New York State Association of Health Underwriters

CapCon 2011

2011-02-16T18:55:00.000-08:00

Day 3 of Cap Con 2011 began with another 3 hour “mega” general session. We had more congressional representatives who spoke with us and I can say that I am even more convinced that we have support for agents and brokers, as a part of the delivery process for healthcare reform, on the Hill.
Rob Andrews, a NJ Representative started things off and was a good speaker. He was very honest with us and noted that he does not believe PPACA will be repealed. He noted there were 4 major points he wanted to make today;
1. That he believes that agents and brokers should be a part of the delivery system.
2. That our services do not add cost as much as value, and as such, our fees and commissions should be counted in MLR.
3. The small business tax credit needed to be “cleaned up”. He noted that, currently, spouses and children of business owners are not counted and need to be. He did make appoint that resonated with me. He noted that this encourages small business owners to not think about hiring family, but looking to others when thinking about expanding. I could see how some small business owners could find this troublesome.
4. (This was his most emphatic point) That patient responsibility needs to be better addressed in PPACA. Rep Andrews believes that this is the number one drive of rising healthcare costs.
He left us with an interesting statement. He wondered how countries such as Egypt and Tunisia are faring as they struggle to keep people from fleeing their countries, while we here have to deal with the problem of too many people trying to get in. He stated this is still the number 1 economy, healthcare system and place for education in the world. We still have much going for us and we should remember that.
Next up was Richard Popper, a Deputy Director at HHS who is charged with the formation and promulgation of high risk pools to insure those with pre-existing conditions who cannot obtain coverage. Again, our speaker was honest with us and went to the edge on a few answers in the interest of honesty. I really like it when people take the tough questions and respond with answers that may not win them popularity contests, but know that the answers need to be said. Richard educated us on the formation of Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plans (PCIP’s) and noted that about 27 states opted to create their own PCIP’s while the other 23 are using a federal PCIP. If you want to see which states are doing what, go to www.pcip.gov. Two interesting items to note were, of the 27 states that opted for their own PCIP, 25 are paying some form of compensation to agents and brokers for helping guide folks through the system. I believe New York is one of the 2 that do not compensate agents and brokers for helping folks connect to the PCIP. The second item was his response when he was asked if the federal PCIP was subject to the same MLR that other carriers are and he answered (honestly) no. The crowd was visibly upset and he did go on to state that most high risk pools run with MLR’s in excess of 160% and that MLR was not really necessary. I thought if it was not, why wouldn’t they obligate themselves just to show that the government is willing to play by the same rules it dictates. Interesting.
Next up was the first of two senators who spoke with us. I was interested to hear what they had to say since the House clearly is not happy with PPACA but the senate is still pushing forward with it. Mike Enzi from Wyoming was the first up. Next up was Mark Begich. I put these two presenters together because they each did not say much. My guess is that they know there is no senate support for PPACA repeal and to go out and take a stand against it may not help them, so I think they both played it safe. Both did express their concern, but were not specific about solutions. Sen. Begich did say, quite frankly, that he felt the Senate failed on cost-containment and admitted they have to work on that. I guess you can say I got the answer to my “where’s the savings?” question.
The last speaker was a good one. Karen Harnet (again, I may have the last name wrong or misspelled it as she was not on the list) is the Counsel for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) and she is heading up the NFIB’s fight to rule the individual mandate unconstitutional. She was very good at giving us the legal update on where this is without losing us in the technicalities. Generally speaking, the thrust of the argument is that, while Congress is charged with regulating commerce, it cannot compel individuals to engage in it. The NFIB (along with 26 states) feel that Congress overstepped their bounds. There was some discussion of district circuits and upcoming decisions, but what struck me is that 26 states are more than half our country. There are those who believe that the individual mandate is the lynch pin for the entire PPACA and if that is ruled unconstitutional, the entire bill is in jeopardy. What I took that to mean is that, over half our nation believes that this law is not good (at best) and even want to undo everything that has happened since last march and start all over again (at worst). I have always felt reform was needed, and am nervous about going back to square one in this economy. I also think there are several aspects of the act that do not make sense and are actually counterproductive to healthcare reform, so I am not sure whether to wish for repeal or not.
Anyway, I am done with my legislative meetings so that is it for now. I have asked all those from our state that had meetings to send me a briefing about their meetings so I can share them with you. I’ll post more on the blog as soon as I hear back. I want to thank all those who participated and shared their information with me. A special Thanks to Mickey Lyons, Jeanette Jones and Maureen Pelose for making more than their fair share of meetings. It is good to have folks like this in our association.
Feel free to post your comments and feedback.
All the best to all of us.
Pete

CapCon 2011

2011-02-15T20:06:00.000-08:00

What a busy day. Today began promptly at 8 AM with a general session that lasted three and half hours. Today's general session was like the Cap Con’s of old, where representatives and industry experts had a chance to communicate their positions and support of our industry.
The first up was Mike Rogers, a congressman from Michigan. Congressman Rogers serves on the health subcommittee of the energy and commerce committee of the House of Representatives. His first point was to applaud us, stating that the First Amendment of the Constitution gives the people the right to petition the government, and he says, we should be here to exercise that very right. I found that interesting. He then lightened the mood with a couple of jokes; one by noting that health care reform (as promised by the president) said we could keep our own health plan if we liked it. He also noted that health care reform was going to lower premiums. He jokingly asked, “How's that working out for you”. Rep. Rogers, who owns a small business in Michigan, made a great point that emphasized the point I made in yesterday's blog. He noted that most small business owners are working six days a week and to eliminate agents and brokers as a part of the healthcare guidance process shifts the burden to those small business owners who are already devoting their time to their business and that is not good. I think his statement supports that we are a part of healthcare and a very important resource to small business. He also answered the question that I've been asking many throughout this conference; what's in the healthcare reform bill that deals with cost-containment? His response was-he has not seen anything. Rep. Rogers clearly is in support of agents and brokers.
Next up was Joel Aria (sp? My apologies if I have misspelled his last name). Joel is the Director of Exchanges for the Department of Health and Human Services and also was a previous insurance Commissioner for the state of Pennsylvania. He, to, suggested that agents seem to know the business of health insurance. Joel was an interesting speaker in that he made some statements that drew some applause, but also some boos from the audience. In particular, with reference to exchanges, Joel said he compared the role of the navigator in insurance exchanges to insurance agents and explained that the term navigator was created because it seemed that there were some “harder populations” that needed to be insured that agents and brokers typically did not serve. I actually agree with Joel on this point as I do not see many agents and brokers dealing with the individual market, sub standard market or state subsidized market, and there may be a need to have folks to deal with these individuals and groups. I think as an association we may want to expand our roles and work at providing commissions on products to these populations in order to ensure our role in the exchanges.
Next up was Susan Voss. Susan is the current insurance Commissioner for the state of Iowa and Chair of the National Alliance of Insurance Commissioners. When Susan was introduced only two people in the entire audience (about 700) stood up and applauded. She made a short joke of it, but I'll tell you, when she left, everyone stood and applauded. Susan's presentation was probably the most inspirational and the most supportive of our position as agents and brokers. She talked about how PPACA is not addressing cost, we all agree with that. She also mentioned that the NAIC is mentioned 21 times in PPACA. She assured us that the NAIC is not only important to this legislation but that they are dedicated to keeping agents and brokers involved. She was also very honest with us in answering the questions about MLR. She informed us that the NAIC supported agents but, as an association, was split 30/30/30 on MLR. She felt that in order to further discussions with HHS the NAIC needed to present a more united position. She was honest enough to share with us that the decision was to support MLR in order to have positive discussions with HHS. She did mention that the HHS is moving in a direction that is recognizing the role of the agent in the sales and explanation and service process of healthcare. I think the most resounding comment she made was when she stated that in her role as an Insurance Commissioner, consumers call her to complain, but it is the agents that educate her. She reiterated her support of what we do and what role we play in the process.
The next presenter was Dr. Andy Harris, a freshman congressman from Maryland. He did mention that he felt these times were interesting, exciting and frightening. I thought those were good descriptions. I've been attending Cap Con for some time and I've seen many representatives present in front of us. There is much talk of the “freshman class” in the house this year. I here there's more of them than ever before. I'd never really experienced a freshman presentation per se, but could tell the difference between experience representatives, who seem to engage us more, and freshman representatives, who read more from a script and quote more “campaign like” speech such as referring to America as a beacon of freedom or conversations about overcoming personal adversity to reach the house. Dr. Harris was informative but you could tell he was somewhat scripted.
The last presenter was Representative Kevin McCarthy from California who is majority whip in the House. You could tell Rep. McCarthy had some experience. He was not scripted, told more jokes, and never looked down to referred was notes. Again, he was supportive of our position and gave me the belief that the role of the agent and broker is being represented, communicated and supported on Capitol Hill.
From the end of the general session it was off to a quick lunch and then up to the Hill for my lobbying appointments. My first appointment was with Becky Cornell, Legislative Assistant for my representative, Paul Tonko. I've met Becky before and, while I know representative Tonko supports single-payer, the purpose of my meeting was to asked the question about cost and explain the value and role that I, as an agent and broker, bringing to my clients with respect to health care. Becky responded positively and told me that she has never heard representative Tonko not support the agent broker community. He also told me she would mention to him the stories that I shared with her and felt that representative Tonko would be supportive of agents and brokers moving forward. From there I went to my next congressional meeting with freshman representative Chris Gibson. I was joined by fellow NAHU members Mickey Lyons, Brian Bodner and Sher Sparano. The four of us met with Nick Czajka, a legislative staffer for Representative Gibson. The office was busy and Nick was very attentive, but was not up to speed on many aspects of PPACA. We shared with him our stories, our support of agents and brokers and the role of NAHU in healthcare reform. At the end of our meeting Nick thanked us and did tell us that he had learned a lot and was grateful for our meeting. I got the feeling was truthful. Representative Gibson will be speaking to our local Northeastern New York chapter in March.
Next, I joined Mickey Lyons in his meeting with another freshman representative, Tom Reed. Our contact for our meeting was out for the day, however, his office was accommodating and we met with Carlton Jackson, Operations Manager for Representative Reed. We were fortunate enough to briefly meet Rep. Reed as he passed through the office and took a moment to come over and introduced himself to us and shake our hands. I've been up here a lot, and have a representative take a moment to introduce themselves to us, that meant something. Carlton, like Nick at Representative Gibson's office, was very welcoming and seemed interested in hearing our position and our stories. He too noted that Representative Reed supports agents and brokers, but was not able to commit to a whole lot. I can understand that.
I had dinner with Todd Bellistri, a Metro New York NAHU member and fellow small agency principal. We talked about best practices, our struggles with dealing with carriers, competition and clients.
All in all, I have to say that today gave me greater belief that we, as agents and brokers, are winning the fight for our right to survive. We’ve got a lot of support up here on the Hill, but we need to continue to deliver the message of our value to those who either do not understand this or feel we add to the cost (unnecessarily) to the system.
That's all for now, I've got a get some sleep.
Until tomorrow…

CapCon 2011

2011-02-14T18:16:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned yesterday, it’s a different world for healthcare reform and this year's Cap Con began to reflect that. Last year's general sessions were chock-full of Representatives talking about their stance on healthcare reform, their opinions on how reform should be and what should go in the bill. This morning’s general session included three senior legislative staffers giving their opinions on healthcare reform and how we should conduct ourselves in our legislative meetings. To be honest, their advice and presentations were pretty much familiar. There were two interesting things to note in this general session. One of the presenters John Williams noted that the average age of a congressional staffer 25 years old. This puts the average congressional staffer in the category of “young invincible” with respect to healthcare. What's interesting here is most people know that although there Congressman or Congresswoman does actually cast the “vote” and certainly are aware of the issues. But we need to be aware that congressional representatives and senators rely on staff to make them aware of situations and advise them on certain issues. It is interesting to me that healthcare reform and the future of healthcare is being assisted by and advised by those who have little familiarity with healthcare utilization.
The second interesting thing about this session was during the Q&A session. John Williams was asked how he selected his health insurance plan as a congressional employee. This question was met with the rowdy laugh and applause from the audience. He noted that he read a “booklet” put together by the human resources department that standardizes the offerings available to him and he chose a plan based upon what he thought was the best choice for himself and his family. What I found interesting here was that John has access to (what I would say is) a pretty well-heeled human resources department who probably put together a nice explanation of what benefits are available to him and how they stack up to other options. What it made me wonder was how does the small employer provide their employees with benefit communications? I believe herein lies the value of the agent. I believe the value of an agent to the employer can be different from large employers to small employers. I think large employers rely on an agent or broker to be a good negotiator. Think small employers rely on an agent or broker to be a good communicator. For small employers, it is usually the agent or broker who is holding the enrollment meetings for employees and explaining coverage so that they can make their choices. Can we really expect busy people to read more about such complex issues in order to save 3-5%? I think they would gladly pay it to have someone to help them.
After the general session we had our regional meeting with our VP, Norm Michael's. Norm noted that our region had the highest Cap Con attendance that we've ever seen. Mickey Lyons, a previous New York State AHU president, noted that New York State had more congressional meetings scheduled than we ever had as well. It was good to hear that during these very tumultuous times agents and brokers are stepping up taking an active role in their industry. Our members here are not just striving to preserve their role but trying to preserve all agents and brokers roles. Our region is divided up into several states Norm invited each state to give a legislative update on what each state has been doing with respect to healthcare reform and share some of the challenges that they have had over the past year. The folks from Massachusetts had the most to say. I would've expected that. One particular note that I found interesting was that in Massachusetts they set MLR at 88%. The question I posed to the representatives from Massachusetts was that, in light of the exchange program the Massachusetts and an 88% MLR, how are agents in Massachusetts surviving? The answer was we are resilient. There you have it; we are resilient. I believe agents and brokers bring a value to healthcare system. Massachusetts brokers would have gone away if employers did not value them. We may need to change the way we do business and our brothers and sisters in Massachusetts are leading the way.
In the afternoon I attended the first of a two part session on exchanges. The format of these one-hour sessions was one half hour of presentation and one half hour of Q&A posed to a panel. The presentation part was extremely helpful as NAHU staff and others gave tips on what they thought exchanges would be and what we as agents can do to prepare for them. Now keep in mind that exchanges probably make the broker community more nervous than any other aspect of the PPACA, but exchanges will not be of effective until 2014 so there is much to be considered and there are many different forms that exchanges could take between now and then. The best advice that was given to the membership was that we is agents should familiarize ourselves with as many existing exchanges as there are. As you know, each state looking to form exchanges will most likely look to existing ones when creating and developing their own. Massachusetts, as you know, is probably the most well known exchange. However the state of Utah has also created an exchange program and Wisconsin has begun a prototype. The advice of the panelist were that NAHU members should visit these websites familiarize themselves with the navigation tools on the sites. The Massachusetts exchange can be found at www.mahealthconnector.org and the Utah exchange can be found www.exchange.utah.gov. Take a look when you get some time. The second half of the session was a Q&A for the panelist and I have to say I could sense the frustration of the broker community in the questions that came.
The second part of the exchange breakout session was not as exciting since the formation of exchanges is speculative at this point. The panelist did a great job at laying out the options and the members ask questions however, many answers were “we’re not sure”, “we don't know” or “we’ll have to wait and see”. One particular member posed the question that Massachusetts, which is really the oldest exchange example, has not fared well and what is NAHU doing to hold that as an example of not how to do things. That question was met with a round of applause from the audience. The panelist did their best to answer it, but again where not sure. Each state makes its own decision as to how to structure and manage and regulate their exchange.
The last session I attended was the final general session of the day. The format of the general session was a town hall meeting to discuss member questions and concerns prior to their Capitol Hill visits. After a brief presentation of the panel, the floor was opened up to questions from the over 700 NAHU participants. Janet Trautwien was surprised (as I was) that the line at the microphone was not as long as we might have expected. I think that speaks volumes. We spent a lot of energy and a lot of resources getting to know PPACA, fighting against certain aspects of that act and understanding the ramifications after it was passed. We also spent a lot of time communicating with our clients over the past year and we might be a little tired. But we can't give up. I Believe customers and clients in the public are starting to see all of the different aspects of this act and that, as a combined piece of legislation, there is much to be desired.
Now is when we will be needed to advise those who are charged with implementing this facets of the law and I believe they will be grateful for our help and assistance and we can prove our value to them like we do to our clients every day. Take a break if you must, but come right back and help because we need to do more.
BTW- I did ask three different conference participants about how this act was going to lower health-care premiums. Every single one of them shook their head had no answer for me. I don't know if I'm going to get a different answer on the Hill tomorrow but you bet I’ll asked that question.
Talk with you all tomorrow.

CapCon 2011

2011-02-13T17:48:00.000-08:00

Hello,

Well it's Sunday afternoon and I'm in Washington DC at the Hyatt Regency, home of this year's Capitol Conference. In coordinating and preparing for my meetings, I have been thinking about what points I will make to the legislators I’ll be speaking with. Last year, the message was all about the various aspects of the proposed healthcare reform legislation. Since the legislation had not yet passed, the message was one of education so that the representatives would know what was in the bill that was good and what was in that was not. I believe NAHU made great strides to prevent a healthcare reform bill that could have been much worse (if you can imagine). This year we're in a post healthcare reform world and that world is still very uncertain. Many aspects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care act have yet to reveal their effects on health insurance or their impact. I am very interested to hear what other agents and brokers are planning for in their meetings.

As a health care agent and broker I have three concerns. One; that my clients and customers get the kind of health insurance they need. Two; that my clients and customers are able to afford the premiums for the health insurance they need. Three; that I am able to earn a living helping my clients make decisions about items one and two. I truly feel that my clients are better off with me than without me. In order for me to stay around, I need to earn revenue. I am not ashamed to admit that I collect commissions for the work I do.

I'll be honest I’m not convinced that some of the coverage enhancements that took effect this past year were all bad. I like the fact that I don't worry that one of my clients will call panicked because an employee was just diagnosed with MS and is going to chew through their prescription plan maximum in about a week and a half. I also like the fact that I don't have to worry about a pre-existing condition exclusion, that I'm not able to remove from a policy (even at an extra cost), constantly burdening a small company’s human resources department in case they forget to provide a HIPAA certificate, or worse, forget to explain to a new employee, who has had a lapse of coverage for more than 63 days, that certain claims could be denied.

What I don't like is the cost. I think no one does. That’s what I want to find out while I’m here. How, exactly, are rates and premiums supposed to come down if coverage gets better, and some are challenging that not everyone has to participate? That is the question I’ll be asking everyone here. I’ll let you know what they all say.

So, there you go. I think this year’s Cap Con message from me will be- How can we make this more affordable and how do I ensure my future (and yours) in the health insurance industry.

Stay tuned…

CapCon 2010 Day 3

2010-03-10T15:51:00.000-08:00

CapCon Day 3

This morning came early as I woke for the final day of CapCon 2010. We had another general session with more representatives on the docket as well as other invited guests including a representative from CMS, a former CBO Director and a current insurance commissioner.

The two representatives who spoke today were Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) and Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-LA). Rep. Price appears to have voted "yes” on the House bill that passed last November, but noted the most important thing we could do is stop the Senate bill from passing. I think it is safe to say Rep. Price will be a no vote. Rep. Melancon voted “no” on the House bill, but completely avoided a question from the audience asking him what kind of pressure was he under to vote “yes” on the Senate bill. Either he does not want to put the House leadership in hot water or he looks like he could be a “yes” vote.

In between the representatives was Danielle Moon who works for CMS. She presented on Medicare Advantage oversight and had some very impressive slides that explained the marketing of Medicare Advantage. She also had some interesting information on the “secret shoppers” being sent out to evaluate the system. I’ll see if NAHU puts her slides out for us to see.

Next up was Doug Holtz-Eakin, President of DHE Consulting and former Director of the CBO. Next to Len Nichols, Doug was my second favorite presenter of the entire conference. Doug’s message was simple. He has serious concerns about the cost of the bills being considered. His message stated that there were several entitlement programs in this legislation, and the country needs entitlement reform in order to reign in cost. He is afraid that if the Senate bill passes, entitlement reform will slip off the table since Congress couldn’t possibly turn around and reform the very legislation they labored so hard to pass. To quote him, “this presents a genuine threat to long term national prosperity”. If you want to see more from Doug, feel free to visit http://www.americanactionforum.org/.

Next was Kim Holland, current Commissioner of Insurance for Oklahoma. Kim is a former Agent and NAHU member so her support for who we are and what we do was very clear. I did not stick around to hear Kim’s presentation as I had to huddle with some of our delegates to see how yesterday’s meetings went.

The opinion of the others was similar to mine. The message from House leadership is we will never be this close again. Some of us met with Rep. Carol Maloney’s folks yesterday. Rep. Maloney was not in our meeting as she was in another meeting. We surmised it was most likely the same meeting that kept Rep. Arcuri away from our meeting yesterday.

Unfortunately the only meeting I could attend today was Sen. Schumer’s Legislative Assistant, Meghan Taira. We’ve met with Meghan before. She is very knowledgeable and friendly. We had a good discussion and I took away a couple of good points. First, I raised the concern that the Senate bill has wellness credits, but only for large employers. With so many smaller employers needing rate relief, why couldn’t we get that expanded? Her answer made some sense. Congress wants to see if wellness has a positive impact on large employer’s rates first, then expand it to the small business sector. She noted that it would be easier to expand something that works, than contract something that does not.

Secondly, she noted that the “Cadillac plan” tax limits were going to be raised, so we may not have the issue of NYC plans tipping the tax penalty. I’ll have to see what the limits are and see if it’s high enough.

Lastly, two parting messages Meghan shared with us are; (1) the challenge to the House is to pass a bill that gets the votes in the House without asking for too many “side car” items that will disrupt the vote in the senate and, (2) there are Senators that have issues with the current Senate bill as it stands, so we could see some changes made on both sides.

There is still a long way to go with many things having to fall into place. Mickey Lyons just e-mailed me about his meeting with Rep. Rangel’s folks, and the message there was that House leadership is confident they can pass the Senate bill and fix their concerns in the “side car” ad on. We need to keep an eye on not only on what happens in the House, but what the Senate is doing as the House moves towards their vote.

That does it for this year’s CapCon Blog. It has been my pleasure to be here on your behalf and share my thoughts and impressions with you. A heartfelt thank you to all the members who came from our state and shared their time and contributed to our efforts.

Pete

2010-03-09T20:15:00.000-08:00

CapCon Day 2

I left you all feeling that day two had many expectations. The day started flat but the afternoon on “The Hill” gave us some interesting insight that had our group arguing most of the way back to the hotel. Here’s how it went down;
I was firmly in my seat at 8 a.m. and ready for the Senators to show up and give us all sorts of great info based upon what had happened just yesterday. The first speaker, Sen. Ben Nelson was late. NAHU did its best “soft shoe” to keep several hundred of us entertained and engaged as the time ticked away. Sen. Scott Brown arrived and went on ahead of Mr. Nelson. I have to say I had high expectations. All I can say after his speech is that he wants to create jobs, supports state’s rights and drives a truck. In my opinion, very disappointing. His speech was very middle of the road. Not what we expected from a “long shot” candidate.
Ben Nelson finally showed and, after last year’s informative speech, I felt that Sen. Brown was new and maybe doesn’t want to go too far out on limb, but Ben will tell us like it is. Wrong. Sen. Nelson was just as distant and hard to read as Sen. Brown. Bad start to the day. And I had already sat for over an hour. I’ve got things to do. This wasn’t a productive use of my time. It was at that time I started to think why. Then it became clear. The Senate has nothing to do at this moment and nothing to go out there for. The House is where the action is. The House is where all the info and influence is at this point. I re-focused, as Rep. Mike Pence was next. Surely he could give us some insight. But I was fearful that the newness of the information about the Senate bill would have him dodging like Ben Stiller in Dodgeball.
But Mike Pence (R-IL) did not disappoint. He was straightforward and gave great advice. He encouraged us to “talk from the heart” in our meetings on the hill and understood that cost was as much an issue, if not more, than access and coverage. He also understood that we represented our clients and not the carriers and reminded us that we are not representative of and industry, but representatives of a way of life. He mentioned that in his home town, he is not approached by folks asking for healthcare reform. He is approached by folks asking for jobs. He feels the focus of this administration should be on jobs at this moment, and not healthcare. I was glad to see someone from Congress giving us some useful information.
Sen. Tom Coburn, who shined so brightly in the Healthcare Summit, was a no-show and we had to end the a.m. session. Our state contingent gathered for lunch to coordinate our meetings on the hill.
My first meeting on the hill was with Rep. Paul Tonko’s Leg. Director. I did not expect him to share a while lot since the news about the House vote and the mandatory House Dem’s meetings was announced just yesterday. I really wanted to get a feel for how he felt the house would vote and see if Rep. Tonko had any questions or concerns about the Senate bill they were being asked to vote on. His initial indication was that there was a lot of “arm twisting” going on and that he thought the Senate bill would pass the house. Tonko voted “yes” on the House bill last November and it is my opinion that he will vote “yes” on the senate bill too.
After our Tonko meeting it was off the Rep. Scott Murphy’s office. We had no meeting set, but we thought we would try to see if we could get a meeting. No go here, but they said they would call with a possible meeting tomorrow. Rep. Murphy voted “no” on the House bill last November, so it would be good to hear what the concerns are now.
Next it was a meeting with Rep. Michael Arcuri. He was in, but was running behind and asked us to wait until he finished up. After some time, an aide came in and noted she would meet with us until Rep. Arcuri finished. We stated our case, but a got a very neutral response from the aide. It was apparent that she was not going to tip which way Mr. Arcuri was leaning. Arcuri voted “yes” on the House bill in November and had just been quoted in a newspaper as being opposed to the Senate bill. We finished our meeting without having met with Mr. Arcuri and headed out.
As we went down the hall Rep. Arcuri came towards us. We stopped and he spent a moment with us in the hall. He was extremely friendly and gracious, but gave us the indication that he was leaning towards a “yes” vote. In his words, “we may never be this close”. We thanked him, made our case for our concerns, shook his hand and headed out.
On the walk back, all of us (Norm Michaels, Chris Koetzle, Kishan Perera and I) could not help but come to the conclusion that a “yes” vote is very much a reality. It seems the House is going to place its trust in the Senate to fix the bill (through reconciliation) and pass health care reform.
Tomorrows appointments include both our Senators (Schumer & Gillibrand) as well as another try for Murphy, a meeting with Rep. Hall, Rep. Rangel and Rep. Maloney.
I will try to ascertain the outcomes of the meetings I was not involved with. In the meantime, the over-arching message is health care reform seems to be pouring like and avalanche coming down the mountain.
Good night all.
Pete

CapCon 2010 Day 1

2010-03-08T16:58:00.000-08:00

CapCon Day 1

Wow. All I can say is wow.

What an amazing first day here at CapCon. What serendipitous timing that we are all here as health care reform is taking leaps. Wow. No time for casual gatherings or for photos and back slaps. I had barely enough time to scarf down a chicken salad sandwich and return one call before launching myself into the next session. The day flew by and I was energized by it.
Today started with the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by the National Anthem and then introductions of the NAHU Board, various committee heads and NAHU staff. Then Janet Trautwein did a very god job of laying out the reasons why we are here and how NAHU is prepared to address the questions raised in the proposed legislation. She did an excellent job of preparing us for what we need to do on “The Hill” over the next couple of days. She also described the path by which the Senate Bill, passed on Christmas Eve, would most like go through the House. I’ll expand more on that in a minute.

Next, we heard from Stuart Rothenberg, Editor and Publisher of the Rothenberg Political Report, who gave us an overview of health care reform and the political election cycle. I must admit, I’m more of a “policy junkie” than a “political junkie” so his political insights were welcomed. Stuart made many references to polling numbers. In an election, polls mean quite a bit. This is an election year and many legislators want reform, but also want to get re-elected too. He gave us two good resources if you want to keep your finger on the “pulse” of the polls- www.realclearpolitics.com & www.pollster.com . The biggest poll he felt mattered was the one that measured the public’s confidence in the leadership of the country. That approval rating currently sits around the mid-30’s. Not very good and is a sure tell-tale sign as to the public’s waning tolerance for “spend and spend some more” government. He referred to it as “Big Government Fatigue”.

The next topic was the importance of political involvement. I had felt that message had already been received, and they were running late, so I snuck out to check e-mails and return a call (I still have a business to run).

After my work, it was a quick sandwich and then off to our regional meeting where, Norm Michaels, our regional VP, headed up a session that gave an update from our region (our region includes most of the northeastern states). Here we introduced ourselves, talked about membership, heard tips on board development and coordinated our legislative appointments.
I know I’m going on too much, but I haven’t even gotten to the most important part of the day yet. I hope you keep reading.

In my first breakout session, the speaker announced that there was breaking news. It had just been announced that the House was calling for a vote on the Christmas Eve-passed Senate bill in just 10 days and that a mandatory meeting of all the House Democrats is scheduled for Wednesday morning. The session was about NAHU’s plan for reform, and I took some notes, but I kept thinking about this House meeting, the Senate bill and how reconciliation tied all this together. I skipped the next session and found our Director of State Affairs, Adam Brackemyre, and asked him to explain it all to me. He was all too happy to help. Here’s what it all means;

Apparently the President is asking the House to vote (and pass) the Senate bill that was passed on Christmas Eve. Then send that bill, along with a list of things the House wants to see changed in the bill (almost akin to a “wish list”) and the Senate will “fix” it through a voting process called “Reconciliation”. To the best of my knowledge, reconciliation is a process by which a simple majority vote will approve legislation and there is shorter time for debate than during the “regular” process. There are two problems here; (1) the House must trust the Senate to implement their “fixes” into the final bill. The Senate could not change anything and pass the bill onto the President for a signature (since now the same bill passed both the House and the Senate) and then it will become a law. This is a huge extension of faith on the part of the House. (2) In the past, the reconciliation process has only been used for items that relate directly to the budget. There are two major, non-budget, issues in the Senate bill- Abortion and Immigration. These are moral issues and it is unclear if the Senate can even use reconciliation if the Senate Parliamentarian cries “foul” on non-budget issues. There are theories that the Vice President can override the Parliamentarian, but we are getting way ahead of ourselves. The message here is that we are entering uncharted waters and we can’t afford any mistakes.

The House vote now takes center stage and finding out what Representative’s support this and who does not is “mission critical”.

Lastly, but certainly not the least was our final speaker of the day, Len Nichols, the Director of Health Policy Program at the New America Foundation. In my opinion, Len was nothing short of amazing. I’ve been to many conferences and have had the pleasure of seeing many speakers, but Len was about the best I’ve ever seen. I am not kidding. Len is an economist and you might be thinking his presentation was similar to CPA lecture, but he put together a presentation that was interesting and inspiring. While pulling together statistics and numbers that gave validity to his statements, he had us captivated. He was not compromising. Some of his statements cut us to the quick, however, the manner in which he delivered them did not allow us the ability to deny them. It was truly something to be experienced. You could have heard a pin drop during his pauses. I recommend you find him on some social outlet and follow him.

Once more, wow what a day. Tomorrow has some big shoes to fill. I am honored to be here on your behalf. Thank you and stay tuned for my tweets.

Pete

2010-03-07T17:36:00.000-08:00

The Day Healthcare Reform Stood Still

Greetings from our Nation’s Capitol,

It is the eve of CapCon and I am anxious to get started. These are historic times for our industry as we stand at the very precipice of health care reform. As I thought about how I would “kick off” CapCon, I was reminded of a scene from the 2008 re-make of the 1950’s sci-fi film, The Day the Earth Stood Still, where Keanu Reeves plays Klaatu, an alien sent to monitor how humans have treated the earth and all its resources. Klaatu is on earth to decide if humans should be allowed to continue to occupy the planet.

In one particular scene a human begs Klaatu not to allow the destruction of the human race by explaining how human crisis need to be taken to the very edge before change can truly occur. The person goes on to say that it is sometimes necessary to teeter at the very precipice of annihilation in order to create the kind of change that results in better things. It is at that critical point where we come together. This is where we forget petty differences and individual agendas. This is where only one thing matters and everyone can see it.

No one doubts that these are historic times. No one doubts that we need health care reform. No one doubts that we need change. I believe we stand at the precipice of health care reform today. Health care presents some interesting challenges to us. One the one hand we have the moral issue that everyone deserves some form of care when they are sick and/or ailing. On the other hand we have the economic challenges that force the concept of rationing. Wrap all this around an industry that employs millions, involves both the public and private sectors, is sometimes driven by the demands of stockholders and is 1/6th of our nation's economy and it is not too hard to see there may be no “easy fix”.

I wonder if we, unfortunately, somehow need this crisis in health care in order to bring us all together with the narrowed purpose that is only clearly visible at the precipice of annihilation.

Last year we were successful at stopping a “hurried” fix of the system. I did not believe then, nor do I now, that the hurried fixes would have worked. We have a moment now. A moment where we have the attention of Washington and the hopes of our clients and customers. We only have a moment. We need to make it count and suggest changes and reforms that will create a better health care system. If not, I fear we, as workers in the health care industry, will suffer the same suggested fate the humans faced in the Day the Earth Stood Still. I believe this is a huge challenge. I hope we are up for it.

Keep this concept in mind as you read the blog over the next few days. I know I will.

Pete

Welcome to the 2010 NYSAHU Capitol Conference Blog!

2010-03-07T15:59:00.000-08:00

Peter Andrew, Council of Community Services, has agreed again this year to provide up to the minute insights on Capitol Conference 2010! Check back daily to learn about Peter's activities during Capitol Conference! THANK YOU PETER.

Recap of July 2009 NAHU Fly-in

2009-07-16T09:00:00.001-07:00

My day started at 7 a.m. as I rode up to the Grand Hyatt to meet up with over 1000 other insurance agents and brokers to begin the day. It was an impressive sight to see that many of us all in one room, with one agenda. Today’s mission was to make our voices heard on the Hill. I’m sure our voices were heard as I could not turn a corner in any of the House office buildings and not see a group of others wearing the same name badge as me.

As many of you already know, both the House and the Senate have legislation drafted to address the president’s order for healthcare reform. All my meetings today were on the House side, so my blog will be focused on that piece of legislation. The House bill is over 1000 pages long (the summary is over 40 pages). I will tell you right now that no legislative director, or assistant, we met with today had read the bill and admitted to that fact. I took three meetings today- Rep. Tonko’s office, Rep. Arcuri’s office and Rep. McCarthy’s office. All the meetings had at least three of us and the last two had almost 10 each time.

As we did when I was here for the Cap Con, we stated that we were exited about healthcare reform and wanted to let the representatives know that NAHU members deal with public everyday and assist them in navigating through plans, policies and pricing mechanisms. As such we wanted to offer our assistance as a resource to help them create reform that has the best possible chance of success when it hits the ground.

It is hard to see where this will go at this moment. Mark-ups on the bill (the process by which parts are added, deleted and/or changed) began as I was exiting the buildings. While I cannot tell you what the final product will be, I will give you an overview of what we discussed and were we stand on some of the key elements of the House Bill.

· Market reform- The House bill will ask for a federal policy that will allow for a health plan that will be guaranteed issue and will not have pre-existing condition exclusions. NAHU supports this as well as no health status rating. In addition, NAHU feels that any market reform should allow for experience raring to continue for groups over 50.
· Minimum Loss Ratios- The house bill asks that carriers maintain at least an 85% Medical Loss ratio and if non-claims cost exceed 15%, then rebates be issued to policy holders. NAHU opposes the imposing of minimum MLR as they feel that not all cost associated with running health plan can be neatly placed neatly into MLR or admin categories.
· Creation of an Exchange- the House bill proposes the creation on an exchange where individuals can purchase healthcare coverage. A new federal agency, the Health Choices Administration would oversee the implementation of the exchange. The idea is that Medicare reimbursement rates would be the reimbursement method for the first three years, and then claims data would be utilized to create different ones. The idea is to first allow individuals, then employees, to enroll so that within 5 years, all Americans could have access to coverage through the exchange. While NAHU believes that an exchange is not needed if effective market reforms are enacted, we do recognize Congress’s commitment to this and would ask that each state be able to create it own exchange as plans, risk and affordability vary greatly from state to state.
· Essential benefits- the House bill suggest that the Health Choices Administration determine a minimum benefit plan that will be the ‘benchmark” plan within exchanges. NAHU supports this and we believe there is a need for this and it is essential to healthcare reform.
· Agent Provisions- The only mention of this in the bill looks to be that the Health Choice Administration will set uniform marketing standards for all entities offering exchange plans. NAHU strongly recommended the use of the existing broker and agent network to help facilitate enrollment, assist in coverage choice and help with eligibility determination. Our role here is crucial to the success of any plan that could cause a transition in health plans.
· Creation of a new Gov’t Run Public Plan Option- The bill would allow for a Gov't run option to be crated to compete with the private market. All Medicare providers will be forced to participate for 5 years, and then others will be encouraged to join. The plan will start with unlimited Gov’t funds but eventually have to be self-sustaining. No surprise here, we are opposed to a Gov’t run plan option. The Gov’t cannot create the level playing field needed to not adversely affect the private market. It would displace millions of Americans and cause more chaos than good.

As I mentioned, the House bill is over 1000 pages and there are way more items than what is mentioned here. Sorry there was not more “this rep said this and that rep said that”. Everyone noted they were aware of the bill and had not read it and, therefore, could not agree or disagree with our suggestions. The bottom line is we were there, in force, and let the people on the hill know that we know our clients, we know our business and we can help.

I’ll try to get the Senate bill broken down for you all in my next blog. Stayed tuned, and stay active, these are very important times for all of us.

Pete

Last Day of the 2009 Capitol Conference

2009-04-01T15:24:00.000-07:00

The last day of the Capitol Conference went well. Another 3 ½ hour general session that featured 4 Representatives and 1 Senator. The lone Senator was Orrin Hatch (R-UT). Senator Hatch was well spoken and supports our efforts. He clearly does not want a single payor system. He noted that the Senate is looking to pass healthcare reform under a budget reconciliation process whereby the discussion is limited to 20 hours, no language can be added and it only takes a simple majority (51) to pass. Senator Hatch feels we should not push so quickly, and with so little majority, on something that represents 1/6th of the entire federal budget.

Sher Sparano (NYC NAHU member) and I met with Tiffany Guarascio, Senior Legislative Assistant to Congressman Anthony Weiner who gave us an interested spin on this. While she noted there were short-comings to the budget reconciliation process (BTW- she told us the House does not have something like this) she felt that 20 hours of debate is long time (on the hill) and the regular process (the name escapes me) allows for a few Senators to hold out and stall the whole process. I believe this is what happened with the President’s initial stimulus bill. Not sure which is better or worse? We do need reform, but at what expense? Our meeting with Tiffany lasted ½ hour and she asked questions and gave us some insight into what’s going on. She noted that single payor did not look to have any legs at all.

We had two other House meetings today. One with Eli Kogan, Senior Legislative Assistant to Congressman Joseph Crowley and another with Becky Cornell, Legislative Aide to Congressman Paul Tonko. The meeting with Eli was very short. He took our material, heard what we had to say and thanked us for coming. Becky took lots of notes and could only tell us that Mr. Tonko supports universal access. Becky did know who NAHU was and said some legislative people from NAHU had been by to brief them. This was the first meeting we had where they noted they knew NAHU.

Yesterday we met with Meghan Taira, Legislative Assistant to Senator Schumer. There were 5 of us who met with her and she told us they were busy trying to conceptualize a Public Plan Option. This was new phrase for me and she note this would be the government provided plan that looks to be passed before August. Today we heard both Senator Hatch and other House Representatives mention this same phrase. Meghan told us that no language has been drafted, but this is what they are working on. We told her that while we were not opposed to a plan (like the Public Plan Option) to back up any individual coverage mandates, we felt that a level playing field was critical to the survival of the private market.

This is a big issue folks. This looks to be what the new government plan will be. After our Schumer meeting we all discussed how we could see each state selling this as the state’s PPO option (sound familiar?) We felt this would confuse folks in the market who are familiar with PPO’s in the private market, but not aware of how this applies under a federal mandated plan. They may gravitate to this plan not knowing what it really is. Combine this concept (which has familiarity on the House side) with a “get it done before the August recess” mindset and it’s not too hard to see why Senator Hatch feels that the Public Plan Option is the long road to a single payor system.

Mr. Hatch told us this is the year to convince congress that our ideas of reform will have a positive affect on healthcare. All of us at the Capitol Conference got the feeling from both houses of congress that they are acting fast and want to deliver something to the President soon. We need to be aware of what’s going on and stay in touch with our legislators and stay atop of what our national organization is doing on our behalf.

That’s it for the 2009 CapCon! I hope you all enjoyed reading my updates. We’ll work to continue the blog to keep folks up to date and share ideas. To my wife (who I know has been reading my blog) - Honey, I’m coming home!

Very Important Meeting on "The Hill"

2009-03-31T14:24:00.000-07:00

As you can see we had great meetings on our first lobbying day.

Today started with a marathon general session that went from 8 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. We were addressed by a couple of legislators, a Whitehouse budget representative, a healthcare CEO and finally a panel presentation consisting of two gentlemen from the provider side.

At this point, I’ve been eating, sleeping and breathing healthcare reform since Sunday so I did not take as much of that message from today as I did the little things that were said. Here’s what I got from today;

Our first speaker was Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE). Senator Nelson supports our position, but it was his first comment that struck me a funny. He noted that it used to be when a representative in Washington, after being introduced, would always say, “Thanks a million”. But in today’s Washington, he said, it’s more like, “thanks a trillion”. This was funny, but a little scary. I’m reminded of what one of my teachers said, “Many a true things are said in jest”.

Our second speaker was Keith Fultonol (I may have misspelled his last name) who is the Associate Director of the Office of Management and Budget (http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/). Keith went over the President’s budget regarding healthcare (FYI President Obama has put in $634B for healthcare reform). He laid out the President’s agenda for healthcare reform that includes guaranteeing individuals access to Doc’s, increasing the quality of care, decreasing cost and eliminating barriers to continuing coverage between jobs (among other things). While most yawned through his presentation that included slides of massive spreadsheets that you could not read (even on the super large 20’ screens), I enjoyed this presentation the most out of all of them. I like the numbers.

Next up was Don Hamm, President & CEO of Assurant Health. Don is also on the board of AHIP and presented their position on healthcare reform. AHIP’s position is to allow guaranteed access to coverage (with no Pre-x) and would like to see a sliding scale subsidy for those living between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level (FPL). What I found particularly interesting is that Don broke down the uninsured numbers for us. 48MM uninsured works out to be 9MM non-resident Americans, 15MM who are insurable but who choose not to purchase coverage and above 400% of FPL, 22MM living between 0% and 400% of the FPL and 2MM who are uninsurable.

Then came Representative Allyson Schwartz (D-PA) who supports us, but was not versed in the recent COBRA stimulus package. Unfortunately these were exactly the questions that came from the audience and, after a couple of tries, scooted off the stage and thanked us for having her.

Then came the panel of providers. I have to admit here folks, they started with similar support statements and I had had enough (and still had an April renewal to secure) so I scooted too. Sorry, nothing to note here (other than I took care of my renewal).

We did have one legislative meeting with Senator Schumer’s Legislative Assistant, Meghan Taira, but I will blog about all our legislative meetings tomorrow after they are all completed. You’ll have to read about this then.

Day One of 2009 NAHU Capitol Conference

2009-03-30T16:04:00.000-07:00

A great start to the 2009 Capitol Conference. The first general session started with a recorded presentation of the story of the Star Spangled Banner, followed by the song. I’m a fan of history and enjoyed being reminded of how our nation overcame great adversity & odds. The rest of the session focused on our national legislative priorities and a review of those issues we feel are “draw a line in the sand” issues and what ones we support, but with great caution and instruction.

Our regional break-out session was informative as Charlie Gartlan, current region 1&2 RVP, introduced Norman Michaels, our upcoming Region 1 RVP. Regions 1&2 are being split and Charlie will lead Region 2 and Norman will lead Region 1 (which includes NYS). Norm has risen very quickly in the NAHU ranks and is excited to be working with us all.

Most of the NYS contingent gathered after our regional meeting for a group photo. Check us out.

I attended two afternoon sessions on Pools, Connectors & Exchanges and, let me tell you folks, it was a little more complicated than I had thought (maybe because it was after lunch). I need to do more research before I can tell you about it here.

The last general session was quite informative as we were joined by Representative Steve King (R-IA) who put some interesting recent events together for us. We know that the Federal Government has now bailed out banks and Wall Street. We also know that the Government has “helped out” the Auto Industry. Today CNN reported that the Government is calling for the job of the head of GM (in other words- fired) and is instructing Chrysler to merge with Fiat. Mr. King is worried about the nationalization of a great many previously market-driven industries. I must admit this worries me too.

Now, more than ever, we need to prove our worth to our clients. As I mentioned before, we are in a unique position as we speak both to the insurance industry and to our clients. I urge you all to re-dedicate yourself to our industry and to your clients. Continue to help strive for a fair position where the company is there for our clients and our clients know what is expected of them. The concept of a nationalized healthcare system is most certainly not out of the question for a government that is already proven it will “call the shots” in other areas we never thought possible. These are new times.

I’ll leave you with one quote shared with us here in DC at the end of our day (from Albert Einstein) - We cannot use the same thought process to solve a problem that we used to create it.

Talk to you all tomorrow.

Pre Conference Leadership Forum

2009-03-29T14:45:00.000-07:00

Today I was in the (pre-conference) Leadership Forum from 8:00 a.m. until 4:45 p.m. The featured Speaker was Bryan Dodge, author of The Good Life Rules: 8 Keys to Being Your Best at Work and at Play. To check him out go to http://www.bryandodge.com/. Bryan broke a personal rule to never speak on a Sunday to speak to us. His father was in this business and he feels an alliance to what we do. Word on the street is that NAHU will have the presentation available on the web site- so keep an eye out for it.

We also got an opportunity to meet Russ Childers, NAHU’s President Elect. As you can see, I got a chance to meet Russ too (check out the picture). Russ was very welcoming as he addressed the group of roughly 120 of us and made us aware of some interesting statistics:

There are exactly 18,735 members of NAHU.
There are 220 state and local chapters.
The average age of a NAHU member is 46 (while the industry overall is 56).
Our membership is 50% male and 50% female.

Russ noted that NAHU has never seen a more motivated Congress than this one and there are aggressive reform goals being discussed on "The Hill”. He noted that some Legislators are pushing for a healthcare reform package to be implemented before the August recess. No doubt folks, this Congress is focused so it is more important than ever that we also stay focused on our message of helping to shape a healthcare system that is not just affordable, but is also accessible and transparent.

Carol Matznick, NAHU Chapter Relations Chair, went over the NAHU organizational structure and also reviewed all the resources available to the chapters through NAHU’s web site. Very good stuff!

The lunch session featured three NAHU Chapter veterans who shared information about increasing membership, education and volunteer action. This was a good Q&A session and I’ve taken notes, but won’t bore you all with them here and now.

The things that Russ and Carol shared will certainly help our chapter. The things Bryan shared will also help me. I will share this thought from Bryan; the key to building an effective association is based on our ability to get others to work with us.

Stay tuned…tomorrow's the start of the 19th NAHU Capitol Conference.

Getting Ready for the Capitol Conference

2009-03-28T15:21:00.000-07:00

It’s Saturday afternoon and I wanted to let everyone know that I arrived safe and sound. It’s colder and cloudier than Albany (imagine that!). Cherry Blossoms are in bloom though. I spent some time Friday gathering data and reviewing our positions on various national legislative issues. I am honored to be here on behalf of our local (and state) chapter. I had my first chance to lobby several years back when the Sole Proprietor Legislation was being formed and I got a glimpse of how important it is that we stay aware of issues and interact with our representatives on the state and national level.

Our membership is in a unique position to affect healthcare reform as we are, in a way, bilingual, in that we speak both “insurance speak” and “client speak”. We know our industry and we know our clients. We have an obligation to our clients (and our industry) to help shape a healthcare system that promotes wellness, efficiency and affordability.

Enough of the niceties, I also want to make those of you aware of where NAHU stands on national legislative issues. To view the NAHU 2009 Legislative Priorities, click HERE.

I think the first step we should take is familiarizing ourselves with these priorities. The second step is getting familiar with the legislative process. I’ve found visiting the congressional web sites very helpful in figuring out it all happens. I am embarrassed to say that, until only a few years ago, I was not aware of much of this (I should have paid more attention in my Political Science classes).

Anyway, the two sites to visit are the Senate web site and the House of Representatives web site. Go to http://www.senate.gov/ to research Senators, committees and other items of interest on the Senate side (see if you can find out why Schumer is a Class III Senator while Gillibrand is a Class I).

As you know we only get 2 Senators, but get 29 House Representatives. Go to http://www.house.gov/ to see who your representative is as well as see what’s going on in “The House”. Our New York contingent will most likely visit our 2 Senators as a group, but I will be meeting with my particular House Representative, Paul Tonko, with only a couple of other NYSAHU members.

That’s it for now. Tomorrow starts at 7:30 a.m. and I’m in the Leadership Forum until 5 p.m. I hope to be able to at least “Twitter” quick updates, but if not you’ll hear my thoughts here after it’s done.

Take care,

Pete

WELCOME

2009-03-26T15:55:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the New York State Association of Health Underwriters new blog site! In order to effectively communicate with our members, and give them a voice to communicate with us, we have established this site. Now it is up to you to tell us how you feel!

Peter Andrew, NENYAHU Treasurer, has agreed to be our first blogger. Peter will be attending the NAHU Capitol Conference in Washington and providing us with daily updates with what is happening. Thank you for sharing Peter!

NYSAHU has several representatives attending this key event to meet with members of Congress to discuss NAHU's positions. This year's conference is entitled "One Mission, One Voice: Working Together for the Future of American Health Care".

Welcome again! Please send us your comments!

Barbara