Health Care Bill On Life Support After McCain Says No

On Twitter Friday, Trump says: ” Rand Paul, or whoever votes against Hcare Bill, will forever be known as’ the Republican who saved ObamaCare.'”. Rand Paul of Kentucky has said he’ll oppose the latest bill because it doesn’t abolish enough of Obama’s 2010 law.

It’s divisive and difficult, but the Republican drive to erase the Affordable Care Act has received a huge boost from one of Washington’s perennial incentives: Political necessity.

Lindsey Graham leaned on a fellow senator to back his GOP health care bill despite “all its imperfections.” His good friend Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., was the deciding “no” vote on the last GOP health care bill, in July.

New Republican legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act would cut funding to states by $215 billion over six years, a new analysis projected.

Racer Danica Patrick first obtained life insurance in her early 20s. Your “financial fitness” is an important part of your overall health, she said, and life insurance is key. Patrick is back as the celebrity spokesperson for Life Insurance Awareness Month.

The GOP’s last-ditch effort to repeal “Obamacare” would redistribute hundreds of billions of dollars in federal financing for insurance coverage, creating winners and losers among individual Americans and states in ways not yet fully clear.

The tax-friendly treatment of health savings accounts makes them an attractive retirement investment vehicle, and subject to the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule.

Senate Republican leaders seem increasingly focused on reviving their effort to undo the Affordable Care Act before the end of the month, asking Congress’s nonpartisan budget analysts to fast-track consideration of a plan that would devolve federal health-care spending to the states.

Bitcoin is priced at about $3,500 and has reached nearly $5,000 this summer. Is it time for advisors to consider cryptocurrency as a legitimate investment? Most advisors say the risks are too great.

More Americans than ever obtain life insurance coverage through a group contract, but fewer employers than ever are offering the benefit. That opens up opportunity for agents and brokers to fill the void.

Average premiums for individually purchased health insurance will grow around 15 percent next year, largely because of marketplace nervousness over whether President Donald Trump will block federal subsidies to insurers, Congress’ nonpartisan fiscal analyst projected Thursday.

NAIFA is asking members to approve significant changes in the way it does business. Streamlined operations are needed to reverse membership losses, NAIFA executives say.

Senators on rolled out competing plans for the nation’s health care system, with a group of GOP senators making a last, long-shot effort to undo the Affordable Care Act and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders proposing universal government-run coverage.

NY Life is the latest insurer to offer a product linking long-term care benefits to a life insurance policy. Agents and consumers can expect even more variety in the benefit options in the future, analysts say.

Two vastly different proposals for overhauling the nation’s health insurance system are due to be introduced as a last-ditch effort to replace the Affordable Care Act.

At the heart of the bill would be an immediate repeal of the individual mandate, while beginning to dismantle the rest of the ACA in 2020.

It seems everyone working in the financial advisory space has an opinion on the Department of Labor fiduciary rules. A recent survey collected them, and we reprint the best of the best here.

Tax activists antsy over Congress’ ability to overhaul the country’s tax code this year are urging lawmakers to shift gears and work instead on a big tax cut, saying the GOP needs to post a win before it faces voters in 2018.

The Federal Reserve may delay an interest-rate increase in December, according to New York Fed president William Dudley, who told CNBC that it’s possible the storms “could have effect on the timing of short-term rate increases.”

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the longtime “maverick” whose thumbs-down quashed the GOP’s push to repeal the Affordable Care Act in July, is now at the center of a long-shot bid to revive the repeal effort before Republicans run out of time.

The National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors is trying to consolidate functions and set a single dues fee for members, moves that are commiserate with its slimmer membership rolls. Will delegates approve the controversial changes?

Fixed annuity sales are up and variable sales down. But while some numbers might look bad, overall annuity sales will remain strong despite regulation and other outside pressures, analysts predict.

In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, and with Hurricane Irma threatening Florida and surrounding states, homeowners are understandably anxious to protect their investments. Agents report a major upswing in customers inquiring about purchasing flood insurance in the wake of hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

Broker-dealers are expected to continue trending toward fee-based products and passive investment strategies, a new survey finds. The fiduciary rule is giving BDs a further impetus for the shift, one analyst says.

Florida’s second-largest insurer called an emergency board meeting and several companies stopped writing or revising policies in South Florida Tuesday as Category 5 Hurricane Irma presented one of the greatest threats in state history.

Companies are doing more and more to support financial advisors with the introduction of web-based tools and solutions. Advisors say they need the help as they deal with regulations, declining fees, and a low-interest-rate environment.

NAIFA will reschedule its annual business meeting planned for Sunday in Orlando. Hurricane Irma is forcing massive evacuations and emergency preparations are under way in Florida.

A recent Wells Fargo data breach has big implications for the company. It should serve as a wake-up call to all financial services to re-assess and tighten up those data security processes.

The delay of the Department of Labor fiduciary rule means we could see a fixed indexed annuity sale frenzy during the last half of the year. Experts say the time is right for FIAs to fly off the shelves.

A Health and Human Services spokeswoman called the navigator program under the Obama administration “ineffective,” saying that “during the upcoming enrollment period, navigators will be funded in proportion to their performance.”

Kamala Harris on Wednesday told a crowd of mostly liberal activists that she plans to co-sponsor a “Medicare-for-all” bill pushed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Although polls show support for a universal health care system, Republicans say it’s a nonstarter.

Texas Judge Amos Mazzant tossed out an Obama administration rule that would have extended overtime benefits to about 4 million new workers. The Trump administration opposes the overtime change.

A bipartisan governor duo is urging Congress to retain the federal health care law’s unpopular individual mandate while legislators continue work on a long-term replacement law.

President Donald Trump launched his fall push to overhaul the nation’s tax system by pledging that the details-to-come plan would “bring back Main Street” by reducing the crushing tax burden on middle-class Americans, making a populist appeal for a proposal expected to heavily benefit corporate America.

Structured annuities, also known as buffered or hybrid variable annuities, are selling well. But overall annuity sales continue to decline as regulation fears remain.

The Department of Labor will get its 18-month delay of phase two of the Obama-era fiduciary rule. A proposed rule ordering the delay until July 1, 2019 will be published in the Federal Register tomorrow.

The development of a new fee-based indexed annuity offers a glimpse into the dialogue that unfolded between product manufacturer and distributors in the independent channel. Both sides gave a little to make the product successful.

The Office of Management and Budget completed its review Monday of a rule that would delay the DOL fiduciary rule. The DOL seeks an 18-month delay that would push the effective date of the fiduciary rule to July 1, 2019.

More Americans had health insurance during the first three months of 2017 than before the Affordable Care Act became law in March 2010, according to the National Health Interview Survey — but more have coverage with high out-of-pocket costs, which can discourage patients from visiting the doctor and filling a prescription.

With regulation, low interest rates and other pressures affecting the investment world, advisors are finding creative ways to marry active and passive investing to do right by their clients. Experts expect the trend to continue.

In a court brief, the Department of Labor signaled its intent to eliminate the class-action component of the fiduciary rule. The right to sue is one of the most hated aspects of the Obama-era regulation.

President Donald J. Trump is shaking up Washington D.C. and the threat of nuclear war with North Korea looms. Yet none of that instability is slowing down this extended bull market. Will it continue?

As it stands, customers in every U.S. county except one — Paulding County in Ohio — will have at least one insurer on their web-based exchanges set up by the 2010 Affordable Care Act.

In the first half of the year, total annuity sales decreased 10 percent to $105.8 billion compared with the first six months of 2016, according to LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute.

Indexed annuity sales “are the greatest they have been in a year, but there is still more momentum needed to return indexed annuities to their record-setting sales levels,” said Sheryl J. Moore, president and CEO of both Moore Market Intelligence and Wink, Inc.

Loyalty to advisors “drops significantly” as client educational achievement levels rise, new research reveals.

The Senate health committee will hold two hearings early next month on how the nation’s individual health insurance marketplaces can be stabilized, as party leaders grasp for a fresh path following the collapse of the Republican effort to repeal and replace much of the Affordable Care Act.

Brokerage, career agent and personal producing general agent (PPGA) channels remain the top channels through which UL products are sold, but the numbers are constantly changing, a new report finds.

What is going to happen with health care legislation? Since history repeats itself, we decided to look at some major legislative issues from the past to try and get some idea.

A new study finds that women nearing retirement age have a significant lack of financial knowledge. Combined with the fact that women live longer than men, the study is alarming news for both clients and advisors.

Though members of Congress have scattered to the winds for an August recess, a restlessness grows among supporters who want to keep the idea in motion and opponents who fear they will do just that.

New fee-based annuities, bringing products to market faster, and more transparency in how agents are paid are just some of the main developments in play within the annuity sales industry, a consultant says.

The government will make this month’s payments to insurers under the Obama-era health care law that President Donald Trump still wants to repeal and replace, a White House official said Wednesday. Skipping the payments would lead to sharp premium increases, analysts have said.

Cutting off Affordable Care Act reimbursement payments for insurers — as President Donald Trump has threatened to do — would send premiums soaring by 20 percent next year, the Congressional Budget Office said, predicting that health insurance companies would hike rates to make up for the loss of taxpayers’ money.

Judge rules that independent agents working for American Family Insurance Group are company employees under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Ruling could open the door for similar lawsuits.

Aetna’s 23 million health insurance customers could be offered exclusive deals on Apple Watches as early as next year, according to a CNBC report.

President Donald Trump wants to close a frustrating 2017 with the first overhaul of the tax code in more than three decades.

A new study finds the nation’s public pension plans are in worse shape that originally thought due to sketchy accounting practices. What is the answer and how can advisors help?