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Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), delivered a keynote address yesterday and discussed a variety of issues including the new health care law, tax and spending issues and financial services regulation.
Of the ongoing struggles surrounding the budget Boehner said he and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) met with the president the day before and insisted “that taxes were not going to be a part of this conversation.”
Moreover, Boehner added that not addressing the budget problem amounted to “fiscal recklessness” and reiterated the need to “the need to grapple with entitlement programs for those 54 and younger.”
Boehner also praised the attendees for their role in job creation. “So it’s good to be here with people who actually create jobs,” he said. “Here in Washington there are a lot of people who think they know something about creating jobs but they have never actually done it. I’m humbled to say that I have met payroll and I have created jobs.”
In her speech, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) addressed issues specifically impacting the Big I’s membership, noting her support for the repeal of the 1099 form requirement originally required as part of the Affordable Care Act.
Landrieu also addressed the concern among agents that their commission would be included in calculation of administrative expenses for medical loss ratio. “I understand that some of the insurance companies decided to take [the Medical Loss Ratio] out of the commissions of the agents—that was not our intention,” she said. “I would like to work with you to try to fix that rather than repealing it. I fought to keep the insurance industry as part of this mix but we want the insurance industry to be responsible and accountable and we certainly want the agents to be respected and valued.”
