Agents Hit the Hill for Health Care Reform

Last month, more than 1,000 professional health insurance advisors, agents, brokers, consultants and employee benefit specialists boarded planes, trains and automobiles to converge in Washington, D.C. for an unprecedented fly-in on health care reform. The group was more than 1,000 strong, and it carried the message of 500,000 independent agents and brokers as attendees met with more than 400 congressional offices as part of the Health Insurance Agent & Broker Alliance health care reform fly-in on Capitol Hill.

Their timing couldn’t have been better. Although the fly-in had been planned for weeks, the House and Senate had major reform developments and President Barack Obama addressed the issue while agents worked the halls of Congress.

The Big “I” collaborated with other associations to form the Health Insurance Agent & Broker Alliance including: the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers (CIAB), the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU) and the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA).

When the associations first joined forces to plan the fly-in, the goal was to get 400 participants total from the four associations. Attendance exceeded expectations more than twofold when more than 1,000 agents and brokers from 49 states signed up.

Participants had meetings with their representatives from the House and Senate on the critical role professional health insurance agents and brokers play in providing health care to millions of Americans. They emphasized the need to maintain and expand both choice and access, reduce health care costs and improve health care quality.

Agents also stressed the importance of not rushing the process and making sure that true reform is done correctly. The Big “I” strongly supports efforts to enact real and substantive private market reform to provide all Americans with access to affordable health care, and to lower health insurance costs, but is concerned about proposals to create a government-run health insurance plan that would unfairly compete with the private insurance marketplace, limit consumer choice and increase the taxpayer burden.

As comprehensive health care reform was being debated in both chambers, the joint grassroots fly-in provided an opportunity for the health insurance agent and broker community to send a strong message to Congress to preserve the private delivery of health insurance and to oppose the creation of a government-run plan.

As the health care reform debate ensues over the next few months, the Big “I” government affairs staff will be calling on independent agents and brokers often to participate in Big “I” grassroots initiatives. Please be on the lookout for Big “I” Grassroots Action Alerts.

Margarita Tapia (margarita.tapia@iiaba.net) is Big “I” director of public affairs.


Big “I’ Urges Congress to Move on Natural Catastrophe Insurance

On July 2, the Big “I” submitted testimony to a U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee field hearing titled “The Homeowners’ Insurance Crisis: Solutions for Homeowners, Communities and Taxpayers.”

The testimony focused on the need for a national solution for natural disaster coverage that protects consumers and utilizes the private markets instead of merely state catastrophe funds.

“The plain truth is that some natural disasters will exceed the financial capacity of state catastrophe funds—only a program that is national in scope will be able to generate enough capacity to cover the most devastating events,” testified the Big “I”.

The Big “I” reminded Congress that natural disasters are not just a coastal issue—they are a national problem.

The testimony noted that “Our members live across the country, serving and living in a wide variety of communities—large and small—and so many of them have been impacted by natural disasters. Certainly, the most devastating natural disasters in recent years have resulted from hurricanes, which have had the greatest impact on the homeowners’ insurance market. However, hurricanes are only one of the many catastrophic risks our nation faces…. Whether it is tornadoes in the Midwest, earthquakes in California or ice storms in the Northeast, we all face some risk of natural disaster….”

The hearing included discussion on the Homeowners Defense Act introduced by Rep. Ron Klein (D-Fla.), which includes a national reinsurance backstop for natural disaster insurance. The Big “I” sees merit in the bill but believes it needs further polishing.

The hearing took place in West Palm Beach, Fla. and included testimony from residents, state and federal officials, and insurance carriers. The committee examined the insurance industry’s coverage of catastrophic natural disasters, the withdrawal of insurance companies from offering policies in coastal areas, rising homeowners’ insurance premiums and the resulting economic impact on state and local governments, as well as possible solutions to the homeowners’ insurance crisis.

-M.T.