“What can I do about the movement to reform health insurance?”

Q: I care about health care reform, but I’m worried about how some of the proposals being floated around will affect me — and my fellow health insurance agents. What can I do about the movement to reform health insurance?

A: Most political pundits seem to believe that health care reform is inevitable, and changes to the health insurance industry will be central to any legislation that comes out of Congress. Some of the proposed elements of the legislation being developed in committee will have a profound effect on the thousands of agents and brokers serving American consumers.

But we do have an opportunity to get our voices heard and to help mold the final health care reform bill.

Time is running short, but there is still time to act.

1. Take a minute to support NAHU’s campaign

The National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU) is spearheading the effort to protect consumer access to professionally licensed health insurance agents, brokers and consultants.

Finding the right health insurance plan will continue to be a complex and often confusing process for most consumers. Health insurance professionals play a crucial role in helping Americans make the right choices when shopping for a plan.

NAHU has launched an online, easy-to-use campaign to help our political representatives and leaders better understand the valuable role that agents and brokers play.

This campaign will only take one (1) minute of your time, but it may be one of the most important minute of your career.

Start by going to NAHU’s campaign site at…  http://capwiz.com/nahu/issues/alert/?alertid=13295186&PROCESS=Take+Action.

You’ll need to fill out some basic information. NAHU will then automatically send an email to your senator and representative, as well as to President Barack Obama and Vice-President Joseph Biden.

It’s as simple as that. If you want to do more, you should also print out copies of these letters. You can then sign and send these letters by regular mail.

2. Spread the Word

This campaign needs numbers to succeed. After doing your part in the NAHU campaign, I strongly encourage you to contact every insurance agent and broker you know to also invest a minute of their time with this same effort.

In addition to sending them an email, follow it up with a phone call. Remind them that their career and future will be significantly impacted by this legislation. They can’t afford to ignore this campaign. And they have no excuses.

Afterwards, we all need to spread the word to other friends and colleagues. I recommend that you emphasize that we support health care reform. However, we also believe that any legislation that Congress sends to the White House should not curtail the right of American consumers to professionally licensed health insurance guidance.

3. Stay Informed

NAHU’s campaign is ongoing. They will continue to monitor legislative and regulatory issues that will impact health insurance agents and brokers.

But they also need your continued attention. You need to stay on top of what’s going on.

One of the best ways to stay informed is through NAHU’s legislative updates. As part of its commitment to support NAHU’s campaign, Norvax will present a special NAHU legislative update during its Marketing Success Conference on June 5, in suburban Philadelphia.

This live presentation will feature Jessica Fulginiti Waltman, NAHU’s senior vice president for government affairs. As coordinator of NAHU’s legislative and regulatory efforts, Waltman will review the current status of federal reform legislation.

To register for this event, go to http://norvaxeastcoast.eventbrite.com.

Will this work?

If you’re wondering if campaigns like this work, I recommend you check out a recent article in the Los Angeles Times about a similar campaign by business against legislation that would have made it easier for employees to unionize.

Regardless of your stance on the issue of “card checks,” this clearly shows that campaigns like NAHU’s do work. For more information, check out the L.A. Times article, “Labor Unions Find Themselves Card-Checkmated” at http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-unions19-2009may19,0,2676804.story.

- Rey Villar