Healthcare Happy Hour

NABIP’s Annual Convention is rapidly approaching – our first Convention as the National Association of Benefits and Insurance Professionals! We hope that all our listeners are planning on attending Convention, which will be held June 24 through 27 in New Orleans, Louisiana. On this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, Dan is joined by NABIP Chief Information Officer Illana Maze to discuss the Convention and all the great speakers and sessions that come with it! Register for Convention at https://www.nabip.org. The deadline to register online is June 16. On-site registration will be available but will increase by $50.

In a recent benefits survey, 92 percent of respondents said that benefits were important to their overall happiness on the job. In today’s world, that means offering benefits that go beyond health insurance. For those that work in the group market know that employers are always looking for interesting and useful supplementary benefits to attract the best and brightest employees. On this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, we are joined by Heidi Sirota and Andee Gravitt from Nationwide along with Adam Sheehan from AccuRisk Solutions, to discuss how to best leverage employee benefits portfolios to optimize employee retention. Sponsored by Nationwide *Nationwide has received the DALBAR Plan Participant Service Award from 2014-2022. This recording is educational in nature and is not designed or intended to provide financial, tax, legal, accounting, or other professional advice. Nationwide and its representatives do not give legal or tax advice. An attorney or tax advisor should be consulted for answer

Earlier this week, a federal appeals court issued a stay on a lower court ruling that struck down provisions of the ACA’s preventive care mandate while it reviews the case. Meanwhile, NABIP submitted more written testimony to Congressional committees on a variety of topics – including direct primary care and hospital consolidation. On this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, Marcy M. Buckner discusses the ACA case and its implications, along with the details of our statements for the Congressional Record.

May 11 was the official end date of the public health emergency that has been in place for over three years. There are several temporary health policies and flexibilities impacting Medicare, group and individual plans that were put into place during the pandemic. Do you know which ones are affected by the national emergency as opposed to the public health emergency? Do you know which flexibilities will expire when? In this excerpt from NABIP’s April 20 Compliance Corner webinar, NABIP Legislative Council Manager and CEO of MZQ Consulting Jennifer Berman discussed the end of the emergency periods in detail. Watch the webinar in full on NABIP.org!

Did you know that NABIP regularly submits written testimony to Congress ahead of relevant healthcare hearings? From small-business tax credits to Association Health Plans to mental health network adequacy, NABIP submits statements to Congressional committees when they are debating policy that impacts our members. On this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, NABIP Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Marcy M. Buckner is back to review our latest testimony.

North of 175 million Americans receive their health coverage through their employer, among a host of related benefits. Agents, brokers and other insurance professionals who work in the employer market understand how important it is – for both the employer and employee – that a company can provide top-tier health benefits. On this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, we are joined by special guests Elizabeth Hodges and Derreck Smith from Nonstop Administration and Insurance Services to discuss how benefits can be recession-proof, how you can be a more trusted advisor to your clients, and what Nonstop Health can do for you. This week's episode is sponsored by Nonstop.

As we have discussed a few times on the podcast, we are amid what is being referred to as the “Medicaid Unwinding,” where tens of millions of Medicaid beneficiaries are having their eligibility redetermined. CMS estimates that nearly 15 million individuals are poised to lose coverage over the next 12 months following the end of a major public health emergency flexibility, and many of those beneficiaries will be looking for new health coverage in the individual market. On this week’s Healthcare Happy Hour, we are joined by special guest and member of NABIP’s Legislative Council Joshua Brooker to talk about the unwinding period from the agent’s perspective.

President Biden signed a resolution on Monday ending the COVID-19 national emergency earlier than scheduled… but the public health emergency is still set to expire on May 11. What’s the difference? On this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, Vice Presidents of Congressional Affairs John Greene and Michael Andel review what the end of the national emergency means, in addition to reviewing some NABIP-supported legislation that we need your help getting passed.

On Wednesday evening, CMS released the 2024 Medicare Advantage and Part D Final Rule, which contains several provisions that are directly relevant to our Medicare members. We discussed the regulation back when it was just a proposed rule in late December and – on this week’s Healthcare Happy Hour – NABIP’s Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Marcy M. Buckner is back to discuss the final rule and what you need to know!

Do you own your agency? Are you interested in selling your business, or is there a potential acquisition in your future? Last week, Rick Israel joined us to discuss the importance of succession planning in your business. On this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, we are joined by NABIP Past President Beth Ashmore, whose agency in Lubbock, Texas, was acquired not too long ago. She is on the podcast this week to discuss the acquisition and important factors to consider before selling.

Do you own your agency or business? Have you thought about succession planning – even if you are young? On this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, we are joined by Rick Israel – principal of South Florida Affiliated Health Insurers, Medicare adviser and NABIP member – to talk about the perpetuation of his father's business (now his business). Rick’s story serves as a poignant reminder to all independent agents on the importance of having a plan for your business in the unfortunate event that something happens to you.

Under Section 204 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, employer-based health plans must submit certain information about prescription drugs and healthcare spending. This data submission is known as RxDC reporting. During yesterday’s Compliance Corner webinar, NABIP Compliance Corner members Barb Gerken and Samantha Malovrh discussed RxDC reporting, who is responsible for this reporting, and how to maintain compliance. On this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, we are providing a snippet of the 60-minute webinar! But RxDC reporting is not the only topic that the compliance gurus covered - we are just a couple of short months away from the official end of the public health emergency that was prompted by the pandemic. What happens when the emergency period ends? Watch the rest of the webinar to find out at www.nabip.org!

As we talked about during last week’s Capitol Conference recap with Greg Stancil, NABIP had some amazing speakers at this year’s conference. Many of them took questions, but unfortunately time constraints prevented us from asking those questions. On this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, NABIP’s Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Marcy M. Buckner reviews some of the questions that we were not able to get to.

This episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour was recording live at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill, on the last day of NABIP’s 2023 Capitol Conference, where hundreds of insurance professionals showed to make their voices heard! In our official Cap Con recap, NABIP's Marcy M. Buckner and Dan Parker are joined by Legislative Council Vice Chair Greg Stancil - who also served as this year’s Cap Con chairperson - to discuss the event.

NABIP’s Capitol Conference is just a few days away! Will you be attending this year? We certainly hope you are. On this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, NABIP’s Husni Abdelaziz and Dan Parker review what you need to know about the event before you go. If you are interested in learning more about our federal talking points, please listen to the February 10 edition of the Healthcare Happy Hour.

We hope you’re looking forward to NABIP’s Capitol Conference from February 26 through March 1! We will cover everything you need to know before you go on next week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour. But today we have another topic to discuss: At the end of December, we discussed a new proposed rule on policy and technical changes to the Medicare and Medicare Advantage programs. There were a few provisions in this draft regulation that directly impacted independent Medicare agents. On this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, Marcy M. Buckner returns to talk about the comment letter we just submitted to the administration with our questions and concerns with this proposed rule.

President Joe Biden delivered the 2023 State of the Union on Tuesday evening. As usual, healthcare and the administration’s healthcare priorities were a large part of the presidential address. Hey, speaking of addresses in DC, are you ready to come to 400 New Jersey Avenue NW? Because that’s where NABIP’s 2023 Capitol Conference will be hosted! We know listeners have been anxiously awaiting the association’s talking points for members’ meetings with their lawmakers. On this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, Marcy Buckner returns to discuss our legislative priorities for Capitol Conference as well as the State of the Union Address.

This week NABIP submitted two comment letters and one response to a request for information to HHS and CMS. One of these comment letters is in response to the proposed 2024 Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters, which contains provisions directly impacting agents and brokers. Here to discuss our comments on this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour is none other than Marcy M. Buckner!

We are just one month away from our annual Capitol Conference, and the first Capitol Conference as the National Association of Benefits and Insurance Professionals! As folks who have already been to Cap Con know, it’s the responsibility of each chapter's delegation to make their appointments for Congressional lobbying visits during Cap Con. But how? On this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, Director of Government Affairs Husni Abdelaziz joins us to walk you through the process

On this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, we are providing an audio preview of a significant resource for those interested in Medicare M&A. In this three-part panel, the most knowledgeable M&A minds in our industry -- Brett Rosen, Dan Mangus and Jennifer Borislow -- review what you need to consider if you are selling your Medicare business. In the first section that you can listen to here now, the trio discuss the emotional aspects of selling your business and what you need to mentally prepare for before, during and after the process. In the remaining two parts that you can watch on NABIP.org, the panel discusses the operational and financial considerations you must take into account when selling your Medicare business. Interested in watching the panel and accessing the other two parts? Check out NABIP’s Agency M&A portal now at https://nabip.org/mergers-and-acquisitions-portal/agency-mergers-acquisitions.