ASA and AMI’s New Home

Be sure to update your address books with our new contact info. Last October, ASA moved into a new office building (if you’re ever in the area, you can find us among the businesses on the first floor). Here’s how to reach us at our new address:

Automotive Service Association (ASA)
8190 Precinct Line Rd., Ste. 100
Colleyville, TX 76034-7675
(800) 272-7467
Local (817) 514-2900
Fax (817) 514-0770
asainfo@asashop.org
www.ASAshop.org

For Membership Services, please ask for Ext. 361.

For the Automotive Management Institute, please ask for Ext. 101 or Ext. 129.

House Small Business Committee Holds
Health Care Hearing

New Medical Loss Ratio Burdens Small Businesses

The House Small Business Committee’s Subcommittee on Investigations, Oversight and Regulations has held a hearing titled “New Medical Loss Ratios: Increasing Health Care Value or Just Eliminating Jobs?”

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and its regulations require health insurance companies to devote a minimum percentage of the premium dollars to health care services and activities that improve health care quality. This percentage is called the Medical Loss Ratio (MLR). Insurers must spend a minimum of 80 percent of the premiums of individual- and small-group market customers on medical claims and no more than 20 percent on administrative expenses, or pay rebates to their policyholders beginning in 2012.

Under PPACA and its regulations, insurance agent commissions are considered to be administrative expenses. Insurance agents believe classifying them as such will cause insurance companies to reduce their commissions to improve their MLRs.
Some have argued that the MLR requirements will ensure that customers receive the most value for their premium dollars. Insurance agents, many of whom are small-business owners and whose customers are often small businesses, believe that the MLR requirements may lead to lower levels of customer service and consolidation in the industry.

Mike Coffman, R-Colo., chairman of the subcommittee, in his opening statement said: “We all want quality health care and affordable insurance premiums. But the MLR is likely to deter small insurers from entering the market and hasten the exit of established ones. Instead of protecting consumers, the MLR may dissuade insurers from making investments in antifraud, anti-waste, customer service and transparency tools because they are considered administrative, and those costs must be kept low.

The MLR is an incentive for insurers to increase – not reduce – premiums, because they will need to improve their medical ratio and forgo administrative tools that can ultimately save money. And, as a National Associa­tion of Insurance Commissioners’ resolution said, the MLR requirements ‘have had profound detrimental marketplace effects for insurance producers [agents and brokers]…’”

One witness, Gary Livengood, principal of What A Stitch LLC, stated in his testimony: “I also have strong feelings about how this will impact our company. If our agent is forced out of business by the new law, I will have to think very, very seriously about whether or not it will be feasible to continue to provide benefits to our employees. I don’t think I will be able to handle the new compliance burdens coming without professional help.”

To view details regarding the committee hearing, visit ASA’s legislative website at www.TakingTheHill.com.

Chairman’s Club 2012

Recruit members and win a free trip to New Orleans!

Get in on the action in 2012 by recruiting more members to ASA! There’s more incentive than ever to participate in ASA’s member recruitment program – the Chairman’s Club – with many awards now available.

And we will even give you the tools you need to recruit prospective members. Visit the ASA Communities section in the Members Only area of the ASA website, www.ASAshop.org, to download various membership recruitment tools. For login instructions, please see page 11.

The Chairman’s Club program is based on a point system: five points are earned for each new member a current member recruits. You could earn:

• Tier One: Earn a minimum of 10 to 20 points to receive a $25 dinner certificate to a local restaurant of your choice.
• Tier Two: Earn a minimum of 25 to 35 points to receive a $25 VISA gift card.
• Tier Three: Earn a minimum of 40 points to receive a $50 VISA gift card.

The Big Easy!
A grand prize will be awarded to the ASA member with the most recruitment points (and earning a minimum of 50) by Aug. 15, 2012. One lucky ASA member will be awarded an expense-paid trip to ASA’s Congress of Automotive Repair and Service (CARS) or International Autobody Congress and Exposition (NACE) events in New Orleans!

Prize tier eligibility will be calculated at the close of the 2012 Chairman’s Club recruitment contest Aug. 15.

The ASA Chairman’s Club is an integral part of ASA’s membership recruitment program. All regular members in good standing are invited to participate in the program. For more information, call (800) 272-7467, ext. 361; or visit the ASA Communities section in the Members Only area of the ASA website.