February 2010 Finances: The measures reported in the last newsletter continue to provide a tenuous but more stable financial picture. We continue to closely monitor expenses and seek potential alternative funding sources. No state board members are being funded by the state to attend this year’s Capitol Conference. Those who are attending are either being funded by their respective locals or paying their own way. The Michigan delegation at Cap Con this year will number about 18. In past years, the locals and state have been able to send roughly 25 people. Membership: Membership remains flat. While we are adding members, retention losses are minimizing any potential gains. Have you asked a non-member to join NAHU? If not, is it because you have not formulated your elevator pitch? What is the value proposition? Value: With health care reform constantly before us, there is much that National has been doing legislatively on your behalf. Their efforts are communicated regularly (see web page). What is less well known is what has been built over the last five years at the state level. Working both with us and on our behalf, the lobbying firm of Cusmano, Kandler & Reed has positioned MAHU as a resource for state legislators on proposed health care legislation. This has been a long process, but it has been worth the effort. One result of these efforts was Mike Embry’s working with Senator George and his office to craft a resolution memorializing Congress to remove the Nebraska Medicaid funding exemption from the health care bill. These efforts resulted in both a Senate resolution and concurring House resolution. Five years ago, this would not have been possible. I think that is of value and something to use as part of the value proposition when asking non-members to join NAHU. The balance of the value proposition shared should come from the value you derive from your membership. If you cannot formulate a value proposition, you may want to consider asking how you can help on one of your local or state committees. It has been my experience that engaging with the Association and one’s fellow members in this manner significantly increases the value of membership. 1 Mike Embry, Sr. RHU, Legislative Chair “The People’s Voice Has Been Heard” Federal Healthcare Reform: With the landmark election recently of Scott Brown in Massachusetts, it appears that the top domestic priority of President Obama and the Democratic Party has been dealt a death blow! Having won a Senate seat that has been held by a Democrat since the early 60’s and by the late Senator Edward Kennedy since 1972, Brown has now become the 41st vote for the Republicans to stop the Healthcare reform legislation that has been passed in different versions by both the US House and Senate. Having spent many hours watching the debate from November’s passage of the House version HR 3962 to the historic Christmas Eve vote on HR 3509 which passed the Senate on a straight party line vote 60 to 39, it became very clear to me that the Democrats in both chambers have lost touch with what the American people really want. The democrats tried every trick in the book to get final passage including a number of “Sweetheart” deals such as the Nebraska “Cornhusker Kickback” and the “Louisiana Purchase”. In the end, they secured the votes in both house to pass their versions. After the holiday break, the conference of these two bills became the top priority. However, contradictory to the statements of President Obama that we’d have transparency, the White House began holding closed door meetings with the House and Senate leadership to hammer out the differences in the bills and to come to a compromise they felt they could get passed. These talks didn’t include any input or attendance by any members of the Republican Party. Unfortunately for them, the MA election came before they could get something back to the House and Senate to be voted on. Some of the issues that were holding up the conference agreement had to do with the Public Option, Taxation of “Cadillac” plans and the use of Federal dollars to fund abortion. Now the House and Senate leadership will have to pull back, regroup and start working on true bipartisan healthcare reform if this issue is going to have any chance of getting done this year. The Democrats have a very large concern that not passing reform prior to the 2010 mid term elections will cost them the majority in the House. The entire House membership and one-third of the Senate is up for re-election in 2010. We have many democrat Representatives in Michigan that are being targeted by the Republican Party. Two of those being targeted specifically are Congressman Gary Peters and Congressman Mark Schauer. The weeks leading up to our trip to Capitol Conference will be loaded with maneuvers coming from both sides of the aisle. President Obama gave his State of the Union address on January 27th and spoke about how he would like to see healthcare reform proceed in light of the recent changes. 2 State of Michigan: As you can understand, there hasn’t been any movement towards healthcare reform in Michigan as the Federal debate has raged on for the past several months. However, on January 14th,, the Senate unanimously passed Senate Resolution 106, sponsored by Senator Tom George of Portage. The resolution asks Michigan’s congressional delegation to oppose any federal health care changes that impose additional costs on the state, whether through expanded Medicaid requirements or other mandates. Gary Reed of CKR and I have discussed this resolution with Senator George and provided him with the details needed for the draft of the resolution. On Friday, January 22, Gary Reed was contacted by Senator George’s office and asked if MAHU would provide testimony to the Senate Health Policy Committee on Wednesday, January 27th, on the negative impact that many of the provisions of the healthcare reform legislation would have on the State of Michigan economy and its citizens. I provided testimony along with a representative from the Department of Community Health. Speaker of the House, Andy Dillon, continues to hold meetings and hearings on his idea of the public employee pooling plan for providing benefits to the thousands of Michigan Public Employees. As of this writing, we still don’t fully know if this will gain traction, but it seems to be moving along as leadership tried to smooth over differences in opinion on things such as claims reporting guidelines and whether or not this infringes on the collective bargaining that many of these groups do independent of one another. Much of this discussion has also centered on if this will actually help Michigan balance its 2010 budget. Senate Republicans took aim at public employee’s benefits as the centerpiece of their efforts to restructure the cost of government, calling for state government workers to take a 5% pay cut and pay 20% of their health insurance premiums. This would require amendments to the constitution that would be placed on the August ballot. Meanwhile, a group of House Democrats are voicing support for legislation HB 4194 that would end taxpayer-funded lifetime healthcare benefits for current and future state legislators. This bill passed the House last week and will proceed to the Senate Committee. As the political posturing continues as to who can best provide ideas for balancing the state’s budget and who will make the run for Governor, Michigan politics promises to heat up. Michael Embry, RHU, Legislative Chair Michigan Association of Health Underwriters 3 EDUCATION UPDATE Amanda Bobrovetski, Professional Development Chair “Who dares to teach must never cease to learn.” ~John Cotton Dana As many of you know, we are in an unusual position… the economy, the state, the government - it’s all making our lives a bit more dramatic than they once were! The one stable thing we can always do to make our situation better is to learn. We are constantly teaching, we have no excuse to not constantly be learning. Increasing your knowledge will catapult you into the next opportunity. These days, opportunity looks different to everyone. You could be after that big sale or that big promotion. You could be trying to refill your pipeline or replace your job from a rough 2009. No matter your situation, the worst thing you can do is simply maintain. In our industry, there are a lot of ways and reasons to grow. Getting a designation or certification could set you apart from your competitors. Attending education seminars not only fulfill the CE requirements, but you may gain that extra knowledge to make you more secure in an interview. And compliance training can protect you and your clients. There are a million reasons why you should never stop learning. In the insurance industry, we are required to teach in so many aspects of our roles. Without growth from learning ourselves, our industry becomes stagnant and we fail to move forward. An even greater accomplishment is to work as a group and share knowledge. Getting involved with your local Professional Development Chair to bring new ideas for education to your area is one way to give back to your industry and stay connected with your chapter. AWARDS Tiffany Otis-Albert, President-Elect As a reminder, the deadline for awards submissions is fast-approaching! Most awards applications must be received in the NAHU office by April 5. Although we’re well into first quarter, it’s not too late to demonstrate your appreciation of a job well done by acknowledging individuals in your chapter, or by applying for Leading Producers Round Table (LPRT) yourself. Wouldn’t you like other NAHU members to know more about the great work taking place in your local? Well, don’t be shy…apply! MAHU will be submitting for the Landmark Award again this year, as well as renewing our Silver Seal Certification. If you have questions or would like to help in any capacity, please contact Executive Director, Marcy Lay, at [email protected]. For more information on the awards categories or how to apply, please visit www.nahu.org. You may also contact your local awards chairperson, or Tiffany Otis-Albert, MAHU President-Elect, at (248) 228-4786 or via email at [email protected]. 4 MAHU SPONSORSHIP UPDATE Tiffany Otis-Albert, President-Elect As always, we’d like to thank the sponsors that have continued to support the Michigan Association of Health Underwriters (MAHU) over the years! With today’s economy and evershrinking budgets, we appreciate our sponsors acknowledging the importance of the Association and ensuring that our legislative voice remains heard. Premier sponsors; Health Alliance Plan (HAP) and HealthPlus, have helped sustain both state and local chapters with their generous contributions. Gold sponsor, Health Management Systems of America (HMSA), also deserves special thanks, as do our Bronze sponsors: Assurant, CIGNA HealthCare, Delta Dental and the Michigan Business & Professional Association (MBPA). Your constant involvement and feedback will shape the direction we take in 2010 and beyond. Thank you! HOW YOUR NAHU MEMBERSHIP CAN HELP YOU MAKE MORE MONEY! Dan Blakemore, Media Relations Chair When I first started selling health insurance, I was encouraged to join NAHU. I was told it would help me grow my business through professional education and networking. I was not aware that NAHU would send customers to me. I was very surprised that referrals which came directly through NAHU would result in sales that exceeded my membership dues. Every couple of months I receive a phone call from an agent in another state, who has a client relocating to Michigan and needs health insurance. Sometimes they want to cover the child of a client attending or graduating from college. The “find an agent” tool on the NAHU website,(www.NAHU.org) helps members find a NAHU member in another state. The data base is sorted by state and zip code. It provides contact information for each member. This enables NAHU members to refer you to their clients. Your membership in NAHU tells people you are a professional in your industry. Agents will have confidence in referring their clients to you by virtue of your membership in NAHU. The commission generated from NAHU referral sales exceeds my membership dues. That means all the other services I receive from NAHU is a bonus. The continuing education, professional development, legislative advocacy, and networking that I expected are worth my hard earned dollars alone. The referrals that came my way are a great additional benefit. 5 MEMBERSHIP UDATE—Lesley Schafer The core of any successful association is their membership. It is true with the National Association of Health Underwriters. The passion and dedication that has been displayed by many of our members this past year with regards to all of the federally proposed changes to healthcare, has been truly an incredible journey to experience. The grassroots on the local level, the legislative push on the state level as well as the federal level has been outstanding. I am proud to belong to such an upstanding organization that has pledged to protect the very industry that we are all a part of – the health insurance industry. I encourage you to reach out to fellow colleagues in the industry. If they aren’t a member, sign them up to become one, to be involved on a committee, be a board member or simply support us from the side line. Simply go to www.nahu.org and click on “join now”. It’s that simple and easy. Questions on any association business? Please contact Marcy Lay, Executive Director: MAHU 124 W. Allegan, Suite 1700 Lansing, MI 48933 Office: 517-485-4044 WMAHU UPDATE—Carman Baines Now that 4th quarter is behind us, WMAHU is preparing and planning for EXPO 2010. We are excited to announce a change in venue and timing for this year. EXPO will be held on May 12, 2010 at the Pinnacle Center in Hudsonville, Michigan. Our theme this year is Rock and Roll. Come on—are you ready to ROCK? Visit wmahu.org for reservations and exhibitor forms. NEED THE LATEST ON FEDERAL LEGISLATION? NEED THE LATEST ON STATE LEGISLATION? GO TO www.mahu.org 6 Michael Embry, RHU For the past year, the insurance industry and the nation have been focused on health care legislation. Although the press focuses on the national scene, the State of Michigan has had its own health care reform working its way through the state legislature. One member of MAHU has had a significant impact on the legislative process, which has had state-wide and national implications. Mike Embry has enjoyed a career in the insurance industry for more than 26 years. He is currently Vice-President-Senior Account Director for Comerica Insurance Services. Mike has been a dedicated member of NAHU since 1993. Mike joined the Metro Detroit chapter board in 1998, and served in various positions. He was elected President in 2002. In 2006, he served as President of the State board. In 2008, at the invitation of the Chair of the House Health Policy Committee, Mike became a member of the working group on Individual Market Reform. Later that year, he testified before the Senate Health Policy committee on the impact of various aspects of Individual Market Reform legislation pending before both houses. When that legislation failed, he began meeting with legislators to discuss their plans for the reintroduction of this legislation in the new session. Working closely with Senator Tom George, Mike was able to have input on a resolution which called for the State of Michigan to be exempt from Federal mandates which might be included in Federal health care reform due to their negative economic impact on the State of Michigan. The resolution recently passed. The members of the Michigan Association of Health Underwriters would like to thank Michael A. Embry Sr. RHU for his dedication and service to our industry and Association. 7 NATIONAL UPDATE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: KELLY LOUSSEDES, VICE PRESIDENT OF PUBLIC RELATIONS January 28, 2010 (703) 276-3835 or [email protected] NAHU Welcomes Opportunity to Propose New Health Care Reform Ideas (Arlington, VA) – Janet Trautwein, CEO of the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU), made the following statement today in response to President Obama’s State of the Union Address: “We applaud President Obama for acknowledging that the current health care reform proposals lack broad appeal and are encouraged by his request for new bipartisan ideas. We have long advocated for members of Congress to work together in a bipartisan fashion to develop an affordable and responsible means of achieving the needed reforms to our nation’s health care delivery system. “Our health care system and the consumers who depend on it are facing an unprecedented crisis of rising costs, resulting in reduced access to both quality health care and affordable health insurance. Unfortunately, in his speech last night President Obama did not address the fundamental reason why many Americans lack health insurance—soaring health care costs. NAHU will continue to promote sensible solutions that rein in health care costs, provide better access to care, improve quality, create better efficiency, and put our health care system on an affordable and sustainable path. “NAHU believes competitive market forces will have the greatest positive impact on the cost of health care. Our private health insurance market is innovative, flexible and efficient, and, most important, up to the task of responding to wellstructured reforms.” An American Solution – NAHU's Vision for Affordable and Responsible Health Reform can be viewed here: http://www.nahu.org/legislative/healthyaccess/an_american_solution.pdf. NAHU represents more than 100,000 professional health insurance agents and brokers who provide insurance for millions of Americans. For more information, please contact Kelly Loussedes, vice president of public relations at 703-2763835 or [email protected]. NAHU CEO, Janet Trautwein and President Russ Childers conducted a legislative town hall webinar to address cur‐ rent health care reform issues. View the PowerPoint or listen to the recording. 8 NMAHU Update—Raquel Green Northern MI AHU is very excited to welcome our lobbyist as the main speaker at our next membership meeting! On February 24th, Gary Reed, from CKR, along with Mike Embry, State Legislative Chair, will be welcomed in frozen, but beautiful, Traverse City. This very timely meeting should be a great opportunity for our membership to ask questions directly to those who have been watching out for our livelihoods. Keith Wright is working to bring someone from National to Traverse City by accepting their offer to teach a CDHC class to our members. We hope to offer that in March. MDAHU Update-Val Cramer MDAHU is hard at work! The board has worked to put together a fresh look for our website— check it out today at www.mdahu.org. MDAHU held a successful CEO Roundtable on January 29th. Attendance for this event was outstanding. Here are important dates to mark your calendars: EXPO 2010—SAVE THE DATE—May 6, 2010 @ the Dearborn Hyatt MDAHU Annual Golf Outing—July 20, 2010 SMAHU Update-Brad Scoffin If you work in, or would like to receive communications from the Southwest Michigan Association of Health Underwriters then you need to register on www.SMAHU.org. Registration is free and needs to be completed by guests, vendors, members, associate members, and nonmembers. Starting March 1st, 2010, our online registry will be the primary distribution point for future local chapter newsletters, meeting announcements, special events notifications including our annual golf tournament, and all other communications. Should you have any questions or feedback, please contact Brad Scoffin at [email protected] Spread the word… let your co-workers and others in the industry know to register today! Also, as a recent educational initiative, our local chapter has started to offer various CE courses immediately following regularly scheduled breakfast meetings. Our goal as a chapter is to offer CE after each meeting, as it was a huge success in January. If you work for a carrier that would like to sponsor or have a CE course that can be offered, please let us know. Contact Jim Adams at 269-760-1551. 9 2010 Capitol Conference March 8 - 10, Washington, D.C. JW Marriott Washington, DC Registration Register for the 2010 Capitol Conference here. The online registration fee is $350. If you have any problems registering for the 2010 Capitol Conference, please contact Dianne Sautkulis. If you are having difficulty registering online, please click here for step-by-step instructions. Currently, only online registration is open. Paper registration forms are not available at this time. If you are an LPRT qualifier, remember to use your promotional code to receive the discounted registration fee. Who Will You See There? We all know Capitol Conference is a great way to reconnect with members from across the nation. Click here for a list of current attendees, and here for a list of those registered to attend the leadership program on Sunday, March 7. Having trouble putting a face to a name? Check out our Facebook page to see some of the members attending this year's conference. Here are some of the members we saw last year! What Will You Do There? We are excited to present a fantastic lineup of sessions exclusively for our members. Some highlights include: Health Reform and the 2010 Election Cycle with Stuart Rothenberg The Economic Impact of Health Reform, a discussion with Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of DHE Consulting, LLC and former director, Congressional Budget Office and Len Nichols, director of the Health Policy Program at the New America Foundation How Health Reform Could Impact the States--Views of a Governor, Legislators and State Insurance Commissioners Public Opinion and Health Reform: A Media Perspective 2010 Health Policy Priorities in the House and Senate presented by key members of Congress The Obama Administration's Expectations Going Forward How Health Reform Could Change the Self-Funded Marketplace Exchanges and the Role of the Agent/Broker/Consultant The New Role of Employers: Compliance in a Reformed Health Care Delivery System Enhanced Subsidies and an Individual Mandate: How Would They Work in the Private Market The CLASS ACT: A New National Long-Term Care Program's Potential Impact on the Private Marketplace But wait...there's more! Check back soon for more details! Hotel Information JW Marriott1331 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20004(202) 393-2000 Click here to make a reservation at the JW Marriott. Our discounted hotel rate is $304 plus tax for a single or a double room. Pre-Conference Information Agenda - Please check back as we get closer to Capitol Conference as we will be updating the schedule with further details. Why You Should Attend - Capitol Conference is a unique chance to sit down and share your knowledge with the people who make the laws that affect our profession and our clients. Learn more about why you should attend Capitol Conference 2010. 10 11 Special Opportunity CDHC Traverse City, MI We are pleased to announce that we will soon be presenting a special program offered only through the National Association of Health Underwriters. This CE course will be offered from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on March 3, 2010 in Traverse City, MI. The program is a four-hour course on consumer-directed health care that will provide you with technical, actionable information you can use to help your clients consider these fast-evolving plans and implement them successfully. The class is open to employers as well as benefit professionals. The certification will serve as a distinction for producers as credentialed experts in the sophisticated space of CDHC. This course: Compares Health Reimbursement Arrangements, Health Savings Accounts and other plan designs Considers current and projected adoption Presents comprehensive guidance on eligibility, contributions and all technical elements Provides two frameworks — one for selling CDHC and another for implementing it, which brokers may share with employers Suggests enrollment and communication strategies and tactics Involves class participants in breakout discussions on ways to implement specific cases If you want to stand out among your peers and are looking for real education to improve your knowledge, this course is for you. Your clients depend on you, so make sure you have the answers. This course will last four hours and will be presented at the Cambria Suites of Traverse City in Traverse City, MI from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on March 3, 2010. Certification as a specialist in consumerdirected health care will be provided following completion of the course and a passing grade on the online examination. The cost of the course is $135 for NAHU members and $185 for non-members. Click ister online at the discounted rate. Sincerely, Janet Trautwein NAHU Executive Vice President and CEO 12 here to reg- NAHU CDHC Certification Program ***** "Additional Incentive Opportunity" Offer Good Through March 31st ***** Incentives - For only a short time, NAHU is offering a member who recruits a new member registering for the class, an additional 20% discount on her/his CDHC registration fee. This class offers chapters a great way to recruit non-members who can join on the day of the class and then receive a full refund for the cost of the class. Chapters that have more than 100 students in attendance will benefit from a $10 revenue share per attendee. Chapters can invite surrounding states to increase participation. Several of NAHU’s chapters have already been greatly successful. NAHU provides top-notch instructors who are leading experts in the industry. NAHU provides AV and room expense reimbursement. NAHU provides all course materials. NAHU provides secondary promotion of the event. Benefits - The new and improved certification program, Consumer-Driven Health Care (CDHC), is a four-hour course that provides brokers and employers with technical, actionable information they can use to help clients consider these fast-evolving plans and implement them successfully. The course will help NAHU members to better understand the three main types of health care accounts associated with consumer-driven health care plans: FSAs, HSAs and HRAs. These opportunities have created new responsibilities for agents and brokers, and advising clients in these areas is more difficult and time-consuming than it has been in the past. New Health reform changes include changes to CDHC plans. These plans represent significant promise for improving health care spending. With companies still struggling to keep health insurance costs in check, more employers will be offering consumer-directed health care plans (CDHCPs), including health savings accounts (HSAs), during the upcoming open-enrollment season. Got CE? - Through our engaging CDHC class, agents and brokers can fulfill their insurance CE credit needs. The certification will serve as a distinction for producers as credentialed experts in the sophisticated space of CDHC, and is approved by states for insurance continuing education credits. Upon successful completion of the final exam associated with this course, students will receive four credit hours for continuing education and a certificate of completion. We are encouraging our chapters to schedule the CDHC class now for 2010 and take advantage of a prepackaged educational opportunity at little or no cost to the chapter. Have your chapter highlighted on NAHU’s national website today! http:// www.nahu.org/education/certifications/cdhc.cfm For further information contact: Yashica Joyner 703-276-3824 or [email protected] Farren M. Ross VP of Education National Association of Health Underwriters 2000 N 14th Street Suite 450 Arlington, VA 22201 13 Michigan Association of Health Underwriters State Board Members Past-President Pat Pennefather Kapnick Insurance Group 26100 American Dr. Suite 300 Southfield, MI 48034 Office: 888-263-4656 Ext: 1168 Fax: 248-352-4466 Cell: 313-550-7300 [email protected] President Dave Cluley Hurley Medical Center Planning and Marketing Department One Hurley Plaza Flint, MI 48503 Office: 810.762.6609 [email protected] President-Elect Tiffany Otis-Albert Cell: (248) 228-4786 [email protected] Membership/Retention Chair Lesley Schafer JG Smart Solutions, LLC PO Box 464 Coldwater, MI 40036 [email protected] Treasurer Catherine (Ficara) Cooper HCA 39500 High Pointe Blvd., Suite 400 Novi, MI 48375 Office: 248-344-2291 Fax: 248-675-4525 Cell: 248-207-0858 [email protected] Legislative Chair Michael Embry Comerica Insurance Services Mail Code 7969 201 West Fort Street Detroit, MI 48226 Office: 313-222-0221 Fax: 313-222-3130 Cell: 586-484-5745 [email protected] Secretary E. Brad Scoffin Colonial Life & Accident 9364 East U Avenue Vicksburg, MI 49097 Office: (877) 846-3745 Fax: (877) 846-2329 MAHU Executive Director Marcy Lay CKR, Inc. 124 W. Allegan Suite 1700 Lansing, MI 48933 Office: 517-485-4044 Fax: 517-485-4045 [email protected] [email protected] 14 Communication Chair Dan Blakemore [email protected] MDAHU Trustee Valerie Cramer Priority Health 34505 W. Twelve Mile Road Farmington Hills, MI 48331 Office: (248) 324-2840 [email protected] Awards Chair Tiffany Otis-Albert Cell: (248) 228-4786 [email protected] WMAHU Trustee Carman Baines Wells Fargo Insurance Services 648 Monroe, NW Grand Rapids, MI 49503 (616) 336-0681 [email protected] Education Chair Amanda Bobrovetski Action Benefits 24600 Northwestern Hwy. Southfield, MI 48075 Direct Line/Direct Fax: 248.603.3550 Cell Phone: 248.921.9229 [email protected] SWMAHU Trustee Kelly Sackett 7839 Clydesdale Avenue Kalamazoo, MI 49009 Office: (269) 207-4111 [email protected] Media Relations Chair Dan Blakemore [email protected] NMAHU Trustee Raquel Green Peterson McGregor & Associates 1368 Business Park Drive Traverse City, MI Office: (231) 922-7220 [email protected] & W E N ww I VED O R MP rg o . u ah w.m 15
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