Hello, If you're reading this, congratulations: you're still above water in spite of the Open Enrollment Convergence of 2015. That's a true accomplishment. While you're taking care of your clients, your LAAHU Board of Directors is taking care of your association. As we you're no doubt pressed for time, I'll make this quick:
Upcoming Events:
If LAAHU isn't helping you grow your business or become a better health insurance professional we're doing something wrong. A lot of what we do (helping CAHU and NAHU try to pass-or help prevent-legislation is pretty straightforward. For example, CAHU co-sponsored legislation to protect insurance brokers from last-minute changes to their contracts with health plans, AB 1163, which was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown early last month.
LAAHU is also fulfilling our mission with an outstanding schedule of events this year. In late-August we sponsored, along with the Ventura County Association of Health Underwriters, our first Medicare Summit.
In October the member breakfast meeting featured three agents (David Benson, Stephanie Berger, and Barry Sikov) conquering today's difficult individual health insurance marketplace sharing their secrets of success. Sponsored by Oscar Health, a new plan offering individual insurance, attendees left with notebooks full of great ideas.
LAAHU recently offered a webcast, sponsored by Dickerson Employee Benefits, featuring three brokers sharing their techniques, tools and ideas for growing your small group business. This panel discussion wa free to members of Health Underwriters and only $20 for non-members. Best of all you can access it via computer from your no-doubt messy desk while sorting through proposals and applications. Also later in November, LAAHU's Vanguard Council is joining with other groups for a LA Young & Emerging Professionals Mixer at The Parlor in West Hollywood. This is a great opportunity for our members to network with their peers in the accounting, legal and financial planning communities.
In December we'll be hosting a member appreciation holiday reception to benefit charities (and provide you with a happy hour in which to escape the stress of the fourth quarter) and in January you'll want to attend the first LAAHU Tech Summit: an opportunity to spend quality time with vendors offering business-critical hardware and software.
And there's more coming. Every program we put on (OK, maybe not the member appreciation party) has to meet one criteria: will attending this meeting help our members grow their business or be better professionals. As those of you who have attended previous events will attest, we're exceeding that threshold.
Details on some of these events are elsewhere in this newsletter. And please keep an eye out for emails with more details on all upcoming events.
Leadership:
Your LAAHU board is not only helping to strengthen your local Health Underwriters chapter, they're making important contributions at the state and national level as well. No wonder then that at September's CAHU Health Care Summit held in Universal City LAAHU's Immediate Past President Diedre Kennedy-Simington was named CAHU Member of the Year and our Community Outreach & Public Service Chair, Kerry Wright, received the prestigious Lloyd Baum-Bill Robinson Award for his contribution to the association's legislative activities. This comes on the heels of former Past President and current Legislative Chair David Benson receiving the NAHU Distinguished Service award at the NAHU National Convention in July.
As someone new to the board it's been inspiring to see how all of the volunteers who have stepped forward this year to build LAAHU. The hard work they do add value to your membership is awesome. If you'd like to get involved, there's plenty of committees looking for volunteers. Even a couple of hours a week pitching in on membership, PAC, legislation or events can be a tremendous help.
Thank you for your membership, and I look forward to seeing you at an event soon.
Alan Katz
LAAHU President
