Thursday, September 2, 2010

National Association of Health Underwriters - Protecting the Consumer's Future


	Resources on Health Reform Client Resource Center Highlights Issues Grassroots Legislative Tools Legislative Tracking Newsletters HUPAC

Latest on Twitter

Follow us @nahudotorg

Daily News Wire

Provided by ProducersWeb.com

Legislative Tools

NAHU's legislative efforts would not be possible without the chapter legislative chairs who oversee all of our legislative and regulatory activities at the grassroots level. NAHU's government affairs staff has developed the following resources to help legislative chairs execute their duties effectively and to help them build strong supporting teams within their chapters.

Tools for NAHU State and Local Legislative Chairs

Legislative Chair Manual-This manual is designed to help our volunteer leaders understand the responsibilities associated with managing their chapter's legislative team and to provide them with the tools they need to do the job successfully.

Heads Up Newsletter-This electronic newsletter is sent to all of NAHU's state and local leg chairs. It includes policy updates, tools for legislative chairs, and a brief monthly report on key federal and state activities. Legislative Chairs are encouraged to use this monthly report to update their chapter during monthly membership meetings.

Monthly Legislative Chair Training Teleconferences- Every second Wednesday of the month at 1:00 p.m. ET, NAHU government affairs staff will conduct a legislative chair training teleconference covering state and federal issues most prevalent at that time. During each call, legislative chairs will be provided with a power-point presentation and given in-depth analysis on these issues. The power-point presentations will not only serve as a resource for legislative chairs, they also can be used by the chair to give presentations to chapters and elsewhere. Legislative chair participation in these training helps earn chapters credit towards their Legislative Excellence Award.

General Legislative Chair Training- An overview of local and state legislative chairs responsibilities, resources, and ideas.

July 22, 2010: PowerPoint Presentation; Recording of the call.

For call participation information, please contact NAHU Government Affairs Coordinator Kristin Leighty. If you are unable to attend one of the Legislative Chair Training Calls, each call will be recorded and posted on our website for you to listen to at your convenience. Awards credit, however, is not provided for accessing a recorded call.

State Legislative Tracking Database-NAHU's Trend Track legislative service provides all members access to relevant state legislation NAHU is tracking in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Any NAHU member can use this database to review the current status of a state bill, see a bill summary or link to the full text of any state bill NAHU is tracking. NAHU members can sort bills by state or by nine different broad categories. Click here to access the legislative tracking database

State-Level Operation Shout-State chapter legislative chairs, presidents and lobbyists can request the use of NAHU's grassroots service, Operation Shout, for state-level legislative alerts. To send an Operation Shout message at the state level, please contact the government affairs staff person assigned to your state: Brooke Bell, (Regions 1, 3 and 7), Danielle Jaffee, (Regions 2 and 4), or Michael Keegan (Regions 5, 6 and 8).

Position Statements and Issue Summaries

NAHU encourages all of its state chapters to develop policy position statements on specific issues or bills, as we do at the national level. NAHU's national position statements and issue summaries can be found here.

Other Resources for Legislative Chairs

State Legislation Tracking Tool
Keep up to date on state-specific legislation. Check out what is going on in your state or other states across the nation. It's only a click away.

Guidelines for Hiring and Working with a State Lobbyist
NAHU strongly urges each state chapter to hire a professional lobbyist. For those chapters that have already done so, it is imperative that you have a system in place to manage your representation effectively. These guidelines will help you achieve these objectives.

Speaking with One Voice
One of the most common government affairs problems our chapters face is how to proceed when a legislative committee cannot come to a consensus about how to handle a particular issue. The NAHU Legislative Council and Board of Trustees have developed guidelines on "Speaking with One Voice" for our chapters to use in addressing this issue.

Health Insurance 101 Briefing Template
A great way to establish your chapter as a resource for legislators, legislative staff, the media and other groups is to host a Health Insurance 101 Briefing at or near the Capitol. NAHU has developed this template presentation for you to use.

Health Reform Resources
Resources are available on NAHU's website to assist members with making sense of the many reforms and changes brought about by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Please visit the resource page for updated PowerPoint presentations, timelines, issue briefs, regulations, and more.

Legislative Charts and Analyses
Charts and analyses that illustrate current trends on a variety of federal and state issues related to the health care industry.

Important Contact Information

Additional Information or Assistance

If you have questions or need more information, please contact the government affairs staff person assigned to your state: Brooke Bell (Regions 1, 3, and 7), Danielle Jaffee (Regions 2 and 4) or Michael Keegan (Regions 5, 6 and 8).