Senate Senator Tim Larson (D-East Hartford) today led passage of a bill that will ensure health insurance brokers who work on, develop and distribute health care plans that are sold on the Connecticut Health Insurance Exchange receive a commission when the plans are purchased by consumers.
SB 924, An Act Requiring that Health Carriers Using the Connecticut Health Insurance Exchange Pay a Minimum Commission to Certain Insurance Producers, passed with unanimous, bipartisan support in the Senate.
“This bill has seen across the board support from the state healthcare advocate, small businesses and industry groups because it makes sense that the hard working professionals who create these access points to receiving high quality care should receive a commission for the plans they develop,” said Sen. Larson, who co-chairs the General Assembly’s Insurance and Real Estate Committee. “You do the work, you should be compensated and we’ve built a bill that will allow that to happen. This legislation is good for consumers and the professionals who work in this industry, and creates a mechanism to deliver a fair financial return for small agencies. I am glad to see that this bill received full support in the Senate.”
The legislation requires health carriers that deliver, issue for delivery, renew, amend or continue a qualified health plan through the exchange to pay a reasonable commission to an insurance producer who assisted an individual or a small employer in evaluating the qualified health plans offered through the exchange and select such a plan.
Currently, some healthcare plans created by brokers, especially those who work at or operate small, independent businesses, end up directly on the state’s public exchange. Once a plan is sold in that marketplace, the agent does not receive any type of compensation in the form of a commission for his or her work developing the plan.
SB 924 provides broad-based guidelines for ensuring a commission is provided to brokers for plans sold on the exchange.
The bill goes next to the House of Representatives for consideration.