| March 2007 | Volume 6, Number 3
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IN THIS ISSUE...
| March Meeting
| 2007 Health Care Expo
| Chapter Sponsor Opportunities
| Ebersole Speaks Out
| Fly With The Eagles! LPRT Due Soon
| WIN $500!
| Cap Conference Audio & Video Available
| NAHU Member Benefits
| NAIC Tracks Complaints
| HSA Rollover Cut-Off
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Prescription Cost Autopsy:
Why Does It Cost So Much?
Breaking Down The Cost of
Prescriptions Through PBMs,
Hidden Fees & Contract Pitfalls
Friday, March 23rd
Andrea's Restaurant
Metairie, LA
8:00-8:30 am: Registration
8:15 am - Full Breakfast Buffet
8:30 - Meeting Begins
RSVP:
$20 Member
$25 Non-Member without CE Credit
$45 Non- Member with CE Credit
At the Door:
$25 Members
$30 Non-Member without CE credit
$50 Non- Members with CE credit
RSVP or pay online via credit card no later than Tuesday, March 20th at noon for preferred pricing!
Click here to register or to pay online.
1 Hour CE applied for
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HELP WANTED!
Are you interested in getting involved? We are looking for a few people to help us on the Health Care Expo committee. We need assistance in contacting vendors, coordinating advertising & program information, contacting potential attendees and promoting the event, assistance the day of the event and various other tasks. The committee will meet approximately 3-4 times prior to May 9th and assigned task will take about 1 hour or so a week. This is the premier event for our chapter and we want to make it better than ever!!!
If you are interested in joining the committee,
please contact Jennifer at jennifer@noahu.org or 837-0110.
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New Orleans Ranks 1st in Nation
New Orleans AHU was tied for 1st in the nation for Large Chapters in the NAHU Membership GAIN competition. This contest runs from May 1, 2006 - April 30, 2007 and measures the number of new members, percent of membership growth and retention rate. Winning the GAIN Award is one the assocaition's highest honors a chapter can earn. Help us stay there! Please renew your membership in a timely fashion & recruit a new member!! We need your help!
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Welcome
To Our New Members
Who Have Joined Since 1/1!
Ramona Adams
Southern Benefit Services
Edward Basso III
Rogers Benefit Group
George Branigan
Branigan Insurance Associates
Eugenie Guilllot
Coventry Health Care
William Kennon RHU
Michael Lawrence
FARA Benefit Services, Inc.
Olivia Mann
Southern Benefit Services, LLC
Andrea Oppenheim
Coventry Health Care of LA, Inc.
Robert Remy
United Healthcare
Renee` Rosenbohm
Coventry Healthcare of Louisiana
Mary Catherine Scriber
United Healthcare
Raymond Sims Jr.
Southern Benefit Services
&
THANK YOU
to the members who recruited them!
Stephanie Booth McGinnis
Cabrini Granier
Doug Jones
Tee McCoy
Mike Mohr
Rina Tikia
Keep Up the Great Work!
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Wednesday, May 9th
Pontchartrain Center
8:00 am -1:30 pm
Lunch Is Included!
* 3 Hours of Continuing Education From Top -Rated Speakers
* 30 Exhibitors From Around the Industry
* Event Ends With CE Speaker & Luncheon
* Great Door Prizes- including $100 Cash!
Registration Received Before April 15th:
Members: $40
Non-Members: $55
Registration Postmarked After April 15th:
Members: $50
Non-Members: $65
At the Door (Space Permitting):
Members: $60
Non-Members: $75
Don't Miss This Event!!!
Click here to register or pay online!
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Tentative Agenda
8:00 am - 9:00 am:
Registration, Breakfast in the Exhibit Hall
9:00 am - 10:15 am:
Welcome & CE Session I:
It's Not About The Price! Reasons People Buy & Increasing Consumer Value
Mel Schlesinger, Sales Coach- Effortless Selling
Insurance agents like to think of themselves as consultants but all too often
reduce the sale of insurance products to that of a simple commodity. The
reality is that it is rarely in the consumer’s best interest to focus exclusively on price.
To provide real value to the consumer the insurance agent must learn how to help
the consumer identify their real issues. In this program insurance agents will
learn how to identify what it is that the consumer really wants and values and
how to help the consumer get it.
10:15 am- 10:40 am:
Refreshments in Exhibit Hall
10:40 am - 11:40 am:
CE Session II:
Reducing Health Care Costs & Increasing Productivity Through Integrated
Behavioral Health Management With Rx Intervention -
Fred Newman, Cheif Executive Officer | Interface EAP
With most employers experiencing upwards of 20 percent of members
having acquired a prescription for one or more psychotropic drug(s) in the
past 12 months, and studies documenting over 80 percent of those who
receive antidepressants are not seen by a mental health professional, a
significant and costly “quality of care” issue is occurring. Learn how a new
integrated program has produced healthier employees and significant
hard-dollar savings.
11:40 am - 12:00 pm:
Refreshments in Exhibit Hall
12:00 pm - 1: 30 pm:
CE Session III & Luncheon:
Walking A Fine Line: A Look At Rebating, Ethics, Insurance Fraud &
Reducing Your E&O Exposure
A panel presentation including the Department of Insurance & Attorneys
In today's limited market, competing for business has become more
difficult than ever. Our panelists will discuss the pitfalls of making the
sale and servicing your clients that will help keep you out of the newspaper.
What constitutes rebating? What are common E&O mistakes? Your
questions answered! You won't want to miss this event-ending
discussion & lunch!
Note: Many carriers will offer a discount on E&O insurance for your
attendance at an E&O/ Ethics seminar.
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A HUGE THANK YOU TO OUR CHAPTER/EXPO SPONSORS:Silver: Blue Cross Blue Shield of LA & Southern Benefit ServicesBronze: Coventry Health Care of LA, Fort Dearborn, Hines & Associates,
Interface EAP, NMHC, WellDyne RxWest
Opportunities Are Still Available!
Click Here For More Info....
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Ebersole Speaks Up!
Region VI Vice President and New Orleans Past President Denny Ebersole recently responded to an article that appeared in the Times Picayune about expanding the Louisiana Children's Health Insurance Program to parents whose income is up to 300% of poverty level. Here is his response to that article as published in the Times-Picayune on Thursday, March 8, 2007.
Move cautiously to expand LaCHIP
Gov. Kathleen Blanco has an ambitious plan to provide insurance coverage for all of the children in Louisiana. She proposes a two-tiered approach.
First, she would expand eligibility for the Louisiana Children's Health Insurance Program, or LaCHIP, from 200 percent to 300 percent of poverty level, or $61,950 for a family of four. Second, she would obligate parents of children earning more than this to secure coverage, possibly subsidizing the cost.
I'm an insurance agent. I'm also keenly aware that many families in our community find private health insurance to be prohibitively expensive. The uninsured residents of Louisiana represent an enormous challenge for our state.
LaCHIP and the state Medicaid plan pay only 70 percent of the cost physicians charge those with private, commercial coverage. The cost of caring for the uninsured is being borne primarily by residents who are covered by secure, private commercial coverage. At the same time, the increased cost of private coverage is increasing the numbers of the uninsured.
I would encourage the Legislature to move with caution in considering an expansion of LaCHIP. Currently, three-quarters of eligible children are not enrolled in LaCHIP. Expanding eligibility might increase the number of enrollees, but it also would likely move many children currently covered by private coverage to state-sponsored plans.
Expanding eligibility, by itself, would not significantly increase enrollment of the poorest uninsured children in LaCHIP. However, in my opinion, such a plan would increase the cost of private coverage. It would continue to move us in the wrong direction.
Maybe rather than expanding the LaCHIP program, a better solution would be to provide premium subsidies to parents enrolling their children in employer-sponsored plans where available.
This would lower costs by taking advantage of any premium dollars employers are willing to contribute toward their eligible employee dependent premiums -- money that is now often "left on the table." It also would make things simpler for families, allowing them to be covered together under the same private-market plans.
My grandchildren are covered by LaCHIP instead of the plan offered by the Sheriff's Office where my son-in-law is employed as a deputy. His children qualify for the program based on his income and family size. The cost to insure all of his children at work is $250 a month.
Wouldn't it be better to allow families such as this to purchase discounted insurance on the private market, in keeping with our nation's traditions, rather than moving toward the universal health coverage that threatens to bog down the health economies of other industrialized nations?
Another novel idea might be to enlist the thousands of state-licensed insurance agents to reach out to uninsured children as they are installing benefit plans in the workplace. Utilizing these agents to help enroll eligible children of employees in LaCHIP would likely result in dramatic increases in enrollment of eligible children, unlike current less-effective outreach efforts, which can cost up to 10 percent of the overall program budget.
All of us want children to receive health benefits. I'm hoping that by trying to expand state coverage, the governor doesn't end up inadvertently pricing many more families out of the private market.
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Got the Luck of the Irish?
March is National Recruitment Month!
You only have a few weeks left to take advantage of winning up to $500 CASH!
Recruit 1 - 4 new members between January 1 and March 31, 2007, and your name will automatically be entered into the Grand Prize drawing for $100 Cash. Recruit two new members, your name goes in the drawing twice; recruit three members and, well, you get the picture.
Recruit 5 - 9 new members between January 1 and March 31, 2007, and your name will automatically be entered into the Grand Prize drawing for $250 Cash. Recruit five new members, your name goes in the drawing five times; recruit six members and your name goes in the drawing six times, etc.
Recruit 10+ new members between January 1 and March 31, 2007, and WIN $500 Cash!
Each new member recruited on Bankdraft (not debit or credit card) the recruiter will automatically be entered into the Grand Prize drawing for $200 Cash. Recruit two new members, your name goes in the drawing twice; recruit three members and so on.
Please not that your name must be listed in the Recruiter/Sponsor space on the membership application and you must be a member in good standing to win.
Membership Application Link to Join Online
List of Current Members
Here are a few tips....
* Look at the list of current members and see who you know that isn't on it and call them
* Write your name in on the sponsor line and fax to agents you know that aren't members
* Call fellow insurance professionals and ask if they are members
* Invite them to the next meeting so they can see what we are about
If you have any questions, email us at info@noahu.org
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Be Recognized! 2007 NAHU Leading Producers Round Table
It’s the new year & it’s time to apply for membership in the Leading Producers Round Table. This is NAHU’s top honor for sales achievement. Applying is easy! Click the links below for the application & requirements. Be recognized!
2007 Application & Instructions
Qualification Information
o Personal Production: Business written by a single producer
o Carrier Representatives: An employee of an insurance carrier working with producers
o Agency: Management of a general agency or agency
o Carrier Management: Carrier/home-office sales managers, directors of sales and vice presidents of sales
Levels of Membership
o Qualifying :This category is available to members applying for the first 9 consecutive years of qualification OR for the first 14
total years.
o Lifetime: This category is available to members applying and qualifying for 10+ consecutive years OR for 15+ total years for
members who are no longer producing.
o Lifetime & Qualifying: This category is available to members who still generate production at qualifying level and have
achieved lifetime membership.
Awards Categories
o Leading Producer Qualifier
o Presidents’ Council
o Eagle
o Golden Eagle
Please see the application on the NAHU Website for fullqualification guidelines.
Benefits
- Web Seminars: The Leading Producers Round Table sponsors several Web seminars each year. The Web seminars will deal with advanced topics that are of interest to the top producers in the industry. The seminars will be open to the general public, but LPRT qualifiers will be able to attend these Web seminars free of charge.
- LPRT Educational Track at the NAHU Annual Convention There will be an LPRT-focused educational track at the NAHU Annual Convention. This educational track, like the LPRT Web seminars, will deal with advanced topics.
- LPRT Qualifier Discounts A 5% discount on all NAHU services and meetings, including Capitol Conference and the Annual Convention, will be given to qualifiers at the Leading Producers and Presidents’ Council levels of production. A 10% discount on all NAHU services and meetings, including Capitol Conference and the Annual Convention, will be given to qualifiers at the Eagle and Golden Eagle levels of production and Lifetime qualifiers.
- LPRT Products The Leading Producers Round Table will offer LPRT logo merchandise.
- Recognition The Leading Producers Round Table recognizes qualifiers in myriad ways for their outstanding achievements. LPRT qualifiers receive a certificate with their name and level of qualification each year until they attain Lifetime status. Lifetime qualifiers receive a lifetime achievement plaque. Additionally, Golden Eagle qualifiers receive an eagle statue. Qualifiers also receive an LPRT pin, which is usually presented at local or regional leadership conferences.
History
NAHU formed the Leading Producers Round Table in 1942 to recognize the successful underwriters of accident and health insurance. Today, the LPRT Committee is committed to making LPRT the premier program for top health, disability, long-term care and worksite marketing insurance producers, carrier representatives, carrier management, and general agency/agency managers. Through the hard work of the LPRT Committee members, LPRT will offer new membership benefits, exclusive LPRT events, and new categories and qualification requirements.
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Capital Conference 2007 Audio & Video
is available of the event's fabulous speakers including:
The Three Single-Payer Myths: Training for NAHU Members to Help Educate the Public
Reid Rasmussen, BenefitMall
Improving Access and Reducing Health Care Costs
Alex M. Azar, Deputy Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services
Political Outlook for 2007 and Beyond
Norm Ornstein, American Enterprise Institute
The Big Picture of Health Care Financing – Maximizing Good Health in a Diverse America
Leslie Norwalk, Acting Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Congressional Updates
Senator Orrin Hatch (R – UT) – Ranking Republican, Senate Committee on Finance and Member, Senate Committee on Health, Education, Welfare and Pensions
Click here to download any of these presentations..._________________________________________________________ Missed February's Meeting?
Click here to view Sharon Alt's HSA presentation
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Are You Taking Advantage of Your Member Benefits?
From discounts on wellness programs to business resources like shipping, conference calling and websites to educational opportunities, NAHU members have a great number of resources at their disposal... click here to check them out!
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Delays, Denials and Unsatisfactory Settlements Spark Consumer
Displeasure Against Insurance Companies
Recent statistics show that while consumer complaints decreased for the third consecutive year, the reasons behind those complaints have remained relatively the same for the past five years.
According to data collected by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), the top three reasons consumers filed formal complaints against their insurance companies in 2006 were delays, denials of claims and unsatisfactory settlement offers. Rounding out the top five sources of consumer complaints were policy cancellations and premiums/insurance rating issues.
The NAIC maintains a centralized electronic Complaint Database System (CDS), through which states voluntarily report “closed” complaints. A closed complaint is a complaint that has been investigated and resolved to the satisfaction of the state or jurisdiction in which it is filed. First established in 1990, the CDS was significantly expanded in 1998 and now houses more than 2 million complaints.
A total of 190,572 consumer complaints were reported to CDS in 2006, a 7.8 percent decrease from the previous year. This information is based on the submission of data to the NAIC from the state insurance departments. The NAIC does not collect all complaint data from all states.
Aggregate data compiled from the CDS can be accessed on the NAIC’s Web site through the Consumer Information Source link. By accessing this program, consumers can obtain company–specific complaint ratios (the ratio of the company’s market share of complaints compared to the company’s market share of premiums for a specific policy type), as well as aggregate counts of complaints by state and by type of coverage for specific companies.
Top 5 Complaints in 2006
1. Delays 21.9%
2. Denial of Claim 18.7%
3. Unsatisfactory Settlement.Offer 13.9%
4. Cancellation 6.5%
5. Premium & Rating 5.9%
Top 5 Complaints By Type of Coverage in 2006
1. Auto 37.4%
2. Health & Accident 33%
3. Homeowners 13%
4. Life & Annuity 8.9%
5. Commercial Multi-Peril 1.9%
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TREASURY RELEASES GUIDANCE ON FSA/HRA ROLLOVERS:
CUT-OFF FOR 2006 ROLLOVERS IS MARCH 15, 2007
On February 15, 2007, the treasury released Notice 2007-22 which provides guidance on rollovers from a health FSA or HRA to an HSA. The guidance outlines the steps that need to be taken to initiate a rollover from 2006 and going forward until 2012. To see the guidance, including examples, visit:
US Treasury Press Release
The main points of the guidance are enumerated below.
In order to initiate a health FSA/HRA rollover for 2006:
- An employer must amend the health FSA or HRA plan documents before March 15, 2007 to allow the rollover. Employers may need to contact their health FSA or HRA plan administrator to do so.
- The rollover must be offered to all employees eligible to roll over funds, and the employees who choose to do so must also elect to have the funds rolled over by March 15, 2007.
- For 2006, the health FSA/HRA rollover must be completed by March 15, 2007.
- The employees must remain eligible to contribute to their HSA for 12 months following the completion of the health FSA/HRA rollover or the rollover amount will be included in the employee's gross income and a 10% penalty will apply to the rollover amount.
- If the health FSA/HRA rollover does not meet the deadline, the employees may be subject to income tax and a 10% tax penalty on the funds rolled over.
Clarification of rollovers for plan years ending after December 31, 2006:
- Employers must amend the plan documents to allow the health FSA/HRA rollover by the end of the plan year.
- Employers must offer the rollover option to any individual who is eligible to roll over funds, in order to comply with comparability rules.
- Employers must limit the rollover to one per employee per health FSA and once per employee per HRA.
- Employees must elect to have the funds rolled over by plan year-end.
- The funds in the health FSA/HRA must be frozen by plan year-end and the rollover must be complete by March 15th of the following year.
- In general, the health FSA/HRA must result in a zero balance or coverage for the HRA must be waived as of January 1 in order to be eligible for the HSA.
- The allowable rollover amount is the lesser of the cash balance on September 21, 2006 or the current balance at the time of the distribution from the health FSA/HRA. The balance calculation at any point in time is the maximum available benefit minus any reimbursements paid using the health FSA/HRA at that point in time.
- The individual must remain eligible for the testing period or the rollover is included in gross income and is subject to a 10% tax penalty. The testing period is defined as beginning in the month the rollover occurred and ending the last day of the 12th month following.
- Health FSA/HRA rollovers must be completed before January 1, 2012.
- Please be aware that plans that do not end on a calendar year may result in the inability of employees with health FSAs or HRAs to rollover their funds without incurring a tax penalty.
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NOAHU always welcomes your comments on how we can improve your membership experience, suggestions on speakers or topics or anything you would like to comment on. Simply complete the form below!
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