Stephen Howard

In Memoriam

I am saddened to relay the passing of an extraordinary man and, although behind the scenes perhaps, certainly a building block of the brokerage business—Charles D. “Chuck” Rumbarger, the National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies’ (NAILBA) first executive director,  passed away in January after a series of illnesses.

Shortly after leaving NALU (now NAIFA) in 1982, Rumbarger founded an association management firm (Association Management Group – AMG), and NAILBA was the first client of that firm—managed by AMG until becoming a self-managed association in 2002. Although Chuck had turned over the reins of NAILBA by that time, he remained involved and interested in NAILBA’s success.  His dedication to NAILBA for all those years resulted in his being named the 1999 Mooers Award recipient, an honor he highly prized but humbly accepted.

Shortly after receiving NAILBA’s (and the brokerage industry’s) highest honor, Rumbarger penned a letter delivered to this publication and addressed to NAILBA members and the brokerage industry.  In it, he said:  “Having recently sold my company and experienced several other life altering events, I have been reflecting on what things have really mattered over the 60 years I have been given.  Among those things has been the opportunity to associate with people like YOU.  People who have ‘hung in there,’continued to ‘show up’ and remained positive forces in organizations like NAILBA.  YOU are truly my heroes.  Your living of life, as ordinary or as flawed as you may think it has been, is an inspiration to me.  You have made organizations and lives better than you found them.  Thank you.”  That’s just a tiny example of the character of Chuck Rumbarger.

Current NAILBA CEO Jack Chiasson remembers his dear friend: “Once I got the job, Chuck was never more than a phone call or an email away, and never refused any of my requests for advice or counsel.  We met regularly for lunch, and he helped me to navigate the ins and outs of my first CEO position – board and volunteer relations, financial management and governance, strategic planning, staffing, legal issues, whatever – all the things that any association executive deals with on a day-to-day basis. I couldn’t have done it without him, and I will miss him terribly.”

Rumbarger served his country in the Air Force as an air policeman in the Philippines during the build-up of the Vietnam War and subsequently in Washington, DC, rising to the rank of Sergeant.

He often reached out to help others, such as anonymously buying dinner for a tired policeman or struggling family. He served in organizations which focused on the needs of underserved children, led boy scouts at a jamboree as a young airman in the Philippines, and when a parent of young children he was also a foster parent. As a retiree Chuck was a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer and provided professional guidance to nonprofit organizations such as Child Life Council. Of particular interest during his last years was supporting outdoor experiences for wounded warriors through Freedom Hunters.

Rumbarger was also deeply committed to the NAILBA Charitable Foundation, and his actions truly embodied the mission of the Foundation:  to encourage volunteerism among NAILBA members and provide grant funds to worthy charitable organizations that serve to enhance the quality of life for those less fortunate—with a special emphasis on children.

In honor of Rumbarger’s impact on NAILBA and our industry, the NAILBA Charitable Foundation will be awarding a one-time grant (the Rumbarger Grant) to a charitable organization that Chuck would have supported. If you are interested in contributing funds to this grant in his memory, please contact Kathy Allison, 703-383-3072 or [email protected].

“Personally, Chuck has been a mentor, a role model, and – most of all – a friend over the years,” said Chiasson, “What YOU do every day is a result of the efforts that people like Mike Flynn, Mende Lerner, Doug Mooers—and Chuck Rumbarger—as well as many others put in all those years ago. I hope you join me, both in mourning the loss and in gratitude for the service of this wonderful man.”

Amen, Jack.  Thank you, Chuck. [SPH]

Heartfelt congratulations to great Broker World friend Chuck Anderson, senior vice president of strategic relationship management at Prudential as the recipient of the 2015 NAILBA Chairman’s Award.  The award, created in 2009, was developed to recognize the efforts of a NAILBA volunteer who has performed “over and above” normal expectations during the Chairman’s term.

In presenting the award to Anderson, NAILBA Chairman David Long shared, “Chuck has been a cheerleader for our distribution channel for as long as I can remember, and has been a big part of his company’s relationship with NAILBA members and the annual meeting, leading the way in providing highly visible support through sponsorships and exhibits. This year in particular, he was strongly supportive of our newly formed advocacy partnership with AALU – his commitment extends beyond the annual meeting and the Charitable Foundation, to legislative initiatives and issues that impact the way our businesses are run.”

He continued, explaining, “Chuck has always been a strong supporter of NAILBA–from the carrier side. He has served on multiple NAILBA committees and on the Charitable Foundation board of directors,” concluding, “we are very grateful to have your support and enthusiasm, year after year.”

I know Chuck to be a tireless advocate for the brokerage industry, an enthusiastic contributor to many charitable causes, including the NAILBA Charitable Foundation (he even emailed me a contribution after the meeting when we didn’t connect!), and one of the most sincere and dedicated relationship builders I’ve ever met.  My hat’s off to you, Chuck, and thank you for your friendship. [SPH]

The insurance industry as a whole is too often vilified by the mainstream media, the Administration, and a debasing mass of ambulance chasers as heartless, greedy and at best the exclusive servant of the very wealthy.  It is my distinct privilege to provide evidence to the contrary on the heels of the 34th annual NAILBA meeting.

It has been my joy to serve on the NAILBA Charitable Foundation board for the past three years and it is with no small measure of gratitude that I’m able to report the outstanding efforts of the brokerage community and the NAILBA family in 2015 that will benefit countless less advantaged families and individuals.

Thanks to the contributions of more than 300 individuals, agencies, vendors and carriers, the NAILBA Charitable Foundation was able to distribute a total $245,000 to 17 extremely worthy charities, as well as $30,000 to the Life Happens organization.  Grants are designed to benefit programs or projects in the communities of and sponsored by individuals from NAILBA’s member agencies and corporate partners.  The 2015 selected charities received grants ranging from $5000 to $27,000, predominantly for causes involving children.The NAILBA Charitable Foundation is dedicated to providing funds to small, well-run charities that may not otherwise have access to additional funding.

The mission of the NAILBA Charitable Foundation is to encourage volunteerism among NAILBA members and provide grant funds to worthy charitable organizations that serve to enhance the quality of life for those less fortunate, with a special emphasis on children. To learn more about the work of the Foundation, and the impact it has had on NAILBA members and their communities, visit www.nailba.org.

Thank you one and all, for your effort, your compassion and the positive example you offer your peers, your customers, and most important for the comfort you give to those less fortunate than yourselves.  Damn the mainstream media!  Full speed ahead! [SPH]

What a night! Each year at the NAILBA annual meeting my wife and I have the great pleasure of sitting with three of our dearest friends, Eugene and Shirlee Cohen and their son Michael, at the Mooers Award dinner. I don’t ever seem to have enough time to chat during the event, always hopping up to take a few more pictures of the brokerage industry’s elite in all their black tie finery. This year, however, I was away from the table more than usual, as Shirlee usually tries to pry the name of the honoree from me, and I truly would make a lousy poker player, since in most cases, I can’t bluff my way out of anything. I’m so bad at it that whenever my friends play a poker game, they suggest that I play on a site similar to mega888 online; at least then no one will be able to see my tell. However, sometimes these websites don’t have the games that I normally play, so it can be hard to brush up on my skills when I’m not in the ‘zone’. Luckily I can go onto websites such as www.paybyphonebillcasino.uk to see what casino games are available on different sites, so I am not trawling through for ages.

Anyway, it is with true joy in my heart that I here recognize Eugene Cohen, Eugene Cohen Insurance Agency, Skokie, IL, for being named the 2015 recipient of the Douglas Mooers Award for Excellence, NAILBA’s, and the brokerage industry’s, highest honor.

After finding varying success in a number of occupations (he once sold watermelons out of a truck), an act of providence led Eugene, then in Cleveland, to begin sales training in 1963, specializing in disability income insurance with Massachusetts Indemnity Life Insurance Company. By 1967 he had become one of the youngest agency managers in company history. He built the agency from a struggling two person office to one of the company’s strongest. In 1970 he was transferred to one of the company’s flagship offices, in Chicago, with responsibility for managing a dozen agencies across the country. In 1980 the company changed direction and the Eugene Cohen Insurance Agency was born.

From that point on Eugene has been a tireless supporter of the brokerage distribution system. The agency has been a member of both NAILBA and LifeMark Partners for decades. He became a founding member of The Plus Group, a DI focused marketing group, and in 2004 was part of the initial planning and eventual formation of the International DI Society-receiving their lifetime achievement award in 2011. He has served on countless carrier BGA advisory boards, bringing lessons of the past and vision of the future to myriad insurance company executives.

But in my mind Eugene’s greatest industry achievement, on a tediously long list, is the fact that for over 50 years he has diligently helped train, educate and create personal growth in literally thousands of insurance agents–instilling in them not just the necessary components of insurance sales, but more important, the ethical mandates of integrity and the imperative that service to the greatest benefit of the consumer and his beneficiaries must always come first.

Eugene takes the greatest pride in his family. He and his delightful wife Shirlee have raised three sons to mirror their core beliefs in faith, integrity, a strong work ethic and the responsibility of giving back to the community and to those less fortunate than themselves. The Cohens are active supporters of many charities, among them Glenkirk, an organization that provides services to intellectually disabled children and adults, the Jewish United Fund of Chicago, the NAILBA Charitable Foundation, Heart Strings, the Muscular Dystrophy Association and the Wounded Warriors program.

As a lengthy list of the yet to be named honoree’s achievements was being read from the podium, my eyes were locked on my friends as the realization dawned that it wasn’t in fact “some company guy”-Eugene predictably humbly lowered his head, and Shirlee grabbed his arm in delight before turning to admonish “You lied to me!”

I’ll cherish that moment to my dying day, and it is with deep gratitude that I thank Eugene Cohen for decades of precious friendship and for his tireless service to our industry and the consumers it is our duty to protect. [SPH]

In a time when some associations are facing challenges retaining and growing membership, it is good to report that the International DI Society (IDIS) continues its steady growth.  Although this year’s conference seemed slightly smaller than last year’s 10th anniversary event, membership is still on the rise and the three day event featured great main stage speakers, very engaging breakout sessions, continuing education, great networking time and a nice awards banquet.

The dream of three disability insurance visionaries—Harold Petersen, Bill Barrett and the late Ron Cohen, the IDIS is the independent association for the disability income market, bringing together agents, BGAs, vendors and carrier representatives as members working together to advance awareness and address the needs of this segment of the industry.

The group’s highest honor, the W. Harold Petersen Lifetime Achievement Award went to Jack Schmitz, CLU, ChFC, CASL, DI & LTC Insurance Services, San Rafael, CA.  Schmitz has spent 35 years working in the DI business as a managing general agent.  He is a founding member of the IDIS, a member and past president of The Plus Group, a past president of his local NAIFA and SFSP chapters and sits on the boards of several local charities as well as carrier advisory boards.

In addition, the group chose Greg Burden, OWL Insurance Solutions, Denver, CO, to receive the Ron Cohen Producer’s Scholarship granted to a newer producer in the DI industry who exhibits the same dedication and passion that Mr. Cohen had for the industry

The IDIS is the NAHU/NAIFA for the disability income insurance market.  Underrepresented at all major independent associations—if addressed at all—the DI product line deserves better recognition and much wider sales acceptance.  The most wonderfully crafted life and annuity based solutions of the brightest advisor minds in the industry fall apart at the seams when an unprotected disability interrupts the client’s cash flow.  In my opinion, if our industry is truly anchored by advisors who care about their clients, their clients’ families and businesses, and the dreams their clients have for building a legacy, then DI needs to be a part of the discussion with nearly every client, a part of every industry group’s agenda and a part of every national conference’s curriculum.

I urge all who work diligently in, dabble in or only occasionally peek in on the disability product line to add their support to the IDIS.  Further, I urge all other industry associations to reach out to the IDIS and find a way to partner with them to provide a more robust DI presence at their meetings.  You can contact the International DI Society by telephone at 562-481-2381, via email:[email protected], or visit their website: www.internationaldisociety.com.

Sad news, however, for the IDIS and our industry as a whole—announced at the IDIS meeting was the recent passing of DI giant Michael Eskra Sr., CLU, ChFC.  Eskra was one of the founding members of the IDIS and the recipient of the second W. Harold Petersen Lifetime Achievement Award.

Eskra began his insurance career with the Continental Insurance Company in the late 1950s before joining Provident Life and Accident, where he worked for 30 years, becoming their most successful branch manager.  In 1992 he started his own firm, Eskra & Associates, and in 2002, with Koll-Lenhoff, another leading DI BGA, formed DIBroker, LLC.  Today DIBrokerEast/Eskra & Associates is one of the three largest volume wholesalers of disability insurance in the country.  Fortunately Mike leaves the agency in good hands—three of his four sons are partners in the agency—Peter, Michael Jr. and David.  

Eskra spent his entire insurance career—over 50 years—selling, promoting, training agents in and advocating for disability income replacement insurance.  Recognizing the lack of training and training materials available to new agents coming into the industry (or those new to DI), Eskra published a training manual entitled Disability Income Training Manual—Everything You Need To Know About How To Market Disability Insurance.

My introduction to Mike Eskra came regrettably late, but I found him to be one of those rare people who was almost larger than life in accomplishment and yet easily approachable, very welcoming, friendly almost to a fault, quick witted and eager to share his great smile and hearty laugh.  The DI market and the industry as a whole has lost a great champion, and he will be missed. [SPH]

It has been the distinct pleasure of the Howard family to have been of service to the brokerage community and the insurance industry for 35 years.  Wow.  Maybe that old guy in the mirror really is me.

In 1980 a visionary gent took a list of 20,000 names from a dear friend, 27 advertising commitments, eight articles submitted by brokerage industry advocates, a deep, deep breath and a great leap of faith and published the September/October issue of this magazine.  William S. Howard, Carole A. Howard and Robert F. Edwards gave the brokerage industry its first dedicated national print voice.

A bit of the back story:  My father left law school (and tutoring remedial…oops…Introductory English) at Indiana University, having previously obtained a BS in English from the University of Missouri, when Mom found out she was pregnant with me.  Apparently “real” employment was at this point a threatening necessity.  His previous foray in to the working world had been as a bellhop.  Grandma was aghast and thought the marriage a travesty, as it was universally well known that bellhops were primarily procurers of women for hotel guests.  Mom had been directed to nursing school, as all actresses (her true passion in life) were universally known to be “loose women.”

I’m a bit fuzzy on the seduction of Academia and the path to IU, where Mom worked in a dentist’s office, but my unexpected intrusion apparently warranted a return to Kansas City—Mom to St. Luke’s as a surgical nurse, later a nurse in a doctor’s office, and Dad to an odd series of employment adventures that included a stint as a concrete saw salesman.  Through some providence he found positions at National Fidelity Life and Security Benefit Life, and caught the eye of a fellow who published a variety of banking and financial services magazines, becoming the editor and sole salesman for Mid America Insurance Magazine.  Mid America, in publication since the 1890’s, went to the entire membership of the PIA, Big I and Life Underwriters associations in eleven states in the Midwest.

In 1973 Mid America published its first Life and Health Brokerage Edition, which soon became the largest and most profitable issue of each following year.  In 1976 Dad purchased the publication from the gentleman who hired him and a few years of thin pork chops and macaroni and cheese followed, but the success of the August brokerage issue and the counsel of friends like Ron Dolan, Gary Dworkin, Rudy Hagelman, Seixas Milner, George Van Dusen, Gerry Tessler, Ralph Passman and too many other brokerage giants to name led him to ultimately decide that insurance brokerage needed, deserved and could possibly sustain its own print voice.

Our first issue’s lead editorial was an address by George Joseph, then president of the Life Insurance Marketing & Research Association (LIMRA) titled “Brokerage Today And Tomorrow.”  Dolan, Dworkin and Van Dusen contributed articles; Dolan (First Colony Life), Tessler, Dworkin and Passman ran ads; Dolan, Dworkin, Hagelman and Milner were on the editorial advisory board.

My wife would say I’m going “all over hell and half of Georgia” to get to my point.  Which is:  long before Dad did his part to help these brokerage giants and countless others shape and found the National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies (NAILBA), the place where these and many other lifelong business and personal relationships were strengthened and renewed annually was the National Association of Life Underwriters (NALU) national convention.  Now the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA), this association did more to help insurance agents survive and thrive than any other.  Period.  Not only would this publication likely not exist, but the very roots of the brokerage business as a whole and the success of the lion’s share of the insurance agents who’ve been instrumental in the shaping of the industry can logically be traced to the tools, advice, mentoring, advocacy, ethics, comradery, products, sales assistance, education, drive and sense of purpose found and refined in the national, state and local meetings of Life Underwriters associations.  Attendees at the national convention spanned many generations (and it seemed much more evenly distributed 30 years ago).  It’s a near certainty that most, if not all of your lives and practices were in some way shaped by NALU.  I owe a lot of hot meals, nice cars and season tickets to this association.  What do you owe to NALU/NAIFA?

Today NAIFA has a wealth of material resources designed to help agents, particularly those relatively new to the business, survive and thrive, but too many independent—brokerage—agents choose not to become involved in their local associations.  I suggest that those of you not involved are directly responsible for whatever perceived lack of value you see in NAIFA membership.  It’s that simple.  If you’re not involved you have zero opportunity to influence its value to you, and, more important, the value of NAIFA to your independent agent/financial advisor/brokerage agent peers and new agents seeking to find a meaningful career serving the insurance needs of the currently critically underinsured American public.

I urge you to seek the satisfaction found in giving back to the industry that has given so much to you by becoming significantly involved in your local NAIFA chapter.  More, urge your colleagues to do the same.  The agents currently striving to find success in our industry deserve the same advantages you enjoyed at the elbows of the previous generation of grizzled veterans and bright minds who shared their experience and expertise with you.

For me the precious friendships, guidance and sense of purpose I have today can all be traced back in some way to those NALU annual conventions, where contacts were made, ad schedules were solidified, the important issues of the day and direction of the industry were discussed and new alliances were born.  Broker World, and our effort to aid independent producers in our own way, owes whatever modicum of success we can claim to those NALU/NAIFA roots.  If the “new agent crisis” seems a bit daunting, perhaps you can focus first on how to help with the “agent retention crisis” and help those already trying to make a career out of insurance sales by sharing your experience, strength and hope in your local, state and national NAIFA meetings. 

It’s officially Life Insurance Awareness Month (LIAM). So now what do we do? Same ol’ same ol’? It is one of my most common battles—to think and plan differently, change an attitude or attitudes, and embrace and act on a new idea. Life Happens (sponsor of LIAM) is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping Americans take personal responsibility through the ownership of life insurance and related products, including disability and long term care insurance. LIAM is an industry-wide campaign aimed at educating Americans about the importance of life insurance and helping them get the coverage they need.

Life Happens provides a wealth of producer resources to be utilized to help inform consumers about the products our industry sells and how important they can be for protecting clients and their loved ones from financial devastation in the event  of death (or disability). Further, they have access to numerous research findings to help agents refine their approach to American consumer segments either without life insurance coverage or admittedly underinsured.

One such report is the 2015 Insurance Barometer Study, available through a partnership between Life Happens and LIMRA. Access to the report can be gained via www.lifehapens.org/industry-resources/agent/barometer2015/ by entering your email address in the space indicated at the bottom of the page. Praise must be lavished on Ashley Durham, assistant research director of LIMRA for this great resource. The study features sections on consumer financial concerns, ownership and consumer outlook, sales barriers, life insurance awareness, research and purchase preferences, and sections on long term care and disability insurance.

Cited as sales barriers are perceived cost (65 percent), other financial priorities (61 percent), perceived need satisfied (55 percent), lack of trust in insurance companies (38 percent), uncertainty about how much or what type to buy (38 percent), procrastination (30 percent), not wishing to contemplate death (29 percent), not having been approached about it (22 percent) and concerns about qualifying for coverage (22 percent).

One of Life Happens’ most apparent initiatives is to combat the perception that life insurance is too expensive, which can certainly impact the first two barriers and may chip away at others. Life insurance companies and life insurance agents must combat the rest. Insufficient service to the middle market is widely believed to be the largest contributing factor to historic lows in life insurance ownership.

In his white paper In Search Of The Industry’s Holy Grail: Penetrating The Middle Market, Walter H. Zultowski, PhD, relates common beliefs regarding our industry’s role in underserving the middle market, citing such factors as the decline in the numbers of agents selling life insurance; that the industry hasn’t been successful in communicating to the middle market both the necessity of and affordability of life insurance; that the industry’s compensation system makes it difficult to earn a living exclusively serving the middle market, driving agents to the affluent and business markets; and that the industry is slow in offering new ways in which the public can access its products. Of great interest is Zultowski’s analysis of past attempts to segment the middle market and his identification and characterization of three distinct segments within the market: Opportunistic buyers (39 percent), planners (35 percent) and protectors (26 percent). His white paper can be accessed via the Society of Actuaries website www.soa.org/research/research-projects/life-insurance/research-better-understanding-middle.aspx and then clicking on the PDF under “Related Links.”

But back to the barriers to the sale and our industry’s need to address them. Widespread eroding trust in life insurance companies (and collaterally, agents) realistically can’t be traced back to an overwhelming number of first or second hand experiences with friends and relatives being screwed by insurance companies. It simply can’t. With billions of dollars in claims paid annually, millions of Americans have experience with families they care about who have been positively impacted by life insurance purchases. Many more have stories of lives tragically altered by a lack of life insurance. My personal resentful, finger-pointing places the blame on the mainstream media and a perceived liberal desire to promote an “us against them” attitude toward large financial institutions—insurance companies in particular—their customers and basically anyone with money who isn’t a leftist Hollywood celebrity. Extremely hard to fight that.

Looking at the other barriers, however, who better to communicate the need than insurance agents to those misguided as to their needs, unsure of how much and which types they need, who procrastinate on the purchase, don’t want to face their mortality, and those who feel they may not qualify for coverage? And, of course, the most glaring statistical group—those who have not been approached to buy (and the certainly much larger group approached, but poorly).

If there is a nobility in the life insurance business, as I fervently believe there is, it is in the industry’s ability to dramatically alter the course of lives affected by tragedy. Further, if life insurance agents feel they serve a divine purpose in the execution of their profession, as I certainly hope the majority do, isn’t there a responsibility to reach out to the other-than-significantly-profitable in some way? The industry is seeing movement by companies to find ways to embrace the middle market, but products suited to this market have been available for generations. I believe agents not only have a right to make a good living, but a responsibility to their own families and thus should not quit pursuing profitable business. But the path to restoring public trust in our industry in the majority of potential consumers by necessity involves approaching those prospects in the majority—the middle market. One less profitable term policy at a time.

So what’s it to be? Same ol’ same ol’? Or perhaps use Life Insurance Awareness Month as an “excuse” to commit to finding a few more middle market families to try to save from financial ruin. Find help at www.lifehappens.org. [SPH]

September’s Life Insurance Awareness Month is nearly upon us. 

Out of habit and respect I go to our industry’s preeminent research organization, LIMRA, for life insurance sales and consumer information to deliver a soliloquy in advance of the formal start of LIAM. In my rose-colored crystal ball I would see every American with a dependent of any kind—including even our beloved pets—in possession of life insurance protection on some minimal level at the least. That is not to say that I believe life insurance should be considered a human or American “right,” and yet it doesn’t take much of a flight of fantasy, feathered by Obamacare sycophant malapropism, to envision such a call. But I digress.

One flaw in an August call-to-arms/primer is the unavailability of LIMRA’s 2015 Facts of Life, annually repurposed as a LIAM Fact Sheet. I encourage you to look on www.limra.com during the weeks ahead to find the 2015 version. In its 2014 information, LIMRA reveals that less than half of middle market consumers ages 25 to 64 have individual life insurance coverage, and 44 percent of those without say they need it. Problem halfway solved!

Oops…maybe not. Almost 70 percent of consumers say required cost-of-living expenses are keeping them from buying some or more life insurance. Expenses cited included internet, cable and cell phone costs.

A large portion of people procrastinate when it comes to shopping for life insurance. Reasons include not knowing what kind of coverage to buy or how much they need. (My therapist, at least, would suggest a much more varied and vibrant Howard tapestry of procrastination causality.) Enabling the procrastinators of purchase above, however, is the LIMRA-gleaned fact that only about one-third of adults have someone they consider their agent or financial advisor whom they feel could help them determine what they need. I find this a bit surprising, considering how many times annually I receive a life insurance solicitation from the career agent from whom I purchase my auto and homeowners coverage. Regardless, it highlights our industry’s penetration problem in the middle market and leaves millions of Americans unprotected—Americans it should be our privilege and duty to serve.

On a slightly more upbeat note, a recent release from LIMRA reports an individual life insurance sales increase of 8 percent in the first quarter of 2015. Total individual new annualized premium increased 8 percent while policy count increased 5 percent, according to LIMRA’s Retail Individual Life Insurance Survey. New annualized premium increases by product line: Total universal life up 7 percent; Indexed UL—11 percent; Lifetime Guarantee UL—1 percent; Variable UL—21 percent; Whole Life—9 percent; Term—2 percent. For more great info visit www.limra.com. [SPH]

It is my delightful duty to announce that W. Harold Petersen, chairman of Petersen International Underwriters, insurance industry sage, historian and champion, and great friend to Broker World, has been inducted into the Iowa Insurance Hall of Fame. He was one of five insurance professionals so honored at the Hall’s 19th annual ceremonial dinner. An Iowa native, Petersen was raised on a humble dairy farm in Council Bluffs, where he witnessed first-hand the financial devastation caused by the sudden disablement of his father. From this bleak starting point evolved Petersen’s lifelong advocacy for disability insurance and mission to help Americans protect their most valuable asset—their ability to earn an income. His insurance career started in 1948 as an underwriter at Mutual of Omaha, and the bulk of his early career was spent in and around Iowa. It was there that Petersen started his own disability carrier called Underwriters National Assurance Company, which he ran until his move to Los Angeles in 1967. In L.A. he formed an insurance marketing and management firm that evolved into Petersen International Underwriters, focusing on the high limit and specialty disability insurance market. After more than 33 years, PIU remains the largest Lloyd’s Coverholder in the American disability market. In his 65 years serving the insurance industry, Petersen has mentored countless agents, lectured at dozens of universities, volunteered thousands of hours to industry associations, developed nationally sanctioned insurance training courses and, perhaps most proudly, co-founded the International DI Society. His accomplishments have been previously recognized by NAHU, NAIFA state and local chapters, and the IDIS—each of which has bestowed upon him its most prestigious award.

Personally, in the 30 years I’ve known Harold I have found him to be a man of unshakable integrity, maintaining and encouraging the highest levels of ethical conduct. He has served as a role model and mentor to me and countless others. I deeply admire him as a man, respect him as an industry expert, laud him as a true industry champion, and am extremely proud to be able to call him friend. [SPH]

Deafening silence. AIG reported sad news earlier this year in the announcement of the passing of former President and CEO Bob Benmosche. He died on February 27, having undergone treatment for lung cancer since 2010. Robert S. Miller, chairman of the AIG board of directors, described Benmosche: “Bob was one of the most inspirational and successful leaders in corporate America by any measure. We will never forget that under Bob’s extraordinary leadership, the people of AIG repaid America in full plus a profit of nearly $23 billion.”

Some few of you may remember a little financial hiccup in 2008, and a firestorm of negative press about a company receiving $182 billion in taxpayer assistance. I remember seemingly countless skewed television reports about the “insurance giant” receiving a “bailout” at the expense of hardworking taxpayers. I remember network press coverage of media-fueled protests outside of the AIG New York office. There were even press expressed concerns about employee safety. Not even at the height of Obamacare flame fanning was the “us against them” manipulation of public opinion against the insurance industry as strident and insidious.

When Bob Benmosche held the first of a series of town hall meetings in Houston with AIG employees, he said, “The fact is, you are AIG, and it’s time we stopped being embarrassed by it. It’s time people stop talking about you as the problem, because you are the solution.” Rod Rishel, head of U.S. Life Insurance, recounts: “I remember the day Bob came to Houston in August of 2009, and to this day I can still say I have never witnessed anything like that. After he spoke at the meeting, I could literally feel the positive energy in the air. It’s hard to fathom that one person could have that kind of impact on so many people. I also knew in that moment that one day AIG would thrive again. And just look where we are now.”

Benmosche developed his drive in life early. Losing his father at an early age (without life insurance), he drove a Coca Cola truck for seven years to put himself through both prep school and college. He served his country as a lieutenant in the United States Army from 1966 to 1968. His bona fides for the AIG responsibility were well established. Serving as executive vice president of Paine Webber, he directed the merger of Kidder Peabody into that company. As chairman, president and CEO of MetLife, he led the transition of that company from a mutual to a public company in 2000. He also served in various capacities with Chase Manhattan Bank.

AIG Executive Vice President and Chief Distribution Officer, life insurance, John Deremo, adds these insights: “Bob was a staunch believer in diversity. He was very committed to promoting diversity, not only throughout our employee ranks, but also throughout our broker and advisor ranks, and was particularly enthusiastic about increasing our presence in underserved multicultural markets.” Deremo adds, “Bob was always adamant that the decline in insurance ownership was in direct proportion to the declining number of agents. He strongly felt that to rebuild insurance sales we had to dramatically increase the number of our brokers. He would point out that agents work to provide essential advice to people for the most meaningful moments in their lives. And there is not a computer or other type of artificial intelligence that could ever replace the value of an empathetic, well-trained broker.”

Through divesting various businesses and other restructuring activities, by the end of 2012,under Benmosche’s leadership, the people of AIG had repaid taxpayer assistance in full—early—plus a positive return of $22.7 billion. True to his nature, Bob gave the credit to AIG employees, saying in a letter, “You did this. Every single man and woman at AIG did this remarkable thing.”

Which brings me to the first two words of this column. I don’t remember effusive praise or even much recognition of this accomplishment in the mainstream media. I don’t recall panels of pundits endlessly extolling the virtues of a man or a company that made good on a promise to repay a debt of this magnitude, did so early, and kicked the government and thereby, in theory, taxpayers a profit of nearly $23 billion. Not to mention any articles or discourse about how the public’s trust in their products should not have wavered and that their policies were still subject to the same guarantees as when originally issued. I remember several disgusting attempts by settlement companies to advertise in this magazine, preying on consumer fears fueled by “incomplete” media reporting—attempts I rebuffed with enthusiasm—and yet there was no media mea culpa and little if any positive comment on AIG or their accomplishment. You could hear the crickets chirping.

The people of AIG should be proud of what they’ve done. We, as an industry, should be grateful for the vision and inspiration of Bob Benmosche, doing more than one man should have been able, to provide a great example to the American public of our industry making good on its commitment to consumers. The mainstream media could have done a great service to the American people by helping them to further trust in the benefits of and need for insurance products. They could have told them all about Bob Benmosche. He was a great man and a blessing for our entire industry, and it’s a damn shame more people don’t know it. [SPH]

Contrary to some of the passionate but either misinformed or—to be generous—misspeaking proponents of Obamacare, I don’t believe health insurance to be a right of the people. I vacillate on health care—chiefly on the use of the word “right.” Perhaps just antics with semantics, but I believe all U.S. citizens should have access to health care. Whether it is the public’s right, in a Bill of Rights sense, or society’s and our government’s responsibility to do the right thing and be sure all citizens in need of health care have a way to obtain it regardless of true ability to pay. My seemingly unquenchable cynicism flourishes in the contemplation of our ­legislature’s ability to actually achieve that in anything resembling a cost efficient manner. And I simply can’t, even in my most sincere Socialist role-playing fantasies, see the Affordable Care Act (ACA), from a taxpayer standpoint, as anything but an oxymoron. But I must confess that, like (I’m convinced) every single member of the Congress who voted for it, I haven’t read it.

But perhaps I digress. Where does the employer-paid health insurance industry stand today? I looked at the recent annual study from the International Foundation of Employee Benefits Plans (IFEBP—www.ifebp.org) titled 2015 Employer-Sponsored Health Care: ACA’s Impact and was somewhat reassured that many of us may still have a job in 2016. That’s something at least.

The survey responses provided an in-depth study of how single employers are being affected by the ACA. Surveyed were single employer plans (including corporations) in the databases of the IFEBP and the International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists (ISCEBS). Responses were received from 598 human resources professionals, benefits professionals and industry experts. Results represent a wide base of U.S. employers, from nearly 20 industries, ranging in size from fewer than 50 employees to more than 10,000.

The study showed that 94 percent of those responding provide health care coverage to all full-time employees (30+ hours per week), and of those, 98.2 percent feel that they will continue to do so in 2016. However, the likelihood that they will continue to offer coverage five years from now is more uncertain: 33 percent said they definitely will; 52 percent said it is very likely; nearly 11 percent said it was somewhat likely.

Philosophical reasons for doing so were predictable—the majority claiming to do so to attract future talent, to retain current employees and to maintain/increase employee satisfaction and loyalty. On the perhaps “less benevolent” list of reasons cited were: to continue to avoid penalties (14.3 percent); to maintain tax advantage (14.1 percent); and to maintain/increase productivity (13.7 percent).

Predictably cited as the most likely cause of discontinuing benefits was cost (65.7 percent). Surprisingly, 17.4 percent cited as a cause of discontinuing that “Exchanges are proving to provide adequate health coverage for individuals.” An amazing 0.0 percent predicted the cause as “Employees voluntarily moving to the exchanges.”

Cost containment is clearly a paramount concern for employers, and the study showed that those costs are continuing to shift to employees. Cost containment measures taken due to ACA—change from 2013 to 2015:

 • Increase out-of-pocket limits—13.8 percent to 40.6 percent.

 • Increase in-network deductibles—14.9 percent to 36.8 percent.

 • Increase participants’ share of premium costs—18 percent to 34.5 percent.

 • Increase copayments or coinsurance for primary care—12.7 percent to 27.6 percent.

 • Increase participants’ share of prescription drug costs—11.7 percent to 27.2 percent.

 • Increase employee portion of dependent coverage cost—10.4 percent to 23.8 percent.

Heartening, I suppose, that although employers are establishing cost containment lines and shifting costs beyond those lines, they continue to see value in continuing health care benefits for full-time employees rather than simply abandoning them to seek coverage individually on the exchange. In the face of a variety of impending nightmares surrounding administrative costs still to be inflicted by the ACA, I find single employers’ willingness to continue to provide health benefits to employees admirable. And it makes me feel less like an idiot myself. [SPH]