Massachusetts Medical Benefit Form (MBR)

The state of Georgia will have to have a similar form in place when PPACA goes online in 2014. Review the “Working Income” section found on page 2 and imagine the difficulty people will have in interpreting these questions – and the processes that will be necessary to audit and correct these form submissions.

So to put it bluntly Georgia has more less-educated, lower-income people dispersed over a wider area than does Massachusetts. None of this bodes well for having a health insurance premium subsidy form filled out correctly.

This is just one of the challenges the state of Georgia faces as it builds its health insurance exchange. It also highlights the fact that the knowledge and expertise possessed by Georgia health insurance agents will be in great demand. But will the exchange invite Georgia health insurance agents and brokers to the party?

1. Never let on how much you need the other guy’s money.
2. Stay in control. He wants a rate of return and you want to scale your business. This is not a unilateral transaction.
3. Express a level of confidence in your technology based on a solid understanding of it, your market and your competition.
4. Understand and be responsive to the interests of your investors.
5. Be sure to play side one of Led Zeppelin IV at the closing table.

I hope you get lucky…

Bo Peabody, co-founder of Tripod.com and Village Ventures, was the keynote speaker. Bo’s book, Lucky or Smart?, is available on Amazon.

I am pleased that my new venture, QuoteJuice.com, was chosen to present. For the past couple years, Andrew Lunde, one of Atlanta’s most accomplished technologists, and I have been building the site. We are sticking to the adage that if you aren’t embarrassed by the way the site looks then you launched to slow. We are continuing to make improvements that will make the user’s experience better.

Quotejuice.com allows consumers to easily quote and compare side-by-side competing health plans, and to make application for the insurance product that best fits their needs. The company is a licensed insurance agency in Georgia, California, Colorado, North Carolina and Tennessee. QuoteJuice, founded in March 2007, is a member company of the Advanced Technology Development Center at Georgia Tech.

Paul Stamatiou wrote a comprehensive piece on Startup Riot. Here are some pictures from the event:

Sanjay briefs the presenters.

Andrew Lunde and Sig Mosley.

Angus pitches QuoteJuice!

James Harris pitches Artisanal Influence!

Keith McGreggor oversees the snarkiness on BackNoise; Paul Freet, Jeff McConnell and Sig Mosley.