Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Michigan) has introduced a bipartisan bill along with Rep. John Barrow (D-Georgia) that would remove the compensation of health insurance agents and brokers from the health care reform law's MLR calculation. The MLR is already having devastating effects on agents and brokers and the people who depend on them for quality health coverage.
Last week during a congressional hearing, Rogers made a passionate plea on behalf of brokers and agents and their small business clients.
"[Health insurance brokers and agents] provide incredible value to our health care system and the employer community, especially the small business community," Rogers said. "These agents and brokers are very real people. They’re real business owners; they’re small; they tend to be independently owned. They’re in our communities. And they’re losing jobs today – today – because of this [MLR] rule."
NAIFA supports the Rogers-Barrow bill as a means to stem some of the damage being done by last year's health reform law.