WASHINGTON BUREAU — The National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) is backing an effort by health insurance agents to get Congress to exempt producer compensation from health insurance medical loss ratio (MLR) calculations.
The executive committee of NCOLI, Troy, N.Y., voted unanimously this weekend during the group's summer meeting in Newport, R.I., to support H.R. 1206, the Access to Professional Health Insurance Advisors Act bill.
The bill is sponsored by Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich.
Members of the NCOIL Health, Long-Term Care & Health Retirement Issues Committee endorsed the Rogers bill Saturday.
NCOIL also expressed support for health insurance producers' position on the MLR issue in December 2010, when it sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) asking HHS to keep producer compensation out of MLR calculations.
NCOIL President George Keiser, a Republican state representative from North Dakota, says health insurance agents and brokers help consumers navigate through the complex process of benefit shopping and also help consumers deal with claims and other reimbursement issues that arise when coverage is in place.
Agents' services are "especially needed now, as we all work to understand the complexities of federal