Last night’s victory for President-Elect Donald Trump ushered in a time of change. Whether that change is for better or worse remains to be seen, but here is what we do know:

Ideal Concepts, Inc. will continue to thrive either way.

There are two possible outcomes in regards to healthcare reform based on a Trump presidency:

Option 1: The first option is that Trump, even with a Republican Congress, is unable to repeal Obamacare. If that’s the case, then nothing changes for our company.

We’ve expanded our product portfolio to include about 50 different health carriers, making sure we have the best options for brokers and clients in all of our markets. We’re confident that the limitations on short term scheduled to be implemented in April will be ruled unconstitutional, just like similar proposals on limited med. were previously. We’re also confident that if by some chance those changes are upheld, our carriers will supply alternatives that can replace those longer short term policies we’re currently selling. In addition, we’ve worked hard to educate our agents on the importance of selling supplemental products to cover “gaps” produced by metal level plans. Our agents sell these supplemental plans at a relatively high rate, helping to enhance lower health commissions.

Option 2: Trump and Republicans manage to repeal Obamacare. If this occurs, it’s assumed it will happen in the first or second quarter of 2017. If the Affordable Care Act is repealed, that means several features that have actually negatively affected us in the past are now remedied.

First of all, the most underprivileged people remain on Medicaid and are unaffected. Those just over the Medicaid threshold will have premium increases without subsidies, but not significantly. Everyone else, including the middle class, will enjoy a significant decrease of approximately 50%- even without subsidies. That’s because if underwritten product is once again supported, rates will drastically decrease. The majority of the carriers with whom we partner already had unwritten plans before Obamacare, and will only need to relaunch those already filed plans if they are once again supported.

In addition to premium changes and underwritten vs. guaranteed issue product changes, we should expect commission levels to increase to pre-Obamacare levels- that’s about a 700% increase! That may cause some of our competitors who trimmed back or withdrew completely from the individual market in the face of healthcare reform to come back into the market. However, as one of the few companies who not only stuck it out, but in fact flourished during the time of ACA, we’re way ahead of the game.

Our main takeaway from last night’s election results are this:

We have weathered repeated, rapid and extreme changes in healthcare for over a decade now, and will continue to adjust, adapt and succeed, whatever policy changes we face in the future.

Sincerely,

John Pequeno

President of Ideal Concepts, Inc.