As a direct result of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) – also known as ObamaCare – health insurance agent and broker commissions have been slashed by as much as 50%. Agencies have been forced to lay off employees, limit products and services, shift to other lines, and have seen significant drops in compensation.

A bipartisan, companion Senate bill to the House bill excluding insurance agent compensation from medical loss ratio (MLR) calculations will be introduced in a few days, although the political environment makes its passage uncertain.

About 30 health insurance agents and brokers in Florida sent letters to the state insurance commissioner’s office, urging him to work harder to free their commissions from the administrative portion of the new medical loss ratios included in health reform.

The Independent Insurance Agents of Virginia, the Virginia Association of Health Underwriters and the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors will hold their annual Day on the Hill at the Hilton Garden Inn in Richmond, Va., Feb. 8-9.

The Anne Arundel County chapter of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) is planning its Second Annual Bears for Bears event Dec. 21 in Annapolis, Md.

Two insurance industry trade groups, one in Pennsylvania and the other in Delaware, have notified the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA) that they will cease their affiliation, effective Jan. 1, 2012.

The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (Big I) recently recognized 18 independent insurance agent associations with Excellence in Insurance Education Awards at its education convocation in Minneapolis, Minn.

Edward J. Fernandez, president of Palisades Cos., was named the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA) 2011 Company Representative of the Year at the group’s recent meeting in San Francisco.

The Society of Financial Service Professionals (SFSP) of Baltimore will hold its Annual Recognition Dinner Nov. 2 at the Baltimore Country Club, based in Baltimore, Md.

The Captive Insurance Council of the District of Columbia (CIC-DC) 10th annual conference, featuring a variety of sessions, including a look at how the health reform law will affect professional liability coverage, is scheduled for Oct. 24-25 at the Madison in Washington, D.C.