NSSTA 2007 Fall Meeting

Faced with increasing industry challenges, including how to expand the structured settlement market, the National Structured Settlement Trade Association (NSSTA) hosted its 2007 Fall Regional Meeting October 10-12 at the Saddlebrook Resort outside Tampa, Florida. Among the highlights:

• NSSTA President Henry Strong:
  • Introduced Smith Bucklin , NSSTA's new association management company.
  • Identified management priorities for NSSTA and Smith Bucklin including:
    • Expand the structured settlement market;
    • Recapture the structured settlement brand;
    • Improve NSSTA's Internet technology competences;
    • Increase NSSTA's financial strength and accountability;
  • Summarized NSSTA's preliminary response to potential shortfalls in investment assets at Executive Life of New York (ELNY).
• Andy Imparato, President and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD):
  • Outlined AAPD's strategy to:
    • Unite disabled persons as a political block and business market;
    • Change the social security statutory definition of "disability":
      • From "unable to work" to
      • Address "barriers to work" for disabled persons;
    • Create a disabled middle class - transitioning the disabled from poverty to economic self-sufficiency;
    • Extend some variation of the current structured settlement legislative model to disabled persons generally.
  • Identified AAPD's political priorities for:
    • Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI);
    • Supplemental Security Income (SSI);
    • Medicaid; and
    • Medicare.
  • Criticized current United States' government benefit programs for:
    • Maintaining people in poverty and punishing people who try to escape poverty;
    • Not designing Medicaid and Medicare for working age persons who want to work.
  • Encouraged NSSTA members to involve themselves at the local level with independent living centers.
  • Invited NSSTA members to join AAPD and attend AAPD's March 5, 2008 Gala in Washington, D.C.
• Government Benefits Committee - Doug Brand, John McCulloch and Eric Vaughn reported on various legislative and regulatory developments related to structured settlements:
  • HR 2549 ("Medicare Secondary Payer and Workers Compensation Settlement Agreement Act") - HR 2549 would impact Medicare set-aside arrangements (MSA). NSSTA's priorities include:
    • Consistent standards;
    • Improved CMS response time for approvals; and
    • Creating an MSA appeal process.
  • Social Security Administration (SSA) POMS - NSSTA has established dialogue with the SSA related to anticipated POMS for structured settlement annuities and special needs trusts (SNT);
  • Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) - NSSTA leaders are beginning to recognize the importance and challenge of:
    • Tracking state DRA-related legislation, regulations and case law that determine whether and when structured settlements annuities qualify (or disqualify) persons for Medicaid long term care;
    • Educating state Medicaid agencies and case workers about structured settlement annuities in the context of the DRA, SNTs and the secondary annuity markets.
    • Formulating a strategy to facilitate the consistent integration of structured settlement annuities with Medicaid on a national basis.
• NSSTA Lobbyist Eric Vaughn
  • Vaughn summarized two additional federal legislative initiatives NSSTA is tracking:
    • A new (second) 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund under consideration for Ground Zero first responders and construction workers;
    • HR 2370, a bill to create income tax free Disabled American Financial Security Accounts.
  • Vaughn reiterated NSSTA's lobbying strategy to:
    • Represent all structured settlement viewpoints and interests;
    • Expand, as well as defend, favorable structured settlement legislation.
• Expanded Use of Structured Settlements - several additional presentations at the NSSTA meeting focused on expanding the structured settlement market:
  • Marketing Structured Settlements - Dan Durbin and Peter Arnold of NSSTA's Marketing Committee introduced an "Army of One" public relations and communication program to assist individual NSSTA members expand their business using Internet tools.
  • Standards of Professional Conduct
    • Consultant Lynn Courier:
      • Introduced the first draft of proposed "Standards of Professional Conduct" developed by the Broker Relations Initiative (BRI) for structured settlement consultants;
      • Conducted a collaboration exercise among attendees to sollicit written comments and recommendations.
    • S2KM suggestions:
      
      • Preamble
        • Structured settlements and government benefits - The idea that structured settlements resolve personal injury claims "without reliance on government benefits" represents inaccurate and wishful thinking. Instead, optimum solutions for personal injury claims should cost-effectively integrate structured settlements with government benefits.
        • Required knowledge - Required knowledge for all structured settlement professionals should include continuing education about:
          • The personal injury settlement planning process (and participants) in addition to the personal injury claim process;
          • Integration of structured settlements with government benefits;
          • Federal and state-specific factoring laws.
      • Representation
        • The current draft highlights the importance of "all parties" (as clients) receiving structured settlement advice without sufficient attention for protecting personal injury victims (as claimants, customers, consumers, investors, recipients, and potential assignors.
        • Examples of protecting structured settlement recipients:
          • Transparency of the structured settlement transaction;
          • Full disclosure to, and informed consent by, structured settlement recipients of all related structured settlement (and settlement planning) compensation arrangements.
          • Full disclosure to structured settlement recipients of all laws impacting structured settlement payment rights including IRC section 5891 and state structured settlement protection statutes.
      • Other Professional Associations - If they have not done so already, BRI organizers should compare the current draft of their proposed Standards of Professional Conduct with related standards from other associations:
        • Society of Settlement Planners (SSP) Code of Ethics (currently in draft format);
        • National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) Aspirational Standards;
        • American Bar Association (ABA) Model Rules for Professional Conduct; and
        • Certified Financial Planner (CFP) Standards of Professional Conduct.
  • Professionalism - NSSTA's Fall meeting featured two presentations about "professionalism" in addition to Standards of Professional Conduct.
    • Leading with Professionalism - featuring Bo Short, author of The Foundation of Leadership; and
    • Hallmarks of a Structured Settlement Professional - with NSSTA members Will Shapiro, Randy Simard, Alice Frisbee and Mike Kelly.
  • Legal Presentations - NSSTA's 2006 Marketing Study emphasized the importance of attorneys for expanding the structured settlement market. NSSTA featured three additional presentations by lawyers at its Fall Meeting.
    • Web Brennan with NSSTA member Randy Gassman - Brennan is President of the Florida Trial Lawyers Association.  He and Gassman spoke about structured settlement planners.
  • Bradley Frigon - Frigon, a Director of NAELA, is a nationally-recognized expert in the rapidly developing field of special needs planning. Frigon provided a SNT Case Law Update.
  • Michael Miller with NSSTA member Toni Warbington - Miller is co-chairperson of NSSTA's Legal Committee. He and Warbington spoke about some of the legal and practical issues with structured settlement closing documentation. In addition, Miller provided a tax update.

Congratulations to NSSTA for an exceptional Fall 2007 Fall Meeting.  NSSTA's 2008 Winter Meeting will be held January 16-18 at the Barton Creek Resort and Spa in Austin, Texas.

Additional resources about NSSTA and structured settlements:

• Wikipedia definitions
  • Structured settlement
  • Structured settlement factoring transaction
  • Special needs trust
    
• Selected S2KM blog posts
  • NSSTA
    • NSSTA 2007 Winter Meeting - includes an earlier summaries of NSSTA's 2006 Marketing Study and the BRI.
    • NSSTA Bylaw Amendments
    • NSSTA 2006 Annual Meeting - includes questions NSSTA brokers should ask themselves about factoring.
  • Expanding the structured settlement market
    
    • Overview of the Structured Settlement Market
    • Structured Settlement Public Policy - Joseph Dehner podcast interview
    • The Future of Structured Settlements
    • Settlement Planner Definition
    • Robert Wood podcast interviews
      
      • Structured Attorney Fees
      • Single Claimant 468B Funds
    • Government benefits
      • Structured Settlements and Government Benefits
      • NAELA Annuity Policy White Paper
      • Special Needs Trusts
      • Deficit Reduction Act
      • Inconvenient Questions - a three part review of Syvius von Saucken's 2007 article about the DRA and structured settlements.
  • Settlement transfers
    • Structured settlement transfers - good or bad?
    • How the Primary Market Views Factoring
    • Self-funded Settlement Transfers - with questions for consultants and planners.
    • Review of Robert Wood's article "Factor v. Commute"
    • New Pennsylvania Rule 229.2
• Structured Settlement Concept Maps - in collaboration with Dr. Barbara Bowen.