We’ll keep this short because we have a feeling you may have spent the day glued to the television watching Michael Cohen testify before the U.S. Congress House Oversight Committee….may truth prevail…anyhow…
Lawmakers Unite Over Healthcare Fraud Bill
A bill that appears to have both Republican and Democratic support passed the House this week. H.R. 525, the “Strengthening the Health Care Fraud Prevention Task Force Act of 2019″ bill aims to root out fraud in health care. It calls for the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to set up a public-private anti-fraud partnership that would create data-sharing agreements that would allow member organizations to share confidential billing data. The HHS secretary would then hire a third party to assist the member organizations, report cases of potential fraud to law enforcement, and look for possible signs of fraud, waste and abuse. Insiders say Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is amenable to bringing H.R. 525 up on the Senate floor and the bill has a good chance of becoming law.
House Dems Rally Behind Medicare For All
The Washington Examiner reports that more than 100 House Democrats are rallying behind a bill that would introduce a healthcare plan that would transition nearly everyone living in the U.S. onto a government-financed system in two years. Interesting. However, with the GOP controlled Senate, for now there’s slim to no chance this will go anywhere.
Lara Condemns Trump Rule on Women’s Health Coverage
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara released a statement condemning the Trump Administration’s “Compliance with Statutory Program Integrity Requirements” final rule. In the statement, Lara says:
“The Trump Administration’s rule would deny women access to vital reproductive health services. The rule will be particularly devastating to hard-working low-income Californians who comprise a quarter of all recipients who receive vital health services from the program. The Trump Administration’s attack on this program essentially defunds Planned Parenthood, an important provider of cancer screenings, sexually transmitted disease testing and treatment, and contraceptive counseling. The Department of Insurance opposed this proposed federal rule last year, and I stand in solidarity with Attorney General Becerra in efforts to block the final rule in the courts now.”
According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Population Affairs (OPA), Title X funds are used to support the delivery of family planning and related services to more than 1,000,000 low-income uninsured or underinsured Californians annually at over 350 health centers throughout California. Californians made up approximately 26 percent of Title X service recipients nationwide in 2016. Of these Californians, 91 percent had income under 250 percent of the poverty level, which qualified them for subsidized or free services.
Aflac Named One of the World’s Most Ethical Companies for 13th Consecutive Year
The Ethisphere Institute announced that Aflac has been named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies for a record-setting 13th consecutive year. Aflac is one of only eight businesses and the only insurance company to appear on the list every year since its inception in 2007.
According to Ethisphere, in 2019, 128 honorees were recognized spanning 21 countries and 50 industries. The 13th class of honorees profoundly illustrates how companies continue to be the driving force for improving communities, building capable and empowered workforces, and fostering corporate cultures focused on ethics and a strong sense of purpose. Also check out the full list of the 2019 World’s Most Ethical Companies.
AIG Offers New Term Life Insurance Rates
American International Group, Inc., announced improved rates for Select-a-Term policies with longer term durations and death benefit amounts of $250,000 and above for certain issue ages and risk classes. According to AIG, the company is setting of some of the lowest premiums in years for Select-a-Term®, the flagship term product issued by American General Life Insurance Company (AGL) and The United States Life Insurance Company in the City of New York (US Life).
AGL and US Life have robust positions in the $500,000 and above market for term life insurance. Nationwide, nearly 70 percent of the Select-a-Term premium rates rank in the top two and 85 percent rank in the top three. Select-a-Term policies offer a mix of flexibility and reach, including guaranteed level term coverage for 18 durations, including 10-year, 15- through 30-year, and 35-year terms, with renewable coverage until age 95. Additionally:
- Select-a-Term remains convertible to a permanent life insurance policy until the insured attains age 70 or the level-term period ends (whichever occurs first).
- The product offers extended conversion eligibility to the full suite of AGL and US Life permanent life insurance products (excluding Survivorship Universal Life policies) for the first eight years of contracts with 10-year term durations or the first 10 years of contracts with term durations of 15 years and longer.
- Select-a-Term offers a competitive conversion credit feature that allows a portion of the term premium to be applied to the new permanent policy. This feature is available under the same conversion eligibility rules
More details on Select-a-Term are available at www.aig.com/termlife.
Ewing-Turner Named VP Marketing at Colonial Life
Colonial Life announced that Carolyn Ewing-Turner has taken on the role of vice president of marketing. Formerly Ewing-Turner served in senior business-to-business marketing roles in the health care industry. She previously served as vice president of marketing at Signet Accel and worked as a senior marketing leader at Cardinal Health.
Hodges-Mace’s Runci Named One of Top 20 Rising Stars
Hodges-Mace announced that Megan Runci was recently named one of Employee Benefit Adviser‘s Top 20 Rising Stars in 2019. In 2018 Megan was named Top Sales Rep of the Month six times and generated more than $2.6 million in new revenue.
The Standard Hires John Felton as Vice President, IT Enterprise Services
Standard Insurance Company announced that John Felton has been hired as the vice president of Information Technology Enterprise Services. Felton comes to The Standard after 21 years at Sprint Corporation where he held a variety of roles in the information technology organization, most recently as vice president.
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Get great grades and degrees. Many successful and wealthy people never graduated from college, and recently some of America’s biggest brands removed college diplomas from their job requirements. High grades and a degree may help you, but you shouldn’t count on it. Ameduri says, furthermore, being a straight-A student doesn’t inoculate you from rejection and not being one shouldn’t make you believe you’re not smart enough to succeed. In short, school is school and work is another matter.
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Work harder than everybody. Ameduri says working smarter rather than harder is most important now. Successful people maximize their time and cover details, like researching their investments. Ameduri says his opinion is that meetings are where productivity goes to die. If you want something done, use email, make written offers and proposals, and then get it done.
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‘Jobs are safe; business is risky.’ Full-time jobs are just as risky, not only because you can be fired or laid off, but because you cap your income, Ameduri says. Help ensure less risk by offering value (overdelivering) no matter what position you’re in.
Webinar “5 Must-Do’s for Selling Your Agency”- Hosted by BetaBenefits
Tuesday, March 5, 10-11 a.m.
RSVP or questions: jesse@betabenefits.com
LAAHU 5k Charity Run/Walk- We’ll see you here!
March 16, Griffith Park, Los Angeles
Check in 7-8a.m., run starts at 8:15a.m., fun walk starts at 8:30a.m.
All proceeds will be donated to Fit 4 The Cause, a nonprofit that brings exercise and nutrition information to low-income communities. Bring the whole family: $35 for adults, $10 for kids 6-17, under 5 free! More info here. Register here.
BenefitsPRO Broker Expo
April 2-4, 2019, Hyatt Regency, Miami, FL
A leading educational and networking event for employee benefits brokers and agents. Cultivate important relationships and obtain the most practical industry education for positioning your business for sustainable growth. More info here.
CAHU Women’s Leadership Summit -We’ll see you here!
April 3-5, Marriott, Las Vegas
Small group breakouts with introspective discussions focused on self care, relationships, and career success, lead by dynamic speakers, from both within and outside the industry. More info here.
LAAHU Annual Conference- We’ll see you here!
April 17, 2019, Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles. Register here. Exhibitor info here. Sponsorship info here.
LAAHU’s Annual Conference is the largest in the state and includes updates from D.C., breakout sessions for IFP, small group, large group, medicare and more!
LAAHU Annual Conference- We’ll see you here!
April 17, 2019, Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles.
Register here.
IICF Women in Insurance Global Conference- save the date!
June 12-14, 2019, New York City
