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Events
Healthcare Reform – Checking Your Pulse
Date: Thursday, October 25, 2012
Time: 8:30 AM– 4:30 PM
Location:
Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services
3000 Johnson Road, Huntsville, AL 35805
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Speakers:
Danna Thrasher
Partner
Constangy, Brooks & Smith, LLP
Dana Thrasher specializes in ERISA, regularly advising employers, trustees and service providers concerning qualified retirement plans, non-qualified plans, fringe benefits, welfare benefits and executive compensation issues. She has developed significant expertise in the ERISA/employee benefits practice area, representing a large and diverse client base. She regularly advises clients regarding planning and evaluating benefit programs, establishing and administering employee benefit plans, monitoring compliance with applicable laws, resolving compliance issues, corporate restructuring and severance issues, employee stock ownership and incentive programs, and plan issues in mergers and acquisitions.
Dana is actively involved in professional organizations and speaks at educational conferences on various employee benefit plan topics. She has successfully resolved issues for clients with the Internal Revenue Service, Department of Labor, and Pension and Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
Before joining Constangy, Dana was an attorney with the law firm of Maynard, Cooper & Gale, P.C.
Rene Moret
Author of Health Scare: The Truth Behind America’s Heath Care Crisis
Rene P. Moret received a BS in accounting from Louisiana State University and an MBA from the University of New Orleans. He has over twenty years of executive experience in various aspects of the managed health care industry and has worked with both physician organizations and health insurance companies. He lives in Huntsville, Alabama, with his wife, Janet.
Jonah Houts
Vice President, Government Affairs
Express Scripts
Jonah joined Express Scripts in 2004 as a business analyst in Corporate Quality. He then spent three years as a manager in Product Development before transitioning to Government Affairs, where he led the industry’s efforts to enact an Food and Drug Administration pathway for the approval of biogenerics. Since 2007, Jonah has worked to see biogenerics become a market reality for Express Scripts’ patients and clients. Through research and advocacy, he helped transform the debate from one of “whether” to one of “when.” A pathway for the approval of biogenerics was included in comprehensive health reform legislation, which became law in March 2010.
Jonah’s combination of success in Washington and within Express Scripts earned him a promotion to his current position in 2012. He now oversees state government affairs for the company and manages a team of lobbyists that advocate for continued access to lower-cost prescription drugs across the country. Jonah continues to create unique advocacy tools to promote generic drugs, prevent harmful legislation that limits plan sponsors’ ability to customize plans, and expand the use of health information technology, including electronic prescribing.
Jonah also serves on the URAC Board of Directors and on the Institutional Review Board of Gallup, Inc.
Educational background:
• MBA, Webster University
• B.S., Political Sccience and Communication, Saint Louis University