A Message from PIA's President
February 2011 
There are many things you can say about the year 2012, but perhaps the most important is that this is no time for professional insurance agents to sit on the sidelines.
All of us know that 2012 is a critical year, both for the future of our country and the interests of professional insurance agents. This year’s elections will go a long way to determine the business environment in which we will be operating our agencies for years to come. Electing pro-insurance, pro-business candidates will be key to our success.
That’s what makes political involvement so important this year. Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a legislative reception put together by PIA of Georgia which was attended by more than 300 agents. I got the opportunity to meet with Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, Speaker of the House David Ralston, Commissioner of Insurance Ralph Hudgens and Insurance Committee Chairman Richard Smith, all of whom attended the meeting and spoke.
This year’s 2012 PIA Federal Legislative Summit in March will be a vital forum for agents around the country. There are a host of issues that are important to us currently in play on Capitol Hill. An example is the flood insurance program. Do you realize that lawmakers have been kicking the can down the road with short-term extensions of the National Flood Insurance Program since 2002? That’s a decade. The good news is that Congress is now closer than ever to finally passing a comprehensive reform bill with a full five-year reauthorization. Now, our efforts are needed to help push it over the finish line.
Insurance agents who sell health insurance are still reeling from a decision by the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to include agent compensation as administrative expenses in the calculation of medical loss ratios (MLR). As a result, the compensation of many licensed health insurance agents and brokers has been cut by as much as 50%. HHS has acted against congressional intent in an effort to push agents out of the health insurance market. PIA members will again urge Congress this year to enact legislation to remove producer compensation from the calculation of the MLR, taking it out of the hands of HHS.
PIA members who sell crop insurance have been having an especially hard time lately with the federal government. For the first time, the federal government is attempting to interfere in the private market by imposing caps on the commissions that crop insurance agents are paid by private insurance companies. If left unchallenged, this risks setting a dangerous precedent for the federal government to broadly dictate prices to the private sector.
As a grassroots, member-driven national association PIA has plenty of clout, both in the statehouses and on Capitol Hill. Now is the time for all PIA agents to come to the aid of all PIA agents. Use your hard-earned clout to make things a little better for all Professional Insurance Agents by attending the 2012 PIA Federal Legislative Summit.
Thomas C. Adderhold
President
Thomas C. Adderhold
President
PIA National