MMA to hold Health Care Costs Forum on Sept. 30

The MMA will hold a half-day municipal forum to discuss health care and insurance costs on Sept. 30 in Wrentham. Speakers will include (pictured l-r) Executive Director of the Center for Health Information and Analysis Lauren Peters, Paul Sweeney, senior vice president, Municipal | Labor and Diversified Sales, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, and Matt Veno, executive director of the Group Insurance Commission.

The MMA will hold a half-day municipal forum to discuss health care and insurance costs on Sept. 30 in Wrentham.

The forum will feature leading industry experts discussing the following topics:
• The health care landscape in Massachusetts
• Health care cost trends impacting municipalities
• The current legal landscape relative to municipal health insurance

Lauren Peters, executive director of the Center for Health Information and Analysis, will kick off the agenda with a presentation on the Massachusetts health care cost landscape.

Peters will be followed by a panel discussion with key leaders in municipal health insurance in Massachusetts focusing on the health insurance cost challenges facing cities and towns and some potential solutions for bending the cost curve.

The discussion will be moderated by Eileen McAnneny, executive director of the Employer Coalition on Health, and will feature:
• Paul Sweeney, senior vice president, Municipal | Labor and Diversified Sales, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
• Matt Veno, executive director of the Group Insurance Commission
• Chris Bailey, director of the MIIA Health Benefits Trust

After lunch, attorney Timothy Zessin of KP Law will provide an overview of the current legal landscape relative to municipal health insurance.

To begin the day, MMA Executive Director Adam Chapdelaine will welcome attendees and provide an overview of the event.

The forum will be held at Lake Pearl from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This event is free for MMA members, and lunch is included.

Online registration is available on www.mma.org. Space is limited, and registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.