MEDIA HIT HIGHLIGHTS MAY 2015

BY THE NUMBERS  In May, NAHU received more than 774 press hits.  In April, NAHU received more than 640 press hits.  So far in 2015, NAHU has received 2,770 press hits.  In 2014, NAHU received more than 7,600 press hits. *NAHU has a Media Hit Report that tracks nationwide press hits by each state and displays in detail what media coverage we’ve received by month. Review our archive to see what monthly articles mentions NAHU and its chapters.

PRINT MEDIA IN MAY Many schools provide access to a campus health station for a fee. That may be worth considering as a supplement to coverage a student may bring from home, said Craig Gussin, an independent broker based in San Diego. “A lot of people, even though they are offered insurance through their employer, are going to the exchange for subsidies, sometimes for themselves, sometimes for their dependents” said Brad Davis, a Woodland broker who is on the board of the Sacramento Association of Health Underwriters. That’s a problem, he added, because of the so-called “family glitch” that forbids consumers who turn down affordable insurance at work to get subsidies for themselves or dependents through Covered California. Florida Association of Health Underwriters: Symposium Janet Trautwein, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU) in Washington, D.C., will deliver the symposium's opening address. "This symposium features an unbelievable line-up of industry experts; there is no doubt you will leave with ideas you can immediately put into action,“ said Trautwein. Unlike in pre-ACA days, when consumers could buy health insurance at any time (unless, of course, they were excluded by preexisting conditions), the marketplace has enrollment periods, to protect insurers from people buying coverage when they need it and dropping it when they don't. "They put these deadlines in place to protect from people gaming the system," said Dave Mordo, an insurance broker from Middletown, N.J.

SOUND BYTES IN MAY Immediate past president of the Minnesota Association of Health Underwriter, Alycia Riedl, speaks on Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) News regarding MNsure’s chief resigning and it’s unstable ground on the exchange, saying, "They're in a critical time right now around how they prepare for open enrollment coming up.” [Tom] Morrill, who is president of the Greater Kansas City Association of Health Underwriters, says once the [Supreme Court] decision comes down, health insurance agents will be a good source of information and advice for those affected. You can also be in touch with insurance navigators or counselors at health clinics.

POPULAR MAY SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS Twitter Facebook

SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN  Since its launch in January, NAHU's new social media campaign has tremendously increased our social media presence, numbers and viewership on our Facebook and Twitter pages. We are excited to share May's analytics indicating the campaign's great progress.May's analytics  Twitter:  In May, NAHU’s profile was visited almost 2,000 times.  NAHU gained more than 300 new followers.  NAHU’s tweets were seen 42.5 thousand times, averaging to 1.4 thousand per day.  Facebook:  NAHU’s posts reach, on average, 866 unique individuals each day.  NAHU’s page was visited 209 times.  Campaigns:  Social media links of the Education Foundation’s Value-Based Insurance Design webinar were clicked more than 56 times.  Social media links of Annual Convention registration page were clicked 102 times.

IMPORTANCE OF MEDIA COVERAGE  We often send these clips to policymakers to alert them of the issues we are facing. The more high-profile media coverage we received, the more attention policymakers will pay to our issues.  Media placement means an increased understanding of the issues in the public, both inside and outside the industry.  Media attention increases NAHU name recognition and branding.  We do not pay for our media placements. All coverage received by our members is free business promotion, which promotes NAHU members as subject-matter experts.  Good information and solid sound bytes provided by an NAHU member means other reporters will want to use that member as a resource.