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At least they are looking at agents and agent comp.
BestWire Services -
Dec. 3: A new National Association of Insurance Commissioners task force will consider producers' concerns about their future under the health reform act.
The NAIC announced the task force formation shortly after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services adopted the NAIC's recommendations for determining medical loss ratios recommendations that agents and brokers decried as undermining their traditional role in the marketplace.
The MLR rules, now in a public comment period, count producer commissions as administrative expenses.
"With the recent issuance by HHS of the medical loss ratio regulations to be imposed on insurers, there is a very real possibility the role of health insurance agents will be impacted in a negative way," Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty, chairman of the task force, said in a statement.
"Health insurance is a complex product and experienced and licensed agents are a valuable resource for consumers. We intend to work with the agent community and our colleagues at HHS to maintain that resource."
The NAIC agreed to create the new subgroup after declining to put to a vote a proposal to exclude producer compensation from MLR calculations at its fall national meeting in October.
The proposal had the backing of at least 12 commissioners, including McCarty.
The task force will work with HHS on producer issues. In August, state insurance commissioners adopted a resolution asserting the need for state and federal officials to "recognize and protect the indispensable role" of agents and brokers in health care reform.
"The NAIC task force can play an important role in helping to ensure that licensed agents and brokers are fairly compensated for the services they provide," said Ted Besesparis, spokesman for the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents.
"The task force can also help to dispel any notion that the health insurance exchanges should be set up as mere 'web portals' that provide consumers with a lesser degree of service by providing them with too few choices and making them fend for themselves."
The task force is expected to schedule its first meeting via conference call in mid-December, according to the NAIC.
