Spring Conference

2025 MASI SPRING CONFERENCE / TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2025

THE WESTIN IN DOWNTOWN JACKSON

 

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!

ATTENDEES • EXHIBITORS • SPONSORS

Make plans now to join your MASI friends and contacts at the 2025 Spring Conference!

8 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.

SIX HOURS of Continuing Education Applied for:

Agents—Adjusters—PC and Health—MSCLE—CCM—PT—CCRC—SHRM

 

For those coming to Jackson, a room block is available at The Westin for $179 per night. Mention MASI Continuing Education Conference 2025 when making your reservation. Room reservations can also be made online at the link below.

Book your group rate for MASI Continuing Education Conference 2025

 

THE WESTIN IN DOWNTOWN JACKSON
407 SOUTH CONGRESS STREET, JACKSON, MS 39201
(844) 201-4450

If you would like a hotel recommendation closer to the reception at Anjou in Ridgeland on Monday, March 3, contact MASI at (601) 749-6274 or wendyp@masiweb.org.

EXHIBITORS

This year we will have additional exhibit space allowing a few more booths while still providing plenty of opportunities to network with conference attendees. There are a limited number of booth spaces available, so register for an exhibit spot as soon as possible.

 

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE!

Platinum — $1500
Includes recognition during Breakfast, Lunch, and Breaks as well as additional recognition at Pre-Conference Reception. Exhibit and priority exhibit placement included.

Gold Sponsorships — $1000
Includes priority recognition during Breakfast, Lunch, and Breaks.

Silver Sponsorships — $500
Includes recognition during Breakfast, Lunch, and Breaks.

 

Pre-Conference Reception: Monday, March 3, 2025
Anjou in Ridgeland — 5 P.M. to 7 P.M.

 

MASI Event Cancellation Policy
To adequately prepare for a successful event, please review and understand that cancellations made 30 days or more in advance of the event date will receive a 100% refund. Cancellations made within 14 and 29 days in advance of the event date will incur a 50% fee. Cancellations made within 13 days of the event will not receive a refund.

 

March 3, 2025

11:30 a.m.	Mississippians for Self-Insurance Golf Tournament Fundraiser
	11:30 a.m.     Lunch
	12:30 p.m.    Shotgun Start
5:00 – 7:00 p.m.	Pre-Conference Reception Anjou Restaurant Ridgeland, Mississippi

March 4, 2025

8:00 – 8:30 a.m.	Registration, Continental Breakfast & Exhibitor Networking
8:30 – 8:45 a.m.	Welcome Ricky Saltzman, MASI President Wendy Powell, Executive Director
8:45 – 9:45 a.m.	The Effects of Heat Related Illnesses in the Workplace, and the Impact of Excessive Heat on Workers’ Compensation, a National and Regional Perspective. Tim Hassett-Salley, Director of Revenue Development Workers’ Compensation Research Institute
9:45 – 10:45 a.m.	Improving Injured Worker Outcomes using Data Analytics and Technology Becky Hillhouse, Vice President, Workers’ Compensation Claims Ascot Workers’ Compensation
10:45 – 11:15 a.m.	Morning Break with Exhibitors
11:15 – 12:15 p.m.	Unlocking Excellence: Your Ultimate Guide to Transportation and Language Services Carlos Ayestas, Managing Director/Executive Vice President of Client Relations Priority Transportation & Language Services (PTS)
12:15 – 1:00 p.m.	Conference Lunch and Exhibitor Networking
1:00 – 2:00 p.m.	Fully Insured vs. Self-Funded Health Insurance: Understanding the Key Differences and Strategic Implications Eugene Starks, Principal Benefit Administration Services Ltd. / The Acuity Group
2:00 – 3:00 p.m.	Embracing Value-Based Care: The Power of Proactive Healthcare David Hochheiser, MS, Vice President, Payor Strategy Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System – St Dominic Jackson Memorial Hospital
3:00 – 3:30 p.m.	Afternoon Break & Door Prizes with Exhibitors
3:30 – 4:30 p.m.	Bad Faith Overview in Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Matters (One Hour Ethics) Daniel Culpepper, Esq. & Dan Baker, Esq. Anderson Crawley & Burke
4:30 p.m.	Final Announcements—Cash Giveaway—Adjourn

Becky Hillhouse
Vice President, Workers’ Compensation Claims
Ascot Workers’ Compensation

Becky Hillhouse began her career in workers’ compensation insurance in 1992 as a claims adjuster. During her career, she created and instructed adjuster training programs, managed self-insured, assigned risk and traditional insurance claims, and conducted client services programs providing risk services, loss analysis, and return to work programs. Becky is a designated Subject Matter Expert by the Mississippi Insurance Department and assists with the design and review of the workers’ compensation adjuster license exam. She has been a contributing author and instructor for the MS Association of Self-Insurer’s Certified Self-Insured Workers’ Compensation Professional program and holds that designation. Becky is the Past President of the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Educational Association and served eight years on the Board of Directors. She serves as the workers’ compensation Claims Committee member for the Mississippi Insurance Guaranty Association.

Becky received the national WorkCompCentral 2022 Comp Laude® Finalist Award in the Claims Professional category. She is a frequent speaker at educational conferences including the MS Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference, and the Workers’ Compensation Institute 360 Conference in Orlando, including sessions for the Alliance of Women in Workers’ Compensation and the Workers’ Compensation Defense Institute.

Becky graduated from Mississippi College, is married with two daughters, and lives in Madison, Mississippi.

 

Carlos Ayestas
Managing Director/Executive Vice President of Client Relations
Priority Transportation & Language Services (PTS)

Carlos Ayestas is currently the Managing Director/Executive Vice President of Client Relations at Priority Transportation & Language Services (PTS). Under his leadership, PTS has grown from a local provider in the Southeast to a national service provider. Carlos is a noted panel speaker at several industry conferences. Before joining PTS, he was the Director of Business Development for Contract Claims Services, Inc. and their subsidiary Adjuster Preferred Solutions, a national Longshore/Marine claims administrator and Medicare Set-Aside provider. Carlos has over 30 years of experience in the workers’ compensation and multi-line insurance industry, holding various senior management positions.

Carlos holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Loyola University New Orleans and a bachelor’s degree in Homeland Security from Tulane University. He is a licensed private investigator and a licensed workers’ compensation adjuster in Louisiana. Carlos is committed to community development programs, serving on the FBI Citizens Academy New Orleans Alumni Association Board and as a member of the organization and as the Board President for the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, where he is also a reserve deputy. He is active in many additional professional and community organizations.

Carlos’s vision for PTS is to continue developing it as the premier provider of non-emergency medical transportation and language services nationwide. The core service of PTS is to provide industry-leading language and transportation services with a contemporary perspective to the workers’ compensation and healthcare insurance industry, and general business markets through a quality network of certified providers. The mission of PTS is “To consistently provide cost-effective transportation and language services performed with a level of professionalism and customer service unparalleled in the industry.”

 

Dan Baker, Esq.
Anderson Crawley & Burke

Dan Baker received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mississippi State University in 1983, a Master in Public Policy and Administration from Mississippi State University in 1985, and a Juris Doctorate from Mississippi College School of Law in 1988. He was admitted to practice in all courts in the State of Mississippi in 1988.

Mr. Baker served twenty years as an Armor Officer in the Mississippi Army National Guard, retiring at the rank of Major. He is currently a member of the Hinds and the Mississippi Bar Associations and the Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association. He is also a member of the Society for Human Resource Management, the Mississippi Association of Self Insurers, and serves as Legislative Committee Chair of the Capitol Area Human Resources Association.

He also serves as Mississippi State Legislative Director for The Society of Human Resource Management. In 2014 he was inducted as a Fellow of the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers. His practice concentrates on counseling employers in managing the risks associated with their Workers’ Compensation claims as well as defending those claims that result in litigation.

Mr. Baker is active in the Workers’ Compensation Institute and is a regular presenter as a part of the Mississippi Panel in the Multi-State Program. He is also part of ACB’s team of attorneys who regularly present at firm seminars and client meetings.

 

David Hochheiser, MS
Vice President, Payor Strategy
Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System – St Dominic Jackson Memorial Hospital

David Hochheiser joined Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System (FMOLHS in 2021 and serves as Vice President of Payor Strategy. In his current role, David oversees and sets strategy for Payor engagement, for FMOLHS, and for FMOLHS’s Clinical Integrated Network, Health Leaders Network. Previously, he served as the Senior Vice President of Provider Networks at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana (BCBS). Prior to that he worked for Accenture and OPTUMInsight.

David earned dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Vermont and his master’s in mathematics from the University of Vermont. He has more than 25 years of leadership experience in the healthcare industry and is considered a subject matter expert on healthcare strategy, payor-provider relationships, payment integrity, revenue cycle, value-based programs and healthcare reimbursement methodologies.

 

Daniel P. Culpepper, Esq.
Managing Member
Anderson Crawley & Burke, PLLC

Daniel P. Culpepper is the Managing Member of Anderson Crawley & Burke, PLLC, a law firm headquartered in the Jackson, Mississippi metro area. Since joining Anderson Crawley & Burke, PLLC, his practice has focused primarily on representing Employers, Carriers, and Third Party Administrators in Mississippi Workers’ Compensation matters. Mr. Culpepper received his certification as a Certified Self-Insured Workers’ Comp Professional as established by the Mississippi Association of Self-Insurers. Not only did he receive his certification, but he has served as an instructor for the program since its inception.

Mr. Culpepper has also served as the Coach for the Mississippi College School of Law’s Zehmer Moot Court Teams for the last five years. The Zehmer National Moot Court Competition is a national moot court competition focused on appellate advocacy for workers’ compensation matters. Mr. Culpepper had the privilege to coach the team that won the Zehmer National Competition in 2016.

A native of Meridian, Mississippi, he was admitted to the Bar of Mississippi and the United States District Courts for the Northern and Southern District of Mississippi in 2006. Mr. Culpepper is a graduate of Millsaps College (B.B.A., 2003) and the University of Mississippi (J.D., cum laude, 2006). After completing his legal education, Mr. Culpepper clerked for Justice T. Kenneth Griffis and then Justice Leslie D. King, while both were at the Mississippi Court of Appeals.

 

Eugene Starks
Principal
Benefit Administration Services, Ltd. / The Acuity Group

Eugene Starks is a partner with Benefit Administration Services, Ltd., a full-service employee benefits TPA, consulting, and brokerage company. In 2014, Mr. Starks and his business partners launched the Acuity Group, an agency that focuses on integrating benefit administration technologies across the entire HR and employee benefit spectrum with locations in Little Rock, Arkansas; Lafayette, Louisiana; and Ridgeland and Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He merged his independent employee benefits brokerage and consulting company, Starks & Company, Inc., with BAS in 2007.

 

Michelle Fuller
Employee Health and Benefits Practice Leader
Marsh & McLennan, Fisher Brown Bottrell division

Michelle Fuller has been in the Welfare and Retirement Benefits arena for 38 years. She retired in 2023 as a Producer with Cadence Insurance and is currently the Employee Health and Benefits Practice Leader for the Fisher Brown Bottrell division of Marsh & McLennan.

 

 

Tim Hassett-Salley
Director of Revenue Development
Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI)

Tim Hassett-Salley is the Director of Revenue Development at the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI). He is responsible for new member acquisition with a focus on the Insurer segment, as well as development of additional states into the CompScope program.

He has held leadership positions for over 35 years within the Workers’ Compensation and Disability Management industry. In addition, for many years Tim maintained a private psychotherapy practice and was an adjunct faculty member of the Counseling Department in the Graduate School of Education at Bridgewater State University, where he previously earned his graduate degrees. Tim earned his B.A. at Providence College.

Tim has presented at many conferences and institutions, including: National Comp (NWCDC), International Claim Association, New England Claim Association, Disability Management Employer Coalition, NCCI State Advisory Forum (CT), Defense Research Institute (DRI), Virginia RIMS, Virginia Self-Insurers Association, Arkansas Self Insurers Association (ASIA), Tennessee WC Educational Conference, Massachusetts RIMS, Eastern Claims Conference, Lesley University, Providence College, Bridgewater State University, and Suffolk University.

 

 

Attendee Registration

Attendee Online Payment / Attendee Form to Pay with a Check

Sponsorship Opportunities

Sponsorship Online Payment / Sponsorship Form to Pay with a Check

Exhibitor Registration

Exhibitor Online Payment / Exhibitor Form to Pay with a Check