How Greatly Will Health-Care Reform Impact Benefits Practices of P&C Firms?

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) will not be fully implemented until 2016, but the health-care reform law is already having an effect on agents and brokers’ employee-benefits business—and many agents are growing concerned over what their future role will be in this insurance segment.

Mandated to spend between 80 and 85 percent of their premium dollars on patient care under the minimum medical loss ratio (MLR) provision of the law, many producers fear health-care carriers will cut their commissions sizably to reach that cap, making it increasingly difficult for agents to earn a living.