INDIANAPOLIS -- Ronnell Nolan is a health insurance activist and she makes no apologies about it. She spoke yesterday in a BenefitsPRO Broker Expo session entitled “Agent Survival in a New Political Climate.”

Before she made these demands of her captive audience, Nolan opened her talk yesterday with a pointed question.

“How many of you love politics?”

One hand went up. Nolan nodded approvingly. Being a political junkie these days is not a popular avocation and Nolan knows this well. As someone who travels frequently to Capitol Hill to lobby Congressional members, she knows the bullseye placed on today’s political world, a world that seems to become more contentious with each passing moment.

“I know, I know,” said Nolan, speaking in her native Baton Rouge drawl. “Politics drives most people crazy.”

But politics has become Nolan’s life ever since she founded Health Agents for America, Inc. (HAFA) in November 2012. “I saw there was a need for an association that would represent agents exclusively. There are so many things happening to the industry right now and we need to stand up for ourselves,” said Nolan.

Today, with the recent inclusion of an agent from Colorado, HAFA counts more than 500 members who reside in 43 states.

Nolan said whether agents and brokers join HAFA or some other association, the important takeaway is that they join something.

“You have to stand up for yourself and for the other agents and brokers,” she said. “I learned years ago. I got started in this business as an eighteen-year-old and along the way realized the way I was going to really make a difference was by lobbying.”

Chess game

”Go ahead and tell me. Is all the political talk driving you crazy?”

Most of the people in attendance nodded their head or answered in the affirmative.

“I know what you mean. I could have let all the craziness get to me,” Nolan said. “But I have accepted politics for what it is. It’s a game. If you can look at politics that way, it’s a lot easier to deal with.”

She learned about the game of politics years ago when she worked on a bill. It looked like it was going to pass, but at the end of a session, someone put an amendment on the bill which killed it. “That was an early lesson for me. I got outsmarted on that one. It could have made me mad, but that’s politics. You have to learn how to play the game.”

Nolan makes the comparison to a game of chess. “They move that piece; then we move this piece. In politics, the key is anticipating what your opponent will do next, or maybe ten steps from now.”

Wild, Wild West

In Nolan’s world, the agents and brokers will become part of the political message. She envisions a world where agents are out there making a difference in the political arena.

She wants brokers to speak to their congressmen and senators. She wants people writing letters to politicians and joining groups that can help shape legislation.

Nolan may sound like a slave driver, but the impetus for her passion is a desire to serve as an advocate for independent agents.

She’s seen too many insurance companies refuse to pay broker commissions on higher-tier exchange plans or special enrollment plans and wants what’s best for all the independent agents out there.

On one of the slides she presented to the audience, the following words scrolled across the screen: “It’s the Wild West out here, and companies are doing what they can to survive. They're not paying commissions on platinum plans, and they are not paying them for special enrollment plans which cover some of the sickest patients.”

Education

One way for agents to survive in this new political climate is to focus on educating the client. In the session following Nolan’s, James Slotnick, AVP Broker Education, Sun Life Financial, spoke about the need to connect with clients on a deeper level.

Slotnick said clients have lived in confusion and fear about their health care for a decade and it’s time for a shift in communication.

“There will not be repeal and replace in 2017,” said Slotnick. “The fact is, your clients need to hear this. For the rest of 2017, Trump will be focused on tax reform, not changing health care.”

Slotnick said with the GOP health care plan dead in the water, right now is the perfect time to have holistic health care conversations with clients. For a decade now, the conversation between agents and clients has focused on how to get the lowest-cost option available. While that is a valid concern, the low-cost focus has overshadowed another important topic—finding a better holistic solution.

“People have suffered through a decade of distraction,” said Slotnick. “And they have suffered because of it.”

A Sun Life study revealed 54 percent of people didn’t know their out-of-pocket maximum; 33 percent didn’t know their deductible; and, 30 percent didn’t know either. The study also showed American workers have a disconnect regarding disability. When asked, “What is the chance you will be out of work for three months or more because of disability?” 66 percent of workers think there is a 2 percent chance of this happening. In reality, there is a 25 percent chance.

“It’s clear many of today’s employees don’t understand what they need and what they don’t need,” Slotnick said. “There’s a wonderful opportunity to open the dialogue and offer holistic solutions.”

Instant Insights /

Agents must become activists and educators, HAFA founder says

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