September
was a busy month. If you are tracking what’s happening in benefits technology,
you may have noticed another Zenefits-like broker has arrived. ZenPayroll is now called Gusto and
offers an integrated Payroll, HR and benefits platform. The new tech-broker is based in San
Francisco, across the street from Limelight Health and Zenefits (busy corner!)
and funded $60M by Google Ventures. It’s an growing trend brokers should closely monitor.
Lots
of activity around the role of the agent and getting ready for our big
conference in LA. Here’s a summary of some of CAHU's activity since my last
blog post:
The
Future is Tomorrow… really!
The
CAHU Health Care Summit starts tomorrow… Tuesday and Wednesday at the Sheraton
Universal. "Modern Agents” is the theme for the 2015 CAHU Health Care
Summit; our two-day sales conference for agents who want to get new
strategies, tech tools and updates to do more than just compete. The past few
years have been very tough for agents and we are focused on the solutions and
tools to help agents compete with the toughest competitors.
 |
| A great quote from Shark Tank host and Millionaire investor, Robert Herjavec. |
The
event is nearly SOLD OUT and there's great interest in our new format which kicks-off
with Tuesday’s TECH EXPO. More than a dozen of the best broker technology
vendors will share a rapid-fire demo in the style of TV’s Shark Tank or Silicon Valley’s “demo day”. While these companies are not pitching for
investment dollars, they are pitching to earn your business and will also be on
display for one on one discussion and demos.
Want more information? Get the event app and Tweet about
the event to enter the $250 raffle. #CAHUTechExpo
SAHU
Professional Development Day
September
16th was the Sacramento chapter’s (SAHU) Professional Development
Day. SAHU had a great line up of speakers including Kirk Whelan, Director of
Sales for Covered California and a panel of speakers on the challenges of
managing rising healthcare costs. Moderated by Brad Davis, Dave Fear, Jr. joined doctors from Dignity Health and Western Health Advantage.
 |
Brad
Davis, Dave Fear Jr, Dr. Mitesh Patel, Kirk Whelan and Dr. Donald Hufford
|
I
was honored to share my CE presentation, Creating
Value as a Benefits Professional which talked about new product ideas and leveraging technology to differentiate
and win in this competitive and evolving market. Great job Marcy McCulloch
(SAHU President) and SAHU board!
The
California Health Conference
On September 23th, I attended the California Health
Conference, an event presented
by Capitol Weekly and UC Center. This day-long
conference examined new and proposed legislation, and the impact of the ACA on
California. Some speakers included Sen. Richard Pan
(D-Sacramento), Jennifer Kent, Director at the California Department
of Health Care Services, Richard Figueroa from The California Endowment,
Pauline Bartolone from CALMatters and Nicole Kasabian-Evans from The California
Association of Health Plans.
 |
| Pauline Bartolone moderates the Underserved Communities discussion. |
While
the discussion was related to matters close to the interests of CAHU and agents
throughout California, there were no agents represented on the panel
discussions. I was proud to represent agents and speak on behalf of CAHU on
matters related to the open enrollment and the value we have demonstrated
during the first two years of the exchange.
Sen.
Pan responded to one of my questions by acknowledging the great contribution
made by agents and how California would not have made their enrollment goals
without the support of agents, especially true in the Asian and Pacific
Islander communities where agents accounted for a very high percentage of
enrollment. (LINK)
 |
| Sen. Richard Pan, MD |
The
event was sponsored by The California Endowment, California Center for
Civic Participation, The California Channel, Comcast Spotlight, KP Public
Affairs, California Partnership for Access to Treatment, California Chronic
Care Coalition, California Health Report and California Association of Health
Plans.
CAHU
believes agents should be part of these important policy discussions and
requested to be invited to share our insight and perspective for future
events.
Agents
and Medi-Cal Enrollment
On September
25, Julianne Broyles and I met again with Covered
California and the California
Department of Health Care Services for a stakeholder meeting to
discuss the role of the agent and modifying the Covered California Agent
Agreement. CAHU proposed new language
allowing greater flexibility for certified insurance agents enrolling in
MediCal. In short, the current policy requires agents to enroll consumers in
Medi-Cal, regardless of compensation. While many agents I’ve met are committed
to help support the “No Wrong Door” policy which means helping enroll in either
Covered California or Medi-Cal through the CalHEERS system, many have expressed
the burden this poses on agents who can only help so much without compensation.
The $58 per-application funding ended on June 30th of this
year. CAHU faces strong opposition from consumer
groups who believe consumers would be unfairly turned away if agents are
permitted to refer Medi-Cal eligible to other resources. (LINK)
 |
Kirk Whelan – Covered
California, Mark Diel - California Coverage & Health Initiatives, Michael
Lujan – CAHU President and David Panush – Covered California.
|
CAHU supports a revised policy which allows
agents to refer consumers to other certified agents (CIA), county offices or certified
enrollment counselors (CEC) when agents have exceeded their capacity or have
complex eligibility issues. We urge the state to find a new source of funding
for agent compensation and help support a fair policy for agents to help as
much as they reasonably can. Medi-Cal is already underfunded by $1.1B and
finding more funding will not be easy.
The issue will be reviewed and board action
on Oct 8th at the Covered
California Board Meeting in Sacramento. Agents are welcome to send letters,
attend or call into the board meeting and express their opinions during the
public comments portion of the meeting. Please contact me or your local chapter
for details if not familiar with the board meetings or protocol. (LINK)
I’m looking forward to seeing many of you at
the CAHU Healthcare Summit tomorrow! For those who cannot attend, I will
give a summary report next week in my blog.
Thank you for your membership and support!
Michael Lujan, RHU, CHRS
CAHU President
comments@cahu.org