2009 Michigan Healthcare Reform Information
As many of you are aware, the topic of Healthcare Reform is back on the front burner for 2009. MAHU has been in contact and had meetings with both Senator Tom George, the Chairman of the Senate Health Policy Committee and Representative Marc Corriveau, the Chairman of the House Health Policy Committee. Gary Reed, our lobbyist, continues to keep in close contact with both offices in Lansing.
Legislation was introduced last week in both houses. To view this legislation, see the bills below.
Senator George held town hall meetings across the state gathering input from many groups to help him craft legislation that will first and foremost protect the consumers. He has made that point very clear form the start of the debate.
Representative Corriveau has asked MAHU to review the House bills and to provide comments.
It is clear the House and Senate vary greatly. This will lead to another round of hearings in both chambers and then a vote on each bill. If a compromise can’t be reached, it will again be sent to a conference committee, where an attempt will be made to reach a compromise.
MAHU will continue to keep you posted as to the progress that is being made on the legislation. Keep checking out http://www.mahu.org/ for further updates as they happen.
Healthcare Reform Introduced:
HB 4934, HB 4935, HB 4936, HB 4937, HB 4938, HB 4939, HB 4940, HB 4941, HB 4942, HB 4943
SB 579, SB 80, SB 81, SB 82
Senator Tom George Press Release 5/14/09
MAHU Comments to Corriveau Workgroup 5/20/09, Comments to Corriveau Workgroup 5/29/09
On November 14, 2008 Representative Marc Corriveau has submitted these drafts to the IMR negotiations:
CORRIVEAU LETTER
DRAFT 1
DRAFT 2
INDIVIDUAL MARKET REFORM UPDATE
Legislative Update
August 12, 2008
Since the last update was given on June 12th, Representative Virgil Smith the chairman of the House Health Policy Committee concluded the workgroup to discuss a possible compromise to the original IMR legislation that was passed out of the House last fall and the Senate versions that were passed on May 1st.
I’m very proud to have been asked to take part in this workgroup on behalf of MAHU. This was a first for MAHU.
The workgroup consisted of members ranging from CAAM, BCBSM and Consumer groups to members of all of the large unions. It also included some members from both the House and Senate Health Policy committees. The task that we were given was to discuss a compromise between the House and Senate versions of the legislation.
The result of the workgroup was a document titled “Key Consumer Protection”. MAHU was given time to provide comments on this document and then we were asked to present those comments in a meeting with Rep. Virgil Smith and Rep. Marc Corriveau. This was yet again an opportunity to provide very important comments on this proposal.
After commentary by all of the groups with interest in the topic, the decision was made that the legislation would now proceed to Conference Committee.
Last week the House and Senate named the conferees to the committee. On the House side the conferees will be Rep. Virgil Smith (D), Rep. Marc Corriveau (D) and Rep. Richard Ball (R). The Senate has named Sen. Tom George (R), Sen. Jason Allen (R), and Sen. Hanson Clarke (D). As of today there hasn’t been and schedule of meetings published.
There is speculation that the legislation may in fact not have any action taken until Lame Duck begins after the general election in November.
I would advise that you take an active role during the remainder of this debate. Contact your legislators and come to any hearings that are held. It will be worth your time and will provide a great amount of insight into the legislative process.
Our continued appreciation needs to go out to Gary Reed from CKR for his work in getting MAHU noticed and elevated to the position we now hold in Lansing.
Please continue to look for updates at
http://www.mahu.org/
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions at membry@comcast.net or call me at 586-484-5745.
Sincerely,
Michael A. Embry Sr., RHU
Legislative Chair
MAHU
MAHU PROPOSED COMPROMISE WITH MAHU CONCERNS
May 19, 2008
Since the Senate passed S-4 and S-5 substitutes on May 1st, there continues to be a lot of work going on behind the scenes without many new developments on the Individual Market Reform front. Here are some of the highlights of the passed legislation (S-4 and S-5):
• Instruct OFIR to study the impact that a high risk pool will have on the market.
• Identify how many individuals the pool could cover the cost of premiums.
• Suggest the best type of funding for the pool to ensure the long-term stability of the pool.
• Allow premiums to be based on sex, age residence, disability, marital status or occupation, based on a reasonable classification system. This would require OFIR approval.
• Allow rates to be set based on tobacco use and participation in covered health screenings and wellness programs.
• Allow BCBSM to place rates into effect 60 days after filing, but would still allow for OFIR review and reversal if needed.
• Reduce the waiting period for pre-existing conditions to 6 months from 12 months for all insurance carriers.
• Would allow the Attorney General the right to challenge the rates if deemed excessive.
• Would require BCBSM to submit an annual report on how it is meeting its social and charitable mission.
• Would add two additional public members to the BCBSM board of directors. They would be appointed by the Senate Majority leader and the Speaker of the house.
These two substitutes address the Individual Market Reform but do not include legislation on the 2 bills that address the Accident Fund and LifeSecure. These bills are still being held in the Senate Health Policy committee. The Attorney General has asked BCBSM to answer some questions related to their infusion of revenue into the Accident Fund and its relationship to the purchase of a California Property and Casualty company.
These subs have garnered the support of CAAM and others that opposed the original house passed bills while those in favor of the original house bills have voiced opposition to these subs.
If the Senate substitutes are rejected by the house (as it is assumed they will), the next step in the process would be to convene a conference committee that would include three members of the Senate and three members of the house. This committee would be responsible to adopt legislation that would represent a compromise. That legislation would then go back to the House and Senate for a yes or no vote without the ability to add additional amendments.
Prior to the conference committee being named, we’ve learned Rep. Virgil Smith will convene a work group comprised of House and Senate members as well as those groups on both sides of the issue. MAHU continues to lobby through Gary Reed to have a seat at the table during this work group. Gary has spoken to Virgil Smith about our position and how vitally important it would be to have MAHU at the table during these negotiations.
The thought is that perhaps this work group can come up with a compromise that could then be presented to the conference committee.
Gary Reed, Pat Pennefather and myself met with Senator Jason Allen on Thursday May 8th to once again present our position of neutrality and to ask Senator Allen to do what he can to impress upon those in the middle of this debate how important it would be to have MAHU be a part of the continuing work on the legislation.
This issue continues to be very fluid and we expect things to heat up as it continues to work itself through the political process. Keep watching http://www.mahu.org/ for continuing updates.
It is my recommendation that MAHU continue to remain neutral until such a time that legislation is written that satisfies the concerns that we expressed to Senator George and the entire Senate health policy committee in our letter dated November 29, 2007
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions at membry@comcast.net or call me at 586-484-5745
Sincerely,
Michael A Embry Sr., RHU
Legislative Chair
MAHU
5/1/08 - HB 5282 and HB 5283 passed the Senate and have been sent back to the House for concurrence in the following verision
HB 5282 AS PASSED SENATE
HB 5283 AS PASSED SENATE
Legislative Update
Individual Market Reform Legislation
House Bills 5282 – 5285
April 27, 2008
The legislation regarding Individual Market Reform remains very fluid at this time with things changing virtually every day. Here is the latest update.
After the Senate’s spring recess, hearings resumed in the Senate Health Policy Committee. The first meeting was held on April 16th at which time Senator Jason Allen brought forward yet another set of substitute bills (S-3) to be considered. Senator Hanson Clarke made a motion to accept these bills but then retracted his motion after Senator Tom George took a short recess.
The hearing held on April 16th focused on HB 5284 & 5285 which would allow BCBSM to expand into other lines of insurance than just Worker’s Compensation. There were many groups that testified this afternoon including BCBSM, The Accident Fund and interested persons representing the opposition. Professor Gary Wolfram testified on behalf of the coalition opposed to the legislation. No formal adoption of legislation was passed at this hearing.
On Monday, April 21st, Pat Pennefather and myself joined Gary Reed at the Senate Republican Caucus annual fundraising dinner in Dearborn. This was an excellent opportunity to meet with the Republican Senators that sit on the committee. We had an opportunity to speak not only to those Senators but also to Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop and Attorney General Mike Cox. This gave us a great forum to bring up the point that MAHU has remained neutral through this process and that we will continue work to try to ensure MAHU’s concerns are addressed.
Our position is being viewed as being the most reasonable position and is appreciated by both advocates and opponents of the legislation. There was a caucus held on Tuesday April 22nd to once again try to decide what legislation was going to be moving forward to eventually be voted out of committee to the Senate floor. Senator George is holding fast to his S-2 substitutes although it appears that he doesn’t have the support to move them out of committee. The highlights of his substitutes are not to establish a high risk pool and to assess the Accident Fund $100,000,000 in order to allow them to enter into other lines of insurance.
On Wednesday, April 23rd, various consumer groups testified on the legislation and were all pretty much opposed to the original House bills as well as Senator Allen’s S-3 substitutes. SBAM and NFIB also spoke -- SBAM is in favor of the legislation and the NFIB thinks that while Senator George’s S-2 subs are moving in the right direction, they are still opposed in general to all of the legislation so far. The UAW is also opposed to the House passed legislation as well as the S-3 version. The Consumers union was very vocal in their opposition and felt that all the legislation should be scrapped!
Those that are in favor of legislation have spoken in favor of the Senator Allen S-3 subs which are similar to the original house bills in that they bring in the High Risk Pool and also set rate bands and loss ratios. Please take the time to read these subs on the site also.
On Thursday, April 24th, Senator George asked for testimony again by BCBSM and CFAIR in favor of the bills as well as MAHP and CAAM in opposition. This was vary organized testimony that gave each group 15 minutes to present their case and then all the groups were brought forward for a Q & A session for the final time allowed. Near the end of the hearing Senator George asked a very pointed question of all parties regarding if they felt they could live with the following 3 common denominators in the legislation:
1. Consumer Protections such as rescission of policies, closing blocks of business and re-underwriting when someone gets sick. These were the exact areas that MAHU testified on.
2. Allowing BCBSM to go to a file and use system for setting rates.
3. Allow for a study after 3 years to see how the individual medical market is performing.
While MAHP and CAAM stated they could live with these items, BCBSM didn’t feel they could commit to these areas without the other items they want. BCBSM would like to see the negotiations begin with the Allen S-3 subs rather that the George S-2 subs.
Both of the hearings lasted longer than 3 hours! What a couple of marathons.
On Friday, April 25th, we had a meeting to discuss our position as it relates to the issues outlined in our letter to Senator George back in November. We will continue to work with the committee members and Senate Majority Leader Bishop. We feel that there are some points in both S-2 and S-3 that are getting closer to our points of concern. Much of this discussion revolved around the potential that a high risk pool may in fact be a reality based on discussions we’ve had with the Senate. We are settled on one point for sure – that is that agents will be involved in any programs that eventually come out of legislation.
The next scheduled hearing is Wednesday, April 30th, at which time it was originally expected that something would get voted out of committee. Senator Clarke has voiced his desire to offer a motion to move on the S-3 subs.
This process has been very time consuming for all involved, however it has been great to see the process at work. I would highly advise you to take the time to come to the next hearing and see how the legislature works. No matter which side of this issue you are on, it will prove to be a great use of your time to see the process.
It is my recommendation that MAHU continue to remain neutral until such a time that legislation is written that satisfies the concerns that we expressed to Senator George and the entire health policy committee in our letter dated November 29, 2007
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions at membry@comcast.net or call me at 586-484-5745
Sincerely,
Michael A Embry Sr., RHU
Legislative Chair
MAHU
4/16/08 substitutes:
HB 5282 S3 HB 5283 S3
4/3/08 I appreciate your continued interest in the issue of individual market reform and write to update you on my intended Senate Health Policy schedule for action on House Bills 5282-5285 in the upcoming weeks.
April 16, 2008 Property and Casualty testimony
April 23, 2008 Consumer and advocacy groups
April 24, 2008 Provider coalition representatives
April 30, 2008 Committee discussion and vote on House Bills 5282-5825
In additional to general comments on the issues and concepts proposed in the legislation, persons intending to testify should be prepared to comment on and propose changes to the S-2 subs, which were unveiled at the March 19 committee meeting.
Thank you for your patience as we work through this important issue. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Sen. Tom George
3/26/08 - The Senate Health Policy meeting was cancelled at 3:05 pm
3/19/08 3:50 PM - The Senate Health Policy Committee released the subs for HB 5282, HB 5283, HB 5284. You can download by clicking the bill number below. Please refer all comments to Mike Embry membry@comcast.net.
SUB HB 5282 SUB HB 5283 SUB HB 5284
3/5/08
Good Morning Everyone,
Dave, Pat and I provided testimony yesterday to the Senate Health Policy committee. I’ve attached a copy of the testimony that I provided to open the discussion. I believe it went very well. There seemed to be much more Q & A for us than we’ve seen in the past. We received many compliments from the Senators as well as from the audience which included folks from both sides of the debate. This testimony really cemented our position of being a diverse group of professionals that wish to play a role in the continuing discussion of this topic. We are hopeful that the substitute legislation will be coming out next week. I’ll be following up with Senator George so that we are in a position to review the legislation and be afforded the opportunity to comment on it.
Thanks to everyone for the continuing support during this time.
Take care,
Mike
MIKE EMBRY TESTIMONY
NOTICE OF SCHEDULED MEETING - - - WATCH HEARING ON YOUR COMPUTER CLICK HERE
COMMITTEE: Health Policy
DATE: Wednesday, March 5, 2008
TIME: 3:00 p.m.
PLACE: Senate Hearing Room, Ground Floor, BojiTower,
124 W. Allegan Street, Lansing, MI 48933
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Thomas M. George, Chairperson_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
AGENDA
Presentation on Reunderwriting, Recission, and Closed Blocks in the Individual Health Insurance Market by the Michigan Association of Health Underwriters.
And any other business to come properly before the committee.
Update on MAHU Position on Individual Market Reform Legislation
February 21, 2008
I had a conversation with our lobbyist, Gary Reed last night and he had the following update for us:
He spoke to Senator Tom George yesterday and was told that they didn’t hold any hearings on the legislation this week. Senator George isn’t sure if he will hold a hearing next week and will not be sure of that until Friday or Monday. We’ll keep you posted. Senator George stated that he still want’s to have some discussions in the future regarding the issue of “cherry picking” in the individual marketplace. He may in fact hold some more hearings or even get a work group together to discuss this and the other aspects of the legislation.
He also told Gary that his staff is still working on drafting the substitute legislation. He could only say that the substitutes will be entirely different that the legislation passed by the house. He acknowledged the conversations that Gary and I had when we met with him and told Gary that he sees us a playing an important role in this process again due to the fact that we have taken a neutral position and that we bring very good diversity to the discussion based on our membership. Gary and I feel that we are still in a great position to be a driver in the process based on the view we are taking at this time.
Something that Gary and I discussed was the potential advantage of talking to some of our members that really focus on writing individual medical as an independent agent. This could be a good idea if we can locate those members that really specialize in individual medical and that can take an objective view of the current market and how this legislation would impact it. It would however be very important that this member be able to take that objective look at the legislation and would be willing to serve as a resource to those of us that don’t specialize in the individual business.
If any member of MAHU would like to discuss being a part of this process, please contact me at 586-484-5745 or membry@comcast.net.
I’ll keep you updated as things progress.
Sincerely,
Michael A Embry Sr., RHU
MAHU Legislative Chair
Committee Meeting
Committee Health Policy
Clerk Phone Number 373-0793
Location Senate Hearing Room, Ground Floor, Boji Tower, 124 W. Allegan Street, Lansing, MI 48933
Date Wednesday, 2/6/2008
Time 3:00 PM
Agenda Oversight, Rate Filing, and Loss Ratios in the Individual Market - Presentations by:
Mike Cox, Attorney General of Michigan **Click her to download testimony
and Pending Confirmation:
Michigan Office of Financial and Insurance Services
Update on MAHU Position on Individual Market Reform Legislation
2-1-08
The Senate Health Policy Committee held a hearing on Wednesday, January 30th in the Senate Hearing room in Boji Tower. Invited to testify that day were the 3 most prominent coalitions both for and against the legislation.
• MAHP – Michigan Association of Health Plans – Opposed to the legislation
• CFAIR – Citizens for Fair and Affordable Insurance Reform- In Favor of the Legislation
• CAAM – Coalition for Access and Affordability in Michigan – Opposed to the Legislation
Each of the group was given 20 minutes to make their presentation and the answer questions from the committee. All 3 groups presented very compelling slide presentations to support their position. Then in reverse order, they were each given 10 minutes to provide any rebuttal commentary with questions also asked by the committee.
Senators George, Gleason and Clarke had some very excellent questions that were posed to each of the groups. This was an indication of the continuing desire of the committee to be very diligent in the process of review of the package of bills presented before them.
I had an opportunity to chat briefly with both Senator George and Senator Gleason after the hearing and they expressed yet again that the position that MAHU continues to take in this debate is the best possible place to be to help craft meaningful legislation as this process continues. They thanked me for having our members come to Lansing and be a part of the process. Senator George stated before, during and after the hearing that he fully intends to have several hearings on the legislation to gather the facts.
The next hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, February 6th at 3 pm. The Attorney General and OFIS have been invited to testify on the topic of Loss Ratios, Rate filing and Oversight. This should be an excellent hearing.
Then on Wednesday, February 13, Dr. Deborah Chollet, Senior Fellow at Mathematica Policy Research is slated to provide testimony of an Overview of the Individual Market Trends, Rating Structures and Impact and how is Prudent Reserve Levels Determined.
If your schedule permits you, it would be great to have many MAHU members present at these hearings to show our support for the process the committee is taking.
Sincerely,
Michael A. Embry Sr., RHU
MAHU Legislative Chair
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Update on MAHU Position on Individual Market Reform Legislation
1-26-2008
On January 15th, myself and Gary Reed held meetings in Lansing with Senators Tom George, Gilda Jacobs, Alan Sanborn and John Gleason. These are 4 of the 7 senators that sit on the Senate Health Policy committee. Senator George is the chair of the committee.
Our meetings centered on the letter that we had sent to Senator George that outlined the areas of concern that MAHU has regarding the legislation:
- Remove loss ratio language along with any triggers associated
- Make the assessment to fund the GAP pool to all carriers operating in the marketplace based on market share
- Create an oversight of the GAP pool to include OFIS and payees to this pool
- We are seeking clarification on whether the bills allow or prohibit the closing of blocks of business within carriers, therefore disallowing new products
- MAHU would like to work with the committee on new language on the file and use area
Our objective of these meetings was to explain the MAHU position of being neutral on this legislation at this time. We hope to be a resource for the committee to have further discussions on how the changes in the marketplace can be achieved without it being viewed as an “US versus Them” debate. We discussed the fact that MAHU has the most diverse membership of any of the groups that are on either side of the debate.
Every one of the Senators that we met with told us how pleased they were that MAHU was taking the position that we have. Senator Jacobs called MAHU “A breath of fresh air”. All of the Senators told us they were tired of having everyone screaming their own positions with no one being willing to really discuss compromise at this time.
We suggested that due to our diversity in membership that we could bring many experts into the debate to provide information that would better equip the committee in the task they have at hand. Senator George continues to emphasize that his committee will not rush this legislation through and in fact he has said that he expects substitute legislation being drafted to present to the Senate.
We will be holding further meetings with Senators Hanson Clarke, Bruce Patterson and Jason Allen probably the week of February 12, after we get back from NAHU Capitol Conference.
The Senate Health Policy Committee held a hearing on Wednesday, January 16th in the Senate Hearing room in Boji Tower. The testimony given that day was from Mr. Ron Turner, Chief Actuary with AHIP (America’s Health Insurance Plans). Mr. Turner spoke for nearly 2 hours on the topics of the current state of the individual market as well as the operation of high risk pools. Mr. Turner proved to be a very excellent speaker on these areas. He in fact sits on the board of the high risk pools in both Iowa and New Hampshire.
At the conclusion of his testimony, all of the members of the committee expressed not only their appreciation of Mr. Turner’s expertise but also to Senator George’s desire to slow down the process so that proper due diligence could be given to this issue. Senator George stated that he intends to have several more hearings from experts in the areas of Individual Medical. We expect many additional meetings to be held over the next several weeks.
If your schedule permits you, it would be great to have many MAHU members present at these hearings to show our support for the process the committee is taking.
1-14-2008
On January 9th a meeting was held at the offices of MAHU Lobbyist Cusmano, Kandler and Reed to discuss the package of Individual Market Reform bills that are due to be discussed in the Senate this month. MAHU, as a diverse membership organization has, and will continue to, meet with all impacted parties. This includes elected officials and their staff, commercial insurance carriers, various healthcare associations, business associations, chambers of commerce and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.
The intention of the meeting was to discuss the items that are of concern to the membership and leadership of MAHU. These items were also addressed in a letter to the Chairman of the Senate Health Policy Committee, Senator Tom George. These concerns are as follows:
1. Removal of loss ratio language along with any triggers associated
2. Make the assessment to fund the GAP pool across the board.
3. Create and oversight of the GAP pool to include OFIS and payees to this pool based upon market share.
4. Further clarification on whether the bills allow or prohibit the closing of blocks of business within carriers, therefore disallowing new products to be introduced to the market.
5. MAHU would like to work with the Senate Health Policy committee on new language related to the “file and use” process for setting premium rates.
The meeting was very beneficial in that we were able to stress the importance of a complete and in depth analysis of these bills before they reach the senate floor. The meeting resulted in all parties having a better understanding of each other’s position and kept channels open for further dialogue.
The first hearing on the legislation has been scheduled for Wednesday, January 23rd before the Senate Health Policy Committee. Please see meeting notice in this posting. If possible, please try to make time to come to Lansing and attend the hearing. This should be just the first of many hearings on the legislation.
MAHU continues to maintain a position of neutrality on this package of legislation. This simply means that we are neither for or against the legislation as it is written. In fact, this position has given us a tremendous edge in allowing us to have a seat at the negotiating table with both BCBSM and the legislature.
MAHU believes that something needs to be done to reform the individual marketplace in Michigan, and while this set of bills isn’t the entire answer, we believe that it is the first step in what could prove to be a series of steps to reform the individual insurance market in Michigan.
MAHU continues to play a part in the process and have felt since the beginning that taking a neutral stance is in our best interest as well as the interest of our members and the citizens of Michigan that we serve.
Please direct any comments to me at membry@comcast.net or call me at 586-484-5745
Sincerely,
Michael A Embry Sr., RHU
MAHU Legislative Chair
10/31/07 Update Email message to our members:
As we know many of you are interested in following the Individual Market Reform package that we discussed in our last email, I wanted to follow up and bring you up to date:
On October 17, 2007, MAHU representatives (Legislative Chair-Mike Burdo and Pat Pennefather-President Elect) attended the House Insurance Committee meeting where HB 5282, HB 5283, HB 5284 & HB 5285 were on the agenda. Many people had the opportunity to testify before the committee members, including myself. As we communicated earlier (and on our website) MAHU testified on it's three points of issue;
▪ Possible removal of arbitrary loss ratio, since assessment provides full funding of new risk pool
▪ If carrier assessment is left in the bill we believe in the creation of an oversight board for the high risk pool, with voting rights in proportion to assessment share
▪ Allow for agent involvement in sale of new GAP plan, include compensation across all product lines
We also asked BCBSM to provide us with a sample of the questions they intended to use for the new underwritten product.
After listening to the testimony of Fran Wallace, Deputy Director of OFIS, it was clear that they also have questions on the same issues. We also learned from OFIS that the file and use provision proposed by BCBSM would prevent proper oversight on rates set by them.
The bills were voted out of committee on a 16-1 vote.
HB 5282 was changed by substitute on the floor and the H-1 version passed the House. The changes that were made to this bill were reflective of the continuing conversation and meetings that the MAHU board has had with the Blue Cross lobbyist. "The loss ratio portion of the original bill stipulated a minimum loss ratio of 70%. Carriers realizing a lower loss ratio were to send the difference to the OFIS escrow account that would be established to subsidize losses in the guaranteed access plan.
In the H-1 substitute passed by the House, if a carrier's loss ratio does not equal or exceed 70%, the carrier is to issue rate credits or refunds to individuals currently in a health benefit plan so that the resulting loss ratio equals or exceeds 70%."
The H-1 substitute also calls for agents to be included in the advice and sale of the new GAP (guaranteed access), requiring commissions to be paid on all individual products. Rate filing provisions were changed to allow OFIS to review rates proposed by BCBSM before use.
On October 24, 2007 the bills were read into the Senate and were referred to the Senate Health Policy Committee for consideration. The Senate Health Policy Chair, Tom George, has agreed that this is an important package of bills and that his committee will take that in consideration. The Chairman has not called a hearing on these bills to date.
Please be sure to continue going to www.mahu.org for continuing updates as this and other issues move. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
10/24/07 the Michigan House of Representatives passed the Individual Market Reform bills. The bills are now referred to the Senate. To read the bills as passed please click on the bill number below:
HB 5282 as passed
HB 5283 as passed
HB 5284 as passed
HB 5285 as passed
MAHU remains neutral on reform bills 10/18/07
10.18.07 MAHU testified at the House Insurance Committee meeting on Wednesday, October 17. We stated in theory that we admire Blue Cross for having the foresight to see that the market may be changing and that reform may be needed. Having said that, MAHU then initially identified the following three items which we are working to address with lawmakers:
Possible removal of arbitrary loss ratio - assessment provides full funding of new risk pool
If carrier assessment is left in the bill we believe in the creation of an oversight board for the high risk pool, with voting rights in proportion to assessment share
Allow for agent involvement in sale of new GAP plan, include compensation across all product lines
The package of bills was passed 16-1 out of committee and is now on the House floor for consideration.
In addition to our testimony, we have asked BCBSM to provide information on their underwriting questionnaire they plan to use or information on the severity of underwriting. We are also reaching out to OFIS to determine the true impact of file and use for BCBSM rate filings.
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A Letter From MAHU Leadership regarding market reform legislation introduced 10/11/07
Email sent to all MAHU Members:
On Wednesday the 10th, members of the state board met with the VP of Government Affairs for Blue Cross. At this meeting we received a preview of the bills that will be introduced in the legislature to “reform” the individual marketplace.
Attached you will find the talking points from Blue Cross and a copy of the actual bill(s) that have not been formally introduced in the legislature. MAHU had the opportunity to quickly analyize the legislation. The board has posed questions to Blue Cross on the items that we see as potential issues such as; commisionable products, extent of the loss ratios, rate band details and the proposed change to companies such as the Accident Fund.
We welcome your comments on the bills and questions that you may have. Please forward all questions to Michael Burdo at michaelb@pipgrmi.com.
Sincerely,
Michael Burdo
State Legislative Chair
