In the ever-changing landscape that is healthcare in the United States, the biggest decisions regarding what kind of care you can get and how much it will cost are made by your elected officials at the federal level.

But do they really have your best interests at heart? Who is advocating on your behalf in Washington?

Members of the National Association of Business Insurance and
Professionals (NABIP) descended upon the nation’s capital earlier this year to do exactly that. Fourteen of the 600 members who attended the NABIP conference were from the Atlanta area, and only two represented the south side of the city, specifically Fayette and Coweta Counties: Cindy Baker and Kathy Workman of BeneTrend Partners.

They were able to meet personally with their own representative: Drew Ferguson, who represents the 3rd District in the U.S. House of Representatives. They spoke with fellow House member Buddy Carter as well as staff members in the offices of Reps. Barry Loudermilk, Hank Johnson and Nikema Williams. They also met with aides of Georgia’s two U.S. senators, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.

The message they conveyed to these elected officials included several key talking points developed by NABIP leadership – legislative priorities for their members to keep healthcare accessible and affordable for clients across the nation.

They expressed their support for initiatives to innovate HSA-eligible plans and for allowing COBRA to be treated as credible coverage. They favor a new Part D open-enrollment plan for Medicare and excluding licensed agents and brokers from burdensome marketing restrictions. They oppose civil monetary penalties on employers for network requirements and capping individual tax exclusion of employment-based coverage.

These are just some of the issues BeneTrend Partners and other NABIP members discussed with people in Washington whose votes can make all the difference with your health as well as your checkbook. They keep a close eye on regulations that can change from year to year, passing along their expertise to clients and reducing the frustration that can build when trying to make sense of an often-complicated healthcare system. Not having the benefit of this knowledge can result in suffocating copays for services or outright rejection by doctors who are in the wrong network.

Now more than ever, “people need agents to help navigate the waters of healthcare because the waters changed so much over the past couple of years,” as Workman put it.

The people who operate BeneTrend Partners are regular people with healthcare and insurance needs just like the rest of us. They are committed to better benefits and better results for themselves and their clients, and just making insurance make sense for business owners and individuals across Georgia.

As they see issues that affect our physical conditions as well as our wallets, they will continue to act in our best interests and make their voices heard at the state and federal level. They encourage you to get involved, too. Visit openstates.org to find out who represents you in the state legislature and the U.S. Congress.

The team at BeneTrend Partners stands ready to help businesses, families and individuals across Georgia. They want to make insurance make sense for everyone. For more information, call them at (770) 719-1717.