MEDIA HIT HIGHLIGHTS

SEPTEMBER 2015

BY THE NUMBERS

In September, NAHU received more than 443 press hits.

In August, NAHU received more than 521 press hits.

So far in 2015, NAHU has received 5,188 press hits.

In 2014, NAHU received more than 7,600 press hits.

PRINT MEDIA IN SEPTEMBER

“Leah-Anne Janway, an Oklahoma City insurance broker and president of the local chapter of the National Association of Health Underwriters says, “Doctors and we brokers aren't at all happy about the extra confusion. They are just having to deal with it as best they can; to treat patients and still get paid, while we try to inform our insureds, so they will know to call us to help with pre-certification, required before certain procedures, or if they get a bill or an explanation of benefit from a carrier showing denied."

“Michael Lujan, co-founder and chief strategy officer for San Francisco-based Limelight Health, which provides technical support for insurance agents and the insurance industry, said in California the majority of small business owners have opted to extend their grandfathered plans and delay decisions to better understand the law.

In November and December we will see many of those groups moving to ACA plans for the first time,” said Lujan, who is president of the California Association of Health Underwriters. “In some states as much as 80% of small businesses did early renewals,” he said.

BROKERS FINALLY GET THEIR OWN HEALTHCARE.GOV HOTLINE -- Agents and brokers will have their own HealthCare.gov call center for the upcoming Obamacare open enrollment period, a relief for those in the industry who didn’t think the federal exchange call center was enough to address customers' enrollment issues. On Tuesday, CMS told the National Association of Health Underwriters that they’re aiming to have the dedicated phone line up and running by the start of open enrollment on Nov. 1.

“Thomas Dignan, an insurance broker with Frenkel Benefits in New York, said that most premium increases he has seen have been around 10 to 15 percent, and that most policyholders have chosen to pay the higher premium and maintain their coverage. “They value the benefit,” he said.”

“Take into account plan deductibles – including out-of-network versus in-network for preferred provider organization, or PPO, plans – and out-of-pocket limits, says Nicholas Moriello…Then go a step further in your cost assessment. Plans commonly use a tiered coverage system, in which drugs – including some for mental and behavioral health – falling into higher tiers receive less-robust coverage, resulting in higher out-of-pocket costs for consumers, says Moriello, who is also a member of the national legislative council for the National Association of Health Underwriters.

Softheon's recent activities & experience in developing exceptional operational platforms for insurance carriers will transcend into the agent/broker community – while maintaining a first class experience for health insurance consumers. This will be an incredible opportunity for agents & brokers in select FFM markets and certainly a game changer for the future of our health insurance distribution model," added Wayne Sakamoto, President of Health Insurance Interactive, Member of the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU).

SOUND BYTES IN SEPTEMBER

“We hope that agents walk away with at least a sense of a piece of mind that Your Health Idaho is doing their best to make that process more smooth for Idahoans this year,” said president of the Southern Idaho Association of Health Underwriters Brett Thomas.” NAHU 2016 plans: Tackle ‘one of the most

serious issues’ for members: The National Association of Health Underwriters has big plans for the coming year, including addressing health reform’s definition of employer group size and the Cadillac tax. CEO Janet Trautwein explains how NAHU plans to be effective in an election year, as well as new ways the organization is equipped to train brokers and advisers.

POPULAR SEPTEMBER SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS

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SEPTEMBER 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 September’s analytics indicating the campaign's great progress.

Twitter: In September, your profile was visited 1,914 times. NAHU engagement rate was 1.8 percent -- a 20 percent increase since August. NAHU’s tweets were seen on average 1,500 times per day. Our tweets were clicked 345 times -- a 6 percent increase since August.

Facebook: NAHU’s posts reach, on average, 907 unique individuals each day. NAHU’s posts were liked, on average, 16 times and shared 13 times per day this

month. One of NAHU’s posts about the repeal of the small group definition change garnered

12 shares and reached more than 2,500 people.

Campaigns: Since we started posting them, links to NAHU’s platinum summit page have been

clicked more than 103 times. Since we first posted them, links to NAHU’s webinars have been clicked 258 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.