A September 15th hearing of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health will address a proposal to amend the Affordable Care Act to boost agent and broker compensation. Speakers will include National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU) CEO and Steve Larsen, Director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight.

Agent/broker groups hope to see passage of U.S. House Bill 1206 which would exclude producer compensation from medical loss ratio calculations. Under the Affordable Care Act, such compensation is treated as a nonmedical expense which causes reduction of broker commissions. "Some agents in certain parts of the country have seen their compensation cut as much as 50%," said Charles Symington, the Big I's senior vice president of government affairs. "The role agents play in standing with the consumer throughout the life of each policy is more important now than ever, and that role is being threatened by the new MLRs."

The "Access to Professional Health Insurance Advisors Act" currently has 117 co-sponsors which includes 15 Texas Congressmen/women. The broad-based coalition includes Tea Party-affiliated House members and 16 Democrats, Greene said. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners' Professional Health Insurance Advisors Task Force recommended association support for the bill June 30. The NAIC Executive Committee briefly discussed the recommendation in a July conference call meeting, but took no action.