Legislation that would mandate that Georgia health insurance agents be paid a commission for all sales passed the state House on Thursday.
House Bill 64 is the second attempt by state Rep. Shaw Blackmon, R-Bonaire, to protect agents. It passed the House by a vote of 172-1.
Blackmon filed a bill last year that would have set a minimum commission rate for all plans sold, something that helped scuttle it in the Senate.
This year, Blackmon's bill would not require a specific commission rate. Also gone from this year's version is the name of House Rules Committee Chairman John Meadows, R-Calhoun, as the top co-sponsor.
Meadows, perhaps the second-most-powerful member of the House, is also an insurance agent, and his presence on last year’s bill raised questions about conflicts of interest.
Opponents of this year’s measure say it still smacks of hypocrisy from a Republican Party that has long opposed government interference in businesses and advocated a free-market philosophy in legislating.
Blackmon says such criticism is unfair.
Earlier this month, Blackmon said that because the Affordable Care Act requires all taxpayers to have health insurance, agents in small towns are handling more individual plans than before.
Insurance companies, he said, were not always paying commissions for those less profitable plans
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