Clark County AHU President's Blog

Happy New Year!!!

2011-01-05T08:21:00.000-08:00

Coming off of a roller coaster year in 2010, many of us are hopeful that the new year brings with it answers to our fearful questions raised by ACA. Whereas the theme for 2010 was influencing the policymakers in Washington, the theme for 2011 is going to be, quite simply, change.

Some of the changes you’ll see from your association first and foremost, is a change of venue. We are moving from View-215. Our first meeting will be at 8905 W. Post Rd, very near View 215 (look for an email with directions). You’ll also see a change in our programs from such a strict legislative focus to one that gets us back to our roots…education. It will take educating ourselves in new strategies and new products from our carrier-partners to be successful in the new legislative landscape. Another change will be regular communication via a monthly e-newsletter, containing this and future messages from yours truly, along with notification of events, marketing tips, a legislative corner, and more. Lastly, come July, you’ll also see me handing the reins off to a new President.

2010 was a year in which we all tried to manage, mitigate, influence and yes, even coerce the process by which ACA would be implemented. We were tickled with minor tastes in 2010 of what lay ahead of us, all the while not quite believing or knowing where it would all end up…and we still don’t. However, here in 2011 major changes are being realized both by insurance companies and producers alike. Tough choices, driven by necessity, are being made. Carriers are faced with complying with, among other things, Minimum Loss Ratio requirements, while producers are faced with the consequences of those same provisions.

Now more than ever is the time we need to work together, both carrier and producer, to overcome the obstacles before us, to come together for a common goal—the continuation of the private insurance market as we know it. If we let the changes come between us, the end result will be single-payer. We have always had, and continue to have, more in common than what separates us. Ours is a relationship of symbiosis and synergy. Now is the time for new opportunities posed by the challenges we face.

We will still attempt to influence the legislative process, especially in the realm of the new exchanges, but our focus will be more on adapting your business to the changing legislative landscape. In that vein, I sincerely hope that you will join us for our first meeting of the year where a panel of experts, your contempories, will share their vision of the future and how to not just survive, but thrive under ACA.

As a famous wise man said, “necessity is the mother of invention”. We need to re-invent ourselves because it is necessary to our survival. Just as importantly, an anonymous wise man (or woman) once said “you cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.” Sure, there’s a risk…but we all took a risk entering this profession…indeed, insurance itself is the transferring of risk. The risk of not changing, however exceeds the one of exploration. Here’s to continuing this journey together.

Regards,

Dan M. Heffley, LUTCF
State Legislative Chairperson--National Association of Health Underwriters
President--Clark County Association of Health Underwriters
Insurance Commissioner's Producer Advisory Committee Member
Governor's Consumer Health Assistance Office advisor
Nevada Health Care Leadership Task Force Member
NAIFA Member
Contributing Columnist HealthNews.com
Director of Benefits- Amcheck Payroll Services Las Vegas
Moderator-The American College
702-434-4112 Direct
702-581-4048 Mobile
702-434-1080 Fax
dan.bgb@gmail.com

Dan Heffley, CCAHU President

2010-08-05T16:51:00.000-07:00

On lunches and politics: An open letter to CCAHU members

I’ve received some feedback regarding our luncheons that I wanted to share with membership and more importantly, address. One point is highly controversial and the other is more for understanding.

The first is our choice of speakers this month, Sharron Angle. We’re primarily an educational association--we’re certainly not a political organization. However, my duty as President is to help preserve the good of the order and to allow us to thrive into the future. With PPACA now the law of the land, my ability to comply with these duties has come under serious attack so that we are now in survival mode. I’ll be on vacation in Kansas shortly so I’ll borrow an appropriate maxim from that neck of the woods-- you don’t plant your crops when your storehouse is on fire.

Over our history, we’ve traditionally tried to be neutral in the political arena. Opinions, as well as political leanings, tend to be a highly personal thing and the potential to offend by promoting a particular agenda is high. NAIFA faced a similar quandary when they were presented with an opportunity to have Sharron speak at a national level, which they declined. The reasons for the declination were many but it boiled down to this: NAIFA’s core business is life insurance and investments, not health insurance. In fact, I was informed that they actually lost membership because they did not support the PPACA legislation.

We, however, ARE involved in the health insurance market…intimately. For those who understand the legislation, we know that it will threaten our livelihood, possibly even eliminate it. I don’t know about you, but my chosen profession is an extension of who I am, which is HIGHLY personal to me. Between the MLR provisions, the Exchange provisions and the calling to resurrect the public plan option, our industry and profession continues to be threatened. This legislation will not, as one uninformed, wishful-thinking agent (not a member) recently told me, “just go away”. No, it needs to be fought long and hard on multiple points.

Which brings me to our speaker, Sharron Angle. The reason I asked her to speak is two-fold: 1) She supports free-market reforms as a way to reform the system, and 2) to give our membership a close-up look at this candidate. She is far different than how some perceive her. A member recently told me that they would not attend the luncheon because they didn’t want to listen to that (less-than-flattering-colloquialism). I asked if she had spoken to her personally and what she based that upon—answer was “no” and “the media” respectively…she’s coming to the meeting.

As President, I do not necessarily need to support all of Sharron’s positions nor do you. Her position on health reform is the only issue that matters to me as President of CCAHU. Personally, I may not see eye-to-eye with her on other platforms or even health reform. I would suggest however, that if that’s case for you on health reform, you’re in the wrong business. I also understand that as a junior Senator, she won’t have a rubber-stamp, but instead will be one more vote against the current majority party’s support of PPACA in it’s entirety. The same goes for her other positions: She’s one vote, not the decision-maker. But it’s how health reform is ultimately enacted that’s the key here. That’s where our focus should be.

The other point will be brief. I’ve been told that our lunches are too expensive for what is served. You’re right—I can get our lunches for much less than $30—if that’s all we were getting. That $30 covers not only the food, but the serving staff, the audio-visual equipment, the internet connection, the microphone and sound system, the private use of the venue, etc etc etc. The alternative would be to fold the costs into the dues like NAIFA does and include lunch—NAHU’s monthly dues are currently less than half of what NAIFA’s dues are. (Note: NAHU National dues are going up January 1st $75 a year).

In closing, as President I do what I think is right for the association, our industry, and our clients who look to us for guidance. How you vote come November 3rd is up to you. At least you’ll have a first hand look unfiltered by media on which to base your decision on the newest candidate.

P.S. I’ve made a similar request of Reid’s office, even so far as to extend it to Reid’s Senior Health Liaison Officer a month ago. I’m still waiting for a response.

Dan Heffley
CCAHU President

--
Regards,

Dan M. Heffley, LUTCF
State Legislative Chairperson--National Association of Health Underwriters
President--Clark County Association of Health Underwriters
Insurance Commissioner's Producer Advisory Committee Member
Governor's Consumer Health Assistance Office advisor
Nevada Health Care Leadership Task Force Member
NAIFA Member
Contributing Columnist HealthNews.com
Director of Benefits- Amcheck Payroll Services Las Vegas
Moderator-The American College
702-434-4112 Direct
702-581-4048 Mobile
702-434-1080 Fax
dan.bgb@gmail.com

2010-06-01T16:45:00.001-07:00

Make My Day.

What does NAHU and the person that uttered that famous line have in common ? Both have been around for 80 years this year. May 31st was the 80^th birthday of Clint Eastwood- actor, director and advocate. I mention this because in addition to giving us acting (and directing) such movie favorites as Million Dollar Baby and Gran Torino, directing Invictus and Flags of our Fathers, he is an avid advocate for businesses, recognized by various organizations for his advocacy.

As this health reform has started to shake out, we’re already seeing the shape of things to come. For those of you unaware, I was informed today that Golden Rule (a United Healthcare Company that sells individual products) is discontinuing insuring children as a standalone policy because of the provision in the law that all children must be taken irregardless of pre-existing conditions. Anyone that understands the insurance industry understands that it can be compared to a balloon…squeeze one area, and another area over-inflates…it’s called cost-shifting. We’ve seen it with insurance mandates and we’ll continue to see it as this defective law’s provisions are implemented.

More than anything, we need a legislator who has a good grasp of business and insurance principles. A background in healthcare is also helpful. Accessibility and active listening are also helpful. In the Senate race, I’ve met with Harry Reid’s office numerous times…but never with the Senator himself. By contrast, I have met with Nevada’s other Senator numerous times and even had the honor of serving on his health care roundtable this past summer. I say this for what follows.

In the race for the Republican nomination for Senator, I attempted to meet with the three (in my estimation) front runners: Sue Lowden, Danny Tarkanian and Sharon Engle. Danny was kind enough to call me back personally; I scheduled a meeting with him and health care reform leadership…it was canceled with a promise to reschedule. I’m still waiting. Sharon Engle couldn’t commit to a face-to-face, but was gracious enough to hold a 45 minute conference call with us where we were very impressed. Sue Lowden, on the other hand actually met with me a couple months back—personally for near-on two hours. Well here it is a week before the primary…and I called Sue’s office and suggested a telephone call with leadership. She wouldn’t do it…instead, she found time to personally drive to Henderson and meet with us face-to-face, where she expounded her pro-business standpoint (she helped with the Worker’s Comp issue in 1995) and her toughness as a litigator.

I know we’re not a political organization. Clint Eastwood stated, “A man needs to know his limitations”. I know my limitations…and I know what I’m good at. Some people say that our state would be better served by having a Senate Majority Leader in power. Whether that’s true or not I cannot comment on…What I CAN comment on is that the Senate Majority Leader believes that the PPACA law is the fix for our system (we know it’s not) and has been parroting rhetoric at the forums he’s held. (We all are familiar with his infamous Chamber of Commerce speech-which he repeated less than a week later !) We are an inherently non-partisan organization; however, we are faced with an imperfect law that threatens our very survival as an industry because it left out cost-containment measures needed to make health reform work. We need leaders in Washington who are willing to listen to us and act upon our input to make the best of this law. We need leaders on a national and state level who are willing to put in place cost measures not in the bill on a state level to help us contain these costs. We need leaders who are ACCESSIBLE. In a perfect world, we all would have health insurance, live in a white house with a picket fence, dog, cat and two-and-a-half kids. However, as Jon Ralston said, “that’s all well and fine on Planet Utopia, but we live in the real world”. In the “real world”, payroll has to be met, the rent has to be paid, business licenses have to be renewed. In a perfect world, I’d be driving a Lamborghini…instead I drive a fuel-efficient convertible…not that I’m complaining.

Clint Eastwood showed that you had to be a fighter and sometimes take unpopular positions, that on the surface, would could looked at as ludicrous…one that Sue Lowden did in testifying against the mammogram mandate because of the cost-shifting that it would entail; I feel her pain. After all, I testified against the autism mandate last year, which didn’t exactly sit well with my brother and his family (my nephew’s autistic). Doing what’s emotionally right doesn’t mean it’s the ‘right’ thing to do. I mean, who DOESN”T want to help autistic kids or advocate mammography ?

The point of all this is that as an industry, I need to advocate on behalf of our membership and by default, our clients who look to us for guidance. I can’t tell you who to vote for, but I can certainly pass along the information on who has our collective backs and who doesn’t.

Dan Heffley

2009-12-29T15:53:00.000-08:00

2010-The Year We Make Contact

For those of you old enough to remember, the above title was a movie sequel to the 1968 epic 2001: A Space Odyssey. Futuristic movies traditionally have overestimated mankind’s accomplishments technologically. However, we’re not here to talk about movies-I have taken the above title and made it a personal mission to incorporate it into CCAHU’s future development. Indeed, our collective livelihoods may depend upon it.

Everything leading up to this New Year has thrust us and our chosen profession into the national spotlight. When I first moved to Nevada, then-President Clinton was trying to re-engineer the health insurance industry. This time around, it seems the reigning party has learned from its mistakes-health reform is nearly a reality going into 2010. The fact that it is not entirely a done deal is a testament to the opposition and scrutiny that opponents to the President’s plan have mounted. Think about it-President Obama has enjoyed near celebrity-worship status on the heels of an unpopular president, yet time and time again, he has been thwarted from implementing his health care reform ‘overhaul’. The fact that his party holds a majority in Congress underscores the effort that has gone into defeating poor reform designs. We all know that the current system needs to evolve into something that is better than it is – we have too many uninsured and cost-prohibitive premiums. Having intimate knowledge of how the markets work, the problems our clients face daily, the impact of misguided reform efforts demand that we remain faithful stewards in the reform arena for it to be done correctly.

2009 saw CCAHU leadership doing just that-from Washington, to New York, to Carson City, your CCAHU has had a hand in shaping reform efforts. The dreaded, “public option” or as I like to call it “public enemy #1” has all but disappeared due to intense pressure (believing we educated legislators on the damage it would do is probably just wishful thinking). 2010 will be a prime time to continue our education and lobbying efforts, not only nationally, but state-wide as well. This year is when we elect Nevada’s legislature and Washington representatives. Many entrenched legislators will be replaced due to term limits. We want to make 2010 the year that we make contact with the incoming representatives so that they know who we are and what we stand for.

Lastly, we need to reconnect with our membership. I personally would like to hear what YOU, the membership, think and want out of your association to help you in the coming year. Having an impact on reform costs money, however. We need membership’s help as well, either monetarily or through volunteerism. Top corporate sponsors like Anthem, United HealthCare and Word & Brown can only do so much—we need everyone to “step up” and help us to overcome the misguided efforts in Washington. The wrong reforms will cost us much more than a $10 or $20 a month HUPAC contribution.

While 2010 the movie may have a ways to go to match reality, ironically, the year 2010: The Year We Make Contact was released was 1984-the same year that George Orwell examined in his book of the same title. For those of you unfamiliar with it, it details society’s decline into a ‘big brother’ state. I’ll leave it to you to see the similarities between the book and our current national path. Let’s keep science fiction from becoming fact.

Dan M. Heffley
President

2009-10-27T09:29:00.000-07:00

Clark County Associaiton of Health Underwriters

To Register:

http://www.mymemberlink.com/nvccahu

Membership Meeting and Luncheon
November 10, 2009
Sponsored by Coventry Health Care Inc.
“Medical Billing Transparency”
Understanding how medical billing issues affect the insurance industry. During this meeting we will explore how fraud, Federal and State law affect our industry.

Program Presented by: Universal Solutions

Sponsosred by Coventy Health Care Inc.
CE: Pending D.O.I. Approval
Time: 11:30 am to 1:00 pm
Location: View 2.1.5. , 9130 W. Russell Rd. #330
Cost:
Member $30.00
Non-Member $35.00

December Luncheon A HUGE Success!

2008-12-23T16:32:00.000-08:00

If you missed December’s luncheon, you missed out on some heartwarming seasonal cheer. For a number of little boys and girls Christmas came early thanks to your CCAHU. There were so many gifts (and smiles from the little ones) we thought we’d need a larger room. A SUV and another car was needed to transport the gifts after the meeting. But the highlight was when we were then treated to some holiday cheer from the first-graders at Lincoln Elementary who sang some beautiful carols for us.

Just as we all come from diverse insurance backgrounds to advance our industry, so too does this special time come with different ways of celebrating the warmth of the season, from Hanukkah and Christmas to Kwaanzaa and the Winter Solstice celebration. Although different, they all are a time when people get together to celebrate family, friends and neighbors, and to share our common humanity. Our emcee for this event, Ms. Natalie Knighton was superb in illustrating how we celebrate diversity. The kids, too, got a lesson in diversity and the true meaning of all we celebrate with holiday readings by Len Barend and Tom Lalley. Dwight Mazzone informed and entertained us with a Winter Solstice tale.

Some special guests also came to share in the festivities. Eileen Oser accepted a check from your CCAHU for $750 on behalf of Sheros Community Development. There’s something about this season that brings out the best in all of us. In addition to this donation, your CCAHU also donated books from Spread the Word Nevada for the Lincoln-Edison Elementary School. It is amazing how good deeds have a way of multiplying, and in true holiday spirit, Lisa Habighorst of Spread The Word Nevada provided a donation of 1 book per child at Lincoln-Edison Elementary. That was a donation of over 800 books to their school library.

All this was a little much for Keith France, Lincoln Elementary School’s Principal, who was at a loss for words as he accepted a check from our President, Joan McEntyre, for over $400.

The luncheon closed with the kids getting a hot lunch, toys and stockings for bringing us a little holiday cheer. For many of these kids, these would be the only gifts they would receive this time of year.

That is the true mark of any organization…the helping of someone in need, the lightening of a load, the breaking of bread with friends and neighbors…and your CCAHU did not fail in this regard. There are many ways of giving and receiving; be it a check, a toy, a song, a story or a smile. When we do, we make the world a little better place for a little while. Everyone that attended this holiday luncheon was treated to the true meaning of the season. I am proud to be a part of this wonderful organization.

-Dan Heffley

2008-09-15T10:44:00.000-07:00

Can you believe how fast this year has gone? We have begun our new program year for CCAHU. And we have lots of interesting, educational and fun events planned.

This past summer we offered a 4 hour CE course for the NAHU CDHC Certification. Shelly Winson from OptumHealth did an outstanding job as the instructor. Over 40 individuals took the course and as of last week, most have already taken the on-line exam and received their certification. If you did pass the exam, remember – you can put ‘CDHC Certified’ on your website, business cards, etc.

We kicked off our new year with our September luncheon speaker, NAHU’s Michael Keegan. The meeting started with Ted DeCorte and Dwight Mazzone discussing the healthcare platforms for McCain and Obama. Then Mr. Keegan provided a power point presentation that went into additional detail on both platforms.

Coming up next month, we have our honorary member, Valerie Rosalin, and her associate, Charles Quintana. They will be discussing the State of NV information programs for un-insured, along with the new consumer education program. Also scheduled for October is our annual golf tournament. This year, Rebecca Purdy is the chair of that event. It is a charity golf tournament, benefiting the ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) foundation. The flyer for that event is posted on the website.

November, we have Jon Ralston coming to give us a “political wrap-up”. Based upon the winners of the election, he will be giving us his “prognostications”. Later in November, we will be hosting our 2nd annual Wine/Silent Auction Holiday Party. The proceeds of the silent auction will benefit the other charities that we adopted, SHEROS and Lincoln Elementary School. The flyer for this event is also posted on the website.

As stated in my prior message, we will have our challenges this year, but we will have fun along the way. Thank you for your support of CCAHU and look forward to seeing you at the upcoming events.

Taking Care of Business

2008-07-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

Joan McEntyre
President

First, I want to say that I am really looking forward to this coming year. We are all facing many challenges, both economically and politically. And I am facing the challenge of keeping our board on task and doing the best we can to keep you informed of the issues that could affect our industry.

The theme that I selected for my term as your President is: Taking Care of Business. As I mentioned at our June luncheon, I picked this theme because I truly feel that if we don’t take care of our business, we may find ourselves Out of Business. There are many forces that would like to change our current health insurance system into a Universal Healthcare plan much like the one in Canada. So during the year ahead, we must all be vigilant to initiatives that would push us that direction. We must be prepared to educate our clients, our legislators and our community on why this option is not working and will not work here in our country.

A delegation representing our local chapter recently returned from attending NAHU’s Annual Conference in San Diego. The meetings were interesting, educational and motivating. And, of course, the political environment was a major issue. I will relay more details about this conference in our next issue.

On a lighter note, please make note of the following summer events:

August 8 - Baseball and Fireworks at Cashman Field.
We have reserved the outfield picnic area for a fun family outing. Ticket prices include the game, baseball hat, all the food and drink you can consume, a visit with Cosmo (the 51s’ mascot) and of course, spectacular fireworks following the game.

August 12 – NAHU’s CDHC (Consumer Driven Health Care) certification course
This is a 4 hr CE course. Following completion of the course, you will receive a link to go on-line and take the certification exam. Upon passing the exam, you will be mailed, from NAHU, a certificate of completion.

Additional details will be sent out shortly on both of these events. Also, August 21-23 is the NAHU Regions 7 & 8 joint conference in Phoenix, AZ. We will organize carpools to drive down for the meeting. If anyone is interested in attending, please let me know.

We will have our challenges this year, but we will have fun along the way. Thank you for your support of CCAHU and have a safe summer.

2008-04-24T08:51:00.001-07:00

Rebecca Purdy

President

Visit Our New Education Page!

The past few months at Clark County Association Meetings have been brimming with valuable information and content. Our March CE Day presented four speakers on a variety of topics from HDHPS's & HSA's to EAP's.

Our most recent meeting in April featured NAHU President-Elect, Scott Leavitt who discussed the Role of the Agent. Therefore, in response to many of your requests we have created a new Education website page where the Power Point presentations of these recent two meetings are available as a resource for those of you who were unable to attend these meetings and a refresher for those of you who did!

We appreciate the speakers for allowing us to post these and hope that you find this information useful. We encourage you to become involved in the Clark County Association of Health Underwriters as these presentations are only a sample of what monthly meeting programs
can offer to and your business.