Over 1,000 members of The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America descend upon Washington D.C. this week to press their Congressional representatives on an agenda of issues affecting producers.

IIABA CEO Robert A. Rusbuldt tells PC360 there are five major issues agents and brokers will aim to educate their members of Congress about during this year's annual Legislative Conference and Convention:

• The National Association of Registered Agents & Brokers (NARAB)

• Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)—primarily the medical loss ratio and navigators

• Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA)

• Flood Insurance

• Taxes

Rusbuldt says passage of NARAB—which has passed the House twice before, but failed in the Senate—would “create huge efficiency” for agents acquiring non-resident licenses, because state's would have to accept out-of-state insurance agent licenses instead of an agent needed to acquire separate licenses in order to practice in another state. He calls it a non-controversial and non-partisan piece of legislation caught up in the Senate's procedures that has not garnered enough support for passage.

On PPACA, the medical loss ratio, which mandates how much medical carriers must spend on patient health care, has led to cuts in producer commissions. The association is working to get Congress to eliminate commissions from the calculation. Rusbuldt says there needs to be the same level of regulation of navigators as there is of agents selling insurance to ensure policyholders purchase the right coverage.

On the subject of TRIA, Rusbuldt says the program is due to expire in 2014 and work needs to begin today to reauthorize the program and educate members on why it remains an important tool to provide coverage to large metropolitan areas. “There are a lot of members serving now that were not here [when this bill was enacted],” he notes.

The Flood insurance program is $30 billion in debt, and there are a number of Congressional leaders advocating that the risk move to the private sector. However, says Rusbuldt, while he is supportive of private sector involvement, he is not convinced the industry will write it. “There are a whole host of issues that have to be considered if it is to be moved there,” he says.

Finally, on taxes, there is talk about cutting the corporate rate, but he points out, agents and brokers are small businesses that pay individuals rates, sometimes as high as 40 percent on their earnings. He says Congress needs to ensure that large corporations are not favored over small businesses.

The three-day conference starts today and ends April 19.

Special Reports /

IIABA Members to Tackle Important Agent Issues at Conference

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