Date: January 15, 2010
Subject: Staying Alive in Health Reform

As leadership in both the House and Senate work to finalize a health reform bill to bring to the House and Senate floors, it is important that the points set forth in the document linked here be made to all lawmakers by their constituents. That's you!

Background: The health reform bills being melded for final passage include a number of NAIFA-initiated improvements. We started back on April 15, 2009,  when Nancy Ann DeParle from the White House Office on Health Reform stated: "A public plan is something that's sponsored by the government, and therefore has very low or almost nonexistent administrative costs, compared to others. It doesn't have the need to have brokers out selling; it wouldn't have the need to have a lot of costs and profits, the way private plans would. So it has that advantage."  In addition to no role for the licensed professional agent, initial health reform efforts under consideration included a government-run plan; national exchange; taxes on life insurance and annuities; taxes on employer-provided health plans; taxes on FSAs, HSAs, HRAs; elimination of HSAs; new government-run LTC program; and repealing McCarran Ferguson.

NAIFA's efforts to remain active participants in the legislative process have resulted in:

• No tax on life and annuity products to pay for reform
• Meaningfull role for the agent in reformed system
• Agent commission rates not controlled by HHS Secretary
• FSA Cap Indexed
• No Government-run plan in Senate Bill
• State Exchanges, not federal, in SenateBill
• No change in current Antitrust Exemption in Senate bill

While these accomplishments are significant, further improvements can be achieved. NAIFA believes remaining active gives us a better chance to shape the bill into the best legislation possible within the current political environment.

Email or Call your Representative and two Senators. Don't have time to make calls now? Program these numbers into your cell phone and call on the way to appointments.

Urge your friends and colleagues to do the same by using the Tell a Friend feature at the bottom of this GovAlert.

Engage the Media Members and their constituents pay close attention to their local media. Make the voice of agent heard by selecting the "Media Guide" tab located at the top of this GovAlert.