Affordable Care Act: Is Your Business Ready?

Affordable Care Act: Is Your Business Ready?

Commissioner Ted Nickel stated in Wisconsin Business Voice “The law will permanently change the way health insurance is purchased.  Its impact will be felt by small, medium and large businesses.  It will permanently impact your employees and the way you interact with them.  It will impact the kinds of plans you buy, from whom you buy those plans and how you buy them.  On top of all that, there are new taxes and penalties for employers not complying with the law.  And the law does nothing to retard growth of healthcare expenses.”

Join us on August 8^th at Dino’s Restaurant as the Commissioner talks with us about the upcoming Affordable Care Act and how it will impact your business.

Ted Nickel was appointed as the Commissioner of Insurance for the State of Wisconsin on January 3, 2011.  In addition to supervising OCI staff and serving as the chief regulator of insurance, Commissioner Nickel serves as the final adjudicator of all administrative actions; co-chairs the Governor's Financial Literacy Council; supervises the Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund, Local Government Property Insurance Fund, and State Life Insurance Fund; and serves on the Wisconsin Retirement Board.
Prior to his appointment, Commissioner Nickel worked for almost 18 years as Director of Governmental and Regulatory Affairs for Church Mutual Insurance Company in Merrill, Wisconsin.
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Created by the Legislature in 1871, Wisconsin's Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) was vested with broad powers to ensure that the insurance industry responsibly and adequately met the insurance needs of Wisconsin citizens. Today, OCI's mission is to lead the way in informing and protecting the public and responding to its insurance needs.
OCI performs a variety of tasks to protect insurance consumers and ensure a competitive insurance environment. OCI's major functions include:

• Reviewing insurance policies that are sold in Wisconsin to make sure they meet the requirements set forth in Wisconsin law;

• Conducting examinations of domestic and foreign insurers to ensure compliance with Wisconsin laws and rules;

• Monitoring the financial solvency of licensed companies to make sure that consumers have the insurance coverage they expect when they need it;

• Issuing licenses to the various parties involved in selling and marketing insurance products;
  Assisting insurance consumers with their insurance problems;

• Researching special insurance issues to understand and assess their impact on Wisconsin;

• Providing technical assistance on legislation and promulgating administrative rules to interpret insurance laws;

• Creating and distributing public information and consumer education pieces to educate people about insurance; and

• Operating a state life insurance fund, a property fund for the property owned by local units of government, and a patients compensation fund insuring health care providers for medical malpractice.