I've got health care on my mind. Is anyone really surprised the GOP Obamacare repeal bill collapsed in the Senate? I, for one, am not. Why?

I believe its fate was certain because, even though scores of Republicans won elections with a promise of repealing and replacing Obamacare, they had no plan to replace it-even though they had seven years to devise something better.

They failed even though the party controls the House, Senate and White House. It's embarrassing, but not unexpected. It's as if the whole pitch to repeal and replace was a charade. It played well. It got votes. But then the unthinkable happened: Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton. After the shock and surprise started to fade, I'm sure it occurred to some that they would actually have to come up with a solution to fix the mess, not just criticize Democrats.

Before I continue, I know some of you might not know me well and might be thinking, "Damn, that Morris-he's just another left-wing media hack knocking Republicans." Pardon my French, but au contraire! The Obama years were the most painful, ideology-wise, in my lifetime. It's going to take decades to get out from under the damage that was done.

While the current administration's ideology might be more in my wheelhouse, that doesn't mean I'm a fan of the way Republicans are governing in the Trump era. I think one can be true to traditional Republican values without supporting the way Trump is governing. As I said during last year's campaign, "Please don't make me choose between Trump and Clinton." We were presented with a bad choice, and nothing I've seen since January has changed my opinion.

Having said that, there is this brief window of opportunity, while Republicans hold the advantage, to make some headway in reversing what I feel was a lot of bad legislation enacted over the last eight years.

The "Unaffordable" Care Act is one of those colossal pieces of bad policy. I'm sure everyone remembers this was passed without a single Republican vote. And a lot of Democrats who voted for it never read the bill. I call that ramming an ideology down everyone's throat. But you've got to give the devil his due- the Democrats banded together and got the job done while they had the numbers. Once an entitlement like that is enacted, the chances of getting rid of it are slim.

The Republicans have the numbers now, if only for two years. So far, they can't seem to get out of the way of themselves. They don't need to worry about fighting Democrats because they're too busy fighting one another. The attitude I see within the Republican Party is too many legislators saying, "It's my way or the highway." There's little collaboration.

Back to health care. While I wholeheartedly believe Obamacare should be repealed and replaced, there has to be a plan to move forward. A pure, single-payer, governmentrun health care plan would be the worst of all solutions. I realize this is the direction many would like to head. If that is where we end up, I will know we have officially failed as a country to find a way to continue providing the best health care in the world. It will be sad if we're all forced to depend on government-run health care. Don't believe that? How's the Veterans Administration model working? Is government functioning on any level at the moment?

And yet I'm not saying the Republican Senate plan was the proper path forward. It seemed mean-spirited and hastily put together. With seven years to come up with an alternative plan, one could reasonably expect something better. But that would take some collaboration.

What should be done? I've "progressed" on the issue. I've come to believe the government should overhaul Medicare and Medicaid and provide "basic" health care to all U.S. citizens. We just need to figure out how to pay for it without all the "soak the rich" rhetoric. If we're going to provide basic health care to everyone, we'll have to cut spending elsewhere. But I'm no single-payer convert. Those with the financial means should be able to pay to enrich their health coverage-to receive care comparable to what they get now.

Yes, I know this is simplistic, without any of the necessary details provided. But if this isn't the best plan, what is? I'd love to hear some civil dialogue on the topics

Consumer advocates are urging life insurance regulators to strengthen death-claim searches, warning that relying on the federal Death Master File may be missing millions of deaths each year.

Richard M. Weber, a 59-year veteran of the life insurance industry, told regulators Monday that only about 16% of U.S. deaths are now captured in the Social Security Administration's limited-access Death Master File, the primary federal database insurers are required to check under many state unclaimed life insurance laws.

"Millions of families risk delayed or lost benefits," Weber said during a special meeting Monday of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ Life Insurance and Annuities Committee.

The discussion focused on whether regulators should modernize standards governing how insurers identify deceased policyholders and locate beneficiaries.

The DMF once captured as much as 95% of deaths, Weber explained. That changed after the Social Security Administration removed more than 4 million death records from the public database in 2011 amid privacy and identity theft concerns. Subsequent restrictions enacted under the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 further limited access to death records, Weber said.

As a result, he argued, insurers may not learn of many deaths unless family members file claims or use the NAIC's Life Insurance Policy Locator tool.

A helpful tool

The NAIC's locator service, launched in 2016, allows consumers to submit information about deceased relatives, which participating insurers compare against their own policy records. If a match is found, insurers contact beneficiaries.

However, the locator tool does not maintain a central database of life insurance policies, does not independently identify deaths and depends on beneficiaries knowing the service exists.

"When the beneficiary doesn't know the recently deceased family member had purchased and paid for a life insurance policy, or was covered under group benefits, the beneficiary doesn't know the LIPL exists or how to access it," Weber said.

Weber was joined by Kathy Belfi, former director of financial regulation at the Connecticut Insurance Department.

They urged regulators to consider developing a new NAIC model regulation that would require insurers to search additional sources of death information, including state vital records, obituary databases, funeral home records and other commercially available death-data services.

Among the recommendations were requiring monthly death searches instead of semiannual or quarterly reviews, shortening beneficiary-search timelines from 90 days to 60 days, and establishing annual reporting metrics on death matches and successful beneficiary contacts.

Inconsistent state adoption of unclaimed-life-insurance requirements has created uneven consumer protections, the consumer reps said. About half the states have adopted versions of the National Council of Insurance Legislators' model unclaimed life insurance law, while others have adopted different requirements or none at all.

“One of the best reasons our state-based system works so well is because states try to be as consistent as possible with our regulation and our policyholder protection,” Belfi said.

'We want to pay'

Industry representatives pushed back on suggestions that insurers are failing to locate beneficiaries. Leah Walters is senior vice president, state relations for the American Council of Life Insurers.

Life insurance companies share the goal of paying benefits, she said, adding that 38 states have adopted either the NCOIL model or their own Death Master File search requirements.

“We share your goal,” she told Weber. “We want to pay money to the beneficiaries that we make a long-term promise, and we intend to keep those promises.”

Walters pointed to the success of the NAIC Life Insurance Policy Locator tool, noting that the NAIC reported last year that the service had helped uncover more than $13 billion in benefits since its launch.

Life insurers paid $223 billion in benefits in 2023 and $198 billion in 2024, Walters said.

Regulators on the call acknowledged both the success of the locator program and concerns about consistency among states.

The call ended without a commitment for future action, but Iowa Insurance Commissioner Doug Ommen, chairman of the committee, suggested the potential for “discussion time” at a future national meeting.

© Entire contents copyright 2026 by InsuranceNewsNet.com Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reprinted without the expressed written consent from InsuranceNewsNet.com.