

For more information please visit http://www.selffundingconference.com or email Sarah@SelfFundingConference.com

There are some great articles in the 4th issue of the Self Funding Magazine. I enjoyed reading the article “Using Medical Tourism to Drive Down High Dollar Medical Claimed” by Jonathan Edelheit. Medical Tourism is a great option for those who are self funded. You can really save a lot of money! Major surgeries can be very hard on companies, but if you can reduce the cost drastically by sending patients overseas you should take advantage of this. It is great to think outside the box to help cut costs. http://www.selffundingmagazine.com/article-detail.php?issue=issue-4&article=using-medical

The Employer Healthcare Congress will be sponsoring up to 200 employers to attend the upcoming Congress on September 20th-22nd, 2010. The Employer Healthcare Congress, www.employerhealthcarecongress.com , will feature 4 individual conferences that will be happening at the same time – the Corporate Wellness Conference, the Voluntary Benefits Conference, the Self Funding Employer Healthcare & Workers Compensation Conference and the Expatriate and Travel Insurance Conference. The Employer Healthcare Congress is expecting up to 2,000 attendees, up to 120 exhibitors, up to 75 expert speakers and up to 5,000 private one-on-one networking meetings. The Congress will be highlighting the benefits of having these specific health plans for employers while also driving four times the amount of traffic for exhibitors by having a shared exhibit hall for all of the conferences.
The Employer Healthcare Congress will be providing advanced educational sessions while highlighting the opportunity to network with other leaders in the industry. With the Congress’ new networking software, before the conference starts attendees will be able to select who they want to meet with and set up a pre-scheduled time to meet with the other attendee in the conference’s networking rooms. By taking advantage of the networking software, attendees will be able to accomplish in two days what would normally take years to accomplish. The Employer Healthcare Congress should be the largest employer healthcare conference in the country.
The Employer Healthcare Congress is sponsored by the Self Funding Magazine, the Voluntary Benefits Magazine and the Corporate Wellness Magazine. For more information email me at Sarah@employerhealthcarecongress.com .