I Hate to Say I was RIGHT!

I spent a week in March, before the Health Care Reform Bill was voted on, calling Congressmen and Senators across the country telling them to vote NO on the bill. They would ask why, and I would site the page that I was opposed to stating that will increase my premium by roughly $200 per month. They all disagreed, or did not respond. I am guessing that they had not read the bill which I had read. I specifically remember Senator Burris of Illinois' office stating, Oh you have not interpreted the bill correctly, it will reduce costs. If you go back and read the blog of mine written to Senator Durbin of Illinois, when he responed to my letter to him, you will see where I challanged everything he said.

Well here we go. On October, 1 2010, we are seeing rate increases, larger than normal, to pay for the new federal mandates. Most insurers, that I have researched have stated they need 9% just to pay for the mandates. Most carriers go up about 4% per quarter, so I would expect 13% next month.

Karen Ignagni,President of America's Health Plans,the insurance industries lobbying group states, "Anytime you add a benefit, there are increased costs." That makes sense, kind of like when you add pepperoni to your pizza. I have been saying for years the industry and companies should make Health Insurance more like car insurance, meaning if you get your oil changed your insurance does not pay for it. Our new health law requires a ZERO DOLLAR CO-PAY for prevenative services, would that be like an "oil change" for your body.

So on ward and up ward we go. A new law that INCREASES cost of health insurance, and I think you will see companies dropping group health insurance so it might even INCREASE the number of uninsured Americans.

To anyone who runs for office, please try to take politics out of the discussion and do some research.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Wilson can be reached toll free at 888-448-5370 or online at www.isellhealth.net.

ERIC

Is this the end of my Profession??

Merrill Mathews, wrote an article this week for Forbes magazine entitiled " Health Insurance Agents RIP" Yes RIP still stands for Rest In Peace. It is what I have been saying since "Hillary Care" was discussed in the 90's.

Mr. Mathews does a great job of stating that the first Casualty of Obama Care are the Health Insurance agents. I think he is correct. However, who will help Tina Sawa??

On Tuesday August 24th, I met with a referred client of mine named Tina Sawa, in Palos Park, Illinois. Let me tell you, her health affairs were a mess. I spent THREE HOURS with her on that day. I could have spent more, but it was my kids first day of school, so I wanted to get home to greet them at the bus stop.

I the three hours I learned about her families medical conditions, how much she is currently paying for her insurance, how much she spends a month on medical care on top of her premium. I realized that she really needed me.

I set my second appointment for yesterday August 31. I spent another two hours with her. Now, I, like probably every other insurance agent in America, do not charge for my time. I was her FREE CONSULTANT, for FIVE HOURS, plus about 40 minutes of drive time each way ( twice). Ok so I have let say six and a half hours of drive time with this client.

Mr. Mathews writes in his article "Health Insurance agents help individuals and employers work through the maze of available health insurance policies to find one that meets their clients needs."

He continues to write the Democrats 17 years ago and still today saw the demise of the health insurance agent as an acceptable, even a desirable loss.

If this is what the Democrats want, and I do not disagree with what Mr. Mathews is saying, who helps Tina Sawa?

For what it is worth I advised Mrs. Sawa, to have her husband stay on the plan and have her and the children come with me. What is crazier, is that now under the health care reform bill, insurance carriers have advised us that they do not know what they are going to pay us going forward, so I spent 5 hours with this client and I have no idea what I am going to make on this. Would you go to work ( or would our Congress go to work) not knowing what you were going to get paid.

Well I did and I would do it again to help a customer. So, I hope for the Tina Sawa's of the world, there are people like knowledgable Health Insurance Agents to assist her.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Wilson is President of I Sell Health Inc. Located in the Chicago Area, he services clients through out the midwest. You can visit him online at www.isellhealth.net. You can reach him toll free at 888-448-5370

IS THIS THE END OF GROUP HEALTH INSURANCE

Caterpillar of Peoria, Illinois has said the new health care reform bill will cost them over $100 million per year, once it is implemented. General Motors, back in 2005, said that the cost to insure their employees added $1500 to every vehicle. In 2005, they spend $5.2 Million on health insurance.

With the new law that goes into effect corporations will be required to pay 85% of their employees health insurance costs, and 75% of their families health insurance costs, or be fined.

Caterpillar, has floated the idea of dropping health insurance and pay the fine, it would save them millions of dollars. The other option, and this is my thought and not the opinion of caterpillar, is to reduce your work force and build your equipment in some other country. Yes, we could support another countries economy in the process.

I purchased Paul Zane Pilzer's book back in I think 2005 "The New Health Insurance solution", on the first page he reccomended that everyone purchase and individual policy rather than a group policy. The reason was it is SAFER, you do not loose your insurance if you loose your job. He goes on to say that loosing job related insurance is how ONE MILLION AMERICANS every year end up in Medical Bankruptcy.

This was in 2005, now is the BEST TIME to purchase your individual health insurance plan. Until 2014, you still need to medically qualify, but do it now. You will see companies dropping thier group health insurance in 2014. It makes economic sense to do so. Also, when companies started to provide health insurance, it was a hiring benfit, to make their company more attractive to a perspective employee. Now with the costs of health insurance, the new rate structure that is in place, and the economy, many companies, will not be able to afford to pay for insurance.

GET IT WHILE YOU CAN!! You will probably never be healthier than you are today.

thanks for reading.

Eric Wilson is the President of I SELL HEALTH, INC. He is also a licensed insurance producer in Chicago, serving Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Indiana. His website is www.isellhealth.net. He can be reached toll free at 888-448-5370.

What do we do now??

In the wake of Health Care Reform, We, as Health Insurance Producers, find ourselves in an interesting place. Insurers, no longer know how to compensate us. Due to the medical loss ratio standards that go into effect on January 1, 2011, we are all in limbo.

Let me explain, as a producer, I get paid a monthly fee for service for every policy I write and is excepted by the policy holder. Now I get this amount every month for one year. Here is where it gets interesting. Most insurance carriers cannot meet the requirement beginning January 1, without adjusting "commissions".

As a Self-Employed business owner, I have to run my life and my business based upon what is coming in. If I know I am going to make say $20 per month on a policy for a year I know how many I need to sell each month. EXCEPT NOW, that $20 I get now, might be $9 come January 1. Take that times maybe 100. On these simple numbers it is a DECREASE in compensation of about $1100 per month.

Most of us would not go to work not knowing how much we get paid. But that is what the United States of America, Our CAPITALIST system, and our industry has to go to work for the next 5 months and not know how much we are getting paid.

The insurance carriers have said they will let us know on December 1, 2010. Now if it was on policies going forward from Januray 1 on, I could live with that. And for that matter, I guess I have to live with it anyway.

As producers, we are faced with a serious question... WHAT DO WE DO NOW???

We can go on as business as usual and HOPE, everything stays the same. We can not spend as much time with our existing clients and not give them the service they deserve, so we can find say 60% more clients next year to offset the pay decrease.

We can add more lines of insurance. Again, this takes time away from our existing clients, but maybe we can help the existing clients in another way.

Many have already left the business, creating some additional opportunities.

WHAT would you do??

Could this happen to your industry?? The Government has taken over the Auto Industry, and just passed a Financail Reform bill. What is next??

Could you be next??

Somethings to think about.


Thanks for reading.

Eric Wilson is the President of I Sell Health, Inc. A Chicago area company. He services clients in Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, and Wisconsin. He can be reached toll free at 888-448-5370. You can email him at isellhealth@gmail.com or visit online at www.isellhealth.net

Consultants: Individuals Game Mass. Health Insurance System - Regulatory,Legislative and Tax Issues - Life and Health Insurance News

Consultants: Individuals Game Mass. Health Insurance System - Regulatory,Legislative and Tax Issues - Life and Health Insurance News

The First Reform Bombshell!!!

For those of you who have been following me, I have said that the reform bill was bad for the country and bad for anyone who had to purchase individual insurance or any small business.

I am a Health Insurance Broker, self-employed, and I guess you could say small business owner. Here is the part of the bill I did not think would affect me for at least four years. I mis-read this part I guess.

Beginning January 1, 2011, Insurance carriers will be required to spend at least 80% of every premium dollar to health care and quality enhancing activities, rather than administrative costs, profits or broker's commissions.

Now this will sound a little bitter, but I do not make a Congressman's Salary, I actually make NO SALARY, and I am compensated only by what I produce to a given insurance company. I do not have a pension, and I wonder if the thought ever came up that CONGRESS had to take a 60% pay cut to fund the health care reform bill? That is what will happen to the health insurance brokers.

As a broker, I work hard for all of my clients. I make sure that they always have the best plan I can find for them at the best premium to meet their needs.

Under this 80% rule, most insurance carriers cannot survive under those conditions, and why can't insurance companies make a profit, like every other business is hoping to do?

They still need to REFORM the cost of medical care, which is what drives insurance company premiums. Part of the cost of medicare is driven by the cost to cover Mal-practice insurance, as we have become a society that sues for everything.

I ask our elected officials... WILL YOU TAKE A 60% pay cut? You have forced me to take a 60% pay cut. So I have to find new products to sell, or eliminate the quality of customer service I give to my customers, because I have to spent at least 60% more of my day selling so I may have to cut the service time by 60%.

In the outstanding words from my father... "Aren't you proud of yourself?"

Thanks for reading.

Eric Wilson is the President of I Sell Health, Inc. He provides Health and Life Insurance products throughout the Midwest. He can be reached toll free at 888-448-5370 or online at www.isellhealth.net.

MY RESPONSE TO IL SENATOR DICK DURBIN

Senator Dick Durbin
309 Hart Senate Building
Washington, DC 20510

Good morning Mr. Durbin:

I am writing in response to the letter you send me via email dated April 26th 2010. I have chosen to dissect your letter in paragraph format to respond to the statement you made, which I assume are based on emotion and not fact. I will begin in the second paragraph in which you stated…

“When the new law is fully implemented, it will cut the federal budget deficit by an estimated $143 billion in the first ten years and $1.3 trillion in the second ten years. It will prevent consumers from arbitrary rate hikes and denials of coverage by insurance companies as broad insurance reforms are implemented, and it will extend the solvency of the Medicare program by nearly ten years and strengthen the Medicaid program.”

I am shocked that anyone in Congress is still stating that it will yield a federal deficit reduction of $1.3 trillion. To make a statement such as this you must be referring to the initial CBO score which is months old and did NOT include the following expenses…

1) $70 Billion for the “Class ACT”
2) $53 Billion that will be taken from the Social Security Trust Fund
3) $71 Billion in appropriations needed to enforce the purchase of insurance and administer the new legislation ($10 Billion for 16,500 new IRS agents and 159 new Federal Agencies)
4) $398 Billion that will be taken from the Medicare Trust Fund
5) $208 Billion for the “doctor fix” that was passed on April 1, 2010 AFTER the Patient Protection and Affordable Care act was signed into law on March 23, 2010.
When these expenditures are added back in to the cost of the PPACA, the legislation actually creates a $662 Billion NEW DEFICIT over the first decade alone. This being the case, it is fiscally IMPOSSIBLE for this legislation to cut the federal deficit by $1.3 Trillion.

In addition to this, the new legislation requires taxes and fees to begin immediately. However, the new health insurance purchase subsidies for families making up to $88,000 are deferred, so that the first decade of revenue is used to pay for only SIX years of spending.

In paragraph four you state “All plans will be prohibited from dropping people because they get sick.”

It is already illegal in ALL 50 STATES to “drop” a policyholder’s coverage when they make a claim or get sick. In fact, the only time a policy RESCISSION can occur is in the case of fraud. This means when the policyholder did not disclose a condition that existed PRIOR to the policy purchase. RESCISSIONS are ONLY ALLOWED by the State Insurance Commissioner if such a “pre-existing” condition was severe enough to have warranted that the applicant be declined coverage had he or she disclosed the condition at the time of application. To state that an insurance company can simply “drop” you, because you get sick is simply untrue.

In paragraph six you state “this legislation is a step forward that will expand coverage to Americans who would otherwise be uninsured while moderating the rising cost of health insurance and protecting those with existing coverage.”

We already have STATE RUN high risk insurance pools in 35 states. Ten states guarantee issue mandates. In our home state of Illinois, we have our own risk pool known as the Illinois Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan (ICHIP). If you visit www.chip.state.il.us. You will find a premium calculator. You will see that a 40 year old male can get coverage for as little as $235 per month regardless of health conditions.

As far as the “moderating the rising cost of health insurance”, the bill did little to address that. So little that on Tuesday April 27th Senate Democrats were trying to pass a new bill that would impose price controls on insurance. (Wall Street Journal Article). ObamaCare includes several new cost-driving mandates that take effect immediately, including expanding family coverage for children as old as 26 and banning consumer co-payments for preventive care. Democrats are bragging about these "benefits," but they aren't free and their cost will be built into premiums. And those are merely teasers for the many Washington-created dysfunctions that will soon distort insurance markets, says the Journal.

I do not know if you read the 2074 page bill or not, I would hope you did as my Senator. I for one DID read it. While there are some good things in the bill, overall this is a bad law for our country.



Respectfully,


Eric Wilson
Office: 815-372-1363
Toll Free: 888-448-5370
Mobile: 815-258-1140
www.isellhealth.net
isellhealth@gmail.com
“I work for you!”