TAHU Update Volume No. 4 Issue No. 5 January 2003
January Meeting
Monday, January 20, 2003
Brier Creek Country Club
Main Clubhouse
11:45 am, Luncheon Meeting
JANUARY GUEST SPEAKER
Steve Patterson, M.Ed.
Just Add Humor
Subject: "Stress Management - A Humorous Approach."
Stephen Patterson, M.Ed., speaker, trainer, and workshop leader, specializes in ways to incorporate humor into your professional and personal life. Steve received his BA from Elon College, and his Masters of Education from the University of South Carolina. For over twenty years, Steve has designed programs and workshops for healthcare professionals, social service agencies, educators, and other professional groups. Steve has worked with Just Add Humor to promote the benefits of laughter and a good sense of humor. His belief that laughter is the miracle drug of the ages has made him a popular speaker and seminar leader throughout the Southeast. He tailors each workshop to meet the needs of the group and shares his belief that humor can enhance team building, create a healthier life style, motivate, and reduce professional and personal stress.
SPONSORED BY
Med Cost
and
Principal Financial Group
President's Message:
Sam King, CHC
The New Year has dawned. A fresh page awaits all of us. It is my personal wish that 2003 is the great year for you professionally and personally. Though we will all encounter undreamed-of challenges and opportunities in the coming year, I have no doubt that that the members of TAHU can meet them head on and achieve the success they desire.
TAHU, as you know, faced a number of challenges in the past year. Your board was able to overcome many of these challenges. A short list of challenges and results achieved is shown below:
Challenge: A budget deficit in the cost of lunches and the amount charged for the lunch.
Resolution: A new meeting site with lower charges is being used this month. Brier Creek Country Club will host the January meeting with the Board's hope that it will be prove to be satisfactory and perhaps become the permanent home for our monthly meetings. With its first class facilities and central location, it has many attributes that should prove to be an asset to this association.
Challenge: Budget shortfall
Resolution: The recent COBRA-HIPAA Seminar has given TAHU a needed boost to a shrinking budget. While the association has remained one of the most financially secure in the state, a trend was developing that could have proven troublesome if it had continued. The selection of the right subject at the right time proved to be a benefit to TAHU and to the community we serve.
Challenge: Need for sponsors
Resolution: With a change in the sponsorship levels, new sponsors were found to replace traditional sponsors who had left the market or were not willing to participate. The new 3-level approach has encouraged vendors who have not participated in the past to come forward and show TAHU their products through our lunches, website, and newsletters. We welcome these new sponsors and we know it will prove beneficial to them as they reach new markets for their products.
Challenges still remain. Opportunities for you are there. To mention two, we need participation from the membership in the areas of Public Service, and on Legislative issues. I ask that you step forward. You will find that your involvement with this association will benefit you professionally and personally.
I look forward to seeing you at our January 20th meeting at the Brier Creek Country Club. Its location off I-540 is easily to find. For directions, if you need them, go to www.nctahu.org.
New Legislative News:
Bill Hendrickson
TAHU was privileged to welcome Insurance Commissioner Jim Long as our featured speaker in December. He is one of the most experienced commissioners among all the state commissioners and is highly respected among his peers. He appears to be a friend of our organization and of our mission, so keeping an open line between TAHU and the Commissioner's office is critical.
He feels that health insurance both in North Carolina and in the U.S. is in a "precarious condition." Several situations help cause this:
1. People are living longer and the cost for their care, especially during the last few months of their lives, is very expensive;
2. The bugaboo of rapidly escalating prescription drug costs continues to be a major factor of health insurance inflation;
3. Increased usage continues to be inflationary. With insurance and other third party payers covering most expenses, there is no incentive not to use the health care system.
You may have read that genetic testing may cause a problem for insurance companies. The Wall Street Journal reported on December 20 that if insurance companies are barred because of privacy regulations from using testing results in their underwriting processes, there is potential for financial disaster as at-risk individuals purchase policies and expect compensation for illnesses which will befall them later. With the companies in the dark, they may be tempted to raise rates in order to protect themselves from hidden conditions.
This precarious financial possibility has led some medical practitioners to suggest that the answer to this problem lies in universal coverage. This genetic testing issue will become a legislative topic in the years ahead.
Health Care Reform will be a highly visible topic when the next Congress comes into session this month. The cry for more reform is becoming deafening from many quarters, so we must be prepared to listen, study the issues, and be heard.
USA Today published an article on December 30 with brief summaries of the four legislative possibilities that might be considered. These include:
1. BUSH PLAN - tax credits to help individuals buy health insurance. Democrats say this is not adequate to meet the needs;
2. GORE PLAN - government managed single-payer system. Passage of this type plan considered remote;
3. VERMONT GOV. DEAN PLAN - expand Medicaid to age 23 and offer subsidies for adults to buy health insurance if they have no employer managed plans. Subsidies could be too expensive and this funding method could encourage employers to drop their existing plans;
4. LOUISIANA SEN. BREAUX PLAN -everyone mandated to purchase at least a basic health insurance policy, with the government subsidizing those who could not afford it. Lots of interest in this plan among legislators, but still many unanswered questions. Sen. Breaux compares his concept to the requirement that all drivers must buy auto insurance.
2003-4 will be a time when, once again, health care and health insurance will be hot topics. Those of us who provide quality service to our clients for this coverage and who make a substantial part of our own living by providing this service need to be both vigilant and pro-active. The leadership for change must come from those who know the system well and know the true value of well designed, well funded, and well administered private health insurance.
A matter of local interest is the pending decision to allow or deny the Blue Cross plan to become for-profit. Recent comments by Timothy Clark, the director of Standard & Poor's insurance sector should be of interest to Commissioner Long as he weighs this decision. This quotation says, "The remaining Blues, especially the for-profit ones, have demonstrated greater financial discipline, strengthened themselves financially, and expanded their market presence. The top players among the Blues are viewed as strong competitors to the other non-Blue for-profit insurers."
SEE YOU AT THE "DAY ON THE HILL" AND AT THE "CAP CONFERENCE!"
Website:
www.nctahu.org
Michele Gregory, MHP, RHU, REBC
TAHU Website
New Year's Resolutions
Say it ain't so - you've already broken your New Year resolutions? Then why not try the website resolutions?
Now, raise your right hand and repeat after me -
In 2003, I resolve to:
- Spend more time with friends - and encourage them to Join TAHU (membership form on the website).
- Spend more time reading - especially the hottest Legislative news (it's on the website).
- Get to work early - so I can send email to TAHU's Board (list is on the website).
- Keep up with industry happenings - by checking the web site's Links.
- Pay more attention to opportunities - by regularly clicking on Events (that would be on the website).
- Be more careful about reporting achievements - I might be eligible for one of TAHU's Awards (listed on the website).
- Show more appreciation - I might even thank one of TAHU's Sponsors (they're on the website).
- Exercise regularly, including my mouse finger - checking on TAHU's Member List (regularly updated on the website).
- Eat one less dessert at TAHU meetings - and to check the luncheon menu in advance on the web site's Newsletters (always on the website).
Michele Gregory, MHP, RHU, REBC
Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina
Email:
michele.gregory@bcbsnc.com
Phone: 919.765.4671
Fax: 919.467.2823
Public Service Announcement
We are also collecting toiletries for a shelter in Raleigh. Please bring soap, shampoo, lotion or other personal care items to the meeting on the
20th. We'll have a box to collect your donations. Travel size items from hotels are great too! Let's get the year off right by helping another.
Communications:
Tom Snell, CLU, ChFC, RHU, REBC
Please join us!
When: Monday, January 20, 2003 @ 11:45 a.m.
Where: Brier Creek Country Club -
We will meet in the Main Clubhouse
Speaker: Steve Patterson
Stress Management - A Humorous Approach
Steve is speaker, trainer, and workshop leader, specializing in ways to incorporate humor into your professional and personal life. For over twenty years, Steve has designed programs and workshops for healthcare professionals, educators, and other professional groups.
Who: All members and their guests are invited to attend.
10:00 AM - Board Meeting
11:45AM LUNCHEON BUFFET
Guaranteed seating for the luncheon meeting is by reservation only.
Please RSVP by January 15, 2003
Please fax this notice to: Tom Snell @ 919-281-7222 (local to the Raleigh/Durham area) to reserve your place. You may e-mail a response to tsnell@mamsi.com.
Attendee: ______________________________ for the January 20th meeting.
I (will) (will not) bring a guest/prospective member.
Guest name: _____________________________
There is no need to fax the response back if you are not planning on attending the meeting/luncheon
Lunch is $12.00 for members, $16.00 for guests.
NEW MEETING LOCATION!!!!!!!
As the success of the Triangle Association of Health Underwriters largely depends upon the benevolence of corporate contributors, we are proud to honor the following organizations for their continued support of our many programs and activities:
Diamond Sponsors
2002-2003
Blue Cross & Blue Shield of NC
United Healthcare
Health Care Savings
Please extend your appreciation to the Triangle members representing these organizations and remember their generosity when placing coverages.
