TAHU Update Volume No. 5 Issue No. 5 January 2004

Next Meeting

Tuesday, January 13, 2004
Brier Creek Country Club
Main Clubhouse
11:45 am, Luncheon Meeting

Please RSVP before Friday, January 9, 2004
to Mike Alexander, at
Jmalexander@nc.rr.com or 919-544-5681

GUEST SPEAKER
Kenneth A. Bloch, CLU
The Kenneth A. Bloch Agency

Ken started as a Home Office Group Underwriter for Liberty Mutual from from 1969 to 1972. He later took a position with Paul Revere as Home Office Senior Group Underwriter for Paul Revere. His career with Paul Revere flourished when he became a Group Representative in Chicago and became Group Salesman of the year in 1977.

In 1979 Ken returned to North Carolina to open the Paul Revere Charlotte Group office. In the 80’s he opened up the Charlotte Indvidual Brokerage Office. He continued to sell Paul Revere products until 1996 when he started The Kenneth A. Bloch Agency – a specialty disability income brokerage agency.

Ken has been an active member of the community and the speaker at Disability Income Officers Roundtable in 1996 as well as speaker at a number of Life Associations Meeting in NC.

In 2002 he was elected President of The Plus Group – the nation's largest disability income marketing organization. Currently is active on several field advisory committees for major disability income companies.

Married to Anne in 1969 and have 2 children Ken Jr. and Matthew, both of which are brokerage representatives for the Agency.

SPONSORED BY
Commercial Travelers

Click on the above ad to see a larger copy

President's Message:
Nancy Gibson, HIA, MHP

It’s January and time to focus on setting your goals for the coming year. Make TAHU a priority by putting into your calendar our meeting time: second Tuesday of each month from 11:45 AM to 1:00 PM. We have very loyal sponsors lending their support. Our thank you to them is our attendance at the meetings.

This year, as last, the goal for each member is to recruit just one new member. Know a State Farm agent? What about an Allstate agent? Both of these organizations were supportive of their agents joining NAHU last year. Let’s extend an invitation to them to be part of our organization. We have a lot to offer and they just may not have found us yet.

Remember these important dates for the next few months:

January 13 Monthly Meeting - 3 hours of CE following regular meeting

February 10 Monthly Meeting

March 9 Monthly Meeting (it must be Leap Year!)

March 17-18 State Symposium, High Point, NC. Great speakers – get your CE wrapped up for the year

March 28-30 Cap Conference, Washington DC
Opportunity to meet with your elected officials, meet others from NAHU. You will come back energized and committed. We receive points for attendance and do have some money to help defray expenses.

April 13 Monthly Meeting - 3 hours of CE following regular meeting

May 11 Monthly Meeting and Charity Golf event – come out and support our selected charity and enjoy a day out of the office

June 8 Monthly Meeting

June 22-23 Day on the Hill – our opportunity to meet with our State elected officials and express our concerns and exchange ideas with them

June 24-30 National Convention, Baltimore MD
Baltimore is not far away. This would be a good time to see the national organization in action. Monies available to help defray expenses.

There are a lot of opportunities for each of us to participate and support Health Underwriters. Please jot these dates down in your calendar so you won’t miss any of these important events.

Get to know your Board . . .

Continuing our effort to let you know more about your board members, following are the bios for Jay Kennedy and Elizabeth Barnard.

Jay Kennedy
Treasurer 2003-2004
Jay Kennedy is currently the Executive Director of Four County Health Network (FCHN), a provider-sponsored PPO network located in Henderson, NC. FCHN offers a PPO product to self-insured employers in the four county area which is just north of the Triangle (Vance, Granville, Warren and Franklin counties). Before coming to FCHN, Jay was at Health Care Savings for 6 years as the Manager of Network Development. Jay received a B.A. from Campbell University and a MHA (Master of Healthcare Administration) from UNC-Chapel Hill. Jay has been in the healthcare industry since 1988 with his first healthcare job (a summer job) being that of an admissions clerk at the Duke Hospital Emergency Room (what an experience!). He is married with two young children and lives in Wake Forest.

Elizabeth Barnard
Media Relations Chair 2003-2004
Elizabeth works for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina as an Administrative Assistant starting in June 2002. A newcomer to the Insurance Industry, Elizabeth has secured her Life, Health, and Medicare Supplement licenses. She brings to this post a background in print media, having been an editor for a internal publication for a company of 1700 employees. She’s excited about returning to communications and helping get the word out about TAHU.

Happy New Year!

Nancy Gibson, HIA, MHP
Principal Financial Group
1616 East Millbrook Road, Suite 210
Raleigh, NC 27609
919-783-7790
919-783-9748 Fax
gibson.nancy@principal.com

Law and Legislation:
Bill Hendrickson

HEADLINES:

- - Medicare Modernization passes; Congressman David Price opposes the bill

- - North Carolina Hospital Association explains cost increases

- - American workers changing behavior to meet health care costs

- - Uninsureds plan to apply for health insurance online

- - More medical care does not equal better care

- - Movie review

We all have read the particulars of H. R. 1, the Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act. Janice Kupiec of NAHU e-mailed a summary to all members on November 17, and if you need a copy, you can get it on the NAHU web site, or I’ll fax you a copy. Call me at (919) 644-8636. Congressman Price, 4th District Representative wrote many of us with his reasons for voting against H. R. 1. His primary objections include - - -

- The drug benefit is not meaningful for Medicare participants
- Using private insurers is not the way to go. The benefit should be a direct Government benefit
- Health Savings Accounts (HSA’s) are for the high income citizens and offer a tax loophole for the rich.

The new legislation does not commence until 2006, so there will be continued efforts to amend the law between now and then. Keep listening and watching.

Hugh Tilson, Vice President of Government Relations and Associate General Counsel of the North Carolina Hospital Association recently spoke before the NC House Select Committee on the Rising Cost of Health Care. These are some of the reasons he gave for these rising hospital costs:

Bureaucracy and red tape; too much paper work per patient
New and very expensive technology needed to keep up with advanced treatments
Increasing cost of professional liability insurance
The hospital as a safety net for the uninsured. NC hospitals will provide
$1.3 billion in uncompensated care for the uninsured this year!

Some of his suggestions on how legislation could assist in controlling hospital costs:

Provide funds to train health care professionals, of which there is a shortage
Provide legislation to lasso in the cost of professional liability insurance
Do not pass mandates that are left unfunded
Reduce the cost shift. As the state reduces Medicaid spending, the cost for hospital services are shifted to the private sector, both insureds and uninsureds.

In a recent study published in Medical Benefits, there are definite changes taking place on how American workers behave as they attempt to cut their own health care costs. Here are some examples:

80% plan to choose generic drugs when available
58% use the internet to learn about medical conditions and diagnoses
47% have improved their diet and 34% have lost weight
37% undergo routine screening tests and 25% have managed to reduce emergency room visits.

Our profession welcomes these changes since many of the insurance products and services we offer have techniques within them to encourage behavior change. Nevertheless, this same study found that almost 50% of the population is still confused about the types of plans available and about the multitude of services offered. Our job becomes even more significant as we continue to make health insurance understandable and not frightening or confusing to those who need it.

Technology continues to play an increasing role in all parts of our lives and will have a greater impact on how health underwriters market and service their products. An article entitled “Uninsured Consumers’ Technology Use and Attitudes”, also in Medical Benefits stated that 27% of non-elderly Americans without health insurance are actively seeking coverage and that 44% of uninsured consumers who plan to apply for health insurance will research or apply for it online.

This is a large chunk of the population. Insurance companies, agents, and brokers who hope to keep their market share will need to provide the web sites with full information and applications. Companies and producers who shy away from using technology to market their products and services will see their share of the market being diminished by the high tech sources. Get on board!

A study from the Dartmouth University Medical School as reported in The New York Times of December 1, 2003 stated that per capita Medicare spending in the Borough of Manhattan, NY in 2000 was $10,550, while in Portland, OR, the per capita amount was only $4,823.

Comparing similar patients in both places, Medicare enrollees in Manhattan spent twice as much time in hospitals and had twice as many doctors visits per year compared to the patients in Portland.

The most significant data found by the researchers of this study was that neither the quality of care nor patients’ satisfaction with it was related to costs! Much of the higher costs were related to discretionary uses of specialists, diagnostic tests, longer hospital stays and minor procedures. Overall, the quality of care and safety of the patients was worse where Medicare spending was greatest. Since the study focused on Medicare patients where statistics are more available, it is likely that similar statistics and outcomes would apply to the younger population.

Researchers say that perhaps 1/3 of medical spending is now devoted to services that don’t appear to improve health or the quality of care - - - and may make things worse!

The Barbarian Invasion, a movie made in Quebec in the French language with English sub-titles, is playing in the art houses. It is reasonably funny and portrays the relationships of family and friends to a man with terminal illness. For us who support private health care and insurance, the film makes direct assault on the Canadian socialized system. When it comes to the Triangle, I recommend each of us taking friends along who favor the single payer system. The film reveals in a somewhat humorous way why many Canadians go south for their health care.

On the same topic of socialized medicine, Investors Business Daily reported on December 8 that hospitals in Britain’s National Health System do not meet even the most basic hygiene or sanitations standards. Supporting this statement, sources say that 5,000 patients die per year from hospital-acquired infections, an additional 15,000 deaths per year result from complications from infections, and many more patients get sick from the same dirty conditions. Private hospitals in Britain are much more concerned with cleanliness, but patients who use the public facilities need to beware of lethal conditions.

AND FOR ALL OF US IN AMERICA FACING A FLU EPIDEMIC - - - WASH YOUR HANDS ! ! !

William Hendrickson
Hendrickson & Company, Inc.
2219 Lawrence Road
Hillsborough, NC 27278
919 644-8636
919 644-6433 Fax
bill2219@mindspring.com

Membership:
Beth Donner

If you see these new members at our meeting please speak to them and thank them for joining our organization.

Welcome to TAHU:

Wes Bartlett
Olga Brewer
Jim Curis
Lori Edwards
Carl Heimel
Cathy Hurley
Debbie Jones
Jeff Kiser
Dave Matters
Dan Odorizzi
Laura Reyes
Maria Stafford
Ian Thomas
Victoria Totten-Thomas

REMEMBER: IT IS EVERYONE'S GOAL TO RECRUIT 1 NEW MEMBER THIS YEAR; HAVE YOU RECRUITED 1 NEW MEMBER YET?

Look forward to seeing everyone at the next meeting.

Elizabeth C. Donner
Diversified Planning
10 Ivy Hollow Court
Morrisville, NC 27560
919-460-6076
919-380-0908 Fax
bdonner@investment-works.com

Public Service:
Allison Tolksdorf, RHU

Your association members have continued to be supportive of the many projects we conduct for Public Service.

Thank you for the generous support of the NC Food Bank at our December 2003 meeting. We collected $65 and your board of directors has agreed to match, dollar-for-dollar, the donations. We will make a donation in the amount of $130.00 to the NC Food Bank on behalf of all of our members of TAHU.

Allison C. Tolksdorf, RHU
Jones Insurance Agency, Inc.
P.O. Box 190
Garner, NC 27529-0190
919-772-0233
919-772-4783 Fax
allisont@jones-insurance.com

Website:
Michele Gregory, MHP, RHU, REBC

January – named for Janus, the Roman god who was guardian of portals and patron of beginnings and endings.

Because TAHU works on a fiscal year instead of a calendar year, Janus, for us, would be a more appropriate god during the summer months, when we change from the previous year’s officers to a new board.

On the other hand, we could adopt Janus as the patron of our website on a year-round basis, because www.nctahu.org gives us a portal into information about our organization.

During January, as we take a look at where we want to go in the new year, please look at our website as Janus would, both to the past and to the future. Make sure that the information we have gathered is both pertinent and accurate, then consider ways that we might use the site to help us be more informed and productive in the future.

As always, I welcome your suggestions for improvement. Happy Janus-ary

Michele Gregory, MHP, RHU, REBC
Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina
2501 Aerial Center Drive, Suite 200
Morrisville, North Carolina 27560
919-765-4671; 800-228-6216
919-467-2823 Fax
Michele.Gregory@bcbsnc.com

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
2003-2004

Blue Cross & Blue Shield of NC

Cigna

UnitedHealthcare

Please extend your appreciation to the Triangle members representing these organizations and remember their generosity when placing coverages.

Triangle Association of Health Underwriters
P.O. Box 19177
Raleigh, NC 27619-9177