The 22nd annual Day at the Capitol was held this month in Austin, and FWAHU was well represented with six members attending. TAHU put together a dynamic line up of speakers ranging from representatives from TDI, a political pundit from the Texas Tribune, an expert on employer reporting requirements, and a policy adviser to Gov. Greg Abbott, just to name a few. Although there is no legislative session this year in Texas, our FWAHU delegation has scheduled appointments with many of our legislators later this month during the annual NAHU Capitol Conference in Washington D.C.
As an association, our federal policy priorities are:
*Removing broker commissions from the MLR calculation (H.R. 815 & S.B. 1661)
*Improving access for agents and brokers to healthcare.gov
*Full repeal of the Cadillac Tax (H.R. 879, H.R. 2050, S.B. 2045 and S.B. 2075), which was delayed until 2020 thanks to lobbying efforts by NAHU members.
*Stopping the HIT (H.R. 928, S.B. 183) would eliminate the national premium tax which adds more than $500 annually to the average families premium.
*Restore the Medicare Advantage open enrollment (H.R. 588/2581) allowing beneficiaries to make a one time plan change to another MA plan during the open enrollment. Additionally, allowing COBRA to count as creditable coverage for beneficiaries just as employer sponsored coverage does.
Rest assured the legislators in Washington will hear our message and we encourage you to reach our to your congressman and ask for their support of these bills. We are all in this together, and together we can make a difference.
Your legislative chair,
Dale Mason