Greater Irvine Chamber Ambassador Ailene Dewar Costello, CBPA, aPHR, who is the vice president of sales for California at Engage PEO, traveled to Washington, D.C., with her fellow California Agents & Health Insurance Professionals Orange County (CAHIP-OC) members to participate in the National Association of Benefits and Insurance Professionals (NABIP) Capitol Conference, held February 23-26, and to visit federal lawmakers on Capitol Hill to urge them to pass a bipartisan healthcare package.
On behalf of CAHIP-OC and NABIP, Dewar Costello and other CAHIP representatives lobbied legislators to pass the Lower Costs Transparency Act (H.R. 5378, previously passed by the House with strong support), codify telehealth benefits for high-deductible health plans and Medicare, and advance reforms for pharmacy benefits managers and site-neutral payments.
Through the individualized meetings, Dewar Costello and her industry colleagues also urged members of Congress to extend the Small Business Healthcare Business Deduction for companies with fewer than 25 employees—supporting independent agents and small business owners, preserve tax incentives for employer-sponsored benefits that help over 153 million Americans access healthcare, and extend ACA Marketplace Premium Tax Credits for nearly 20 million middle-income individuals and families while implementing appropriate guardrails.
Additionally, the group lobbied to reintroduce COBRA as Creditable Coverage legislation and for new legislation that would establish a second Part D Annual Election Period and require advance notice for changes in agent compensation.
“It was so meaningful to travel with CAHIP-OC to the NABIP Capitol Conference in Washington, D.C. We spoke with "One Voice" as more than 700 members of NABIP visited every member of Congress over a two-day period and shared the exact same talking points,” Dewar Costello said. “It was truly an inspiring experience, and it made me appreciate being an American.”
CAHIP-OC will participate in the CAHIP Capitol Summit in Sacramento from May 12 to 14 to lobby for similar state-related issues with California lawmakers.
