In This Issue


naifaconfNAIFA Steps Up Lobbying Congress

The National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) continually steps up its efforts to keep its agent members in business.  So far in 2011, NAIFA's IFAPAC has spent $630,000 for lobbying and in 2010, spent $1.4 million in campaign donations.  The effects of NAIFA's "Day on the Hill" in September where 1,000 agents met with 400 members of Congress and their staffs were immediate.  Within days, the Department of Labor withdrew and redefined "fiduciary" for advice given to retirement plan participants.

  

NAIFA-Texas Delegations met with several congressmen and senators during NAIFA's Day on the Hill. Left: Des Taylor, Steve Whitbeck, Kristen Wheelock, Senator John Cornyn, Ron Mullen, John Ruckel, and Les Littleton. Right: Joey Ussery and Alan Kifer with Representative Mike McCaul and staff.
 

Approximately 40 NAIFA-Texas members met with U.S. Senators and Congressmen for the Day on the Hill, including Congressman Louie Gohmert, Congressman Mike McCaul, Congressman Henry Cuellar, Congressman Francisco Canseco, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, and Senator John Cornyn.

  

The NAIFA-Texas delegations identified three issues to discuss: 

  1. The exclusion of agent commissions from the MLR calculations mandated by the new federal healthcare law;
  2. The negative impact on the ability to serve middle market consumers if regulators apply across the board, a 'one size fits all' fiduciary standard on all transactions vs. the suitability standard;
  3. The need to maintain the tax favored status afforded insurance products under current law, to help insure the financial security of millions of Americans.

At the end of the day, John Ruckel, who has attended many Day on the Hill events in Washington, summed up the whole experience as his 'best single Day on the Hill ever!' 


Check out NAIFA-Texas' website for a photo gallery specifically highlighting NAIFA-Texas members at the NAIFA Conference.

 

Additionally, to catch up on all things 2011 NAIFA Conference, check out NAIFA's conference recap website, especially the slideshow on the homepage and the Day on the Hill slideshow.


pacContribute to "Back the PAC" October 13

NAIFA CEO Dr. Susan Waters

Thursday, October 13 is BACK-the-PAC-DAY! $30,000 is needed to help elect Texas Legislators who listen to the needs of agents. 

 

On Thursday, the first $2500 from new (first time or lapsed since 1/1/07) PAC contributors will be matched by NAIFA CEO Dr. Susan Waters. Contributions will be matched up to $300 per individual.

  

Contribute:

 

$30,000 is needed to meet the $175,000 NAIFA-Texas PAC goal for 2011.  IFAPAC is an opportunity to pool our resources, have a voice, and present our positions on insurance and financial issues to elected representatives on a favorable basis.  The myriad issues that threaten agents and financial advisors make it more important now than ever before to have a strong PAC. A robust PAC truly means "career insurance" for agents!  


acliACLI Urges SEC to Target Life Settlement Industry

The American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) appealed to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on October 10th that the securitization of life settlements should be prohibited.  "As documented by the SEC Task Force and as evidenced by the persistent reports by officials and media of abusive investment schemes involving life settlements, the secondary market for insurance products is dangerous," the ACLI stated in its letter. 

 

Also in the letter,  ACLI agrees with the SEC recommendation that life settlements be excluded from the definition of "security" for purposes of Securities Investor Protection Act (SIPA) coverage.  Exclusion would "warn investors of the relatively greater risks of the investment class," and eliminate "the misuse of SIPA coverage as a marketing tool for settlement investment promoters attempting to assuage investor concerns," it claimed.

 

ACLI supports a prohibition on securitization because the practice exposes senior citizens and investors to increased risk of fraud, it alleged. Moreover, the ACLI is concerned securitization of life settlements will increase occurrences of stranger-originated life insurance (STOLI) transactions.

 

The Life Insurance Settlement Association (LISA) initially responded to the ACLI's bid for prohibiting securitization of life settlements back in February 2010 by stating the ACLI's position is "not only an affront to the principal of free and open capital markets, but it cynically portrays them as a protector of consumers, when in fact, their objective is to deprive consumers of their right to receive a true market value from a financial asset: a life insurance policy which is no longer needed, wanted, or affordable; one for which they have paid good money, often for many years."


naifavideoNew NAIFA Promotional Video Highlights Member Benefits

NAIFA has a new promotional video! This 7 minute video highlights the products, programs and services that comprise NAIFA member benefits including advocacy, benefits free with membership, continuing education, sales training and tools, NAIFA Young Advisors Team (YAT) and preferred provider discounts.

 

NAIFA Member Benefits Overview -- Full Video
NAIFA Member Benefits Overview -- Full Video

 


liliNAIFA's LILI Program: Leadership and Business Development

This year, nearly 225 NAIFA members attended NAIFA's Leadership in Life Institute (LILI) courses which brought the number of LILI graduates to over 2,000 nationally since the program began 11 years ago.

 

LILI classes are exclusively for NAIFA members and meet one-day a month for 6 months. LILI can provide the tools needed to move a business to the next level. Graduates return to their practices after crafting their own vision, mission statements and business plans to guide them toward success.

 

Nine NAIFA-Texas Board of Directors are LILI graduates: President Stephen Ehlers, President-Elect Doug Massey, Secretary-Treasurer Joey Ussery, Immediate Past President Cylinda Clark and Trustees Jason Talley, Lane Boozer, Stella Castaneda, Michael Kennedy and Eddie Tate.

 

2011 Institute dates are as follows:

  1. February 6, 2012 NAIFA-TX Headquarters, Austin, TX
  2. March 5, 2012 NAIFA-TX Headquarters, Austin, TX
  3. April 2, 2012 NAIFA-TX Headquarters, Austin, TX
  4. May 7, 2012 NAIFA-TX Headquarters, Austin, TX
  5. June 4, 2012 NAIFA-TX Headquarters, Austin, TX
  6. July 23 & 24, 2012 Embassy Suites, San Marcos, Texas

Click here for the LILI Curriculum.
Click here for a LILI application.

 

Applications must be received in the NAIFA-Texas office by Thursday, October 13, 2011. Cost of LILI course is $880.00. Scholarships (provided upon completion of course) are available from NAIFA-Texas and often available from local NAIFA associations. 70% of graduates report a measurable increase in the growth of their business after graduating. 


websiteExtreme Makeover: NAIFA-Texas Website Edition

The NAIFA-Texas website recently got a facelift.  In addition to a new design, the site also has added features such as interactive commenting for news articles, several photo galleries, and an up-to-date association calendar. Take a look if you haven't already!

 


hb2277TDI Clarifies Annuity Training Requirement in Texas HB 2277

The impact of Texas House Bill 2277 (passed in the 2011 82nd Texas Legislative Session) on agent training and CE requirements has been a front-burner issue for NAIFA-Texas members and a topic of numerous mailings from insurance companies to their agents.

 

Des Taylor, NAIFA-Texas CEO/Chief Legislative Officer met with Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) legal, licensing, and CE staffers who provided the American Council of Life Insurers, Texas Association of Life & Health Insurers and NAIFA-Texas the clarification requested.  TDI has provided clarification in a document as of Monday, October 3.

  • Annuity product specific training referenced in the 2011 Texas House Bill 2277 is unrelated to the 20-year continuously licensed "longevity" exemption which is a separate provision in the law.  The longevity statute remains intact.
  • Companies will perform the 4-hour annuity specific training for their agents - grandfathered or not - who sell or intend to sell the company's annuities.  It is not a requirement for licensure. Additionally, non grandfathered agents selling annuities will be required, under HB 2277, to have 8 hours of annuity CE completed during their two-year license period. 


ceTDI Offers Opportunity for CE Self Study Credits to NAIFA Members

By sending a completed "Association Credit Form" with actual time and detailed description of the number of hours in activities that the licensee is reporting for self-study CE credit, NAIFA members can claim up to 4 hours of self-study continuing education credits per two-year reporting period. Self study credit does not count towards the licensee's ethics, classroom or classroom equivalent CE requirements.

 

Texas Senate Bill 265, passed in 2005 by Texas Senator/NAIFA-Houston member Tommy Williams from the Woodlands, allows the Texas Department of Insurance to grant self study credits for up to:

  • 2 hours for reviewing educational materials provided by national or state associations of which the agent is a member; and/or,
  • 4 hours for attending educational presentations sponsored by the state or national association of which the agent is a member.

Plan now to earn self-study CE credits by reading your "NAIFA Advisor Today" magazine and attending qualified NAIFA and NAIFA-Texas programs presented during local association meetings. The NAIFA-Texas Conference to be held in San Marcos in July 2012 also will provide opportunities for self-study CE credits.


mlrWill States Be Left to Address MLR Impact on Commissions?

In June, a taskforce of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) voted to support HR 1206 by Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) to exempt broker commissions from the MLR calculation.  Since then, however, the issue appears to have lost steam within the NAIC. NAIC President-Elect and Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty, who chairs the task force and backed the bill, acknowledged that "while we may be supportive of the Rogers bill in the task force, we have to be realistic about the opportunity of it becoming law."

 

HR 1206 has nearly 100 co-sponsors, but it is actively opposed by consumer groups and prominent Democrats.  With Democratic opposition and many other issues to address, broker commissions is not a top priority for Congress.  Furthermore, the Department of Health and Human Services has taken the position that they are merely implementing the law, and there is nothing they can do.

 

States, however, have ultimate authority over brokers and agents and many appear willing to exercise this power to ensure that the matter of broker compensation in the MLR is ultimately resolved.  Arkansas is considering a proposal to permit the agent or broker to collect a "compensation fee" directly from the client/group as a consultation fee.  Employer groups would pay brokers as consultants, and the insurance carrier essentially would act as a third-party clearinghouse.  By changing the relationship so that agents act as agents of the purchaser instead of as agents of insurers, commissions will not count as an administrative cost of the carrier.

 

While the Arkansas proposal is a more transparent arrangement, agents could still face reduced compensation when employers scrutinize and evaluate the cost of services.


hieWhy Health Insurance Exchanges Need Agents

With open enrollment for health insurance exchanges beginning in September 2013, brokers don't have a moment to lose if they are to establish themselves as a key ingredient in helping individuals and families and employers make the best health insurance choices.

 

While exchanges will sell both directly and through a network of still-to-be defined 'navigators,' educated, trusted brokers will provide employers and individuals with the most balanced information and unbiased recommendations needed to make the right decisions. In fact, brokers will be needed more than ever to help service routine questions and serious policy issues as purchasers work to become educated on what exchanges are all about.

 

Brokers already have established relationships in the market and know how to attract a wide range of clients. By leveraging existing sales and enrollment channels to their fullest, public and private exchanges can achieve the goals set out in health care reform. And, by working closely with a broker, employers can find ways to save money and still make health care affordable to their employees, regardless of budget restrictions or workforce size. 


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