On Wednesday, July 9, the Senate passed Medicare payment legislation, H.R. 6331, by a veto-proof margin of 69-30. Following a surprise appearance on the Senate floor by Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) to break a GOP filibuster on the measure and ensure its passage, nine Republicans who previously opposed the legislation due to its Medicare Advantage provisions switched their votes, thereby creating a veto-proof bill. A previous attempt to pass the legislation before the July 4th recess failed because Senator Kennedy was unable to vote for medical reasons. The House passed the legislation with a veto-proof tally of 355-59 in June. NAHU was informed that the president will veto the bill and, although it is possible that some Republicans could change their votes back again because they do not want to override the president, there will likely not be enough senators who will elect to do so and the bill will likely become law.

While NAHU generally supports increased payments to Medicare providers to prevent cost-shifting to private health insurance beneficiaries, we oppose this legislation for several reasons. First, the measure, which is just an 18-month fix to the provider-funding issue, will be financed by $12 billion in cuts to the private Medicare Advantage program. More than 20 percent of Medicare beneficiaries choose the Medicare Advantage option, and NAHU does not want to see their benefits or access to coverage limited in any way. NAHU feels that is very important that all Americans, including Medicare beneficiaries, have a wide range of health plan choices available to them. In addition, H.R. 6331 also includes new and potentially problematic marketing and sales restrictions on insurance producers selling private Medicare products, despite the fact that CMS has an ongoing proposed rule for policy changes in this area.

On a related note, today NAHU submitted formal comments to CMS on its proposed rule on changes to the Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plan (PDP) Programs. This proposed regulation would create substantial new requirements on agents and brokers selling private Medicare Advantage and stand-alone PDP plans. NAHU's formal comments were preceded by a number of informal meetings with top CMS officials on this due to the association's strong working relationship with the agency. CMS plans to review and consider all comments, make changes to the rule and release its final version in October. It is legally unclear at this time how the requirements for marketing provisions in the Medicare funding bill will impact the rule-making process currently underway. 

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Also on July 9, the House Committee on Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government-Sponsored Enterprises approved H.R. 5611, the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers Reform Act of 2008. Known by many as the NARAB II bill, this measure would revive plans to establish a national producer licensing organization. More specifically, the act calls for the creation of a private, self-regulatory, non-profit entity — the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers (NARAB) — led by a board consisting of six state insurance regulators and five marketplace representatives. The legislation, as currently drafted, would not include representation by NAHU and other key agent groups like PIA. NARAB would oversee non-resident producer licensing nationwide. The legislation moved forward surprisingly when the NAIC switched its long-standing opposition to the measure when an amendment was made preserving state licensing revenue and increasing the number of insurance commissioners on the NARAB board.

NAHU opposes this legislation, as drafted, because of its encroachment on state-based regulation of insurance and consumer protections, which we believe could represent the beginning of a slippery slope toward a single-payer system. In addition, we have concerns about the bill’s potential impact on the existing National Insurance Producer Registry, of which NAHU is a voting member of the Board of Trustees. The new legislation would not have adequate industry representation on the NARAB Board. 

During the same mark-up, the subcommittee also passed H.R. 5840, the Insurance Information Act of 2008, which would give new regulatory powers to the Secretary of the Treasury regarding all lines of insurance, except health insurance, and would create an Office of Insurance Information within the Department of the Treasury. Like the NARAB II measure, NAHU opposes H.R. 5840's impact on state-based insurance regulation and feels it could be the beginning step toward building the federal infrastructure for a single-payer health insurance program. 

We are currently working with the Coalition Opposed to a Federal Insurance Regulator to oppose both of these measures, and also plan to work with other excluded agents trade associations on the NARAB II bill to address the matter of adequate industry representation.

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As Congress prepares for its August recess, NAHU would like you take advantage of the extended time your members of Congress are back in their district and make an appointment to meet with them and express the value of an insurance agent as both a resource to politicians and constituents alike. Congress is out of session from August 11th till September 5th and representatives and senators will be back in their home districts meeting with constituents in both town hall forums and on an individual basis. We would like all of our chapters to contact their legislators' home offices in July to set up personal in-district meetings for NAHU members with their representatives this August. This is a great time to help establish and reinforce relationships with your elected officials and their offices.

The goal of your meetings should not be to advocate any particular policy agenda item, but rather to show your representatives how agents in general, and NAHU members in particular, are a community resource and how NAHU can provide information and assistance to the member of Congress in the future. Hopefully then more legislators will remember NAHU, the role our members play in the community, and all of the private-market health care options people have available to them currently when considering broad-scale health care reform measures in the next year. During your meetings, you may want to discuss things like health coverage trends and options, what types of plans local business owners actually purchase, what benefits are covered, what typical rates are in the area, how state rating laws actually impact people and businesses in the district, and similar matters.   

August recess appointment times fill up quickly, so we encourage you to work with your chapter leaders and set appointments for August right away. To look up your congressional representatives and find contact information for their district offices, click here. Once you have made your appointment, please go to this page and record your information so that we can keep track of how many visits NAHU members will be conducting. We encourage chapter members to work together in scheduling these appointments, so only one chapter member needs to record the appointment details, even though multiple members may be attending the visit. If your member of Congress asks for advance materials or a summary of the subjects to be discussed, you can provide his/her staff with this meeting summary. If you have any questions about setting up your appointments or meeting content, please contact Danielle Jaffee.

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