Agents Discuss Top Issues on Capitol Hill

Last week, Big “I” members from all 50 states traveled to Washington, D.C. for the biggest and most effective industry gathering of its kind: the annual Big “I” Legislative Conference.

Over the course of three days, Big “I” agents and brokers met with almost every U.S. Senate and House of Representatives office to discuss the association’s top legislative concerns, including:

NFIP: The Big “I” supports a reformed and modernized NFIP and asked Congress to extend the current program before its Sept. 30, 2017 expiration. Agents advocated for modernized mapping technologies; increased use of private reinsurance; reforms to incentivize mitigation efforts; and consideration of risk-based rates, where appropriate. The private market should act in a limited fashion and only as a complement, not a replacement to the NFIP.

The Big “I” supports S. 1679 and H.R. 2901, the “Flood Insurance Market Parity and Modernization Act,” by Sens. Dean Heller (R-Nevada) and Jon Tester (D-Montana) and Reps. Dennis Ross (R-Florida) and Patrick Murphy (D-Florida). This bill clarifies that state regulators have authority over private flood insurance and ensures that policyholders can return to the NFIP without losing their grandfathered status or subsidy if they had previously left the program and obtained coverage in the private market—an important protection for consumers and an E&O protection for agents.

Federal Crop Insurance Program (FCIP): Agents are the sole sales force of the FCIP and the Big “I” strongly supports this safety net for American agriculture. The association opposes reopening the Farm Bill to cut the budget baseline for the FCIP, as well as S. 2244 and H.R. 3973, the “AFFIRM Act,” which would result in cuts to private sector delivery of crop insurance and would discourage farmers from purchasing adequate coverage for their farmland.

Health care: The Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) “Cadillac” tax imposes a 40% tax on health plans that exceed a fixed annual cost. At the end of 2015, Congress enacted a two-year delay of the “Cadillac” tax, moving the effective date from 2018 to 2020. The delay was a good first step, but the Big “I” continues fighting for full repeal. So far, Congress has introduced four bipartisan bills to repeal the tax.

The association also backs excluding agent compensation from the ACA’s medical loss ratio formula and supports S. 1661, the “Access to Independent Health Insurance Advisors Act,” by Sens. Johnny Isakson (R-Georgia) and Chris Coons (D-Delaware), and its House companion, H.R. 815, the “Access to Professional Health Insurance Advisors Act,’’ by Reps. Billy Long (R-Missouri) and Kurt Schrader (D-Oregon).

State regulation of insurance: The Big “I” is concerned with federal encroachment on the state regulatory system. Big “I” agents went to Capitol Hill in support of S. 1086, the “International Insurance Capital Standards Accountability Act,” by Sens. Dean Heller (R-Nevada) and Jon Tester (D-Montana), and H.R. 2141, the “International Insurance Standards Transparency and Policyholder Protection Act,” by Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wisconsin). The legislation would create procedural “checks” for federal officials in international insurance negotiations to protect the state-based system of regulation and insurance consumers.

Department of Labor (DOL) regulations: A DOL proposal regarding overtime requirements for white-collar workers could be overly burdensome for small businesses, including thousands of Big “I” members and their customers. As such, the Big “I” advocated for S. 2707 and H.R. 4773, the “Protecting Workplace Advancement and Opportunity Act,” by Sens. Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee) and Reps. Tim Walberg (R-Michigan) and John Kline (R-Minnesota), which would halt the proposal.

The association also pushed Congress to reverse or amend a new DOL regulation to expand the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) “fiduciary” standard, which threatens to harm investors and limit consumer access to professional advice.

At the Legislative Conference, the association also presented agent government affairs awards, hosted an InsurPac large donor reception and bestowed its top honor to a member of Congress. For his unwavering commitment to protecting American agriculture and the FCIP, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway (R-Texas) is the 2015 Gerald Solomon-Big “I” Legislator of the Year.

The week’s events also included addresses by Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-New York), Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) and Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico), along with Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Missouri) and top industry experts. A panel featuring political insiders Bob Becker and Tucker Carlson delivered election perspectives from both sides of the aisle.

Planning for the next Big “I” Legislative Conference, scheduled for May 3-5, 2017, is underway.

Margarita Tapia is Big “I” director of public affairs.