TASC CEO Blog

Our nation’s healthcare reform legislation, better known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), has placed many small business owners at a critical junction.  Clients of AgriPlan and BizPlan are especially challenged to understand and adapt to the changes brought forth by this historic legislation.   At TASC, we know it’s our job to fully comprehend and fully incorporate the new mandates.  We know, too, that the new rules and regulations, while daunting, represent opportunity.

While we welcome these new opportunities, have no doubt that we will remain steadfast and true to one of our most vital responsibilities: ensuring that our Clients receive every benefit available to them.  Of course this means preserving the tax deduction and resulting tax savings made possible by AgriPlan and BizPlan.  We understand well the value of these tax free bottom-line dollars to our Clients.  We vow to do everything in our power to ensure that our Plans follow all compliance mandates, and we strive to continue reducing workloads for our Clients, now and well into the future.

This past summer I traveled with my family to Mount Rushmore.  The Park Ranger who guided our group explained well the choice of Presidents carved into the side of the mountain, and explained that each leader represents a separate ideal.    I learned that Washington represents creation.  As our first President and Revolutionary War hero, he was there at the very creation of this country.  Jefferson represents expansion.  During his leadership our country grew dramatically through the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark Expedition.  Lincoln represents preservation.  He preserved the union throughout the Civil War.   And Teddy Roosevelt represents development.  This “trustbuster” of business monopolies helped our nation’s economic development by linking east to west with the construction of the Panama Canal.

With appreciation for the four great men immortalized on Mount Rushmore, I pondered the four ideals symbolized on that mountainside.  And I thought about how TASC, in its own way, also embodies each ideal.  As the creator of AgriPlan and BizPlan, TASC has been instrumental in bringing this innovative tax saving service to one hundred thousand small business owners.  Our business never stop evolving in response to customer need.  This means we continuously expand our offerings with better online tools and more flexibility; we continually develop innovations within our existing Plans; and we continue to design new Plans and services to help preserve tax savings for our Clients.

Since 1975 TASC has been around to help Clients navigate the changing healthcare waters.  We’ve been here to deal with the changes imposed by various legislations.  Through the years we’ve worked hard to follow mandates, notices, and rulings.  The new rules and regulations present tremendous opportunity for TASC, opportunity to take even more of the administrative burden from our Clients.

At TASC we remain resolute in our commitment to creating and developing innovative ways to handle changes, to expanding our services to further reduce workload for our Clients, and to preserving (or increasing) savings for each and every Client.  It’s carved in stone.

Doesn’t it seem that everything just keeps getting more and more complex?  Take the telephone, for instance.  When I was a youth, the phone hung on the kitchen wall; when you wanted to make a call you dialed out, and when it rang, you answered it.  Pretty simple and straightforward communication in to and out of the home.  Nowadays, much like the kitchen phone, my cell phone can receive and send voice communications…but this marvel can also receive and send text messages, e-mails, and even pictures; it can track my appointments and remind me with a chime or a chirp of my choice that I’m due at a meeting someplace.  This little tool can even access the Internet.  The User Manual is several hundred pages long.  I don’t remember a User Manual for the phone in the kitchen.

The same can be said for our business.  It has gotten more and more complex.  Just look at all of the different Plan designs and options offered through a Health Reimbursement Arrangement.  Meanwhile, the more unique and complex the offering, the higher the risk of error.  This is why TASC has kicked-off our new initiative: Simplify Complexity.  Like so much of our strategy at TASC, this initiative’s purpose is to help us perform better.

What do I mean by Simplify Complexity?  Look at our AgriPlan and BizPlan services.  We recently conducted a survey of nearly 27,000 Microbusiness Clients.  Of the roughly 28 percent that responded, slightly more than 94 percent are satisfied or very satisfied with the overall service of their Plan.  In addition, nearly 96 percent of the respondents stated they were very likely or likely to continue to do business with TASC.

How do we achieve results like this?  We already offer our Microbusiness Clients a very simple, streamlined service.  All of these Clients receive generally the same service, and we deliver it very well.  This consistent approach is exactly what this initiative is trying to achieve with our Group products.  As we work to simplify our Group offerings, we strive to limit Plan designs and streamline services.  The purpose: to help us perform better and deliver consistently better customer service.

In the world of software, a “happy path” is a path of execution on which everything travels as it should, a path on which nothing happens that’s not as expected, with the software swiftly and directly achieving the user’s goal.  This path of ease is possible because travel on it has been appropriately controlled and simplified, with fewer on-ramps and off-ramps to interrupt flow.

Like the happy path, my cell phone works best when interruptions like static interference are kept to a minimum.  And at TASC, we are working hard to reduce electronic traffic jams.  We’re doing this by fostering an environment in which most Clients will choose a similar Plan design and/or service level, already the case with AgriPlan and BizPlan.  TASC’s superhighway will be positioned to serve all of TASC’s customers at the highest level possible.  We need only look to our Microbusiness services to see this goal already achieved.

After a long week of debate, on April 15th President Barack Obama signed an $18 billion bill temporarily extending unemployment and health benefits to millions of Americans, including those receiving coverage through the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA).

Through the bill, a 65 percent subsidy of COBRA benefits for those who have lost their jobs is extended through May 31, 2010.  On April 5, tens of thousands of unemployed Americans started to lose their benefits after being out of work for a period of more than 26 weeks.  The new bill works retroactively to April 5, meaning benefits will also be restored for anyone who became unemployed since that date.  Under the new extension, persons who file for unemployment benefits before June 1 will receive the 65 percent subsidy for up to 15 months.

With consumer spending on the rise and unemployment slowing, I think this may well be the final extension of COBRA that we see.  Like many of our leaders, I am cautiously optimistic that most individuals will find work in that time period and no longer need COBRA.

The Senate sent the healthcare “fixes” Bill back to the House on Thursday and the House passed the Senate changes to the Reconciliation Bill by a vote of 220 to 207.  The Bill now goes to the President for his signature.  Earlier, the Senate passed the Reconciliation Bill by a vote of 56 to 43.

This part of our nation’s healthcare reform has been a long and strange journey, and it’s nearly over…for now.  Once President Obama signs this Bill into law–coupled with the previous Bill already enacted into law by the President–healthcare reform legislation will have transpired.

Three Democrats voted against the Bill–Senators Ben Nelson (Neb.), Mark Pryor (Ark.) and Blanche Lincoln (Ark.)–but it easily prevailed because Reconciliation Bills require only a simple majority to pass, not the 60 votes typically needed to advance Bills in the Senate.  All three Senators voted for the Bill that Obama signed when it passed the Senate in December.  Several Democrats also voted in support of some Republican amendments to the Reconciliation Bill but none were approved.  Senate Democrats promised their House counterparts not to alter the legislation and offered no amendments during the three days of floor consideration.

Passage is expected.  Of note are various successful Republican points-of-order (i.e. technicalities) that forced the deletion of a few provisions within the student-lending legislation that is attached to the Bill.

You can count on TASC to remain vigilant and to review in-depth the evolving legislation.  As various provisions of the Bill are clarified, we know new questions are likely to surface, and we are at the ready.  I have been in this business for 27 years, and have witnessed all the legislation and regulations that have been passed over that time relative to our industry and our customers.  With that experience, I am confident TASC will continue to provide leadership that our Clients can rely on.

I kept an eye on Washington from my phone for part of the day Sunday.  The plan to get healthcare reform legislation through the House was shaping up.  As previously posted in my CEO Blog, while some issues slowed the process slightly, there was a clear track to follow and a destination in sight.  On Sunday evening I settled in to do some work while watching more of Washington’s moves on Cspan.com.

Just before midnight Eastern Time the third of the three steps was completed.  First had been the “rules” vote in the afternoon; next came votes in the evening to pass Senate Bill HR 3590; passage of House Reconciliation Bill HR 4872 immediately followed.  At that point healthcare reform was in place for two final steps.  Next, with the Senate Bill passed in the Senate and the House, Reconciliation Bill HR 4872 heads back to the Senate where it needs 51 votes to pass.  While it is not over until it’s over, the likelihood is looking pretty good.  The Senate Bill, with its passage in the Senate and the House, is free to head to the President’s desk for signature.  While HR 4872 will not pass in the Senate without debate, the Reconciliation Bill and thus the legislation as a package heads to the President’s desk where he is expected to sign it into law.

It is very difficult to digest the 2,300+ pages of HR 4872 in a manner that effectively connects/ties it to the language in the 2,000+ pages of HR 3590.  At TASC we strive to keep current with what is shaking out.  To this aim, TASC belongs to organizations that have spent considerable time deciphering the language of the Bills.  Some of the expected results of the Bills as they relate to TASC and our customers have been stated in this Blog previously.  I am still learning… One example: except for insulin purchases, deductions for medicines or drugs will be allowed only when a prescription applies.  This means over-the-counter medicines or drugs will not be deductible.  We had seen this previously in HR 3590.   It appears Reconciliation Bill HR 4872 places language that ensures this is consistently applied to all medical reimbursement vehicles, including Section 105 Medical Reimbursement Plans such as Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs), Health Savings Accounts/Medical Savings Accounts (HSAs/MSAs) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs).

At TASC, much of our attention to healthcare reform has focused on the Group side of the business… Meanwhile, numerous TASC Clients are self-employed, and we’re watching developments that will affect them as well.  We know it’s important that TASC review the language carefully to ensure our understanding of the impact on the self-employed.  So far we’ve seen half a dozen references to the self-employed in both HR 4872 and in the Manager’s Amendment.

Very few Third Party Administrators (TPAs) serve the self-employed and larger employers alike.  At TASC we make it our business to serve businesses of all sizes, and we will be looking out for all our customers.  I invite you to check back to this CEO Blog and watch for other communications from TASC for guidance regarding these sweeping changes.

Early on I predicted that some form of legislation would be passed on healthcare reform, however, I was expecting it to take place in the second half of the President’s four year term. I figured the economy would take a little quick up-tick and the Democrats would be settled into the driver’s seat for a while. For various reasons this legislation will come sooner than I thought. As previously stated, the Senate passed a healthcare reform bill and it was done with the sixty votes needed. After months of strategic and tactical discussions, H.R.4872, the Healthcare Reform Reconciliation Bill, was posted on-line at 2:20 p.m. Thursday, March 18, 2010. That started the 72-hour clock ticking—the time Congressional leadership promised for review of the bill prior to a vote. Thus, a vote in the House could come no earlier than Sunday afternoon (March 21, 2010). Whether the House will vote that soon remains to be seen. Expect some changes to the language. Presently, there are not 216 publicly committed “yes” votes in the House. Thus, the vote could be delayed past Sunday afternoon.

The process will require the House to enact into law H.R.3590, the Senate health reform measure, before the Senate votes on the changes to H.R.3590 contained in H.R.4872. Thus, anything in H.R.3590 not changed in H.R.4872 would become law as drafted in H.R.3590. An example of this would be the Simple Cafeteria Plan provisions under Section 9022 entitled “establishment of Simple Cafeteria Plans for small businesses.” Changes in the Reconciliation Bill that relate to our customers and TASC include the following:

• High Value Health Insurance Tax Threshold and Timing: The bill delays until 2018 the high value health insurance tax. This tax is a 40 percent tax, payable by the insurer or–where the plan is a self-insurance plan or for purposes of Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)–by the plan administrator or employer. The bill includes an increase in the threshold at which the high value health insurance tax is triggered. The new thresholds would be $27,500 for family coverage and $10,200 for individual coverage (higher thresholds—$39,950 and $11,850 respectively—would apply for those in high-risk occupations). The threshold amounts are indexed. Stand-alone dental and vision coverage would not be included in the calculation of the total value of health insurance.
• FSA Limitation: The new $2,500 annual limit (indexed) on FSAs would be delayed by two years, to 2013.

Both the Rules Committee and the House floor vote could take place on Sunday, March 21. President Obama will delay travel and be on hand for the House vote. The tactics used for getting the bill(s) passed does not seem to be public yet. House Democrats are considering using a self-executing rule, also called “deem and pass,” that would deem the underlying Senate healthcare bill passed once the reconciliation package is passed.

TASC and our industry will remain committed to trying to steer legislation that makes sense for its customers. This is a difficult task. In addition, TASC will continue to inform customers through channels like the CEO Blog, Client Alerts, etc., and will make every effort to help customers understand the impact of the changes. TASC will move our organization and services in line with customer need. Overall, the legislation is manageable related to TASC’s relationship and services with and to customers. Disregarding the “politics,” we expect the outcome of these bills to be acceptable to TASC, to our representatives, and to our Clients.

On a separate note, but related to TASC and our customers, the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act was enacted into law on Thursday. This is the “Jobs” Bill. Originally there were provisions for another extension of COBRA in the Bill.  However, at the last moment Senator Harry Reid stripped those provisions because he wanted the bill not to lose its message or intent with respect to jobs.

It’s the time of year we affectionately call the “peak season.”  This is when the vast majority of our Plans end one Plan Year and renew for another.  In addition, it’s Transmittal season, when all of our AgriPlan and BizPlan Clients submit a record of their yearly healthcare expenses for adjudication.  Thirty-five thousands Transmittals to be scanned, reviewed, and returned in less than 10 business days!  Quite an undertaking.

Accordingly, during this busy time our Contact Center is equally busy taking calls.  Some may think a large volume of calls might indicate a bigger problem.  I certainly don’t look at it that way, and the numbers support my opinion.

On average, our Contact Center receives approximately 30,000 calls a month.  That’s 360,000 calls per year.  By adding all of our customers together (Providers, Clients and Participants), we come up with 400,000 or so individuals that we serve.  This means we average less than one call a year from every customer.  All of sudden, 360,000 calls a year doesn’t look so bad, does it?  Let’s dig deeper into the numbers.

We track the nature of calls for quality control and follow-up reasons.  In looking at this information, we can determine that at least 80 percent of our calls deal with pretty basic Plan information.  These include Participants seeking account balances, Clients adding or terminating employees, Providers submitting address changes, and the like.  That means only 20 percent of the calls deal with problems or concerns, and 20 percent of 360,000 equals 72,000 calls.  When we divide our 400,000 customers by 72,000 you will see that on average, a customer calls TASC with a problem or concern only once every five years!

At TASC, we recognize that every problem is important.  We will continue to diligently address all problems seriously and respectfully, and will continue to offer satisfactory resolutions as quickly as possible.  Meanwhile, we acknowledge that some customers do encounter more problems than others, and we work hard every day to limit and resolve these instances.

TASC is always pushing innovations into the marketplace and we serve a sizeable volume of customers.  We must be ever-diligent, because we deal with two aspects of life that are vital to everyone: healthcare and money, and because new laws, new regulations, and new products are inherent to our industry.  Finally, we know some problems are inevitable, and we’re very pleased to know our average customer calls with a problem only once in five years.  That’s the really big picture!

In Wisconsin, during the cold months of winter many of us can’t help but fantasize about outdoor activity.  Maybe that explains why I was thinking of bicycles the other day…

The bicycle was invented in 1817 by Baron von Drais.  He envisioned it as a walking machine to help him get around the royal gardens faster.  It featured two same-size in-line wheels, mounted to a frame which he straddled.  He propelled the device by pushing his feet against the ground, thus rolling himself and the device forward in a sort of gliding walk.

Can you imagine the looks he must have received when he first rode his invention through the royal gardens in Germany?  Surely some people must have thought he was crazy.  Meanwhile, his bike had some major design flaws.  It was made of wood, which besides making it heavy and ungainly, must have made for a bumpy ride.  The bike’s practicality was limited.  There were no pedals, so forget about going up hill.  And without brakes, going down hill was probably no treat either.  It took several enhancements to his invention, but two centuries later, children the world over learn to ride a bike as a rite of passage.

That’s the way it often goes with innovation.  Many people of the time thought the automobile was a contraption and a passing fad.  Few besides Henry Ford thought the car would last.  He believed in it and pioneered something that was truly innovative.

At TASC, we’re also convinced of the importance of innovation.  Take for example the TASC Card.  Later this year we will dramatically expand the way the Card can be used.  The Card is already a convenient debit card that’s used in connection with a health reimbursement plan.  Later this year, the TASC Card will enter a totally new arena: the addition of “cash purse” transactions, meaning the Card can also be used for cash at an ATM.

No one else in the industry is offering a Card that can be used at an ATM, and we’ve worked hard to get this far.  Meanwhile, we know that the road to innovation can be a bumpy one indeed.  And we know that it might take some additional tweaking before the TASC Card comes with a completely smooth ride.  Remember when you first learned how to ride a bike?  Did you fall?  More than once?  Did you scrape your knees?  Your elbows?  Did you quit?  Probably not!  Instead, you got back on your bike and tried again, because you knew there was a lot to be gained by learning to ride a bike.

We will continue to explore, expand, and innovate.  We may fall once in a while, but in the end, we know there is a lot to be gained.  In the end, we are sure you will agree.  We just need to get past the initial bumps in the road.

Even as the temperature outside continues to cool down, things in Washington are heating up.  At the time of year when most of us are concentrating on the upcoming holidays, our Senators are still in Washington, inching closer to passing their version of the healthcare reform bill.  The vote in the Senate will take place tomorrow morning (December 24, 2009).  The Democrats know they have enough votes to ensure passage, so they are holding the vote early in the day to allow members time to travel home to spend the holidays with their families.

Then the process of reconciliation between the House and Senate versions of the bill will begin.  Earlier this week there was an expectation that the House and Senate would get together and work out their differences in time for the President’s State of the Union Address.  But recent reports indicate that the timeframe might be slipping.  In fact, it could be February before they complete final action on the bill.   Some observers feel that a number our legislators may be suffering from healthcare fatigue, both within the House and the Senate, as well as in the administration.   The House passed a jobs bill before it left for the holiday break.  The Senate has yet to act on its version of a jobs bill, so there might be a tendency for some to want to talk about something other than healthcare and focus on the economy.  Nonetheless, we are continuing to work under the assumption that the healthcare reform bill could be ready for the President’s signature under the shorter timeframe.

As far as Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) are concerned, the effective date is the only difference between the House and the Senate versions of the bill.  The House version has an effective date of 2013; the Senate’s is 2011.  While we continue working as an industry to dissuade imposing  any proposed excise tax of FSAs, the more pressing issue at hand is ensuring that the 2013 effective date makes it into the final bill.  Some observers are not optimistic about eliminating the excise tax completely, and many expect the House bill will have to accept some version of the excise tax during the process of reconciliation with the Senate bill.

Yes, things are definitely heating up.  Stay tuned.

When we experience a heavy snowfall in Wisconsin, in the name of public safety, the schools declare a “snow day” and close.  And the kids rejoice.  However, in business, it isn’t quite that simple.  When you are a national company with Clients in all 50 states, plus Guam and Puerto Rico, even if the Governor declares a snow emergency and closes the University and all State offices, you must find a way to serve your customers.

This is exactly what occurred on Wednesday, December 9. According to the National Weather Service, Madison officially received 14.1 inches of snow that day.  (A television station on the southwest side of Madison measured 18 inches at their location.)  Behind the snow were strong winds and below zero temperatures.  Needless to say, this made for tough sledding on area roads.

TASC was open for business on December 9, but due to snowy conditions, very few employees made it into the office. These circumstances would have closed many businesses, but not TASC.  We maintain a process that enables many employees to access our system from home.  In addition, TASC has a fairly significant number of remote workers scattered all over the United States.

Through this process, nearly 68 percent of our employees were logged in and working on December 9th.  Our Contact Center was able to handle roughly 800 calls, with our Interactive Voice Response System taking an extra 345 calls.  And of course, it takes more than a blizzard to close our website.  More than 11,000 customers successfully logged into their MyTASC account.

This performance speaks directly to the segment of our Strategic Map that states: “Give me peace of mind about your sustainability and our relationship.”  TASC’s infrastructure redundancy, offsite storage, nationwide network, and disaster recovery plan allow us to continue serving our customers, to maintain current account information, to keep money moving, and to provide service that is fast and accessible, no matter the weather.  Even if our corporate headquarters are unreachable or unusable.  Even on a snow day.  Now, that is something we can all rejoice about!