HUPAC Challenge- Become a 365 sponsor

What a wonderful, productive, and educational time this year’s Cap Conference was. It didn’t hurt that the weather was beautiful and the cherry trees were in bloom. It’s hard not to feel patriotic when you visit our nation’s capitol, with the austere beauty of the Washington monument reaching for the heavens, the majestic authority of the Lincoln Memorial, the bustling activity in the city itself. So much history here, you can feel it in the air. There are many pages in our country’s history that has helped define who and what America represents. It is a page from our nation’s history that serves as a warning for everything that we, as health underwriters, believe in and is forever immortalized in the following poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year

It was 224 years ago this month that Paul Revere made his famous ride informing the American Colonists that “The British are coming! The British are coming!” which subsequently awakened them from their slumbers and allowed them to repel the British Troops. Imagine, for a moment, if the colonists had not responded. It was, after all, past midnight; they could have just as easily rolled over and went back to sleep, thinking someone else was going to take care of it. Good thing they didn’t. We might be singing “God Save the Queen”.

I bring this up to draw attention to the urgency we as Health Underwriters now face. On a positive note, our state was well represented at Cap conference with both Southern and Northern Nevadans attending. In between all the facts, figures, speakers and meetings, however, one fact emerged that was less than flattering. It seems that out of all the regions, Region 8, our region finished second-to-last in number and volume of HUPAC contributions per member. What made it worse was that California, which is also in Region 8, had the highest per diem contribution in the Nation! I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions about what that says about Nevada. If you don’t know, HUPAC stands for Health Underwriters Political Action Committee. HUPAC’s purpose is to raise funds from NAHU members for the purpose of supporting the political campaigns of candidates who believe in private sector solutions for the health and financial security of all Americans. This also helps us to get face-time with the legislators in Washington so that our views can be heard. Your membership dues cannot go towards HUPAC by law.

I won’t mince words. From commission disclosure legislation, insurance connector formations, the threat of public healthcare, our industry is under attack as the American people are screaming for blood. Worse, our current administration is listening to them. In these tight economic times, we need to demonstrate our value to America’s healthcare system, that we are not simply salespeople who take a percentage of premiums that could be used elsewhere. Our only line of defense is to properly educate the decision makers who ultimately decide on which laws to pass. In this tumultuous year, it is gratifying to know that our National Association has the ears and eyes of the various legislative bodies. Although it was a successful Conference, NAHU was among those organizations that didn’t survive the cut for one particular committee meeting in Washington. We should be represented at EVERY meeting. In order to continue our relationship with the legislators and be at the table, we need funds. I would personally challenge each and every one of us to become a 365 sponsor (or $1 a day), but even $5 or $10 a month will help. Times are tough; but without funding, they will get a lot tougher and then we won’t have to worry about it because we won’t have a job. At this critical time in our industry, we can’t afford to hit the snooze button. That’s why I’m shouting at the top of my lungs, “the Socialists are coming, the Socialists are coming!” (tongue-NOT-in-cheek).

Dan Heffley
Legislative Chair