6
By Michael Chamness
IASA Director of
Communications
The year was 2010,
the topic was the
Affordable Care Act, and
Susan Relland’s words
were prescient. As an
attorney who had been
heavily involved in the
Congressional
debate
regarding the politically
charged issue commonly
referred to in the media
as “Obamacare,” Relland
understood that as tough
as the law was to get
passed, implementation
would be even more
difficult.
Relland will be a keynote speaker at the IASA
Annual Conference to be held October 9-11 at the
Crowne Plaza in Springfield. She will address the
challenges facing school districts as they attempt to
comply with the complex health care act.
Her advice to school administrators?
“They need to start looking at a strategy sooner
rather than later,” said Relland, now a vice president
of American Fidelity Assurance Company in
Oklahoma City. “It’s not as simple as choosing ‘A’ or
‘B.’ There are a lot of different levers districts can pull
to create a strategy that will work for them.”
For example, she cited the Free Rider Penalty
portion of the law, which requires “large” employers
(50 or more full-time employees) to provide
“adequate” and “affordable” health coverage for their
full-time employees (those working 30 or more hours
per week) no later than January 1, 2015.
“The law says you can credit a substitute teacher
with just the hours they actually work instead of a full
day if you keep the proper service records. Otherwise
(Continued on page 7)
Relland helps school districts translate
Affordable Care Act to action plans
Speaker has spent career in employee benefits arena, was involved in debate
49th Annual IASA Conference
October 9—11, 2013
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“So much of this
law is not on the
page. People are not
appreciating how
much of this law we
won’t know for a
long time.”
Susan Relland, vice president of American Fidelity Assurance Company, will be
one of the keynote speakers at the IASA Annual Conference.
