Leadership Matters September 2013 .pub

49th Annual IASA Conference October 9—11, 2013 Click here to register or for more information

Relland helps school districts translate Affordable Care Act to action plans Speaker has spent career in employee benefits arena, was involved in debate

By Michael Chamness IASA Director of Communications The year was 2010, the topic was the Affordable Care Act, and Susan Relland’s words were prescient. As an attorney who had been heavily involved in the Congressional debate regarding the politically charged issue commonly referred to in the media as “Obamacare,” Relland understood that as tough as the law was to get passed, implementation would be even more difficult. law is not on the page. People are not appreciating how much of this law we won’t know for a long time.” “So much of this

Susan Relland, vice president of American Fidelity Assurance Company, will be one of the keynote speakers at the IASA Annual Conference.

‘B.’ There are a lot of different levers districts can pull to create a strategy that will work for them.” For example, she cited the Free Rider Penalty portion of the law, which requires “large” employers (50 or more full-time employees) to provide “adequate” and “affordable” health coverage for their full-time employees (those working 30 or more hours per week) no later than January 1, 2015. “The law says you can credit a substitute teacher with just the hours they actually work instead of a full day if you keep the proper service records. Otherwise (Continued on page 7)

Relland will be a keynote speaker at the IASA Annual Conference to be held October 9-11 at the Crowne Plaza in Springfield. She will address the challenges facing school districts as they attempt to comply with the complex health care act. Her advice to school administrators? “They need to start looking at a strategy sooner rather than later,” said Relland, now a vice president of American Fidelity Assurance Company in Oklahoma City. “It’s not as simple as choosing ‘A’ or

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