Tag Archives: continuing insurance education

HITECH For Brokers Is Not Just For Geeks

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Brokers on the Hook for Compliance on February 17, 2010

By Cathy Miller, Business Writer

Brokers may soon be pulling out their wallets if they do not comply with the major changes to the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy and security requirements. New rules for business associates are in effect on February 17, 2010. That includes you – the broker.

Blame It on Health Care Reform

With so much focus in the last year on health care reform, this particular legislation may have gone unnoticed. A part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the “Stimulus Bill”) signed by President Obama on February 17, 2009, created the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (the “HITECH Act”).

To reduce health care costs and improve care, the goal is for the creation of a national health technology infrastructure. Securing protected health information (PHI) is a critical component.

HIPAA With Teeth

Up to this point, many covered entities and business associates likened HIPAA to Y2K – much ado about nothing. Well, not anymore. HITECH significantly expands the HIPAA privacy and security rules. These are just a few of the changes:

  • New HIPPA rules for Business Associates (BAs) – subject to the same privacy and security rules as Covered Entities (CEs) including civil and criminal penalties
  • Stricter Enforcements – Civil penalties for privacy or security violations increased to a range of $100 to $50,000 per violation, with annual caps ranging from $25, 000 to $1.5 million
  • Legal Action by State Attorney Generals –  allows legal action for violations of privacy and security regulations –Note:  Connecticut has already taken action against Health Net
  • New Breach Notification Requirements – requires CEs to notify an individual within 60 days of discovery of the breach of privacy or security (BAs also have notification requirements for a breach)

HITECH created additional privacy requirements that affect both CEs and BAs. Like any legislation, final regulations are a work in progress.

BA Agreements

You or your brokerage firm may have already received revised or new Business Associate (BA) Agreements from insurance carriers. Legal counsel should review the Agreements for interpretation. It is likely that the new Agreements contain greater liability for brokers.

If you have BA Agreements with self-funded clients, more than likely, they need revising. Have your legal counsel review them for compliance.

With the introduction of HIPAA, many brokers signed BA Agreements without much thought on compliance. In the past, breaching the obligations of the BA Agreement meant only a breach of contract. Noncompliance under the under the new requirements can jeopardize your business.

February Deadlines

The February deadlines are interim final regulations and something brokers need to know. The first deadline is February 17, 2010. That is the one-year anniversary of the Stimulus bill and the date the monetary penalties go into effect. The second date is February 23, 2010 and is the deadline for the new breach notifications requirements.

Don’t Ignore Compliance

This is a very brief highlight of the impact of the HITECH Act. If you have been like many brokers who take a passing glance at your Business Associate responsibilities, read the fine print and take action. With the new legislation, there is a financial incentive for prosecuting HIPAA privacy and security violations. Don’t think this applies only to the “other guy.” That “other guy” might be you.

Cathy Miller, Business Writer/Consultant has over 30 years of professional writing with a specialty in health care, employee benefits and wellness. Cathy also has an active Life/Accident/Health insurance license. Visit Cathy at her business writing blog, Simply stated business to Keep it simple, clear & uniquely yours.

Notice of Disclaimer –Cathy Miller and InternetCE are not attorneys and cannot provide legal advice. The information provided is for your general background only, and is not intended to constitute legal advice as to your specific circumstances. We recommend you review legislation with legal counsel.

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Motivate Yourself to Learn through Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction

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By Shelley A. Gable

At some point, we’ve all had to go through a training course we weren’t interested in. Maybe you found the content to be boring, or you felt it didn’t apply to you. Either way, it’s challenging to learn something new when you’re not motivated to learn it in the first place.

Of course, when you’re required to complete a particular course, you have to find a way to make it work. And if you’re going to be tested on the information presented in that course, then you also need to make sure you actually learn something along the way.

How can you motivate yourself to learn?

Try applying the ARCS model when you’re completing an online course. John Keller, an educational psychology researcher, proposed ARCS as a motivational model for educators to follow to motivate students to learn.

ARCS is an acronym for:

  • Attention
  • Relevance
  • Confidence
  • Satisfaction

Let’s take a look at how each of these pieces can help motivate you when you’re completing online training.

Attention

One of the most demotivating feelings you may experience at some point during a course is boredom. The attention piece of the ARCS model is about capturing and maintaining your interest and curiosity in a topic.

So how can you overcome boredom?

  • Take breaks throughout the online course. Completing a course in bite-size chunks will help keep your perspective fresh by breaking up the potential feeling of monotony.
  • Quiz yourself periodically. When you reach topical transitions in the online course, take a moment to recall as much information from the previous section as you can. This can help keep your mind active and engaged.
  • Take notes with a purpose. If you’re focused enough on the content to take meaningful notes, you’re more likely to remain attentive. An earlier post on this blog (How Can Note Taking Help You with Online Learning?) offers suggestions for taking notes effectively.

Relevance

Nobody likes to have their time wasted, which is why relevance is an important component of learning motivation. A course is relevant when you feel like you’re actually going to benefit from what you’re learning, and you believe that the course will help you meet your individual needs and goals.

How can you create a sense of relevance, when it might not be immediately obvious?

  • Start with a positive attitude and attempt to anticipate how the course content will benefit you on the job. Take a moment to consider this before digging into the course, and make it a point to continue pondering this throughout the course.
  • Ask a manager or your peers why they feel the topic is important. If you’re required to take a course and you’re held accountable for learning its information, someone must think it’s important!
  • If you’re struggling to pinpoint how the content is relevant for you, figure out who it might be relevant for. If the topic is applicable to others you interact with, you may be able to draw conclusions about how learning this information can help you build your relationships with those people.

Confidence

Although we may be reluctant to admit it at first, sometimes we lack the motivation to learn about something we think will be difficult. Confidence is part of this motivation model, because we tend to be more eager to learn something when we believe we can do so successfully. And I think most of us can agree that there are some complicated topics that can come with insurance continuing education.

So how can you boost your confidence during an online course?

  • Think about your peers who have successfully completed the course (or one like it) and mastered the content. If others can master the content, then surely it’s not an impossible task. You might even ask your peers for suggestions to help you be successful.
  • Pace yourself. Trying to process too much information (especially complex information) in one sitting can be overwhelming. Break the course down into logical chunks, mastering each chunk individually. This will help build a sense of accomplishment as you complete the course.

Satisfaction

Have you ever been excited about learning something new, only to have some of that excitement deflate if you don’t get a chance to use that new knowledge right away? Create a feeling of satisfaction with your learning by taking the opportunity to showcase what you’ve learned. Satisfaction is about putting that newly learned knowledge to work.

How do you create opportunities to showcase your new knowledge?

  • Make it a point to do a task the very next day (or maybe even that day!) that requires you to apply what you’ve just learned. It’ll create a sense of satisfaction for the learning you’ve accomplished and give you an opportunity to test your new skills.
  • Talk to others about what you’ve learned. Talking about your newly learned knowledge will help reinforce it in your memory, and you may gain deeper insight into the topic by listening to another person’s perspective.

The thing that’s great about online learning is its flexibility. You can complete it in small chunks, progress at your own pace, and refer back to it as needed. This allows you learn and motivate yourself using the best techniques for you.

What motivates you when you’re completing an online continuing education course? If you have a motivational suggestion not offered here, please share it in the comments!

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Shelley A. Gable is an instructional designer and freelance writer. She has developed training for functions such as financial services, call centers, and engineering education. Shelley has written articles on topics related to training and management for print and online publications. Visit Shelley’s website at http://shelleygable.webs.com.

If You Wanna Remember It, Talk About It!

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By Shelley A. Gable

To remember the name of someone you’ve just met, repeat the name as soon as possible in conversation. Most of us have heard this tip before, but why does it work?

It may interest you to know that this same concept can apply to what you’ve learned from an online course. Let’s take a look at why this is true and how you can make it work for you in conjunction with online learning.

Why Discussing It Helps You Remember It

TalkingWhether you’re repeating someone’s name in hopes of remembering it later or chatting about what you’ve just learned in an online insurance continuing education course, discussing new knowledge is an effective way to help you anchor the information in your memory. Below are a few of the reasons why this works.

Repetition. This is common sense. The more you’re exposed to something, the more likely you are to remember it.

Application of new knowledge in context. When you have a conversation about something you’ve just learned, you’ll likely present it in a way that makes sense to you. This in and of itself can help you recall that information later. Additionally, the person you’re conversing with may prompt you to think about that information from a different angle, which is likely to deepen your understanding of the topic (thus making it easier to recall later). And if you’re relating the information to your work or something personally relevant, even better.

Reinforcement of the information through another modality. Many learning researchers suggest that we learn through three modalities: visual (learning through seeing), auditory (learning through hearing and/or speaking), and tactile (learning through doing). Reinforcing new information through multiple modalities increases the likelihood of remembering it. Therefore, you can reinforce newly learned knowledge in this way by conversing verbally about something you read or conversing in writing (perhaps in an online discussion) about something you heard.

Making This Work for You with Online Learning

While completing training online, identify information that you want to remember later. Maybe it’s a sales model from an online insurance sales training course. Maybe some interesting facts from an online continuing education course for real estate appraisers. Or something surprising from online training on securities. You’ll likely benefit most from identifying information that will impact you on the job or that you expect to be tested on later.

Regardless of what kind of information it is, your next step is to find a way to discuss it with others. Consider initiating a verbal discussion with a colleague in the office or a contact at a networking event. Alternatively, you may be able to solicit a broad array of perspectives by facilitating an online discussion. For example, you might tweet a question to your followers on Twitter or start a new discussion thread through a relevant LinkedIn group.

So how do you get the conversation going? Try stating the information you’ve learned, then asking for someone else’s perspective on it. For example, you might ask how it has affected the other person’s work or interaction with clients.

Considering how connected our world is today, there is a plethora of ways to engage others in a conversation. Whether you favor online social media or a face-to-face interaction, take advantage of this strategy as a way to reinforce what you’ve learned through online training courses.

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Interested in sales?  Perhaps Insurance, Real Estate, or Finance is your calling..  Click here to get licensed.

Need your Insurance Continuing Education?..Click here to take your continuing education classes online.

Shelley A. Gable is an instructional designer and freelance writer. She has developed training for functions such as financial services, call centers, and engineering education. Shelley has written articles on topics related to training and management for print and online publications. Visit Shelley’s website at http://www.shelleygable.webs.com.


Do You Know What Makes an Annuity Suitable – NAIC Does

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Model for Suitability in Annuity Transactions Adopted

By Cathy Miller, Business Writer

For many consumers, the bitter taste of investment fraud and a bad economy lingers. The times encourage increased scrutiny on investment products and advice. On December 21, 2009, the Life and Annuities “A” Committee of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) unanimously adopted a revised annuity suitability model.

Where It Started

With a goal of providing better protection for consumers, the NAIC organized a Working Group that reports to the Life Insurance and Annuities Committee. To improve the regulation of annuity sales, the Group worked on changing the 2003 version of the Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation.

By reviewing an individual’s risks and financial objectives, “suitability” measures if specific insurance products are an appropriate choice. The Working Group used many of the suitability requirements of Rule 2821 of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”). Rule 2821 requires a “reasonable basis” for concluding a variable annuity transaction is suitable and “reasonable efforts” in evaluating assets and the intended use of the annuity.

The following are some of the more notable changes made to the 2003 Model version and how those changes affect insurers and insurance producers.

Suitability Information

Much of the required information mirrors the requirements of FINRA Rule 2821, including age, existing assets, liquidity needs, liquid net worth, tax status, and the “intended use of the deferred variable annuity.” Something included that is not part of FINRA Rule 2821 is a requirement for information on the “financial resources used for the funding of the annuity.”

Impact of Change: At a minimum, the additional requirement may mean insurers need to change forms for recording all required information. The bigger question for insurers and insurance producers is if a securities license is required for annuity transactions.

Recommendations

Under “Duties of Insurers and of Insurance Producers,” the new Model adds requirements for recommending the purchase or exchange of an annuity. It adds disclosure requirements that “the consumer has been reasonably informed of various features of the annuity…” The revised model includes evaluation of the benefit to the consumer, the suitability of the annuity or an exchange of an annuity.

Impact of Change: The model requires a “reasonable basis” for recommendations. Insurers and insurance producers must determine how they will establish compliance with disclosure and evaluation requirements. Supporting evidence for regulatory audits is a major consideration.

Compliance Oversight

Provisions of the new model include requirements that prohibit an insurer from issuing “an annuity…unless there is reasonable basis to believe the annuity is suitable…” and notes “an insurer is responsible for compliance…”

Impact of Change: The model requires insurers to have a tighter rein on annuity sales including a review of recommendations prior to issuing an annuity, and training and compliance oversight of insurance producers. It transfers much of the ultimate responsibility of insurance producers’ actions to the insurer. Individual states may have different interpretations of the responsibilities of insurers and insurance producers.

What’s Next

The next step for the Model is a final vote by the full NAIC at its spring meeting in March. If finalized, each state must adopt the Model for it to be effective in that state. Considering the impact on insurers, insurance producers can expect administrative and process changes when selling annuities. Unless (or until) required to do so, the decision for obtaining a securities license is an individual one. Stay tuned to the actions of individual states in determining what’s next in annuity transactions.

The amended model and additional information is on the NAIC’s website.

Cathy Miller, Business Writer/Consultant has over 30 years of professional writing with a specialty in health care, employee benefits and wellness. Cathy also has an active Life/Accident/Health insurance license. Visit Cathy at her business writing blog, Simply stated business to Keep it simple, clear & uniquely yours.

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Corks Went Flying With Extension of COBRA Subsidy

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By Cathy Miller, Business Writer

In a previous post, we were watching the clock run out on the federal subsidy for COBRA coverage. In the nick of time, Congress approved an extension on the original December 31 deadline. A report from Hewitt Associates released immediately after the extension illustrates the impact of the subsidy.

Show Me the Money

Prior to the subsidy, eligible terminated workers paid the full COBRA premium – plus an administrative fee – to continue coverage under their former employer’s health plan. With the original legislation, eligible individuals received a 65% federal subsidy for nine months. Their COBRA eligibility had to start by December 31. Without an extension, many faced huge increases in what they paid for COBRA coverage.

The new bill from Congress made two changes to the original COBRA subsidy. First, it extended the eligibility period to individuals who lose their job to no later than February 28, 2010. Second, instead of the original nine months, the federal subsidy now continues for 15 months.

As a recent publication from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows, the subsidy makes a big difference in the average cost of coverage for individuals and families. For an unemployed worker, the extra savings is a welcomed relief.

Enrollment’s Up

Since the introduction of the original subsidy in March 2009, the Hewitt report shows a 20 percent increase in COBRA enrollment. The study looked at enrollment for 200 large employers with eight million employees. Between March 2009 and November 2009, 39 percent of those eligible for the subsidy enrolled in COBRA, as compared to 19 percent who enrolled between September 2008 and February 2009. The report showed some interesting industry-specific results.

The industries with the largest overall increase in COBRA enrollment were:

  • Industrial Manufacturing – from 7% to 67%
  • Aerospace & Defense – from 30% to 63%
  • Pharmaceuticals – from 20% to 44%
  • Media – from 13% to 36%
  • Business Services from 20% to 42%

The Insurance industry enrollment increased from 23% to 40%.

A New Clock Ticking

For insurance agents’ clients that either dropped coverage or paid full premiums, there are important new deadlines and provisions. The following describes some of the provisions for those caught in the transition.

  • Individuals who received full nine months of subsidy – are eligible for the full 15 months (an additional six months) provided they pay all of the reduced premium amount within 60 days of the enactment of the extension – or – within 30 days of being notified of the extension (whichever is later)
  • Individuals who paid full COBRA premium – after receiving the nine months of subsidy, receive a refund for the amount overpaid – or – can have that amount applied to future premiums. No timeline was set for reimbursement; however, agents should instruct clients to contact their COBRA administrator.

The subsidy is a band-aid that creates a temporary fix for maintaining health insurance coverage in these tough economic times. More than ever, clients need the sound advice and industry knowledge their insurance agent can provide. Additional subsidy information is available at the Department of Labor’s website at dol.gov.

Cathy Miller, Business Writer/Consultant has over 30 years of professional writing with a specialty in health care, employee benefits and wellness. Cathy also has an active Life/Accident/Health insurance license. Visit Cathy at her business writing blog, Simply stated business to Keep it simple, clear & uniquely yours.

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Avoid Forgetting What You’ve Learned from Online Learning

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By Shelley Gable

Remembering what you’ve learned from an online continuing education course allows you to more easily pass any needed exams and apply your new knowledge on the job. That’s pretty obvious, right? What isn’t always as obvious is how to do that.

Learning psychology suggests three surprisingly simple reasons people forget new information. Understanding these reasons, and being aware of the online learning characteristics that feed them, can help you be proactive in making sure you remember and learn.

Failure to Encode

Failure to encode means that you never learned it in the first place. Encoding is the process of committing information to memory. Blankly viewing words on a screen will rarely result in learning. In order to encode that information into memory, you must put some thought into what you’re viewing.

Have you ever drifted away while reading, only to realize that you don’t remember anything from the last couple of pages? If you’re not actively thinking about your learning, this can happen when you’re taking an online training course that requires you to read the content. Have you ever spaced out during a presentation, suddenly realizing at some point that you have no idea what has been said for the last few minutes? This can happen while listening to an audio narration of an online course as well.

Research suggests that if you relate new information to knowledge you already possess, you’re more likely to remember the new information later. To help you continuously encode new information into memory, ask yourself questions like the ones below throughout an online course.

  • How does this relate to what was discussed a moment ago?
  • What questions does this raise?
  • How will I apply this information on the job?
  • Do I need to do something differently now that I know this?

Failure to Retrieve

Have you ever tried to remember someone’s name, and while you felt like it was on the tip of your tongue, you just couldn’t quite recall it? This is failure to retrieve. This type of thing happens to all of us from time to time. You know you’ve fallen victim to failure to retrieve when you can’t recall something that you should know.

Assigning meaning to newly learned information can help prevent this form of forgetting. Many online learning courses include slides that are packed with facts, which you’re expected to recall later for a quiz or exam. If the information seems straight-forward, you may find yourself progressing through course quickly, assuming that the information will be easy to remember. However, information that’s easy to understand can also be easily forgotten. The key is to give that information context. When taking courses online, think about the newly learned information from the perspective of the last two bullet points from the list above. Finding ways to make the information personally relevant can make it easier to recall later.

Interference

Interference is another word for distraction. In other words, you’re diverting at least some of your attention to something else. And that “something else” will likely interfere with your learning.

Like many, I’m guilty of occasionally talking on the phone and scanning through my email simultaneously. In doing so, I’m usually figuring out which emails I can just delete, which need a quick reply, and which to revisit later. And I seem to pull it off quite well. But learning is a different kind of mental task.

We have a limited amount of brain power that we can use at any given time (psychologists refer to this as working memory), and we can attempt to distribute that brain power any number of ways. That’s what happens when you multi-task – you’re divvying up your working memory. Some tasks don’t require a lot of brain power (e.g., skimming my email as described above), which makes it relatively easy to give some of that brain power to other tasks (e.g., talking to someone on the phone). However, learning new information typically demands most of your working memory.

To avoid forgetting new information due to interference, minimize distractions and multi-tasking while taking an online course. If you take a phone call, don’t assume that you can continue to read content at the same time and remember what you read. If you’re listening to an audio narration, don’t surf the web or check your email at the same time. Give the course your full, undivided attention. Considering that online courses are available to you whenever and wherever, attempt to complete the course at a time and place where you’re least likely to be tempted by distraction.

The reasons we forget newly learned information are quite simple. Fortunately, methods for overcoming them are also simple. Armed with this knowledge, you can proactively engage in these methods during online courses to help you avoid forgetting the information you need to learn.

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If you appreciate these ideas, it’d be swell for you would share them (button below) or subscribe via the feed.

Click here for 5 reasons why you should subscribe!

Interested in sales?  Perhaps Insurance, Real Estate, or Finance is your calling..  Click here to get licensed.

Need your Insurance Continuing Education?..Click here to take your continuing education classes online.

Shelley A. Gable is an instructional designer and freelance writer. She has developed training for functions such as financial services, call centers, and engineering education. Shelley has written articles on topics related to training and management for print and online publications. Visit Shelley’s website at http://www.shelleygable.webs.com.