HUPAC TrainingState and Local Chairs

2009

What is HUPAC?

• The Health Underwriters Political Action Committee (HUPAC) is NAHU’s nonpartisan political action committee

• The purpose of the PAC is to solicit funds from NAHU members for disbursal to campaign committees who are accessible and willing to consider NAHU’s views

• Created by NAHU in 1995

Overview of Responsibilities

• Recruiting new contributors to HUPAC• Liaison between national and

regional HUPAC trustees and your chapter

The Basics• The FEC (Federal Elections Commission) dictates

many of the functions of HUPAC and as HUPAC chair you need to be aware of a few key items:– HUPAC contributions can only come from NAHU members,

their families, and NAHU Staff• This also means HUPAC can only solicit from NAHU members

– Individuals can only contribute $5,000 a year to a PAC – Contributions to HUPAC’s Candidate Account can only come

from individuals, not companies– Checks made out to HUPAC MUST be cashed within 15

days of their date, which means checks should be mailed out to Stakeholder as soon as they are received

HUPAC’s AccountsHUPAC has 2 different Accounts

1) Candidate Account- Individual’s contributions through personal credit cards

or bank accounts- Funds from this account are given to political

candidates, both challengers and incumbents, democrats and republicans

2) Administrative Fund• Businesses can contribute up to $5,000 a year to this

account• State and local chapters can also contribute to this

account• Money in this account goes to the operating costs of

HUPAC so that the candidate fund can be reserved solely for political contributions

HUPAC LevelsHUPAC has four contribution levels:

– Supporter: $10 per month or $150 annually– 365 Club: $30 per month ($1 per day) or $365

annually– Congressional Club: $42 per month or $500

annually– Capitol Club: highest level of HUPAC contributions

• Gold- $1,000/year or $85/month• Diamond- $2,000/year or $170/month• Double Diamond- $3,000/year or $250/month• Triple Diamond- $5,000/year or $410.00/month

HUPAC Levels

HUPAC levels are determined by lump sums or monthly draft levels.For example, to reach Capitol Club status…

• Your Year-to-date contributions are equal to $1,000 (you’ve written one check to HUPAC for $1,000)

OR

• You are signed up for a monthly withdrawal of $85

Monthly Drafts

• HUPAC does one monthly draft from Credit Cards and Checking accounts

• This occurs on the 23rd of every month– If a contribution form is received within

that week or just after, no withdrawal will occur until the following cycle

Who Receives HUPAC Money?• Only select political candidates, incumbents and challengers,

receive HUPAC contributions• Often members in leadership positions or on committees of

jurisdiction– House: Ways and Means, Rules Committee, Energy and

Commerce, Small Business, Education and Workforce, Budget, and Appropriations

– Senate: Finance, HELP, Aging, Appropriations, Budget, Small Business

• Challengers without a voting record fill out a questionnaire, the HUPAC Board of Trustees then votes to approve the candidate

• Members already serving in Congress not on a committee of jurisdiction can receive HUPAC contributions if the HUPAC Board of Trustees approves them

In-District Drops• HUPAC often does in-district events that allow NAHU

members to attend events hosted by their Congressman• When in-district events come up NAHU staff contacts state

leadership to see if members are interested in attending– Usually a small group of members from that state attend

the event and provide feedback to NAHU staff• If members plan on attending the meeting, HUPAC mails

out a check to the campaign for the event• What if I hear about an event and want to attend?

– If you become aware of event in-district for an approved member of Congress, contact NAHU with the details of the event and if feasible HUPAC make a contribution to the Congressman for the event.

HUPAC Monthly Reports

• Contribution reports for the overall year, broken down by region, state, and chapter

• Report is emailed out to regional chairs monthly– 10th day of every month

• Provides name, email, phone, monthly contribution amounts, YTD contribution amounts, date of last contribution

• Allows you to identify who in your chapter is giving, if they’ve fallen behind in giving, etc.

Other Resources

• HUPAC Contribution Form– Always have plenty of copies to hand

out at meetings• HUPAC Tri-Fold PDF

– Information about HUPAC, it’s goals, and contribution levels

– Good to hand out to someone who doesn’t know much about HUPAC

• HUPAC “Be Heard” Signs– Great way to draw attention to HUPAC at

regional, state, and chapter meetings

HUPAC Communications

• State of the HUnion– For all HUPAC Contributors– Sent out quarterly– General information on HUPAC, regional

contribution levels, HUPAC activities

• HUPolitics– For Capitol Club members only– Sent out monthly to Capitol Club contributors– Detailed newsletter covering top political

issues related to the health care industry, as well as election/campaign outlooks

Regional and Local Meetings

• Ask your local or state President for 5-10 minutes at each chapter meeting to talk about HUPAC

• Come armed with numbers that matter:– How many Democrats and Republicans have

we given to this year– How much money your chapter is giving– Where does your state rank among the rest of

the country– How much per member does your chapter give

Regional and Local Meetings: What to Say

• What are the benefits of contributing?– Government has a huge impact on our

profession, our business, and our clients. If we don’t have a seat at the table, our industry is at risk!

– Contributions to HUPAC allow us to combine our resources and strength to ensure our voice is heard!

Reaching Our Goals

• If every member of NAHU gave just $5/month HUPAC would be A Million Dollar PAC!

• For members who claim “I can’t afford enough to make a difference,” encourage them to sign up for just $5/month- remember $5/month from everyone gets us to $1 million!

• Challenge members already donating to raise their contribution 1 level

Be Prepared…

• “I can’t afford a large enough contribution to make a difference.”– Remember: if every member gave

$5/month, we’d be a million dollar PAC, EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS

• “How much good is $5 really going to do?”– Honestly, not that much, but $5-$10

from 20,000 members could do a lot of good for millions of Americans!

Be Prepared…

• “Why should I pay money to some politician in Washington?”– Every year, legislative mandates and

regulations threaten the health insurance industry. Without a strong presence in Washington to inform legislators about the impact of their decisions, our careers are jeopardized. HUPAC affords us the presence!

• “But I’m not affiliated with either party.”– Neither is HUPAC! We are a nonpartisan group

that supports any legislative candidate illustrating support for our industry. Committing to HUPAC is committing to your future, not a political party.

HUPAC NAHU Staff• Jessica Waltman- Senior Vice President

of Government Affairs• Laurel Call- Senior Vice President &

Counsel• John Greene- Vice President of

Congressional Affairs• Kristin Leighty- Government Affairs

Coordinator

HUPAC NATIONAL BOT

• Chair – Johnny Dawkins• Vice-Chair – Susan Rash• Region 1 Chair – Paul Smith (CT)• Region 2 Chair – Alan Schulman (MD)• Region 3 Chair – Denny Wright (IN)• Region 4 Chair – Eric Kohlsdorf (IA)• Region 5 Chair – David Johnson (GA)• Region 6 Chair – Michael Stephens (OK)• Region 7 Chair – Connie Puett (ID)• Region 8 Chair – Dan McMahon (WA)• Member At-Large – John Nelson (immediate past Chair)• NAHU Board Liaison – Tom Harte

HUPACP.O. Box 20865

Indianapolis, IN 46220-0865

Fax: 317.253.9285Phone: 703.276.3839

www.HUPAC.org

hupac@nahu.org