NAIFA members from across the country are participating in meetings with more than 200 congressional offices.
via http://www.naifa.org/news-publications/naifa-blog/november-2017/naifa-members-talk-tax-reform-on-capitol-hill?feed=blogs
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With Congress and the administration deep in the process of tax reform, NAIFA CEO Kevin Mayeux assured a packed room of NAIFA members that, as an association, “we are in our element.”
via http://www.naifa.org/news-publications/naifa-blog/november-2017/naifa-members-prepare-to-give-voice-to-industry-on?feed=blogs
A recent survey of law firms showed that most do not buy Cyber Risk Insurance. In addition, some firms indicated that insurance reduces the need for security measures.
via http://specialtyinsurance.typepad.com/specialty_insurance_blog/2017/11/law-firms-do-not-buy-cyber-risk-insurance-but-should.html via http://www.naifa.org/news-publications/naifa-blog/november-2017/house-tax-bill-could-negatively-impact-long-term-c?feed=blogs
I don’t need to tell you how important tax laws are to the success of your family, your business, your clients, and our country. You can rest assured that NAIFA is there to provide a voice for the industry.
via http://www.naifa.org/news-publications/naifa-blog/november-2017/tax-reform-illustrates-the-importance-of-naifa-mem?feed=blogs
Ransomware attacks can be disruptive, expensive, and even crippling to many businesses, and a comprehensive Cyber Risk Insurance policy is a critical step, along with strong IT security, in protecting an organization. Two ransomware attack examples provided.
via http://specialtyinsurance.typepad.com/specialty_insurance_blog/2017/11/ransomware-is-disruptive-expensive.html
With sincere thanks and respect, from myself and the entire NAIFA family, we hope you have a wonderful Veterans Day.
via http://www.naifa.org/news-publications/naifa-blog/november-2017/naifa-thanks-america-s-veterans?feed=blogs Throughout 2017, the Trump Administration has taken brazen action to sabotage the ACA and the health insurance markets that operate under the ACA’s rules. Funding for HealthCare.gov’s marketing and outreach has been slashed (nevertheless, a record number of people purchased coverage on the first day of open enrollment), and funding for cost-sharing reductions has been eliminated. A new executive order instructs federal agencies to draft regulations that will ultimately undermine the stability of the ACA-qualified insurance market. And all of this comes after Republican lawmakers and governors spent the previous seven years sabotaging the ACA, and concurrently with Republican lawmakers’ protracted efforts to repeal the ACA in 2017. That’s a lot to withstand, and it’s left the individual health insurance market on somewhat shaky ground. Quite a few insurers have opted to exit the exchanges or the entire individual market at the end of 2017 (although quite a few others are expanding or joining the exchanges for the first time), and pre-subsidy premium increases for 2018 are substantial. But while the Trump Administration has been working to thwart the ACA, quite a few states have been taking action to shore up their individual markets and protect access to health care. Let’s take a look at what they’re doing: Extended open enrollmentThe duration of open enrollment for 2018 coverage has been cut in half, although that can’t be blamed entirely on the Trump Administration — the Obama Administration had already planned to move to that schedule in the fall of 2018; the Trump Administration just moved it up a year. Under the schedule set by HHS, open enrollment for 2018 coverage will run from November 1, 2017 to December 15, 2017, with all plans effective January 1, 2018. But nine of the states that have their own enrollment platforms have opted to extend open enrollment for 2018 coverage. There were only 12 states that had this flexibility, as the rest of the states rely on HealthCare.gov and have to abide by the open enrollment schedule that HHS has established. But nine state-run exchanges have decided to go with a longer open enrollment period this year, and transition to the shorter open enrollment as scheduled in the fall of 2018. Enrollment will begin on November 1 in all of them, but will end on the following dates:
In those states, people have extra time to enroll. Data from previous open enrollment periods indicates that the people who enroll on the later end of the window tend to be younger and healthier than those who enroll at the start of the window. This makes sense, as sick people are not likely to procrastinate when it comes to securing health insurance coverage. So the longer open enrollment periods in those nine states are an effort to ensure that enrollment assistance isn’t stretched too thin, that as many people as possible can enroll, and that the individual market risk pool will be as stable and healthy as possible. Adding the cost of CSR to Silver plansPremiums for 2018 are going to be significantly higher than they would have been if cost-sharing reduction (CSR) funding had been committed early in 2017. And after months of dithering on the issue, the Trump Administration announced three weeks before the start of open enrollment that funding for cost-sharing reductions would end immediately. But regulators in many states had already anticipated that move, and had taken action to protect the majority of their individual market enrollees from the fallout. David Anderson, Charles Gaba, Andrew Sprung and I have been putting together a spreadsheet and a map that show which strategy — if any — each state has taken, and more details are available for most states on healthinsurance.org’s pages about the exchanges. In general, states that directed insurers to add the cost of CSR to Silver plans have protected most consumers from the impact of the elimination of federal funding for CSR. Many states, including California, Pennsylvania, and Florida, have taken that strategy even further, by ensuring that there are off-exchange-only Silver plans that won’t include the cost of CSR in their premiums. When the cost of CSR is added to Silver plan premiums, the result is larger premium subsidies for all enrollees who are eligible for premium subsidies (nationwide, 84 percent of exchange enrollees receive premium subsidies in 2017). For people who don’t get CSR but who do get premium subsidies (ie, those with income between 250 percent and 400 percent of the poverty level), Gold and Bronze plans will end up being an even better value in states where the cost of CSR has been added to Silver plans. For people who buy off-exchange coverage, Bronze, Gold, and in some cases, “extended Bronze” plans are available in most states without the cost of CSR added to the premiums, and off-exchange-only Silver plans are also available in many states without the cost of CSR added to the premiums. (It’s essential to carefully comparison shop, though, especially if you’re considering a Silver plan and don’t get premium subsidies.) In short, states had the option to take action to ensure that most consumers would be unharmed by the CSR funding cut. Many did so by late summer, and others made last-minute changes to rates after the Trump Administration clarified that CSR funding would not continue. Establishing reinsurance programsOn President Trump’s first day in office, he weakened the ACA’s individual mandate with his first executive order, creating the perception that the individual mandate would no longer be enforced. (To the extent that it can be enforced, the enforcement has actually remained unchanged — but perception is key, and the uninsured rate has spiked upwards in Trump’s first several months in office.) A perceived weakening of the individual mandate is destabilizing to insurance markets. But reinsurance is an effective means of stabilizing the individual market, and can provide a counterbalance to the Trump Administration’s efforts to undermine the ACA. Nationwide, there are about 16.5 million people in the ACA-compliant individual market. But since each state’s individual market is separate from all the others, most of them have fairly low total populations. So it doesn’t take very many high claims to destabilize a state’s individual market, since the premium increases necessary to cover claims can result in coverage becoming unaffordable for healthy, unsubsidized enrollees, who then leave the market, further exacerbating the problem. The ACA included a reinsurance program, but it was temporary and only lasted through 2016. So some states have set out to create their own reinsurance programs, using 1332 waivers so that they can fund reinsurance with the federal money that would have otherwise been spent on larger premium subsidies. The result is fairly minimal state spending and unchanged federal spending, but lower premiums that result in more people being able to afford coverage.
Codifying contraceptive coverageIn October, the Trump Administration announced new regulations — effective immediately — that grant employers wide-ranging access to exemptions from the ACA’s requirement that health plans cover all FDA-approved contraceptives for women. Throughout 2017, Republican lawmakers have tried to modify the ACA provision that requires all individual and small-group major medical plans to cover the essential health benefits. To varying degrees, they want to allow the sale of less robust coverage again, and put the onus on the consumer to choose well. One of the ACA’s essential health benefits is preventive care, which includes full coverage for at least one form of every FDA-approved female contraceptive method. This requirement remains in force, as none of the 2017 legislative efforts to repeal or change the ACA have been successful. The Trump Administration implemented regulations in October 2017 that broaden the ability for employers and universities to obtain exemptions from the requirement that their health plans cover contraceptives, and Republican lawmakers have tried repeatedly to advance legislation that would allow individual market plans to be sold without contraceptive coverage. But more than half the states have some sort of regulations in place that require contraceptive coverage, in some cases without a copay. Here are some examples of the steps states have taken to enhance and protect access to contraception, regardless of federal actions:
Although the battle over the ACA is likely to be protracted and messy, states have the ability to protect their residents to some extent. Consumers can and should contact their federal representatives to have conversations about health care reform, but they can also reach out to their local leaders to express opinions about strengthening consumer protections at the state level. via https://www.healthinsurance.org/blog/2017/11/07/four-ways-states-are-foiling-obamacare-sabotage/
In a column published in the Dallas Morning News, NAIFA-Texas President Joseph Orr II says financial advisors are often the first to note the warning signs that a senior citizen could be victim of a financial scam. For one, life savings begin to drain away.
via http://www.naifa.org/news-publications/naifa-blog/november-2017/texas-law-helps-financial-advisors-combat-elder-fi?feed=blogs
The Department of Labor today filed its rule with the Office of Management and Budget to delay the applicability date of the fiduciary rule by 18 months, which is a step in the right direction.
via http://www.naifa.org/news-publications/naifa-blog/november-2017/dol-delays-fiduciary-rule?feed=blogs |
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