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SCDA Member Benefits Group Egram March 2010
In This Issue
Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
COBRA Subsidy Eligibility Exented Another Month, Given To More People
Considering Practice Ownership?
How Patients Find A Dentist Today
Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
Under the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA), employers are required to provide creditable coverage notices to all of the Medicare eligible members of their health plan who have prescription drug coverage.  This notice must be provided to help members decide whether to enroll in a Medicare Prescription Drug plan or to continue with any prescription drug coverage provided by the employer's health plan. 
 
An employer's pharmacy benefits are considered creditable if the benefits are at least as generous as the Medicare Part D benefits.  BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina's actuarial department has evaluated the pharmacy benefits of the SCDA's group medical plan using criteria outlined by the CMS and has determined that the coverage is creditable.
 
Click here to review a copy of a notice that you can provide to anyone who is Medicare eligible in your practice.
 
Also, as an employer, you must notify CMS that your coverage is considered creditable.  You can click here to visit their website and complete a short survey in order to satisfy this annual notification requirement.
COBRA Subsidy Eligibility Extended Another Month, Given To More People
A short-term measure that was signed into law March 2, 2010 extends and expands the temporary COBRA premium subsidy program.  This extension and expansion applies to state continuation offices (employers with less than 20 employees) as well.

Eligibility extended and expanded - eligibility for up to 15 months of the 65 percent COBRA premium subsidy (6 months for state continuation employers) now includes people who become COBRA eligible due to involuntary employment termination on or before March 31, 2010.  The subsidy also is available to anyone who becomes eligible for COBRA due to reduced employment hours on or after September 1, 2008 and experiences involuntary employment termination between March 2 - 31, 2010.

New employer duties - employers must give new COBRA election periods to people now eligible for the subsidy due to reduced work hours who either didn't elect COBRA or let their COBRA coverage lapse. These individuals also must receive COBRA notices within 60 days of a subsequent job loss.
Considering Practice Ownership?
Banc of America Practice Solutions will be holding a symposium on Thursday, April 8, 2010 in Charleston at the South Carolina Aquarium.  The purpose of this event will be to help those dentists who are considering practice ownership determine whether or not it is personally better for them to purchase an existing practice or to start a new one.  Other items being discussed will be how to outfit and customize your new practice with the latest designs and technology, choosing your legal entity and tax planning strategy and the financing of your practice purchase or start-up.
 
Registration is at 6:00 p.m. and the seminar will run from 6:30-9:30 p.m. with a light dinner and beverages provided.  There is a nominal cost of $29 for SCDA members and a $79 cost for non-members to join.  There is no cost for MUSC residents with a valid ID card.
 
Give me a call at the SCDA office at 1-800-327-2598 if you'd like to join.  The registration deadline is April 1st, so call today.
How Patients Find A Dentist Today
If you are looking for new patients, I strongly urge you to consider a website for your practice.  Patients used to flip through the phonebooks to search for dentists in their area, but this search method is rapidly declining.  More and more patients are searching the internet to find their future dentist.  This being the case, will they find you?
 
Your Association has teamed up with Identity Station to offer custom built websites to SCDA members starting at less than $500.  At a price that low, your return on investment could be met by only one new patient.  Now imagine the thousands more that will run across information about your practice online.
 
Right now, Identity Station is offering the first three months of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) services at half price to SCDA members.  Ensure your website shows up on the first page of search results with SEO.  This is available for one practice per zip code, so be sure to ask about it soon.  Call 1-800-303-6029 and invest in the future of your practice today.

As always, contact me at 1-800-327-2598, ext. 100 with any questions or visit us at www.scda.org


Sincerely,

 
mark's sig
 
 

Mark K. Brown
SCDA Member Benefits Group Manager

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