NAIC CIRCULATES BROKER LEGISLATION – The insurance commissioners are working through a draft bill that would pull brokers' fees out of the MLR calculation and it looks quite similar to the legislation that Rep. Mike Rogers is planning to introduce. The NAIC's Professional Health Insurance Advisors Task Force has been meeting by phone for the past week to discuss the issue and, on Thursday, released a first draft of the bill. An industry source familiar with the legislation tells PULSE that, while Rep. Rogers's staff has been in touch with the NAIC, it's unclear whether they will collaborate on a bill. Agent groups want to see Rogers's legislation hit the floor with an NAIC endorsement. The bill http://politico.pro/fFGmpc

–CONSUMER ADVOCATES DON'T LIKE IT – Consumer Watchdog's Carmen Balber: "Brokers tried and failed to get lifetime protection for their commissions in the federal reform law, then tried and failed to get protection written into the regulations adopted by the Department of Health and Human Services. [In] Congress, they see a chance to guarantee their own paydays at the expense of ever-rising health insurance premiums."

–WHAT HAPPENS NEXT – Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has requested comments on the draft be sent to his office by March 14. With the NAIC holding its national meeting the week after that, it's certain to be a hot topic (as NAIC hot topics go – it might even rival credibility adjustments!).