Lockton Forms Health Reform Advice Team

NU Online News Service, Sept. 11, 1:16 p.m. EDT

Lockton insurance brokerage said it has formed an advisory board to keep clients up-to-date on the latest health care reform developments and the potential impact on them.

Mike Brewer, president of Lockton Benefit Group, a unit of Kansas City, Mo.-based Lockton, explained that the firm launched its Health Reform Advisory Practice to "provide up front information" to clients about reform legislation and how it could impact them.

He said the idea is to work one-on-one with human resource managers and chief executives assisting them in understanding the reforms and what they need to do in response.

The practice includes Lockton's compliance experts, an actuary, medical experts, compensation services directors, a technology expert and a data analyst.

Besides meeting with individual clients, the firm is doing weekly updates that appear on the Web and a nationwide Webcast for clients and prospective clients to keep them informed of the latest developments.

Mr. Brewer said while the firm has a position on health care reform, the advisory practice does not have a political agenda and is purely informational. He noted that the reform question remains fluid and the final result of legislation working its way through Congress remains uncertain.

He said Lockton decided to put together the practice because so many clients were asking for information on the issue. An informal practice began over a month ago and the practice was formalized in the past couple of weeks, he said.

According to Mr. Brewer, Lockton's weekly health reform updates, a summary of events, has "thousands" of subscribers indicating clients want to know about the topic.