Employee Benefit Adviser magazine sat down with four executives who represent employee benefit brokers and advisers in Washington.

When asked about the most important accomplishment of 2012, the leaders agreed that the organizations’ ability to obtain the number of co-sponsors on the Medical Loss Ratio legislation in the House was a major win.

“We have over 218 legislators on both sides of the aisle that support the Rogers-Barrow legislation to exclude agent commission from the MLR formula,” Charles Symington of IIABA said. Added NAIFA's Diane Boyle: “Having the (MLR) legislation introduced in the Senate was a huge win as well.”

When asked about the state exchanges, Boyle said NAIFA is concerned over whether agents will be compensated fairly as they help clients navigate the exchanges. “We saw with the PCIP program a recognition that they needed to compensate agents in order to get people enrolled in the high-risk pool. And when the money got tight, they cut it. … So (compensation) is something we’re watching very closely.