A National Association of Insurance Commissioners task force is seeking comments from brokers, agents and advisers on the impact of PPACA’s medical loss ratio rules. The comments will be the basis of a meeting of the task force scheduled for later this month.

The NAIC’s Executive Committee Task Force on Professional Health Insurance Advisors, which was established in November, is asking for comments addressing these questions:

• What is or is likely to be the impact of removing commissions from what is defined as premium under the MLR requirements?
• Have commissions been reduced since the passage of the federal law? If so, what is the impact of present and potential future commission reductions? Will this cause access issues? Is it likely agents/brokers will abandon health insurance markets?
• What will be the impact of a legislative change that treats producer commissions in the same manner as federal and state taxes for purposes of calculating the MLR?
• What is your opinion on the optimal solution to balance health plan/insurer concerns, consumer interests and the interests of agents/brokers?

Comments must be in written form, and must be submitted in an electronic format to tmullen@naic.org by Monday, March 21.

The task force will meet on March 27 in Austin, Texas to review the comments. In addition, specific organizations will be invited to provide oral testimony at the hearing. The task force, chaired by Florida insurance commissioner Kevin McCarty, has drafted legislation that would remove broker compensation from the MLR calculation.