On this episode of Covering NJ Healthcare, we commemorate these long, hot days of summer by chatting with Toby Stark, NJAHU State President and owner of Stark Associates in Tinton Falls, about the buzz heating up at NJAHU over our upcoming State of the State in Healthcare conference this September.

Today, Covering NJ Healthcare is podcasting live from NJAHU’s 2016 annual convention at Bally’s Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City. We sat down in the conference exhibit hall with Madie Nash, Sales Account Manager at Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, to discuss the rollout of Horizon’s OMNIA plan, and to reminisce about the way NJAHU’s annual conference has grown and changed for the better over the years.

This episode of Covering NJ Healthcare is all about NJAHU membership. Joining us for today’s conversation are Joe Torella and Alex Petronella, NJAHU state membership chairs. They discuss the exciting growth in membership NJAHU has seen this past year, the many ways our industry benefits from strong relationships between competing brokers, and the importance of NJAHU member-brokers helping each other address clients’ unique needs.

On this episode of Covering NJ Healthcare, we continue our Cap Conference roundtable featuring panelists Desmond Slattery, Joan Fusco, and Dave Mordo. Jon and special guest host Dave Oscar discuss with our panel the challenges of a changing market landscape, and the vigorous debate taking shape over PPACA’s eligibility rules and essential benefits.

Here at Covering NJ Healthcare, we decided to mark the upcoming NAHU Capitol Conference by welcoming back some old guests (and some fresh new voices) for a round-table discussion. Joan Fusco, Director of Research & Education at Savoy Associates in Florham Park, and a NAHU Legislative Council Member, joins previous guests David Mordo,Vice Chair of the NAHU National Legislative Council and Desmond Slattery, chairman of NJAHU’s Legislative Management Team, to discuss the various reasons this year’s Cap Conference will be our most successful ever – and to offer a sneak preview of NAHU’s important legislative agenda for the upcoming year. Special guest host: Dave Oscar, NJAHU Communications Chair.

On this episode, Covering NJ Healthcare has invited Steve Honig, NJAHU Education Chair, to discuss important new changes to the “Cadillac tax” included in President Obama’s latest Federal budget. Steve shares with us his concerns regarding the fairness of this policy, his concerns about the Cadillac Tax’s impact on ordinary New Jerseyans, and his hopes for the health insurance community’s response to these changes.

On today’s episode of Covering NJ Healthcare, we speak with Toby Stark, owner of Stark Associates Insurance in Monmouth County. Toby is NJAHU President-Elect and conference chair for the NJAHU 2016 Annual Conference. Toby offered up a “sneak preview” of this year’s Go for the Gold event and told us all about the invaluable networking opportunities that will be available, as well as his personal connection with the event’s patriotic theme.

Frank Petrulla joins us for this episode of Covering NJ Healthcare. He has been the Chairman of NJAHU’s State of the State in Healthcare symposium for the last three years and was the recipient of NJAHU’s 2014 Board of Directors award. On this episode, he discusses with us the important networking and activism opportunities the State of the State conference provides to the health insurance brokerage community, and the many reasons our fast-paced and quickly-changing industry compels us to get involved.

This episode of Covering NJ Healthcare is all about HIAPAC (Health Insurance Agent Political Action Committee), NJAHU’s official political action committee. Our guest, Carolyn Andress, a HIAPAC committee member, delivered a spirited address at the 2015 State of the State in Healthcare symposium about the importance of HIAPAC to the health insurance brokerage community, with phenomenal results. After her speech, she sat down with our co-hosts to discuss the importance of a powerful voice for health insurance agents in Trenton, and her plan for making HIAPAC even stronger.

It’s the week after Election Day in New Jersey, so this episode of Covering NJ Healthcare features an interview with Assemblyman Craig Coughlin, a Democrat who has served since 2010 representing the 19th Legislative District, recorded live at NJAHU’s State of the State in Healthcare 2015 symposium in Monroe on October 1st. Together with guest host Ross Honig, Jonathan discusses with Assemblyman Coughlin how lawmakers in Trenton are facing down rising healthcare costs, and the difficult choices that lie ahead for consumers who have no choice but to receive care from out-of-network providers.