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October Meeting
Thursday October 24, 2002
Alleigh’s
Wilmington, NC
October Guest Speaker Patrick Ballentine
SPONSORED BY AFLAC
President's Message:
David Hill
I have been an active
member in the North Carolina Association of Health Underwriters for quite a
while now and have held board positions in the past and will probably
continue to do so in the future.
I ask myself at times why did I agree to do this? I have other things that I need to
do! The answer
is always the same...I
need to do this! I need to do it
because I get so much out of it.
I get the industry updates and hopefully, understand them, before the
agents that are not members. I
have an opportunity to give back to the community, an opportunity to share my
opinion with our lawmakers. I
could probably go on, but
I want you to know that for me the friends that I have made by being an
active member means the most to me.
Let me tell you that there are some good people in this chapter and I
am proud to call some of them my friend. We are competitors at times, but when we enter the room
for our meeting we are
CAHU members. We talk to one
another to find out what it is they are experiencing in the industry in an
effort to help our business, and we share the information. We strive to make our industry better
by our continuing education and even further with professional
designations. That is why we ask for you to be
involved, and that is why I do it.
How about you?
CAHU...Catch the Wave...an
Ocean of Possibilities!
Legislative
News:
Tim Walsh
L & L Notes
Meet and Greet Outing
with Senator Patrick Ballentine at David and Patti Hill’s home on August 22,
2002.
L & L UPDATE
OCTOBER
2002
Medicare Liability Reform
The House passed H.R. 4600 on September 26 with a vote of
217-203. The bill would enact
sensible medical liability reform measures and help decrease medical
malpractice insurance rates.
Although there was a large effort in the House and the President is
supportive of medical liability reform, it is unlikely the Senate will
address the issue before leaving for the November elections. Thank you to those CAHU members who
were able to send a letter, place a phone call or email members of the House
on this issue.
Patient Safety
The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved patient safety
legislation on September 25. The
Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2002 would create a voluntary,
confidential system for reporting medical errors with the goal of reducing
errors and improving patient safety.
The legislation would also allow the Secretary of Health and Human
Services to create an electronic prescription program and provide mechanisms
to encourage the use of such systems by hospitals. The legislation is similar to H.R. 4889, which was
approved by the house Ways and Means Committee on September 18. Neither version has come up for a
vote on the floor but there is bipartisan support to take action on the issue
of patient safety legislation before leaving for the elections.
Medicare
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) have introduced a $43 billion bill that would
increase Medicare+Choice plan payments and reduce planned payment cuts. The bill would also renew a five-year
program to assist low-income seniors with paying their premiums. Baucus and Grassley by passed the
Senate Finance Committee due to opposition by other members because the bill
does not include the desired prescription drug benefit provisions. It is unclear whether the measure
will come up for a vote on the Senate floor or if there are enough votes to
get it passed. The House-passed
prescription drug bill, H.R. 4954, includes $30 billion to increase provider
payments.
Other Issues
NAHU is completing work on the new privacy regulations and
will have information available for the membership very soon to ensure all
agents and clients are in compliance.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee is scheduled to
hold a hearing the week of October 7th to discuss S. 812, the
generic drug bill passed by the Senate in July. S. 812 would close loopholes in the 1984 Hatch-Waxman
amendment and allow brand-name pharmaceutical manufacturers to receive only
one 30-month patent extension.
It is not clear whether the House will take a vote on the bill but Democrats
are pushing to bring the legislation directly to the floor
A final report on new laws enacted, and bills that did not
pass during the 2002 North Carolina Legislative Session is
available to those who are interested.
Please contact Tim Walsh at timwalsh@bellsouth.net
for this 17-page report.
Calendar of Events
February 26-28, 2003 NCAHU Symposium
High Point, NC
March 23-25, 2003
NAHU Capitol Conference
Washington, DC
June 29-July 2,
2003 NAHU Annual
Convention
San Diego, CA
Website
www.cahu.info
Dennis G. Stokley, RHU
Remember
to Use the
CAHU Website
I hope everyone received
the enews email and enotice email last month announcing the September
meeting. In lieu of a fax each
month this year you will receive an email notice of the monthly meeting and
an email notice of our monthly newsletter which will also be posted on our
website. Take a look at some of
our state chapter websites and see what they are doing for their local
associations.
State www.ncahu.org
Triad www.tahu-net.org
Western www.wncahu.org
Coastal www.cahu.info
Triangle www.nctahu.org
Western Piedmont www.wpahu.org
If you wish to see any
other links or have recently visited a website of interest let us all know
about it. Check out www.marketingedcenter.com I found an interesting video
presentation on annuities.
Dennis G. Stokley, RHU
Email: gstokley@bellsouth.net
Membership Update:
Benton Blalock
We
wish to welcome our newest member, John Dalton, of BISYS. John's office is in
Wrightsville Beach and he calls on agents in Eastern NC. He was in attendance
at our September meeting and joined at that time.
The Membership Committee is making efforts to contact
non-member agents about the reasons for joining CAHU. I talked to two agents
who are now showing interest in knowing more about our association. I hope we
will be able to announce their membership in the next newsletter.
Any members who would like to know more about how
they can assist with getting new members should call Benton Blalock, toll
free, at 888-455-0674 x204.
Public Service:
Connette Bradley
Thanks to all of you for
another successful year. We have supported several families and organizations
throughout the year with our donations of food, clothes and various gifts.
Awards:
M. Hughes Waren, Jr.
The awards committee this year is
focusing on a successful application for the National Pacesetter Award which
is due March 31, 2003. Last year
we were just a few points short of winning. One of the areas that we can get started on now as a
chapter is Committee Activity. I
would like to ask all members to volunteer on at least one committee. The committee chairs will take
minutes of your committee meetings and submit them to the board during each
monthly membership meeting.
These committee reports will give the chapter some extra points that
we might of missed last year.
The following items are other key point getters that will require
participation from the membership:
21% net increase in membership =
100points
6 Members Receiving RHU =
150points
With the help of each member we
can achieve our goal of winning National Recognition for this award.
Media Relations:
Amanda Smith
On September 27, 2002 the Communications committee met
and discussed ways to keep our name and activities before the public. We will bill our annual Christmas
party as an annual charity event.
Aloha! Amanda
Hospitality:
Patti Hill
October 24th meeting at
Alleigh's with NC Senator Patrick Ballentine.
Reminder: November meeting will be held on
Wednesday, November 20 due to Thanksgiving Holiday. Speaker will be Robert Paschal, our NACHU Lobbyist.
Holiday
Party will be held the first of December..Oyster Roast, etc.!!! Date to
follow.
Please remember that the
cost of lunch for CAHU members is FREE.
Guest and non-member
lunches are $10.
Coastal Association of
Health Underwriters
Wilmington, NC 28403 October 11, 2002
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