RESOURCE BROKERAGE, LLC NAMES BLAIR FARWELL, RHU, PRESIDENT & CEO

RESOURCE BROKERAGE, LLC NAMES  BLAIR FARWELL, RHU,
PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

 SCHAUMBURG, IL, Dec. 15, 2011 – On January 1, 2012, Blair Farwell, RHU, will become president and chief executive officer of Resource Brokerage, LLC. He was formerly the firm’s vice president of health brokerage. The announcement is the final stage of a management transition that began more than 12 years ago.

 Founder John Rippinger will remain active with the company with the position of Chairman of the Board, and will assume the new position as senior executive of the Life Division of Resource Brokerage.  This responsibility returns him to the foundation of his career, the development of life insurance strategies and services for customers of brokers.

 Resource Brokerage provides services needed by Midwest regional insurance brokers as they serve the health, life, long-term care, disability, annuity and insurance-based needs of their customers.

 Farwell joined Resource Brokerage in 1999 as manager of the Group Health Division and eventual successor to company founder John Rippinger in ownership of the company. He expanded his role with the firm with responsibility for the Individual Health Division.

 Under his direction, the firm grew by seven times and outgrew its former offices, resulting in moving to new offices at 1501 E. Woodfield Road in Schaumburg, IL. The company, because of its corporate culture, has also been voted one of The Best Places to Work in Illinois for the last six years.

 Blair’s many articles can be found in such nationally-circulated insurance-related publications including A.M. Best, Health Insurance Underwriter and Broker World.

 Farwell is a 1995 graduate ofHopeCollege(Holland,Michigan) with a B.A. in Business Administration and Communications.  He resides in Bartlett, IL with his wife and three children.

 Resource Brokerage and/or Blair Farwell and John Rippinger are members of the Chicago Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (CIAFA), the National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies (NAILBA), the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU), the American Association for Long Term Care Insurance, the Chicago Estate Planning Council (CEPC), the Top of the Table level of the Million Dollar Roundtable (TOT-MDRT), the Society of Financial Service Professionals (FSP), the Financial Planning Association (FPA), the Association of Health Insurance Advisors (AHIA), The Marketing Alliance (TMA) and the Broker Health Insurance Network (BHINI).

 

Breaking News from NAHU the MLR Legislation

Today, the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a final rule and an interim final rule addressing a variety of issues relative to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s (PPACA) medical loss ratio (MLR) requirements. The new regulations make no changes to the treatment of independent insurance agent and broker commissions. We continue to discuss potential regulatory solutions with HHS, and have had conversations with the department as recently as this morning. However, our primary strategy remains a legislative solution, as it is the only way to guarantee a comprehensive and permanent fix.

We now have 140 bipartisan cosponsors of H.R. 1206, the measure introduced by Representatives Mike Rogers (R-MI) and John Barrow (D-GA) to exclude agent and broker compensation from the MLR calculation and make improvements to the state-level MLR waiver adjustment process. We are hopeful for Senate action on this issue soon, and the House Small Business Committee will take up the MLR requirements in a hearing on December 15 featuring NAHU member Mitchell West.

Today’s action is another indication that your interactions with federal legislators and participation in NAHU’s 2012 Capitol Conference in Washington, DC on January 23-25 are more important than ever. Please watch for more details about the new rules in your Washington Update on Monday, as well as the next steps as to how all members can continue to help on a grassroots level moving forward.

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NAIC Resolution Means Big Support for Ag

NAIC Resolution Means Big Support for Agents
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) passed a resolution today in support of professional health insurance agents and brokers. The resolution urges the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Congress to take action to preserve the role of professional health insurance agents and brokers as consumer advocates and advisors. The vote was 26 for, 20 against, with five commissioners abstaining.
This action means the commissioners recognize the “essential” role health insurance professionals play in protecting the health and financial well-being of Americans. It also draws attention to how the ill-advised medical loss ratio (MLR) measures prevent these licensed professionals from effectively assisting consumers in making educated decisions about their coverage needs.
The next step is to ensure HHS heeds this recommendation to “take whatever immediate actions are available to the Department to mitigate the adverse effects the MLR rule is having on the ability of insurance producers to serve the demands and needs of consumers and to more appropriately classify independent producer compensation in the final PPACA MLR rule.”
NAHU worked tirelessly to get this resolution passed, and we will continue to work with policymakers to continue resolving the MLR issue. NAHU also released this statement praising the NAIC’s action.

Guarantee Illinois health insurance producers’ role in Illinois’ health insurance exchange

 October 20, 2011

 [recipient address was inserted here]

 Dear Representative Harris and Senator Kotowski,

 As a health benefits professional, I am writing to you today to urge you
to support the creation of an Illinois based Health Benefit Exchange that
supports Illinois’ competitive insurance market and the important role of
insurance producers (agents and brokers) in helping individuals and small
businesses meet their health insurance needs. Legislation is under
consideration during the veto session to establish the basic foundation of
Illinois” health benefit exchange.

A health insurance exchange (HBE) is a new virtual health insurance
marketplace required by the federal health reform law, PPACA. Each state
must establish an exchange or the federal government will implement one
for the residents of Illinois. To avoid a federal one-size-fits-all
federal approach, we have established an agent-broker coalition in
cooperation with all of our National Association of Health Underwriters’
(NAHU) members and NAIFA Illinois and IIA of Illinois to develop
recommendations for a successful Illinois health insurance exchange.

 We believe that any health insurance exchange (HBE) must include the
following:

1.Illinois’ HBE governance board needs to include individuals with a
variety of perspectives and those with in-depth knowledge of the health
insurance and benefits market – especially insurance producers.  An
insurance producer is critical to this board’s strength in that brokers
work daily with consumers, businesses, employees, insurers, medical
providers and regulators. We believe our knowledge of the marketing, sales
and servicing of health insurance will be of great benefit to the HBE.

2.The structure and operations of the HBE must be simple, transparent and
cost-effective. We believe that a large bureaucracy similar to the
Massachusetts Connector (their health insurance exchange) is costly and
unnecessary – and the result with be higher health insurance costs.

 3.Individuals and employers must have the option to utilize the services
of a licensed insurance producer. Therefore:
a.The HBE should have a certification program for producers
b.The HBE should have a producer locator prominently available on the HBE website
c.There must be a producer identified on the application.

 4.    The HBE should have no role in determining producer compensation.
Health plans will continue to contract with producers, verify licensing
compliance and compensate producers as they do today.

We need your support to guarantee that professionally trained and state
licensed health insurance producers (agents and brokers) will be included
in the sales and service of health insurance for small businesses and
individuals. Actively engaging licensed insurance producers will save the
state and taxpayers considerable money.  If the Exchange does not
encourage broker participation, it will effectively replace thousands of
private sector employees with public employees ultimately paid for in the
form of higher health insurance premiums.

Finally, it is my understanding that if the Illinois General Assembly does
not act on creating a governance structure for the HBE this fall, the
Governor will do so through an Executive Order. Therefore, we urge members
of the General Assembly to pass legislation creating Illinois’ HBE
governance board and include our Agent/Broker Coalition’s recommendations
listed above.

Sincerely,

John Rippinger

Boehner’s Proposal for the Debt Debate

Dear Congressman Walsh,

I strongly urge your support of the amendment intended to substitute S. 627, the “Budget Control Act of 2011,” which would increase the debt ceiling and address associated spending issues.

This legislation is critical. Default on debt obligations is not an acceptable option. The time Congressional action is now.

This legislation would extend the debt limit in two phases and avoid a default on the obligations of the United States. The first phase would provide for $1.2 trillion in discretionary spending cuts and an immediate increase of up to $1 trillion in the debt limit. The bill would allow for a subsequent increase of $1.6 trillion in the debt limit once Congress passes legislation to reduce the deficit by an additional $1.8 trillion. This second stage of spending reduction would be formulated by a bipartisan Congressional committee and be voted on by the Congress in an “up or down” vote. In addition, the legislation would require a vote on a balanced budget amendment by the end of the year.

I understand that no legislation is perfect, however, the substitute amendment to S. 627 is a responsible approach because it would: cut spending in the immediate term by more than the increase in the debt ceiling; ensure a workable, enforceable mechanism to facilitate additional spending cuts for future debt limit increases; and allow for a vote on significant reform to the budget process.

A default on the obligations of the United States would most assuredly cause severe, immediate, and pervasive economic harm in the form of higher interest rates, a decline in the dollar, a drop in the stock markets, higher oil prices, and the loss of economic growth and jobs.

Congress and the Administration have haggled for months without success over ways to address long-run debt and deficit issues and how to raise the debt ceiling. Political brinksmanship is no longer an acceptable strategy for either the White House or congressional leaders.

While this legislation is not a solution for all of America’s debt and deficit problems, it is a necessary first step in the right direction.

Your leadership is vital, I strongly urge you to act now by voting “yes” to the substitute to S. 627, and secure the economic future of our country.

Sincerely,

John Rippinger

Urge Your Representatives and Senators to Cosponsor S. 1098 and H.R. 2010!!

June 20, 2011

The Honorable Mark Steven Kirk
United States Senate
524 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-1305

Re: Urge Your Representatives and Senators to Cosponsor S. 1098 and H.R. 2010!!

Dear Senator Kirk:

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) have proven to be popular with individuals and employers – increasing enrollment by 14% this year and 87% since January 2008. New legislation, S. 1098 and House companion bill, H.R. 2010, will strengthen HSAs making them more attractive to American consumers. As a constituent and a professional benefit specialist, I am urging you to cosponsor S. 1098.

This legislation eliminates many obstacles HSA consumers have struggled with for years. It also repeals requirements in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) that hurt individuals and families who purchase consumer-directed health care products, such as the limitation on small business owners purchasing high deductible plans after 2014.

As a professional benefit specialist I provide individuals and employers with affordable health insurance options, and so since the inception of HSA and FSA accounts, I have helped my clients establish HSA and FSA accounts and purchase other health insurance products. Over the years, my clients have regularly reported to me that a few simple changes could smooth out some of the bumps in the road experienced by individuals and employer HSA consumers.

S. 1098, the Family and Retirement Health Investment Act of 2011 removes many of these obstacles by allowing spouses to make catch-up contributions to the same HSA, eliminating discriminatory provisions against Medicare-eligible seniors so that they can continue to contribute to their HSAs, expanding the ability of individuals to purchase medical and long-term care insurance with HSA and FSA dollars, and clarifying that prescription drugs used for preventive care purposes are not subject to HSA deductible requirements.

Another key provision contained in S. 1098 is the repeal of the
prohibition PPACA places on small businesses who wish to purchase health plans that have a deductible in excess of $2,000 (individual)/$4,000 (family) beginning in 2014. I can tell you first hand that employers of all sizes are struggling to provide affordable health insurance options to their employees and the PPACA deductible limitation as it stands is not only discriminatory against small business owners, but it also deprives employers and employees of choices in health plan options and will eliminate the ability of many employers to select health plans that best meet their budgetary needs.

S. 1098 also includes a provision that will allow FSA funds to be rolled over from year-to-year, to promote more responsible spending and allow individuals more choice in how they may use their FSA dollars, as well as the elimination of the PPACA requirement that prevents individuals from using their account-based plans like FSAs and HSAs to pay for over-the-counter prescription drugs.

Furthermore, I feel that the reauthorization of Medicaid health
opportunity accounts and the expansion of the definition of qualified
medical expenses to encourage wellness activities are critical in
encouraging the reduction of health care costs by promoting greater
personal responsibility.

As a professionally licensed health insurance benefits specialist I
represent American consumers of health care and insurance products and serving their needs to the best of my ability is my primary interest.

Please strongly consider cosponsoring S. 1098. I look forward to hearing back from you on this important issue.

Sincerely,

John Rippinger
847-605-1522

$31,760 Raised for Japanese Earthquake Relief

For immediate release April 29, 2011

Submitted by: Resource Brokerage, LLC
1501 E. Woodfield Rd. – STE 110E
Schaumburg, IL 60173-4945
Ph: 847-605-1200
Contact: Jan Lloyd-Gohl
847-598-0007
jgohl@rfginc.com

$31,760 Raised for Japanese Earthquake Relief

Resource Brokerage, LLC recently sponsored a fund drive for Japanese Earthquake Relief efforts in conjunction with the MDRT Foundation. Resource Brokerage is a Schaumburg, Illinois-based Master General Agency for Group & Individual Health, Life, Disability, Annuities and Long-Term Care products. Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT), The Premier Association of Financial Professionals, based in Park Ridge, Illinois, is an international, independent association of the world’s best life insurance and financial services professionals from 464 companies in more than 80 nations and territories.

Resource Brokerage’s campaign promised a “dollar for dollar” match of all contributions received from their brokers, employees, business associates and friends to the MDRT Japanese Disaster Relief Fund. Those dollars were matched again, dollar for dollar by the MDRT Foundation, thus effectively turning each dollar donated into four dollars towards Japanese Relief.

On April 12th, 2011; John Rippinger, president of Resource Brokerage presented checks totaling $4,320 from Resource Brokerage employees, $3,620 from Resource Brokerage brokers and business associates, and the Resource Brokerage match of $7,940 to Gil Haggart, Treasurer of the MDRT Foundation, at the MDRT headquarters in Park Ridge, Illinois.

With the MDRT Foundation match of its efforts, Resource Brokerage essentially raised a total of $31,760 for Red Cross, the beneficiary of the MDRT Japanese Disaster Relief Fund.

Thank You Representative Joe Walsh

April 8, 2011

Dear Representative Joe Walsh,

I want to personally thank you for your cosponsorship of H.R. 1206. I am
also thanking you on behalf of the approximately 1,400,000 health
insurance agents and brokers on the ground every day helping thousands of
Americans find the right health care plan and navigate the health care
system

By cosponsoring this bill you have demonstrated your support of preserving
existing cost-saving practices in current health insurance markets,
advancing the intent of the MLR provisions to reduce overall spending on
administrative costs, and maintaining the important operational
convenience for small businesses and individuals to have access to their
independent agent/broker who often function as their HR department and
serve as small businesses in and of themselves. And, as importantly, you
are supporting thousands of Americans with jobs in our offices across the
country.

American consumers of health care and insurance products are who agents
and brokers like myself represent, and being able to continue serving
their needs to the best of our ability is our primary interest. Your
support of H.R. 1206 brings us one step closer to better serving the needs
of American health insurance consumers who need our guidance now more than
ever.

Sincerely,

John Rippinger

Consumer Access to Agent Provided Health Insurance Services Co Sponsor H.R. 1206

The Honorable Joe Walsh
House of Representatives
432 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515 1308
Re: Preserve Consumer Access to Agent Provided Health Insurance Services Co Sponsor H.R. 1206
Representative Walsh:
No matter what your opinion of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, I believe we can agree that it is important to preserve consumer access to independent advocates who can help them navigate options and get the best service possible in the private insurance market. Unfortunately, that access is critically endangered because the new medical loss ratio (MLR) has led to compensation for independent insurance agents and brokers being slashed abruptly, in many cases by 50%.
Licensed independent insurance producers (agents and brokers) provide consumers of health insurance both individuals and employers with critical services. They help clients purchase health insurance by acquiring quotes, analyzing plan options, and consulting through the purchase process. After a plan is purchased, these licensed independent professionals also help employers comply with State and Federal laws and regulations; assist with establishing cafeteria plans and flexible spending arrangements; create educational materials and provide on site assistance to aid in employee benefit communication; assist in managing eligibility for new hires and terminated employees; provide advocacy for employees and individual policyholders through the health insurance claim process; and advocate for employers with insurers in developing proposals, renewals, and for service issues throughout the year. To ensure their competence with all these tasks, these producers are required to complete continuing education on an ongoing basis to maintain their licenses.
Licensed health insurance producers simply cannot continue to provide all these consumer services without adequate compensation for their time, training, and compliance costs. That is why I am asking you to co sponsor H.R. 1206, a bill that will exclude independent agent commissions from the medical loss ratio (MLR) calculation.
Like taxes, the portion of health insurance premiums paid over to independent agents is not part of an insurance company’s potential profits, so it should not be part of the MLR calculation. These agents serve the consumer, not the insurance company, and their compensation is included as part of the premium as a convenience to the consumer. Prompt action is required to restore adequate compensation for the services these licensed professionals provide to consumers.
In addition, H.R.1206 will allow state insurance commissioners to apply to HHS for waivers of the 80% MLR requirement in the small group market if the ratio may destabilize the private insurance market in the state. These waiver requests are already authorized for the individual market and a number of states have applied, but it has become evident that this relief is also needed in the small group market.
Please preserve consumer access to agent provided health insurance services by co sponsoring H.R. 1206.
Sincerely,
John Rippinger