1. Oppose decreasing the 40 hours pre-licensing requirement!
A proposal exists to reduce the 40 hour pre-licensing educational requirement down to 20 hours for life insurance agent licensure. FAIFA strongly opposes decreasing the training for new agents that desire to sell complex life insurance products to Florida’s consumers. Almost half the states have a requirement of more than 20 hours for pre-licensing classroom education. Florida must not become a haven for those that seek to sell life insurance with substandard and inadequate training. Our large vulnerable senior citizen population must be protected from the unwitting purchase of unsuitable life insurance and annuities.
2. Personal Injury Protection (PIP) reform.
The current statutory PIP “no fault” law is scheduled to sunset. The Legislature is studying the issue of whether to repeal the current $10,000 PIP coverage requirement. In particular, they are trying to control fraud. Carriers are split on whether to repeal the law or reenact (and fix) it, while the trial bar, chiropractors, and doctors want to maintain the status quo. FAIFA opposes any resolution that would transfer these health care costs to the voluntary health insurance market, thereby increasing the cost of health insurance. FAIFA is neutral on whether Florida should reform and maintain PIP or switch to a mandatory bodily injury or medical payments coverage requirement or some other mandatory medical payments program.
3. Oppose legislative or regulatory involvement in agent commission or contract issues.
FAIFA retains its long-held policy opposing government regulation or interference in agent commissions. Similarly, agents must maintain the unfettered free market ability to enter into contracts of their choosing with insurers and others. Governmental involvement in agents’ commissions or contracts could result in either increases, or decreases, to agent compensation and freedom. During Special Session in January, numerous proposals to reduce agents commissions at Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, or to study agents commissions in the homeowners insurance marketplace, received serious consideration, but were not enacted.
4. Privacy Opt-in.
Florida follows the Gramm Leach Bliley framework for providing customers with the option to “Opt-out” of having their data shared with affiliates. Idea #53 of the House’s 100 New Ideas proposal to create a privacy opt-in. Legislation is filed (HB1211/SB2268) that would criminalize actions if a person who obtains personal identification information concerning an individual distributes such personal identification information to any other person without receiving permission from the individual or from the individual's natural or legal guardian. FAIFA is concerned about the effect of this legislation on Agents that obtain customer data from insurers or affiliates, and is working to assure that actions legal today do not in the future create scenarios where agents are convicted of criminal infractions.
5. Fund the Florida Health Insurance Plan.
FAIFA supports funding the Florida Health Insurance Plan (“FHIP”) out of general revenue or a broad based funding mechanism. Only those that are uninsurable should be eligible for coverage. Premiums for FHIP participants should be as competitive as possible with private marketplace rates, and be based upon a scale that recognizes the participant’s ability to pay. The FHIP should only receive funding for deficits through a broad-based income source such as general revenue, and not from a tax or assessment placed only on health insurers in the admitted market. At a minimum, a tax or assessment on insurers must also extend to employee programs funded by self-insured employers under the provisions of ERISA. Agents should receive a fair commission for two years on business placed in the CHA.
6. Oppose mandated coverages or providers.
FAIFA continues to oppose adding mandated benefits or mandated providers in the health insurance/HMO market. Rising costs of health insurance and increasing numbers of people choosing or being forced to go without health insurance coverage require that insurers and HMO’s be allowed to offer basic major medical coverages without requiring expensive mandated benefits. Mandated coverages in the admitted market raises the differential in cost between the admitted and the self insured ERISA market, where fewer protections for insureds exist. Numerous bills adding even more mandated coverages have been filed and must be stopped.
7. Allow branch agencies equality with bank branch insurance agencies.
Legislation exists to restore the ability of banks with numerous branches to allow a single agent to “ride the circuit” and move from branch to branch on different days without maintaining a full time agent at each branch. This option has historically been available to banks for more than a decade, but agency licensure stopped this option. FAIFA supports allowing smaller insurance agencies with multiple locations to maintain the same privilege of not maintaining a full time agent at a branch location when the location is not open to insurance customer activity.
8. Eliminate Duplicative Agent Fingerprinting.
The Jessica Lunsford Act enacted in 2005 required fingerprint background screening for all contractors entering school grounds. This could be construed to apply to insurance agents and company personnel. The problem is that the application and accompanying fee must be done in each county school board where a contractor does business. There was no central information sharing provision in the original law. FAIFA supports an amendment to this Act to centralize the fingerprint check so that it does not need to be repeated by each county school board that a contractor does business with. Agents with fingerprints on file with one county or governmental entity should not be required to be fingerprinted again, for each governmental entity with which they do business. Since the original act was enacted in 2005, the Legislature has attempted to address the unintended consequences of limited access to service providers on school grounds. FAIFA has been working to specifically define the applicable offenses that would prevent a contractor from entering school grounds. Previously, the Jessica Lunsford Act allowed school boards to interpret what was considered an applicable offense by using the term "moral turpitude". This was problematic for employers and contractors because each school board applied the term differently. During the past two years, FDLE has created a database that allows school boards to share background screening information in order to eliminate the need to submit to a full background check in each district. A pending Senate bill (SB988) would create an exception for those workers who would normally not have contact with students – such as agents talking to teachers- and therefore not be required to undergo fingerprinting and background checks.
9. Stop Stranger Owned Life Insurance from proliferating in Florida.
Stranger Owned Life Insurance (“STOLI”) is a program that allows out of state investors to participate in life insurance and annuities on the lives of Florida citizens, without having any other legitimate insurable interest on the person being insured. A small percentage of the proceeds go to a charity, while investors reap annual annuity payments, and ultimately, a payout on permanent life insurance upon the death of the insured. President Bush has already proposed a 25 percent excise tax on these deals, paving the way for Congress to consider taxing other forms of life insurance. A small payment to a charity does not offset the potential tax risk to millions of widows, orphans, retirees and others that depend upon life insurance. One proposal FAIFA supports is eliminating non-recourse loans to individuals purchasing life insurance.
10. Health Care Information and Transparency.
Support legislation to improve data collection to assist consumers in purchasing decisions regarding health care quality, patient safety, and drug costs. This web-based information will assist health care purchasers in making informed decisions concerning health insurance and will be instrumental lowering the cost of health care coverage.
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