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.

The American Center for Law and Justice has filed a second brief with the U.S. Supreme Court, this time arguing against the individual mandate in the federal health reform law.

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.

A report expected from the Federal Insurance Office later this month, addressing how to modernize and improve insurance regulation, could significantly affect the insurance industry, according to an industry regulatory expert.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky told health care advocates that the November presidential election is all about health reform and how far it can be taken.

A national group is urging President Barack Obama to push Congress to make “meaningful reform” to the National Flood Insurance Program when he gives his State of the Union Address.

Attorneys general from 11 states and Washington, D.C., have filed court papers in the federal health reform law case, arguing that the individual mandate forcing all Americans to buy health insurance, starting in 2014, is constitutional.

The biggest story of last year is no surprise: the ongoing battle over federal health reform, according to the latest IFAwebnews.com poll.

A trade group representing insurance agents and financial service professionals submitted its comments on the Federal Insurance Office’s Dodd-Frank study on modernizing and improving insurance regulation.

The National Flood Insurance Program has received another temporary extension, this time through May 31, 2012, meaning its future will remain in question for another year.