TAHU Update Volume No. 5 Issue No. 7 March 2004

Next Meeting

Tuesday, March 9, 2004
Brier Creek Country Club
Main Clubhouse
11:45 am, Luncheon Meeting

Please RSVP before Friday, March 5, 2004
to Mike Alexander, at
Jmalexander@nc.rr.com or 919-544-5681

GUEST SPEAKER
Dr. Scott Josephs
CIGNA's Medical Director

Dr. Josephs is presently the Market Medical Executive for NC, SC, KY, and AR for CIGNA HealthCare. In this role, he is responsible for developing utilization policies and programs, ensuring quality, chairing the Peer Review and Credentialing Committees, improving network management, and assisting Sales in procuring membership growth.

Previously, as Senior Medical Director for CIGNA HealthCare of North Carolina, Dr. Josephs was responsible for ascertaining that NC 800K members received high quality medical care and effective utilization management. He was able to determine that all utilization goals were met while ensuring that CIGNA HealthCare of NC maintained the best HEDIS scores of any of its major competitors. He was instrumental in implementing many innovative utilization programs including a Joint Replacement pre-admission program and a frequent ER utilizer program, both which have since become national programs. He managed a staff of 100 in both Quality and Health Services.

SPONSORED BY
CIGNA

Click on the above ad to see a larger copy

President's Message:
Nancy Gibson, HIA, MHP

We’re in the home stretch – spring is just around the corner and we are setting our sites on rounding out this year’s activities and gearing up for next year. State Symposium is in High Point – have you made your reservation? Capital Conference is in DC at the end of March – are you planning to attend?

Our meeting was well attended in February when our speaker was Susan Nestor from the DOI. We had several new members in attendance and a few guests who expressed interest in joining health underwriters.

David Smith has done an excellent job this year in providing CE credits to our membership at a very nominal cost. If you attend all of David’s sessions you will have 12 hours for the year. Thank you, David!

It’s also time to look forward to spring and our annual charity golf tournament to be held on Monday, May 17th. Mike Alexander is looking for help in recruiting sponsor, teams and prizes. Please lend your support to Mike to make this a meaningful event for our chosen charity. We welcome suggestions from the general membership for a charity to be considered to receive the proceeds from this year’s event. Questions? Please get in touch with Mike.

Have you recruited a new member yet this year? If not, please go to our website which will help you understand the value the TAHU can bring to insurance professionals. We now have a “chat” feature – TAHU Talks – to enable our members to exchange information on various ideas and initiatives. Try it out.

This is also the time of year that we actively solicit input from you regarding what you would like to see happen at TAHU. Do you have program ideas? Are you interested in participating more actively by being a committee member or board volunteer? If so, please let us know by sending a message via email to me (Gibson.nancy@principal.lcom) or to any of the other Board members. We welcome your participation and ideas.

We are sorry to inform you of the tragic loss of a member of TAHU. Jim Barnhart died February 17, leaving his wife Sonja and two very young children. Sonja is also a longstanding member of TAHU. Please keep this family in your thoughts in the days ahead.
In lieu of flowers, it is suggested that a donation be made for the surviving children to “The Barnhart Family Fund”. Donations will be accepted at any Wachovia Branch deposited to Account # 1010096871931. Please notify Kim Alboum at kimberley.alboum@willis.com of any considerations so that proper acknowledgement can be made.

Thank you for your support of the Triangle Association.

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

Awards:
JoAnn Davis

The Awards Committee is pleased to announce that we will be providing support to the Golf Tournament Committee this year. I would first like to ask our members to participate in the selection of our charity. You may cast a vote (or a nomination) by visiting our fabulous TAHU Talks site http://nctahu.blogspot.com.

In addition we are searching for volunteers to assist our committee. We have large and small projects so please contact me if you would like more details jodavis@ameritas.com.

Finally, time is running out to be nominated for Honor Council! If you think you may qualify, please visit our Web site or contact me personally for more details.

Happy Selling!

JoAnn Davis
Ameritas Life Insurance Corp.
3732 N. Roxboro Road, #200
Durham, NC 27704-1729
919-477-9199
919-477-8867 Fax
jodavis@ameritas.com

Continuing Education:
David Smith

SYMPOSIUM IS COMING.

Don't forget - the best time of the year is coming to get together with other agents and get your continuing education all at the same time.

"A World of Opportunities" is at the ShowPlace in High Point from March 17-19, 2004. The speakers have been set and the agenda is finalized....it's not TOO LATE to register to come to our state's premier event for health and employee benefit agents.

You can go to the NCAHU website - www.ncahu.org - and sign up today. Don't miss out on the education, the time together and the fun of Symposium.

David C. Smith
BenInsLaw
2530 Meridian Parkway, Suite 200
Durham, NC 27713
919-806-4481
919-882-9745 Fax
davidcurtissmith@yahoo.com

Law and Legislation:
Bill Hendrickson

HEADLINES:

MEDICARE A BITTER PILL FOR DOCTORS
NEW MEDICARE LAW ALREADY HIGHER PRICED THAN ESTIMATED
NATIONALIZED HEALTH PLAN WOULD REDUCE CARE
NORTH CAROLINA LEGISLATURE CONTINUES HEARINGS ON HEALTH CARE COST REDUCTIONS

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons says that practice changes will decrease the availability of many services for Medicare beneficiaries. Physicians are accepting new Medicare patients at a lower rate than in the past. They actually prefer uninsured patients to Medicare patients.

Compliance with Medicare is costly and takes time away from patient care. They claim that it costs $22 to process a Medicare claim, while private claims can be processed for $14.

Sixty-five percent of respondents to the Association’s survey said that if they were starting practice today, they would not take part in Medicare.

Investor’s Business Daily had an editorial claiming that the national health care plan proposed by Sen. Ted Kennedy would lower the quality of care in this country. Kennedy’s plan would require employers to offer, and pay for part of, health insurance to all employees—similar to a plan recently started in California. The plan would also include price setting mechanisms. Price controls on care and treatment would have an adverse effect, inviting gross system overuse. When an item is priced at $1.00 and the cost to provide the service is $5.00, treatments would be multiplied to cover costs.

With price controls on pharmaceuticals, the research and development of new drugs would be devastated. Almost all new drugs are developed in the laboratories of private pharmaceutical firms.

The editorial goes on to say that there is no real “crisis” of the uninsured to attend to. Many of the uninsured are people moving in and out of the workplace, with 3/4th of them going without insurance for less than a year. Further, a third of the uninsured live in households earning more than $50,000 per year, and one in seven in households with annual incomes over $70,000. Thus, the uninsured are not just the poor and aged as many would have us believe.

Back home in North Carolina, the House Select Committee on the Rising Cost of Health Care received testimony from several specialists from across the state. One of the most interesting and creative cost reduction programs is the wellness program the City of Asheville runs for persons with chronic health conditions—diabetes, asthma, hypertension, and high cholesterol. The program waives employee co-pays for disease related medications and supplies for patients who take self-care education classes and who meet regularly with their pharmacist. The patients save $20-$60 per month out of pocket drug expenses. The city pays for the classes and pays the pharmacists for their counseling services.

This has shown dramatic results for the city. In spite of the city’s costs, there has been a net savings per enrollee of $2,033 over the past five years. In addition, there has been nearly a 50% reduction in the number of sick days taken by the enrolled patients. 750 patients in Asheville are enrolled in the program. This approach proves that creative ideas can in themselves be translated into workable and highly successful programs.

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

Website:
Michele Gregory, MHP, RHU, REBC

Erin-Go-Back-To-The-Basics

Hopefully, you think of our website as a POT OF GOLD – where else can you find all the TREASURES that are at: www.nctahu.org

Your LEPRECHAUN webmaster has noticed a need to re-explain some of our basics, so you won’t need the LUCK OF THE IRISH the next time you’re looking for information.

Here are a few typical queries – they’re all real – that I have received recently:

Q. What does a Silver / Gold / Diamond sponsor receive from TAHU?
A. The answer to this and other sponsor-related questions is posted on our "Sponsor" page, available from any page on our website. Please note that there is no SHAMROCK level sponsorship. If your company is considering being a sponsor, you can see at a glance what benefits you will receive and what information you need to give us so that we can promote your efforts.

Q. Can you tell me what is so-and-so's phone number?
A. This question is S-O-O basic that it doesn't seem real even to me, but people ask me this all the time. Instead of just tapping them with my SHILLELAGH and giving them the number, I remind them that phone numbers, physical addresses, and email addresses for all of our members can be found on the "Member List", available from every page of our website. It's that simple.

Q. Who is the speaker for the (month) meeting?
A. Once we know our speaker, their topic and our sponsor for any future meeting, we post that information on the "Events" page, available from any page on our website. We keep a current calendar of events at the local, state, and national levels. The page is updated on the same day that we receive new information. If we don't list a speaker, topic or sponsor for our meetings, it's because they have not yet been confirmed. And, until confirmed, we won’t be able to tell you if they will be WEARING SOMETHING GREEN.

Q. How can I get copies of TAHU forms?
A. So you don’t get yourself bubbled up in an IRISH STEW, here’s a simple answer, OH DANNY BOY - we have many of our forms posted on the website. You can get Membership forms on the "Join TAHU" page, a PAC Contribution form on the "Links" page, an Honor Council application form on the "Awards" page, and there will soon be a Golf Tournament sign-up form on the "Events" page.

TAHU's website is a robust resource for information about our organization. The next time you’re ready to search the END OF THE RAINBOW looking for TAHU information, you should try looking on the website first – and that’s no BLARNEY.

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

Special Announcements:
Sharon Ross
NCAHU Membership Chair

Each year, Blue Cross offers to reimburse their new True Blue agents $150 for joining NAHU. The agent is required to pay the membership dues up front and then send a copy of their form and method of payment to their BCBS sales rep. Blue Cross sends a refund to the agent up to $150.

Please take a moment to review the attached list of prospects that are located in your Chapter's area. I have limited information so I am hoping that you know the individuals listed and know how to get in touch with them. This is a great opportunity to add membership in your area.

Once again, call or e-mail me with your questions.

Agency Name Agent's Name City Location

Montgomery Ins. Services Biscoe

George High Chapel Hill

Charles D. Kennedy Jr. Charles D. Kennedy Jr. Durham

Gwen Hedgepeth Elizabeth City

Integrated Benefit Solutions Lawrence Miller Elkin

Bullock & Associates Stan Bullock Greensboro

David Hunt & Associates Greensboro

Geoffrey Wehe Greensboro

Godwin & Reese Ins. Agency David Dow Greensboro

Osborne-Brumsey & Assoc Roberta Brumsey Greensboro

Robert Capps Greensboro

Burnette Insurance Services Phil Barrett Henderson

Consolidated Marketing Oscar Meek Henderson

Morrow Financial Services Jim Rasmussen Hendersonville

Health Ins.Brokerage Dan Cookinham High Point

Michael Kimbrell Lexington

Cape Fear Insurance Agency Robert Womble Lilling

Lynette Kinney Oak Ridge

Benefit Services Bill Boggs Raleigh

Joe Barkley Raleigh

Paul Coble Raleigh

Security Financial Services John Abernathy Raleigh

Fredrick Tulloss Rocky Mount

William Benfield Bill Benfield Rocky Mount

Thompson-Allen, Inc. Gordan Allen Roxboro

Stanberry Ins. Sylva

Port South Insurance Amanda Smith Wilmington

The Layman Group Perry Layman Wilmington

David Adkins Wilson

DW Benefits Susan Denny Winston Salem

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