Insurance commissioners from Florida, Kansas, Montana, NewHampshire, North Dakota and Pennsylvania have sent a letter tofellow state heads of regulation to inform them they would notattend a meeting with President Obama today.

The New York Times ran the letter:

DearColleagues,      

This message is in response to President JimDonelon's communication regarding the meeting with President BarackObama on Wednesday, November 20, 2013. We wanted to advise all ofyou that after thoroughly deliberating on this matter over the lastfew days we will not be participating in the meeting on Wednesdayafternoon with President Obama. We made this difficult decision notto attend due to the fact that we were either not invited to do so,or were invited but have declined, but in all cases we have seriousreservations about both the process and the policy issuessurrounding such an importantmeeting.      

Further, this meeting has not been discussed in anymeaningful way with the entire membership of the NAIC nor have weworked to build consensus among the members on what our positionswill be in the meeting. As we all know, the NAIC is made up of agroup of extremely knowledgeable insurance regulators with verydiverse views on the Affordable Care Act. While we greatlyappreciate the opportunity to meet with President Obama, briefingthe membership and working to build consensus on a meeting of thisimportance needs to occur prior to sitting down withhim.      

We hope that you all have a happy Thanksgiving withyour families and we look forward to seeing you in a few weeks inWashington,D.C.      

Sincerely,      

Adam Hamm, Monica Lindeen, Michael Consedine, KevinMcCarty, Roger Sevigny, Sandy Praeger 

Donelon, Louisiana Insurance Commissioner, is the president ofNAIC. Commissioners signing the letter are Hamm from North Dakota,Lindeen of Montana, Consedine of Pennsylvania, McCarty of Florida,and Preager of Kansas. Hamm is NAIC president-elect. Lindeen isvice president of the association and Consedine is NAIC'sSecretary-Treasurer.

Donelon met with Obama Nov. 20 along with NAIC CEO BenNelson, Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Thomas B. Leonardi andNorth Carolina Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin to primarilyaddress issues with the Affordable Care Act

READ: DonelonAsks President to Hold Off Raising Flood Rates

Though the commissioners say the NAIC hasn't built a consensusfor the meeting, the association on Nov. 14 released the followingstatement on Obama's proposal regarding ACA policycancellations. 

We share the President's and Congress' concernsabout policy cancellations and issues including gaps in coveragethat may result from them, and fully understand the anxiety of theresidents of our states who have received these notices. Thisanxiety is especially heightened given the issues with the federalexchange.

For three years, state insurance regulators havebeen working to adapt to the Affordable Care Act in a way that bestmeets the needs of consumers in each state.   Wehave been particularly concerned about the way the reforms wouldimpact premiums, the solvency of insurance companies, and theoverall health of the marketplace.  The NAIC has beenclear from the beginning that allowing insurers to have differentrules for different policies would be detrimental to the overallmarket and result in higher premiums.

We have expressed these concerns with theAdministration and are concerned by the President's announcementtoday that the federal government would use its "enforcementdiscretion" to delay enforcement of the ACA's market reforms in2014 for plans that are currently in effect.  Thisdecision continues different rules for different policies andthreatens to undermine the new market, and may lead to higherpremiums and market disruptions in 2014 andbeyond.

In addition, it is unclear how, as a practicalmatter, the changes proposed today by the President can be put intoeffect.  In many states, cancellation notices have alreadygone out to policyholders and rates and plans have already beenapproved for 2014. Changing the rules through administrative actionat this late date creates uncertainty and may not address theunderlying issues. We look forward to learning more details of thispolicy change and about how the administration proposes thatregulators and insurers make this work for allconsumers.