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Members of the Colorado Association of Health Underwriters; The 2010 session has come to a close. It has been a pleasure to continue my work as your political and public relations consultant and represent CSAHU once again before the General Assembly. I would like to take a moment to recognize the CSAHU President Marie DeWolf and the entire Legislative Committee and Legislative Co‐Chairs Dorothy Marshall and Sharlene Yabe. Without their dedication and the countless hours volunteering time from their own livelihoods to protect yours, we would not have had the success we had this session. This year’s legislature was a difficult one for health insurance brokers, though CSAHU has had a number of measurable successes this year as the organization’s credibility continues to grow, brokers and agents have been dramatically affected by the passage of health care reform in ways that we do not yet fully understand. The next several years will be a crucial time for Colorado agents as the various elements of health care reform are implemented. There is much we can expect to see happen in the way of a health insurance exchange, the ever widening effects of mandated loss ratios and the many changes that affect your business and individual clients. Our biggest victory was the passage of HB 1160, which will set us on the path of lower health insurance costs by allowing insurance companies to give discounts of up to 20 percent for living healthier lifestyles. This outcome based approach to wellness changes the needle away from financing sick care toward incentivizing healthier insureds. Despite the extreme opposition from the consumer advocacy community, our grassroots effort were strong and unified and our logic, flawless. Health insurance costs will continue to increase exponentially. Through our members’ persistence and determination we were successful in showing the legislature the need to incentivize personal responsibility and lower health care costs at the same time. It will be imperative for the broker community to take a leadership role now in leveraging their books of business to convince carriers to offer discounts for participation in these programs. We will continue to be involved in the dialogue around health care reform implementation on behalf of the membership and will have more information to report on what CSAHU’s agenda looks like moving forward after we have our legislative strategic planning session. Click here for the complete report ### Click here for Cindy Sovine's PowerPoint from the CSAHU Day at the Capitol.
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Below is a link to a new bulletin that addresses marketing individual health plans to small employers that we thought you would appreciate getting. http://www.dora.state.co.us/insurance/regs/B-4.32.pdf The DOI needs your current email address as it is their goal to go paperless. In the future all communication to license holders will be by e-mailed - even renewal notices. All licensees need to make sure that SIRCON has their current email address. *************************** Legislative Update Click here for the latest CSAHU Bill Dossier
Click here for an article on the Legislature, Interim Activities and Getting to Know your Elected Officials from Cindy Sovine Miller Recently the DOI has begun investigating the use of individual health insurance policies in conjunction with employer sponsored Health Reimbursement Accounts. he DOI’s position at this time is that these arrangements may violate existing state law and DOI regulations. It would be wise to consult your own legal advisor or the Colorado Division of Insurance before offering these arrangements. Click here for Cindy Sovine's update on the opening of the 2009 Colorado Legislative session **************************** PAC Click here for the local political action contribution form **************************** HUPAC Click here for the HUPAC contribution form *************************** Summary of JBC Staff Briefing **************************** GOV. RITTER SIGNS HEALTH AND WELLNESS BILL INTO LAW
“This legislation will help employers maintain a healthy workforce, and it will encourage employees to take personal responsibility for their health by participating in wellness programs,” Gov. Ritter said. “It also comes at a time when we need our workforce to be healthy and strong to lead Colorado forward.” “Providing incentives for wellness is a common sense idea that benefits our health and our pocketbooks. Employees will be healthier and employers can increase productivity, all while reducing health care costs. Now that’s a win-win,” Rep. Rice said. “Also, employees welcome the extra motivation to quit smoking, to exercise, or to lose weight.” “This wellness and prevention bill will help the employer minimize absenteeism, increase productivity and reduce health care costs,” Sen. Newell said. “It will also help the employee control his or her own health care costs and have a better chance of better health. Healthy communities mean healthy workers and a healthy economy. It's truly a win-win scenario of personal and business responsibility." “HB 1103 could make Colorado the first in the nation to speed up the process of Medicaid eligibility for long-term care,” said Sen. Newell. ---------------------
House Bill 1385, passed in this year’s legislative session, will require disclosure of producer commissions for “health care insurance”. Disclosure is to be provided to the consumer at the time of proposal and must be re-submitted to the consumer if compensation rates change before the time of sale. The disclosure to the consumer must include notification that the producer is compensated with a commission and also must include a copy of the standard commission schedule for the product(s) being proposed. Additional compensation, such as bonuses need not be disclosed. DOI regulations require that the disclosure shall be made in writing, that it should be signed by the consumer and that a copy retained by the Producer. Under DOI regulation 1-2-17 “health care insurance” is defined as having the same meaning as “health coverage plan” as defined in the Colorado Revised Statutes. This interpretation means that producers will be required to disclose commissions on all insurance products that provide payments to medical care providers. This includes group and individual medical, dental, vision, long term care, Medicare supplement, Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage plans. The Legislative Committee has prepared “Sample” commission disclosure forms for use by our members in crafting their own disclosure forms. The forms are set in a Word format to make editing as easy as possible. Please note that the DOI has refused to approve or disapprove any specific disclosure form. These forms are only samples and should be adapted to each member’s specific situation. These forms are samples only. CSAHU assumes no liability the accuracy of the various commission rates illustrated. Please review these forms and amend them as necessary. Click the links below for the corresponding statements: Dental Commission DisclosureIndividual Health Commission Disclosure Small Group Commission Disclosure Vision Commission Disclosure **************************************** Uniting as An Industry, 2009 and Beyond Click here for a pdf of Cindy Sovine's PowerPoint Governor Ritter’s Fiscal Year 09-10 Proposed State Budget Click here for the complete budget proposal Health Care:
Federal Level State Level
Regulatory Grass Roots – Get Involved!
CSAHU Membership Directory Click here for the CSAHU Membership Directory CSAHU Legislative CommitteeThe CSAHU Legislative Committee is comprised with representatives from all of the Colorado chapters. The Committee meets weekly during the legislative session to review bills and give directional input on how the health care delivery system and CSAHU members and their clients will be affected. Status reports during the session will be available here: For more information contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , Legislative Chair Click here for the 2009 CSAHU End of Session Report Click here for a list of legislators who supported HB07-1355, removal of health status and claims experience as rating factors. CSAHU Political ConsultantThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it is the political and public relations consultant for CSAHU. Click here for the latest Newsletter from Sovine Miller & Co. |
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