Advocacy in action blog

NAIFA congratulates the newly elected Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson and looks forward to working with him on legislative matters that impact the financial security of Americans and the ability of insurance and financial professionals to serve their clients’ best interests.

NAIFA is a strong proponent of the Congressional Financial Literacy and Wealth Creation Caucus and has urged members of Congress to join during the Congressional Conference and In-District Meetings earlier this year. The bipartisan caucus raises issues important to NAIFA members and consumers they serve in the consciousness of lawmakers. Its members are legislators "committed to empowering Americans with the tools needed to build wealth and achieve financial stability."

NAIFA CEO Kevin Mayeux, CAE, told the Biden Administration in a meeting that the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) current efforts to revive a fiduciary-only regulation for financial professionals is unnecessary and likely to harm low- and middle-income consumers.

NAIFA has submitted a comment letter to SEC Secretary Vanessa Countryman sharing concerns about the SEC’s proposed rule on the use of predictive data analytics by financial professionals. The proposal, which would place new burdensome requirements on broker-dealers and investment advisers using a broad array of investments-related technology, would have a “devastating effect on our members and their primary clients: low- and middle-income savers and investors,” the letter states.

NAIFA members held more than 135 In-District Meetings with federal lawmakers and senior staff during the recent Congressional recess. This is the second post-COVID year in a row that the number of meetings has reached triple digits. In addition, many NAIFA members also met with state officials over the summer.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) introduced new regulations in the Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for Plan Year 2024 that all agents, brokers, and web-brokers must follow before helping consumers complete and submit their Marketplace application. To ensure that agents and brokers understand the specific guidelines of these new regulations, CMS recently published several frequently asked questions (FAQs) that answer common questions about these new requirements.

NAIFA encourages everyone to vote. Our elected officials make decisions that impact everyone's financial security, so it is important for everyone who is eligible to participate in selecting who they are.

The insurance and financial services industry uses technology to best serve clients and offer a broad range of products and services at affordable prices. However, a proposed rule by the Securities and Exchange Commission is “outright hostile to the use of technology,” according to a letter sent to SEC Secretary Vanessa Countryman by NAIFA and a group of coalition partners.

Short-term limited duration insurance (STLDI) is very important to many American families and individuals looking to fill gaps in their health insurance coverage and unable to access the individual health insurance marketplace. A current proposal by the administration would reduce the maximum allowable STLDI coverage period from 12 months to three months with a possible one-month renewal. People would be able to purchase a new STLDI policy from a different carrier, but would not be allowed to "stack" a new policy from the same carrier on an expiring policy.

NAIFA has not been sitting idle as the Department of Labor made moves to propose a new fiduciary rule. In anticipation of the rulemaking, NAIFA helped the National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) draft a resolution that opposes the DOL's new fiduciary rule as unnecessary and likely harmful to consumers. The resolution, which NCOIL adopted in July after NAIFA testified at the Conference's 2023 Summer Meeting, states: "NCOIL urges the DOL to refrain from further rulemaking that would revive all or parts of the 2016 Fiduciary Rule" and "...urges state legislators and other interested stakeholders to join in opposition to any further rulemaking by DOL reviving the 2016 Fiduciary Rule."