What is PIA?
   •  Join Now
   •  Contact Us
PIA of Louisiana
   •  Board
   •  Committees
   •  Staff
PIA National
Local Chapters
YIPs
   •  Conference
1752 Club

  

  

  

  

  


Obamacare Repeal


Upon being sworn in on Tuesday, the Republican Congress will move quickly to repeal Obamacare. Exactly how it will be done has yet to be determined. However, the dismantling of the law will bring about a long battle of what to replace it with; PIA National will continue to promote the critical role that independent agents play in the sale and servicing of health insurance.

The ACA created the medical loss ratio (MLR) requirement, which is designed to limit the percentage of premium that a health insurance company can spend on administrative costs. The MLR requirement was intended to ensure that consumers receive sufficient value for their healthcare dollar; however, in the creation of the MLR requirement, agent and broker commissions were improperly classified as administrative costs, limiting consumer access to the essential resources of agents and brokers. To address this issue, in the last Congress, PIA National endorsed the Access to Professional Health Insurance Advisors Act, which clarifies that producer compensation is not part of the MLR calculation set forth in the ACA. PIA National will continue to work with the bill's sponsor Billy Long (R-MO), to ensure that regardless of how Obamacare is replaced, agent and broker compensation remains a priority.

The "Cadillac Tax" provision of the ACA would, starting in 2020, impose a 40 percent tax on so-called "overly generous" health plans. The tax will apply to fully insured and self-funded employer health plans on amounts that exceed estimated annual limits of $10,800 for individual coverage and $29,100 for family coverage. In December 2015, Congress included a two-year delay of the tax in the year-end omnibus appropriations bill, meaning the tax is scheduled to take effect in 2020 instead of its original date of 2018. PIA National is pleased by this delay but will continue to advocate for the full and permanent repeal of the tax in 2017.

Bottom Line for Agents PIA National will work to ensure that when a plan to replace the ACA comes forward it includes  recognition of the role and value of the independent insurance agent in delivering health insurance to consumers, and also supports the employer based system of health coverage.







Thanks to Our 2024 PIA Partners:
AFCO Capital Premium Financing CRC Group Gulf States Insurance Co.
LRA Workers' Comp National General, an Allstate company Stonetrust Insurance
Professional Insurance Agents of Louisiana
4021 W. E. Heck Ct., Building K • Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70816
(800) 349-3434 • (225) 766-7770 • (225) 766-1601 (fax)