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Medicare Part D Meeting Sponsored by EduNeering and Mintz Levin

Leslie V. Norwalk, Esq., Deputy Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Will Deliver Keynote Address

March 1, 2006 - Princeton, New Jersey - EduNeering, a leading provider of knowledge management solutions to improve workforce performance and business value, and Mintz Levin, one of the nation's leading healthcare law firms, will co-sponsor a briefing for the healthcare industry on Tuesday, March 21, 2006 from 8:30 a.m. - 12 noon at
the Willard InterContinental Hotel in Washington D.C.

Entitled "Understanding and Addressing Part D Corporate Compliance Challenges," the meeting will feature the following speakers:

• Leslie V. Norwalk, Esq., Deputy Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is give the keynote address. She will speak on the implementation of the new Medicare prescription drug benefit and CMS efforts to monitor contractor compliance.
• Susan W. Berson, Esq., Chair, Health Care Practice, Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky & Popeo, P.C., will address Part D contractual issues, including CMS/Sponsor agreements, manufacturer rebate agreements, health plan contracts, delegated and downstream contractor agreements, and pharmacy participation agreements.
• Michael D. Bell, Esq., Senior Vice President, EduNeering, and Of Counsel, Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky & Popeo, P.C. will focus on corporate compliance requirements under the Part D program. Among the issues to be discussed are policies, procedures and training required by the Federal Anti-kickback Statute, the False Claims Act, and the Beneficiary Inducement Statute.
• Lauren Haley, Esq., Insurance Specialist, Benefit Integrity Group, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, will discuss recently released Chapter 9 of the Prescription Drug Benefit Manual. Chapter 9 covers topics including compliance program staffing, contractor oversight, and voluntary self-reporting instances of potential fraud, waste and abuse.

The formal presentations will be followed by a cross-industry roundtable discussion featuring representatives from industry-leading health plans and pharmacy chains. The roundtable panel will discuss such topics as the division of compliance responsibilities, monitoring and auditing of plan and delegated operations, employee and subcontractor training, and reporting of complaints/incidents and potential fraud. Panelists include the following:

• Tom Paul, Chief Pharmacy Officer, Ovations (UnitedHealth Group)
• Christine Helzner, Director of Regulatory Compliance, Healthfirst (Managed Health Inc.)
• Ellen M. Hunt, JD, CHC, Vice President and Compliance Officer, HCSC Insurance Services Company
• C. Daniel Haron, RPh, Senior Vice President, Brooks Pharmacy/Eckerd Pharmacy
• August "Dutch" Dobish, Vice President - Law Compliance, Rite Aid Corporation

The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (Part D) represents the most significant change to Medicare since the federal program's inception more than 40 years ago. For the first time, Medicare beneficiaries can obtain prescription drug coverage offered on a voluntary basis by healthcare organizations, insurance companies, and pharmacies. All program providers are regulated under CMS.

Visit http://www.mintz.com/newsletter/2006/Medicare-Part-D-Evite-2-06/index.htm to learn more.