Advocacy in action blog

On Wednesday, January 13, NAIFA members Elie Harriett and Alan Winstead participated in an invitation-only roundtable hosted by the Department for Health and Human Services’ Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services. The discussion centered around marketplace policies and initiatives that impact agents and brokers.

On December 22, the Senate voted to repeal the McCarran-Ferguson antitrust exemption for health insurance companies by passing HR 1418, the Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act. The House passed the bill on Sept. 21. President Donald J. Trump is expected to sign the bill into law later this week.

As part of the COVID relief package passed by Congress, NAIFA-backed Flexible Spending Account (FSA) relief was included to relieve some of the financial burden consumers face regarding healthcare costs and health spending account allocations. Known as the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, (CAA) it includes provisions extending FSA benefits to those enrolled in such plans.

Congress has passed the final COVID-19 relief package of 2020 to support the economy and provide further relief during the continuing pandemic. Included within the 5,593-page bill is a provision to end surprise medical billing. The surprise medical billing language provides no government rate setting. The inclusion of this provision is arguably the most important patient-protection inclusion since the creation of Medicare Part D. NAIFA worked with congressional leaders in both the Senate and House, advising legislators of the importance of including surprise medical billing in the final bill.

NAIFA has joined with other groups and employers who sponsor health insurance benefits for tens of millions of Americans to send a letter to congressional leadership urging Congress to enact legislation to reduce health care costs.

Recent estimates suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic has cost more than 9 million Americans employer-provided health insurance, with projections indicating that those numbers will continue to rise. These individuals are generally granted the option to elect continued health coverage through the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA).

NAIFA has joined a group of organizations asking Congress to ensure that 180 million Americans who receive health care coverage through workplace plans are able to continue receiving private health benefits in light of economic difficulties and job losses caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. The groups, including America’s Health Insurance Plans, the National African American Insurance Association, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and 28 others, sent a letter to congressional leadership with five specific policy recommendations:

On the ten-year anniversary of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) being signed into law, NAIFA looks back at the milestones of health care policy and how the ACA has changed over the last decade. Implementation of the ACA and the tenants included in this monumental health care program have proven to be fluid throughout the existence of the program.