Top 5 Stories of 2017: Politics

It was a very busy year in financial services. Our website visits grew by 72 percent to five million as we brought you comprehensive coverage of the industry. This week, we will bring you our top five most popular 2017 stories in life insurance, annuities, finance, politics, health insurance and the DOL fiduciary rule.

Beltway politics yielded a roller-coaster year of ups and downs for the financial services industry.

President Donald Trump's regulation slashing was good, but his failure to fully eliminate the Affordable Care Act was bad. Allowing the initial requirements of the Department of Labor fiduciary rule to take effect was bad, but delaying the harsher aspects was good.

You get the idea. Our most-read political stories covers a wide range of political events, from taxes to Dodd-Frank to the DOL rule.

No. 1: Insurers Would Feel Impact of GOP Tax Reform

In this November story, we peeled back the layers of tax reform to discuss the impact on the insurance industry. Readers were definitely interested.

Many associations tied to the insurance industry took a cautious view of the tax reform draft. Other business groups -- such as the National Federation of Independent Businesses and the National Association of Home Builders -- surprisingly came out in opposition.

The resulting tax bill closely resembled the draft discussed in this story, sharply cutting the corporate tax rate, phasing out the estate tax and allowing more generous "pass-through" income rules.

No. 2: DOL Rule, Dodd-Frank Face Intransigent Senate

Readers were very supportive of the Financial CHOICE Act, the subject of this May story. While the CHOICE bill was popular in the House, where it passed in June, the Senate was not interested.

The bill includes the Retail Investor Protection Act, introduced by Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo. The RIPA would put the fiduciary rule on hold until the Securities and Exchange Commission acts.

Dismantling Dodd-Frank is clearly the target of the CHOICE Act. Republicans argue that the Dodd-Frank law is slowing economic growth because of the cost of compliance and by curbing lending.

The bill languishes in the Senate and isn't expected to be voted on anytime soon.

No. 3: Senate Health Care Bill Would End Mandates, Change Tax Credits

This June story recounted early Republican efforts to repeal the ACA.

Senate GOP leaders wanted to change Medicaid from an open-ended government entitlement program to a system of capped federal payments that limit federal spending. The bill would have repealed billions of dollars in taxes used to raise money for Medicaid expansion under the ACA.

The tax credits to help people buy private coverage would have been reduced to save the government money. This plan would fail in the Senate.

No. 4: Warren's Fuzzy Math On Fiduciary Rule Doesn't Add Up, Analyst Says

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., drew readers' ire with her "Retirement Ripoff Counter" in April.

Warren appeared with union and consumer groups at a press conference in opposition to a 60-day delay of the Department of Labor fiduciary rule. The delay pushed the effective date from April 10 to June 9, when the initial requirements of the rule took effect.

The 60-day delay cost investors $3.7 billion over 30 years, Warren claimed.

No. 5: Regulation Reversal the Ultimate Trump Card?

On the day before Trump's inauguration, we previewed what readers could expect on the regulation front. Simply put, deregulation, deregulation and more deregulation.

“Frankly, anyone prognosticating what Donald Trump will do with many Dodd-Frank era regulations is throwing darts in the dark,” said Braden Perry, a former enforcement agent, and founder of Kennyhertz Perry in Kansas City.

Actually, it wasn't that difficult as the Trump administration went after virtually every regulation we discussed in the story.

InsuranceNewsNet Senior Editor John Hilton has covered business and other beats in more than 20 years of daily journalism. John may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @INNJohnH.

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InsuranceNewsNet Senior Editor John Hilton has covered business and other beats in more than 20 years of daily journalism. John may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @INNJohnH.