Assembly 878
March 29, 2010
The Wisconsin Association of Health Underwriters (WAHU) is one of four state based insurance agent associations. In an Economic Impact Study which was commissioned in December of 2008 and released in January of 2009, it was estimated that there are between 1,250 and 2,000 insurance agents in just the health insurance and health benefits industry. Nearly all of these agents are represented by one of the four major agent associations in Wisconsin. While each association tends to represent agents who "specialize" in one particular area of insurance, WAHU agents are almost exclusively in the health insurance and health benefits industry.
WAHU respectfully opposes Assembly Bill 878. The proposal as written, and as discussed during recent hearings, would provide for the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) to transfer from their funds $250,000 this year alone to provide to an "entity" that would work with other organizations to implement and develop "Benefit Counselors". OCI would provide additional funds in future years. In addition, the Department of Health Services (DHS) would also work with the federal government to try and provide even more funding for these counselors, which according to the proponents estimate it could be in the millions of dollars. The stated goal of these counselors would be to assist individuals in the eligibility, purchase and service of both public and private sector health insurance. One of the proponents of this bill testified that because of the complicated and confusing market place, these counselors are needed to help individuals read an insurance application or to determine what is the best policy to purchase. What this proponent just described, and what the language in this bill provides for, is exactly the duties of the licensed, trained and educated insurance intermediary, otherwise known as an insurance agent.
Any individual who attempts to discuss insurance benefits and coverages is required to obtain training and be licensed by the OCI. They are further required to receive continuing education in order to ensure Wisconsin citizens are dealing with knowledgeable, experienced professionals relative to insurance policies. AB878 would not only have these counselors compete directly with the role of these private market professionals, but wouldn't require the same training, licensing, or continuing education that agents must go through. In fact, in the bill it even states that the legislation "Establishes minimum knowledge requirement for people employed by the entities to provide services." Why would legislators want Wisconsin consumers to get advice from people who are NOT licensed or trained, and in fact, have only "MINIMUM" knowledge of insurance?
During one of the hearings on this legislation, it was stated by a legislator that agents support this bill. This is incorrect. As of today's date, none of the four major agent associations support this bill. Rather, WAHU, which is the association that represents the agents who specialize in Health Insurance, strongly opposes this bill. We oppose this bill because:
The proponents of AB878 claim the bill is just to provide assistance for people who are trying to determine if they are eligible for a public program and then to help them enroll in these public programs. However, the language doesn't state that. If it did, our only opposition to the bill would be that this type of advocacy should be provided for by DHS today.
We urge you to vote against this bill, or at least vote in favor of an amendment making it clear that these Counselor's would be prohibited from discussing any and all issues of private sector health insurance plans. We thank you for the opportunity to provide our comments.