May 23, 2003

Association Health Plans . . .

More than 20 representatives from chambers across New York participated in a CANYS-sponsored conference call with Kate Sullivan of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce last week. The call opened an informal dialogue on Association Health Plans, and provided an opportunity for chambers to have their questions answered by the senior health policy analyst at the U.S. Chamber. If you did not participate in the call and would like a brief synopsis of what was discussed, please e-mail maggie.moree@bcnys.org. The CANYS board is looking to provide follow-up to this call in order to continue the dialogue. Chairman Kenneth Adams has appointed Garry Douglas from the Plattsburgh-North Country Chamber to be CANYS’ point person for this issue. He will help keep us updated on legislative developments and other issues surrounding AHPs. If you would like more information, please check the following documents: National Governors Association position on AHPs, Facts About AHPs from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Myths and Facts about AHPs from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Chamber Benefits of AHPs from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and National Association of Insurance Commissioners position on AHPs. If these links don’t work for you, please reference http://www.canys.org/news.htm.

Survey of health insurers by market . . .

During the conference call, it was noted that it would be very helpful to have facts and figures to help chambers take a position on AHPs. CANYS is interested to know the number of insurers operating in New York State, by market or region. Is there a lack of competition in your area? Please send a list of all available insurers in your area to maggie.moree@bcnys.org.

New York Day in Washington very successful . . .

Nearly 80 business people, chamber executives and chamber staff converged on Washington last week to advocate on a number of federal issues. Highlights included presentations by both Senator Charles Schumer and Senator Hillary Clinton, who touched on education and workforce issues, and broadband technology funding, respectively. To read an account of New York Day published in the Syracuse Post-Standard, go to http://www.syracuse.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-9/1052987821130820.xml?syrneocit. Congressmen Sherwood Boehlert and Jerrold Nadler hosted a transportation and infrastructure session with presentations from a number of federal agencies. Many participants noted that chambers should pay particular attention to TEA-21 re-authorization efforts, as this legislation will impact virtually every area of the state. To keep up to date on the issue, bookmark http://www.isteaworksny.org and check the site regularly.

Chamber of Commerce Week . . .

Mark your calendars for September 14-20, and get ready for Chamber Week 2003! Chambers of commerce across New York State will be sponsoring programs and events to highlight the important work that business people do to encourage growth in their communities. In the past, chambers have gotten proclamations about Chamber Week from their town boards, ran special edition inserts to the community newspaper about what the chamber does and the business people that make things happen, and much more. If you would like more information on how you can highlight the great work of your chamber during Chamber Week 2003, please contact maggie.moree@bcnys.org.

Scholarship winner from Greece Chamber . . .

ACCE/NAMD has announced the winners of the 2003 Power of Partnership Conference Scholarships. Of the eight chamber professionals selected to receive free registration to the Conference August 7-9 in Denver, CANYS congratulations go to Sue Edgett, Membership, at the Greece Chamber of Commerce, Inc. The scholarship program is an annual competition, this year administered for the first time jointly by ACCE and NAMD. Candidates submit essays on why they want to attend the conference; entries are judged by a panel. If you haven't signed up for the conference yet, go to http://www.acce.org/profdev/events/namdacce03/registration.asp.

Tell us about it . . .

The Eastern Regional Office of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is hosting its first Eastern Regional Governmental Affairs Conference in Boston on October 22-24. The purpose of this conference is to bring together state and local chamber staff, executives, and volunteer government affairs leaders from throughout the Eastern United States to compare government affairs strategies, discuss priority issues, and learn from each other's victories and headaches. The U.S. Chamber hasn’t finalized the content of the conference so that they can solicit your suggestions. Are there specific issues you would benefit from learning about? Do you have problems you wish you had help addressing? Please think about this and e-mail your thoughts to scrawford@uschamber.com.

Got a question you’d like to ask other CANYS members? Job opening in your chamber? Send it to maggie.moree@bcnys.org