The president of the Pennsylvania Association of Health Underwriters recently conducted a health insurance briefing for three elected officials and about 22 legislative staff members in Harrisburg.

Stewart Anmuth

Stewart Anmuth conducted the 90-minute, “Health Insurance 101″ information session, which included about 30 minutes of answering questions posed by attendees.

“It was a very productive meeting,” said Anmuth, a vice president at the Kistler Tiffany Benefits, an employee benefits firm in Berwyn, Pa.

The meeting came in the midst of legislators in both the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and Senate debating a number of health insurance issues, including Gov. Ed Rendell‘s desire to cover more uninsured state residents.

Using a PowerPoint presentation, Anmuth explained a number of health insurance issues to the group, including the effects of adverse selection, how premiums are calculated, what the medical loss ratio means, and how insurance agents and brokers are compensated, according to Anmuth and Vince Phillips, a contract lobbyist who arranged the meeting.

Anmuth said one goal he had was to “show how agents are living and breathing and how commission fits in there.”

Held in the Capitol building, the annual meeting is another means for the state association for health insurance agents and brokers to offer its expertise to legislators and their staff, many of whom may not be as well versed on health insurance issues they may be forced to vote on, Phillips said.

“The strength of the insurance agent is that he is able to quickly establish trust with the client, and that plays into what we try to do here,” said Phillips. “We want to be a source and a resource for credible information.”

All members of the legislature and their staffs were invited, with particular attention paid to members of the insurance committees in both the House and Senate. Representatives from several insurance committee members did participate this year.

The event is one of several approaches the group takes each year to interact with legislators in Harrisburg. Others include the annual Day on the Hill, where agents from a number of the local PAHU groups gather in Harrisburg to meet with their legislators on key issues; mini-days on the hill, where smaller groups have visited legislators in successive weeks to lobby on more specific issues; and participation in public hearings by Phillips and PAHU members.