MEDIA HIT HIGHLIGHTS AUGUST 2015

BY THE NUMBERS  In August, NAHU received more than 521 press hits.  In July, NAHU received more than 764 press hits.  So far in 2015, NAHU has received 4,745 press hits.  In 2014, NAHU received more than 7,600 press hits.

PRINT MEDIA IN AUGUST “The insurance carriers are looking for more-efficient ways to provide access to affordable insurance,” said Matthew Byrne, spokesman for the Columbus Association of Health Underwriters and president of MyHealthQuoter.com in Dublin.” “Access doesn’t come for free.” “When his partner retired, Goldmann joined the Word & Brown general agency. Goldmann was named president of the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU) in July, and he continues to serve as a vice president at the Word & Brown in Orange, California. Goldmann recently told Benefits Selling about NAHU’s plans for the coming year, his thoughts on outside forces affecting the insurance industry, and the ways he sees brokers and other insurance professionals reinventing themselves in order to adapt to the ever-changing benefits environment.” “Fairfield insurance broker Tim Tracy Jr. said it’s common to have clients who don’t understand what deductibles, copayments or co-insurance are. While schools typically teach basic financial information, insurance is rarely discussed, noted Tracy, president of the Connecticut Chapter of the National Association of Health Underwriters. “It’s not like shopping on Amazon. It’s not like shopping on Google,” he said. “You’re purchasing something that has an...enormous amount of ‘what if?,’ and you need to know what that ‘what if?’ is.”” “Letters - Blame ACA tax for premium increase: A June 2 article on OrlandoSentinel.com reported that "nearly a dozen health insurers are proposing double-digit rate increases for 2016 Florida plans" ("Some Florida health insurers request big 2016 rate increases"). The Affordable Care Act's new health insurance tax is a big reason why premiums are rising. Janet Trautwein executive vice president and CEO, National Association of Health Underwriters” “Not quite two months into his annual term as president of the Oklahoma State Association of Health Underwriters, Wayne Pettigrew and the association already are celebrating a win for small employers. Many agents had feared that age discrimination could have occurred if the individual rating methodology had been required, which could have put groups with over 50 employees in a bind as they attempt to comply with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandate to provide quality, affordable insurance,” Pettigrew said.”

SOUND BYTES IN AUGUST “Minnesota Association of Health Underwriters President Heidi Michaels is a fan of UCare and worries about its future. Her immediate concern is that UCare won't charge enough for individual and family coverage. Low prices could bring in more business but also could leave UCare without enough money to pay all claims. That's what happened with PreferedOne. It happened again with BlueCross Blue Shield of Minnesota this past year. Both companies experienced substantial financial losses after people who enrolled in a plan through MNsure used more health care than the insurers expected. “The concern now is that UCare doesn't have that bigger block of business to support a huge amount of claims," Michaels said.””

POPULAR AUGUST SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS Twitter Facebook

AUGUST UPDATE: 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 August’s analytics indicating the campaign's great progress.August’s analytics  Twitter:  In August, NAHU’s profile was visited 2,463 times -- a 12 percent increase from July.  NAHU gained 393 new followers.  NAHU’s tweets were seen on average 1,600 times per day -- a 14 percent increase from July.  Our tweets were clicked 326 times.  Facebook:  NAHU’s posts reach, on average, 1,017 unique individuals each day.  NAHU’s posts were liked, on average, 16 times per day this month -- a 14 percent increase from July.  NAHU’s page was visited 205 times.  Campaigns:  Since we started posting them, links to NAHU’s platinum summit page have been clicked more than 88 times.  Since we first posted them, links to NAHU’s Compliance Cornered Blog have been clicked 17 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.