Welcome to CIMS
Last month I shared with you my “wish list” for things that I hope we can accomplish during the 2006- 2007 year. This month I want to talk about some additional initiatives that will help our association grow and better meet the needs of the agent/broker population in America.
Like most of you, I’m a health insurance agent and I’ve sold health insurance for many years. I think NAHU does a great job meeting the needs of health insurance professionals, but that’s not enough. There are agents/brokers who specialize in other areas of our industry -- for example, disability insurance, LTCI, worksite marketing products and services, senior care/Medicare, dental, vision, life, annuities, self-funded programs, etc.
The NAHU “tent” needs to be bigger and accommodate these other specialists. We can’t just talk about this -- we need to Make It Happen today or we fail to serve a growing segment of the agent/broker population.
For the past few years we have operated a Disability Income Advisory Group, which has performed marvelously in terms of beginning to get back to our association’s roots in the DI arena. Working with the NAHU Education Department, the DIAG has helped develop educational tools on DI products and services by working with our sister association, AHIP (America’s Health Insurance Plans). These products and services are contemporary and very interesting to someone who needs to get up to speed on a specialty area quickly. The DIAG is chaired this year by Bob Tretter and our staff liaison is Farren Ross. Along with the other members of the DIAG, they are making great strides in this key area of our industry.
Another area that we’ve become more focused on involves the Long-Term Care Advisory Group. Previously, we had an LTC Working Group that was part of the NAHU Legislative Council; last year we moved this up to advisory group status. Why? Because we want to better address the overall needs of LTC producers in the industry. We wanted to broaden our focus from legislative and regulatory issues and add membership, education, networking and communications issues that affect LTC producers. Chaired this year by Jim Summers and assisted with staff from Legislative, Membership and Education, the LTCAG will begin to help our organization better meet the needs of LTC producers throughout the country.
Another advisory group that was resurrected last year is the Worksite Marketing Advisory Group, which is chaired by Region 5 Vice President Mel Schlesinger. The WMAG is taking a look at the many recruiting and education opportunities in the worksite arena. This is a huge opportunity for us. They say that worksite sales are the old “kitchen table” venue of earlier years where individuals purchase affordable life, disability, accident and other supplemental coverage to better protect their families. The NAHU tent needs to include worksite marketing producers – they are a rapidly growing segment of the industry and cannot be overlooked in our membership and legislative affairs efforts.
Finally, the newest official advisory group is the Senior/Medicare Advisory Group, which is chaired this year by Darlene Kaczmarek. Likethe Long-Term Care Advisory Group, the Senior/Medicare Advisory Group was formerly a working group underneath the Legislative Council, but we have moved it up to advisory group status so we can broaden the scope of what we want to do to serve the needs of agents/brokers who specialize in the senior or Medicare market. With a significant part of the population participating in Medicare and eligible for new Medicare products, NAHU needs to address the needs of producers in this critical area. But meeting this need means more than just addressing the legislative and regulatory issues, it means focusing on membership, education, networking and communication needs of producers in this area of specialty.
It is our hope that as our advisory groups help the Board of Trustees identify ways to better serve the needs of our members (and prospective members) in these areas, we can get our state and local chapter affiliates to jump on the wagon and provide local programs, services and benefits that will be attractive to these specialists in the insurance industry.
If you would like to be kept in the loop on what our advisory groups are doing, let us know. But remember, if you are in the loop, don’t expect to sit on the sidelines and do nothing: You may be asked to help Make It Happen, and I hope you’ll accept that offer when it comes to you!
Until next month, my best to you.
Dave