Insurance agents will not suffer from the Affordable Care Act in South Dakota
The Affordable Care Act looms in the U.S. and there are still several questions concerning the federal health care law that have yet to be answered. One of these questions concerns independent health insurance agents and how the federal law will affect them. In South Dakota, lawmakers are moving to address this issue. Early this week, legislators took steps to ensure than the state’s independent insurance agents will be included in the state’s health insurance exchange.
Agents claim commissions are at stake
The South Dakota health insurance exchange will be operated and built by the federal government. While the state will have no role to play in the governance of the exchange, it is able to ensure that its independent insurance agents will have a place within the exchange market itself. Several agents, as well as the various trade groups that represent them, have expressed concerns that an exchange will significantly cut into the commissions they earn through selling policies. South Dakota lawmakers are eager to ensure that provisions of the Affordable Care Act do not have such an impact.
Legislation will protect the commissions of agents
The state’s Legislature has been introduced to Senate Bill 139. The legislation will require the plans that are sold through the state’s health insurance exchange to provide agents with the same commissions that they receive through similar health insurance plans that are sold outside of the exchange system. The legislation would also ban out-of-state insurance companies from selling plans through the exchange unless they agree for their plans to meet the state’s own insurance regulations. The bill has received widespread support from the state’s insurance agents.
Affordable Care Act continues to generate concern for states and professionals
The Affordable Care Act continues to be a point of drama for the U.S., with many states claiming that the law’s provisions are too vague to institute. For insurance agents, the Affordable Care Act has long been an issue of concern, as its various provisions are designed specifically for large insurance companies and do little to consider the position of insurance agents.
