Stephen Howard

It probably won’t make the AP wire that the role of a monthly trade publication isn’t #breakingnews. There are a number of industry eZines that fill that role.

Over almost 38 years I’ve been blessed that God has placed in my path a true wealth of friends and industry experts to help achieve this publication’s mission to provide insight, motivation, encouragement, hopefully occasional entertainment, and in the end useful, actionable information.

Any list of Broker World contributors must start with “Dr. Bob” Goldstone, impaired risk sage, who recently penned his 350th column for Broker World! His columns form most if not all of my awareness of and dedication to the crucial role the brokerage business plays in finding coverage for those with less than Preferred health. A wealth of useful insight into the benefits spectrum was, until recently, provided by Jan LeTourneau and is now offered by her astute associate Jason Folks. We get great tech insight from Mike Bridges and Ken Leibow…who are good enough friends to be able to look past my predilection for technidiocy.

The DI world was served on these pages elegantly for many years by great friend and industry icon Harold Petersen, now expertly handled by two of my dearest friends, Eugene and Michael Cohen. Eugene has trained literally thousands of agents in the intricacies of disability sales and Michael now leads one of the country’s very best brokerage general agencies. (And Shirlee Cohen is one of the most awesome women I have ever met.)

I’m truly blessed to have met Dave Murphy at an NBA meeting 20+ years ago—Dave offers readers practical, insightful sales encouragement derived from basic human nature and enlightened spiritual principles. “New” friend (10 years out of 38 makes him still a relative freshman) Charlie Gipple is basically six foot six of extended cranium jam-packed with knowledge of indexed products and presentation techniques that he masterfully intertwines with personal experiences and metaphors drawn from his life.

And then there’s Hagelman. A self-proclaimed curmudgeon (that’s a fancy word for “cranky old fart”), Ron has truly and sincerely dedicated his life to developing, educating, motivating, and arming our industry’s consummate sales professionals to help mitigate the potentially devastating impact a long term care event can have on both patient and family. And, ever since I asked him to be best man at my wedding, he seems unabashedly able to ask for favors in return.

His current subtle yet transparent attempt at (worthwhile and welcome) emotional extortion takes the form of an industry wide collaboration on a National Advisor Survey: “What Is The New Normal In Long Term Care Planning?” The survey is sponsored by Oliver Wyman actuarial consulting and Ron along with partner Barry Fisher of Ice Floe Consulting. The project is being advised and supported by NAILBA, NAIFA, numerous traditional and combo carriers and key distribution friends. And me. This agent/advisor-focused sales analysis is designed specifically to help reveal the mysteries of the structure and motivations of buying behavior from those who make the sales happen. You.

I urge you, as caring industry professionals dedicated to helping consumers protect against all manner of potential health and financial crises, to allow 10 minutes of your doubtless busy schedules (not counting the hours it will take to type https://www.oliverwyman.com/our-expertise/insights/2020/aug/long-term-care-planning-survey.html into your browser) to answer the survey. Even if you do not participate actively in long term care planning, please contribute your personal strictly confidential insights into “Who is selling What? To Whom? Why? And How?“ In return Ron and Barry will forward the complete research results from the largest survey of it’s kind to help you increase your own sales success. This represents an opportunity to better understand and improve your approach and own a valuable trove of in-depth actionable intelligence.

Further, I ask that you spread the word on your industry-focused social media accounts and share the survey link with your broker/advisor peers.

Our industry has many excellent sources of research data—LIMRA, The Society of Actuaries, Milliman (the source of Broker World’s annual LTCI product surveys along with Claude Thau), and new friend Sheryl Moore, Chief Storyteller at Wink, Inc., and Moore Market Intelligence—to name just a few. But to date none have undertaken a survey exploring this facet of the long term care expense abatement crisis that can only continue to become more crushing as Boomers age in. We need intel to achieve comprehensive understanding of the challenges and successes experienced and overcome by you—the active, caring insurance professional.

If you truly have the patience of a saint, please feel free to input https://www.oliverwyman.com/our-expertise/insights/2020/aug/long-term-care-planning-survey.html into your browser. If today you find yourself somewhat short of that ideal, you can go to www.brokerworldmag.com and click on the survey link there. [SPH]

Seems like you can’t swing a dead possum without hitting a COVID-19 article these days. The pandemic is still dominating our industry’s communications and driving a host of changes to the way business gets done while hopefully reinforcing and redoubling efforts to meet consumers’ needs. Both mortality and morbidity have been stabbed into our Nation’s consciousness more virulently than at any time since perhaps September 11. It is much harder now to vaguely compartmentalize the risk of becoming perilously ill…or severely injured…or dead.

This is particularly poignant in light of the governors of New York, New Jersey, Michigan and others deliberately sending COVID-19 patients back into nursing homes, effectively turning them into some twisted geriatric version of the Carousel in Logan’s Run (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1976). “There is no Sanctuary…”

There is cast, in my mind at least, an even darker than normal spectre on institutional care, and while COVID-forced office closures provided the opportunity for many to work from home, as well as make their best effort to police remote learning for their “sticky people” (according to Hope, an online tongue-in-cheek projected cat reference to children), only a relative few who weren’t state government insiders were fortunate enough to rescue their aging loved ones before lockdowns turned many nursing homes into abattoirs.

Much has been researched and written about preserving choice, both in facility care and the ability to fund qualified care in one’s home for as long as possible. And the need has been tasered into the consciousness of those with even a modicum of conscience as never before. Our industry has a wealth of solutions to offer to those still able to medically qualify as many of them struggle to find alternative solutions for their loved ones already past that crossroad. We must find ways to circumnavigate reluctance, resistance and refusal to plan for long term care risk both in the agent force and the buying public. The silver lining to the mainstream media’s incessant fear mongering to discredit the President is that it should help you greatly in your efforts to sell these solutions.

To further aid you—our industry’s front line workers—Oliver Wyman actuarial consulting, in cooperation with Ice Floe Consulting (yes, Ron Hagelman and Barry Fisher) are conducting a new National Advisor Survey this September. A link to the survey will appear in next month’s issue as well as www.brokerworldmag.com. Also aiding in the endeavor are NAILBA, NAIFA and at least 12 prominent insurance carriers actively engaged in alleviating the financial risk of long term care. Preserving choice. Per Hagelman:

“We must remember that there are three parts to understanding what happened during the buying process. First, what are the buying predispositions? In other words, what do consumers say their preferences are in order to be willing to buy? Existing surveys do help identify a perceived wish list. Second, we do have good data telling us what consumers say were their rationalizations for buying. But, ultimately, the critical missing piece of the puzzle is what actually happened between these two perceptions. We need to determine what actually happened to convince them to buy.”

“This answer must come from those successful advisors in the trenches, on the front lines, making it happen. We need precise laser analysis to understand the motivational forces that are actually moving us forward.”

We want your help to take a hard look at what is changing in this market. This crucial advisor-focused analysis will provide timely current actionable intelligence to better understand best sales practices across the full spectrum of product from traditional to combo, hybrid and linked options. All those who participate will be provided with a first look at the final Survey report when released.

Please watch for the link and help us all give more families more choice in maintaining the dignity, comfort and, yes, safety for aging loved ones from this harrowing point in our history forward.[SPH]

My wife Hope is still pretty freaked out about COVID-19. She’s an ardent masker and views those who go without as beings essenced somewhere between the Walking Dead and animal abusers. She was ecstatic when I surprised her with fake Louis Vuitton and Chanel masks found on Etsy. With apologies to Iggy Azalea, She’s so fancy…You already know…She’s in the fast lane…From Lenexa to her weekly curbside pickup at Walmart… She reacts with Christmas morning glee when she sees Charmin available.

There are three pint bottles of off-brand hand sanitizer across the kitchen table from me, waiting to be placed in her stash. We haven’t welcomed friends to the house or spent the evening out in three months, and plans to visit both her family in North Carolina and my ailing mom in Oregon are on hold indefinitely. And it’s even worse than that…when I do escape the house to check the office mail at the PO Box, upon my return she Lysols the door handles and wipes down each envelope while I’m instructed to strip in the garage and slink straight to the shower.

2020 sucks so far, particularly from a self-centered excursion indulgence standpoint, but I don’t for a minute consider myself anything but extremely fortunate. To have my health, a loving wife, great friends, wonderful pets, a nice home, abundant food, a very satisfying job serving a great industry—and a loving God. The same God that is welcoming an unnecessarily high number of residents of nursing homes and care facilities to His Kingdom. The decision by some elected officials to force COVID-19 patients back into care facilities is abominable.

I in no way want to discount the pain and suffering of patients and families dealing with loved ones Coronavirus afflicted or, tragically, consumed, but as a publication serving the life and health insurance industry I have many questions about where this pandemic will lead us. I’m not an actuary, my penchant for groan-worthy puns notwithstanding, nor am I an underwriter, medical director or corporate investment guru…and my tech savvy borders on the absurdly self-stunted. Yet in the arena of COVID-19 implications for our industry I suppose I should be perversely comforted in the narrowing of the prescience gap between myself and our industry’s brilliant minds.

Let me begin by applauding the health insurance companies who chose to mitigate the financial impact of COVID-19 on their policy-holders (and concessions made by P&C companies as well, although I haven’t seen a check or a credit from State Farm yet). Kudos to life, disability and LTCI carriers offering relief in the form of delayed premium payment forgiveness. And, as Jason Folks relates in this month’s commentary, the delayed tax deadline offers more time to contribute HSA funds. But I do wonder how the virus will affect many other more foundational aspects of our industry. The list of questions is intimidating and well beyond my ability to comprehensively relate.

How deeply will further interest rate suppression affect carriers on existing blocks and affect future pricing and COI charges? How will unexpected mortality on this scale (hopefully temporary) affect myriad concerns going forward? Company ratings? Actuarial guidelines? Underwriting concerns including paramed requirements and processes, APS delays, foregone wellness appointments and increased reluctance to seek treatment for conditions not yet critical enough in nature? It would take extended chest pain or pulsed bleeding for me to consent to an ER visit, and both my wife and I have postponed our dental cleanings, vision checks and dermatologist appointments. Hope did need to visit her primary physician recently and while the protocols now in place offered some scant reassurance, the nurse’s aide’s appearance in a full Hazmat Suit did not!

Surely there must be some type of revision to underwriting guidelines and “credits” for the age ranges and statistically supported conditions that place one more at risk for COVID-19. Will the coronavirus make current LTCI pricing even more stable and prevent or mitigate future rate increases on existing blocks? One would think so. What will it do to cost of care though, in an industry already projecting a future shortage of skilled staff? How will short and long term DI be affected? Will COVID-19 either be an exclusion or impact rates on new business? Will health professionals, a sweet spot for DI, become a “back in the day…” morosity much as the MET business and annuity interest rates in the 80s have? Even I could come up with more questions, but I’m already looting my print deadline.

If 37+ years serving this noble industry has taught me anything, it is that we will be able to successfully adapt to either a post- or prolonged-COVID-19 marketplace, and innovate to meet the needs of customers seeking relief for their inevitable times of great turmoil and emotional distress. We will continue to care for the widows and orphans. Of this I am certain.

My very favorite (and purely coincidentally only) niece Sophia Grace (aka Pineapple Jimmy) was finally able to experience her COVIDly-mangled graduation ceremony—family and friend groups of six only ushered from their cars by appointment through deserted hallways to walk across a barren stage in an empty auditorium to receive her diploma from a masked principal to the iTunes rendering of Gaudeamus Igitur. Our fear of travel during the pandemic forced us to miss it, although the pictures unnecessarily confirmed that she still absolutely dripped fabulousity. It’s comforting to know that at least one other “certainty” remains immutable.

Dozens of daily doses of sanitizer and hand washing has left me epidermally reptilian—and I’m firmly convinced that the widely circulating “proper” hand washing directions were written by the same folks who author assembly instructions for IKEA. Hope hasn’t been to her nail ladies since the “lockdown” however, and she almost vengefully cut my hair on the back deck of our house with the dog clippers. She doesn’t even groom the dogs with the dog clippers.[SPH]

I have an addiction to what I deem amusing/sarcastic/witty/douchey T-shirts. There are many great online pushers, many of whom offer special COVID-19 inventory. To date my Tourettes-like optimism has allowed me to resist the straight “2020 Sucks” offering, although in my sporadic embrace of full disclosure I must confess to buying the shirt that had the zeros in 2020 represented by TP rolls accompanied by “THE YEAR SH*T GOT REAL!” (unasterisked, of course). It’s purchase triggered one of the rare times thus far when my wonderful, lovely wife Hope nearly burst with gratitude at the “Shelter at Home” order. If patience for her marital Albatross granted Sainthood, her aura would be blinding and her halo the size of Churchill Downs.

Thankfully neither of us is aware of having less than two points of separation between a known Coronavirus fatality at present, despite numerous cherished friends, family members and colleagues in high risk groups. My heart goes out to those families who’ve had to sit in their cars in hospital parking lots or sobbed at home while their loved ones died desperately alone in overworked hospitals or too slowly protected senior care facilities. My personal opinion is that Governors or other officials who mandated that COVID-positive patients be returned to nursing homes should be expeditiously tried and convicted of negligent homicide and, barring that, at the least should be perpetually widely vilified in the media as the mass murderers they truly are. At present only one television network even voices their culpability.

Hope and I were in one of our favorite cities, New Orleans, in mid-March for The Marketing Alliance’s meeting and enjoying our first reconnect of the year with many dear carrier and BGA friends. Our, and many attendees’, awareness and fear of the severity of the pandemic was severely stunted—NOLA had no publicized confirmed cases despite the Mardi Gras festivities of the prior week. There were no masks. No social distancing.Thankfully I’ve been told by the TMA staff that none of the attendees of that meeting have reported becoming infected. But on the opening night of what would be collectively our last meeting of the Spring (at least), I got news that my 83-year-old mother had fallen and broken her hip. We repacked our bags, said our premature goodbyes, and headed home to Kansas to substitute clothing (there’s juuuuust a bit of difference between the temperature in NOLA versus Oregon in mid-March) intending to depart for Ashland to comfort and aid Mom the next day. Amazing how just 24 hours can change things.

Shortly after our arrival home the breadth and speed of the spread and the perception of the seriousness of the viral threat increased dramatically, news coverage increased exponentially, and many states, including Oregon, banned visitors to hospitals and elder care facilities. There was no visiting Mom. Daily calls were all we had and there was no point in risking flights or the vast collective diversity of airports (particularly on a coast in my mind). Then came the local “Shelter at Home” directives, shuttering of “non-essential” businesses and the mad scramble for toilet tissue.

Mom spent about 10 days in the hospital including reconstructive surgery, then transferred to an elder care rehab facility (more or less against her will). A return to the hospital a few days later for a pulmonary problem (thankfully not COVID related) yielded a quick three day recovery but she was stuck there for more than a week while the rehab facility battled an influenza outbreak. God Bless those healthcare workers at that rehab facility for their prescient caution. When the flu was back under control she returned to rehab for almost a month before she finally became so pissed at her lack of control that she checked herself out against medical advice and returned to her home. I was pretty angry with her for her lack of cooperation with the staff and fearful for her safety at home, but had thankfully at least been able to arrange for her freezer and pantry to be stocked and a number of helpful home modifications to be done remotely thanks to her wonderful next door neighbors. Her doctor reports that she is doing better than he expected, and my daily phone conversations with her are infinitely more cordial and enjoyable. While there doesn’t seem to be much for either of us to report beyond the latest COVID-19 developments and the plots of various episodes of Law & Order: SVU, she is clearly much more comfortable at home despite the attendant risks and limitations.

And based on news reports I am knee-weakeningly relieved that she is no longer in a facility, even one as diligent as hers was, where the pooling of the most at risk can bring about true, hopeless horror.

There is undoubtedly much to be cursed at for the COVID-19 pandemic, but if there is anything to be gained for our industry from such widespread suffering let it be this: Carriers, wholesalers and agents (and publications) must redouble their efforts to help the public find both affordable solutions and the motivation to mitigate the long term care risk through insurance products to allow for home care for as long as humanly possible for as many as humanly possible.

It sure wouldn’t hurt if the Government embraced more fully a partnership with our industry and provided more incentives for consumers to embrace insurance solutions. And hopefully even slap the public in the face with the fact that the probability of a long term care need is infinitely and perhaps paradoxically more likely than a death from Coronavirus—and poignantly so if one has solutions in hand that maintain a decent degree of choice. But how realistic is that, really? Listening to the blatant self interest and political posturing on both sides of the aisle, how likely is it that legislators will disregard the risk of endorsing a for-profit industry they previously demonized to court perceived political gain from myriad groups of the disenfranchised, or conversely were hesitant to fully embrace for fear of being blasphemed by mainstream media sycophants? And my cynicism finds it even less likely that any type of non-subjugating and industry-friendly legislation providing significant relief for the long term care crisis facing the American public can make it through both houses of congress without attaching $35 million more for the Kennedy Center. [SPH]

I guiltily confess that my freezer has two cartons of, albeit modestly-priced, ice cream-one vanilla and one chocolate. Mainly because my wife is kind enough to periodically bake me brownies during this social distancing/safer at home situation. I’m powerless against a brownie in a bowl…a few seconds in the microwave…and then buried in vanilla. So far the chocolate is held in reserve as emergency rations.

Once a week we half-fearfully support one of our favorite restaurants by ordering a carryout meal. I can grill a mean steak or burger (Kingsford or don’t even bother) but my true barbeque skills are substandard at best, and living in Kansas City, where you can’t swing a dead possum without hitting a great BBQ joint, I’ve been thusly willpower-challenged almost since birth. (If you’re ever in KC, you’ve got to treat yourself to Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbeque. BTW-they ship nationwide if you’re in one of those areas where meat seems scarce.

My wife and I are blessed that we have a full fridge and we’re enjoying various culinary adventures at home. Although, it seems paradoxical that creating healthy, home-cooked meals in lieu of fast food feasting is somehow making my jeans tighter. Must be the store brand detergent we recently had to substitute…

The mandated closure of Dream Nails and attendant sabbatical of proprietors Ashley and Holly has my wife in a tizzy, but somehow the near-future necessity of administering a haircut to me with the dog clippers fills her with, in my opinion, an alarming amount of sadistic glee.

God had the foresight to not burden a child with my parentage, but I still feel sorry for proms and graduation ceremonies cancelled, playoffs unplayed and championships dreamed of since toddling denied without contest. Although my favorite teams all sucked this year, I still mourn the loss of the NCAA basketball tournament. I had done my research and was fully prepared with expert picks and parlays for the ncaab this year, but God had other plans apparently. I’m just glad they didn’t cancel the Super Bowl!

But much more important now, the news is rife with stories of kids without school and thus many without meals they were counting on. Unimaginably long lines at understaffed food pantries, hurting for donations they usually count on from grocery stores that now have unnaturally empty shelves. Twenty-two million-plus people suddenly unemployed and relief checks slowed. Our industry is fortunate in that it isn’t a great departure for many if not all to work from home. I urge all to donate to local food pantries and school lunch substitute programs.

More than just our ability to work though, how blessed are you that your very occupation has placed you in a position where products you’ve sold can be drawn upon in a time of extreme and unforeseen financial need? But are you sure each of your clients with those products are aware that their past purchases can help here and now? Sounds like a great time to reach out with that reassurance and perhaps see if you can help them or those they care about with any other insurance needs.

As a nation we’re extremely challenged right now. Each state of our nation has its own restrictions on necessary versus non-essential store front businesses. Grocery stores, gas stations, and pharmacies seem standard. Firearms and ammunition as well. Only one state that I know of has banned liquor store sales. Clothing somehow seems to be less essential, unless in a WalMart or Target, and even then some states mandate blocking off all areas except the grocery section. Michigan’s governor is rumored to be one of those, and yet weed dispensaries are deemed essential. My mom lives in a “Pot’s Cool” state and I’m sure their ganja stores are flourishing. “They” say that the liquor business (and by projection likely the “Wacky Tobacky” as well) is recession-proof. And well taxed, but I digress.

Without revealing any more of my personal bias and before I further alienate all the hacky sack sandal-candle crowd, my point is simply this: While states fight their own battles about essential versus non-essential businesses, and when to open up various parts of their economies, I find it very disquieting that Congress isn’t permanently in session during this pandemic. Beyond the fact that I personally see it as a “thumb your nose” to the electorate, don’t both sides of the aisle see the irony implicit in shuttering all but “essential” businesses while allowing political obstruction by absenteeism? I encourage you this November to demonstrate to any of your elected officials who participate in this obstructionism in time of crisis that they are, in fact, non-essential.[SPH]

My mother—from time to time—would sum up social, economic or political discord with the phrase, “May you live in interesting times.”

According to this online age’s unbesmirchable universal source of ultimate truth, Wikipedia, “’May you live in interesting times’ is an English expression which purports to be a translation of a traditional Chinese curse. While seemingly a blessing, the expression is normally used ironically; life is better in ‘uninteresting times’ of peace and tranquility than in ‘interesting’ ones, which are usually times of trouble.

Despite being so common in English as to be known as the ‘Chinese curse,’ the saying is apocryphal, and no actual Chinese source has ever been produced. The most likely connection to Chinese culture may be deduced from analysis of the late-19th-century speeches of Joseph Chamberlain, probably erroneously transmitted and revised through his son Austen Chamberlain.”

The above may or may not be apropos, depending on your affiliation, in light of the “China virus” controversy, but the fact remains that at least for the foreseeable future our lives have been significantly disrupted. Learning is predominantly handicapped as universities and schools are closed and the lucky scramble to develop or reshape online coursework. Non-media-relayed Culture is unavailable to those without hefty book collections, as libraries, museums and galleries are shuttered. Broadway is dark. Concerts are cancelled, optimistically rescheduled for sometime in the fall. Mickey and Minnie have been forced to self-quarantine. Vegas is a ghost town. Across the country bars are closed and restaurants are scrambling to make ends meet somehow, limited to only carryout and delivery in an atmosphere where fear of the virus obtained through the food preparation itself must still nag at the minds of the willing. As a sports fan it seems surreal that all sports are absent. It’s a good thing that Tony Romo got that $17 million TV contract, because I haven’t seen a Corona commercial in over two weeks. I feel like I’ve been sucked back through time to a Groundhog Day weekday before ESPN.

Please pardon the “gallows humor.” Inconceivable to me are the huge numbers of unfortunate people who aren’t able to sit on their asses and type out an editorial piece at their kitchen tables. The vast majority of workers in vocations mentioned herein and in countless other occupations have absolutely no dependable idea of when they will be able to return to work, and must now pray for previously suspect bureaucratic efficiency to provide them some measure of speedy relief. My friends in the service industry are quite justifiably scared. And they aren’t the only ones.

Your clients are quite likely scared too, although they may just cop to “concerned.” Besides the balances in their brokerage accounts, and variable and indexed product performance, both their mortality and anxiety over their ability to postmortem provide for their families just became at least somewhere between .06 percent to 3.4 percent more acute. Please read Dave Murphy’s lead editorial beginning on page 10 for ways you can help reassure your clients in this no longer face-to-face miasma.

Dozens of questions swirl around our industry relating to COVID-19 that I’m waiting to hear broached and examined—not the least of which are what steps are being taken or will be taken in underwriting departments regarding testing, what the considerations will be for a positive test, and even perhaps what the mortality projections will be for those who test positive but then recover. Long term effects of contracting the virus can only be postulated at present. The question hasn’t even been definitively answered whether those who have recovered can still spread the virus.

What does seem certain at this writing is that the lack of sufficient testing supplies, cautions delivered from the media and health professionals to stay at home even if symptomatic, and a significant portion of the public suspected of actually having the virus and able to spread it but being asymptomatic and unaware, means that the numbers of positive cases, and deaths from the virus, are surely to increase dramatically in the coming weeks. And despite the projections of the experts hosted by national and local news outlets, no one really has any positive idea when this crisis may dependably ease. What we have is hope and prayer.

By my observation our country is in the midst of a still fairly well controlled panic. But firearm sales are spiking. Shelves in my city have been empty of Lysol, hand sanitizer, liquid hand soap and sanitizing wipes for weeks. Grocery store supplies of canned goods, pasta, rice and beans are infinitesimal. On my last trip to a very large store in my neighborhood there was one breached jar of Skippy and one squeeze bottle of sugar free Welch’s grape jelly. That was it for PB&J fans. We certainly are living in interesting times.

My sister-in-law Christy, my gustatory comrade-in-arms, half-jokingly posits that this is the beginning of the Zombie Apocalypse. With the nationwide run on bath tissue, perhaps it’ll be Mummies instead. I currently have four packages of toilet paper well hidden in my garage, but please don’t tell my neighbors—at least not until I can get to Cabela’s to buy more ammunition. [SPH]

The life insurance industry is already indisputably noble in its primary purpose—taking care of the widows and orphans. You do good work.

But in my experience members of our industry take their purpose as a given and are moved to contribute a great deal more than just insuring lives. Charitable giving is a recurring theme in this column and elsewhere in the pages of Broker World. I’ve chosen to highlight a number of carriers’ charitable giving programs over the years, most recently OneAmerica in the February issue. I’m consistently heartened by revelations that not only do many carriers have charitable foundations that they fund to help those less fortunate, but that they further hold employee fundraising events with a corporate match, hold school supply drives, clothing drives, build Habitat for Humanity homes, sponsor days or even weeks of paid leave for hands-on charitable work in their communities and much much more. I also make sure to run coverage of Jason Lea’s BSMG Charity Golf Tournament every year, because I think it’s inspired to run your annual agent appreciation event as a benefit for local charities. In the years I’ve been covering it, attending or from afar, BSMG has raised well over $2 million for local Rhode Island charities. Truly remarkable.

My wife and I contribute generously to veterans causes, animal shelters and wildlife rescue organizations, Toys 4 Tots, and too many of those damned cookies. We’re frequent visitors to the Big Brothers and Big Sisters donation center as well. Really not a big deal at all.

But one thing we’re involved with is a big deal: The NAILBA Charitable Foundation. I served on the board of the Foundation for many years and now my wife Hope, Broker World CFO (or “The Money Chick”), currently serves on the board.

The NAILBA Charitable Foundation is where altruism meets the business of NAILBA. Since its creation in 2002, the Foundation has encouraged volunteerism in the NAILBA communities. NAILBA members and their corporate partners are encouraged to sponsor a charity they feel is working towards its mission of making dreams come true for those less fortunate.

The mission of the NAILBA Charitable Foundation is to encourage philanthropy and business to work hand in hand helping others who are at risk. Since its beginning, the NAILBA Charitable Foundation has awarded over $3 million dollars in grants—all in NAILBA communities. Every charitable organization applying for grant funding must be sponsored by a NAILBA member agency, exhibitor, sponsor, or advertiser.

For us, the most moving moments at any NAILBA Annual Conference are those shared in the Charitable Foundation general session where they show a slideshow detailing the charities receiving grants for the current year. At NAILBA 38 the Foundation granted funds to 16 charities, totaling $216,500. Those charities receiving funds for 2019 were:

Nicklaus Children’s Hospital Foundation, Miami, FL, $7,500; Down’s Syndrome Connection of the Bay Area, Danville, CA, $7,500; Jewish Relief Agency, Bala Cynwyd, PA, $7,500; CASA of Orange County, Santa Ana, CA, $10,000; Susan B Anthony Project, Torrington, CT, $10,000; Opportunity on Deck, Urbandale, IA, $10,000; Project Backpack, St. Louis, MO, $10,000; Ark House, Richardson, TX, $14,000; Transitions Children’s Services, Fresno, CA, $15,000; JAF CO, Bala Cynwyd, PA, $15,000; Ronald McDonald House Charities of AR, Little Rock, AR, $15,000; Double H Ranch, Lake Luzerne, NY, $15,000; ChildServe, Johnston, IA, $15,000; Our Mother’s Home, Fort Myers, FL, $20,000; Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation—Southeast, Atlanta, GA, $20,000; and the 2019 Felton Grant winner, Mama’s Kitchen, San Diego, CA, $25,000. The Felton Grant, annually the NAILBA Charitable Foundation’s largest, is named after the NAILBA Charitable Foundation’s founder, Col. William J. Felton, an active NAILBA supporter throughout its history and former owner of Tennessee Brokerage Agency, Knoxville, TN.

Hope and I thank all in the NAILBA community for their contributions of time and money to help the NAILBA Charitable Foundation aid those less fortunate. To learn more about The NAILBA Charitable Foundation, or to make a donation, please visit www.nailbacharitablefoundation.org.

Further, I thank all of you who reach out from your hearts, helping those who will one day be in great turmoil and need with the products you sell, and for reaching further to help those already in need in your communities. God Bless you. [SPH]

Heartfelt congratulations to longtime friend Cindy V. Gentry, CLU, ChFC, LUTCF, the recipient of the 2019 Douglas Mooers Award for Excellence, NAILBA’s most coveted accolade, honoring distinction in brokerage and bestowed annually upon an individual committed to furthering independent brokerage as a distribution system and demonstrating an exemplary record of community service.

Gentry was president of BBA Life Brokerage, an independent life and annuity brokerage agency, until August 2019, when she “retired” to pursue another of her passions—jewelry artistry. She formed Cindy Gentry Designs in August, where she creates “My unique wearable art…by combining my original lampwork glass cabochons and beads with hand fabricated sterling silver jewelry that is textured using my hand drawn spiritual mandala designs. I believe that each of my pieces should delight the wearer each time they put it on through the balance of pattern, design and color.”

Gentry began her insurance career in 1980, and was in marketing and management with BBA Life Brokerage since 1987. Most of her insurance career has been in the brokerage business, starting as a service representative in the group health business. She moved to Texas in 1982 and landed a position with a small health brokerage, later moving on to personal production, then joining BBA Life Brokerage.

Gentry was an active member of the Corpus Christi Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors since 1989, serving on the board and executive committees and ultimately as president of the local chapter in 1996. As a member of the Society of Financial Services Professionals she was presented the “Agent of the Year” award in 1987.

She joined NAILBA in 1992 and served as education chair, served on the board in 2000, on the executive committee in 2001, and as chair for NAILBA in 2004. In 2007, she was presented with the inaugural NAILBA Education Excellence Award. Gentry served as the chairperson of Life Happens in 2014, a nonprofit organization formerly known as the LIFE Foundation.

An active member of The Marketing Alliance (TMA) for many years, she was named the 2017 winner of the Billy Vogel Award of Excellence—that group’s most prestigious award. She has also been a long time and dedicated member of SubCenters, Inc., the nation’s oldest and most respected study group, and helped form SAGE, a study group focusing on issues facing female agency principals in the BGA space.

Through her decades of dedication and service to the brokerage industry Cindy has made countless friends and admirers in the NAILBA community and beyond—and I consider myself very fortunate to be one of them.[SPH]

It is my sincere pleasure to announce that the 15th recipient of The W. Harold Petersen Lifetime Achievement Award is good friend Thomas L. Petsche, CLU, ChFC, RHU. This prestigious award is presented by the International DI Society (IDIS) to the individual who has demonstrated a long term commitment to DI and has made a distinctive contribution in the industry and follows the ethical standards of the IDIS. Unselfish voluntary service is also a consideration in the selection process. The award was bestowed at the IDIS Annual Conference in October.

The International DI Society is an organization dedicated to growing the disability insurance industry through education, awareness, promotion of high ethical conduct of the membership and increasing the knowledge base of the agent, producer, company and carriers. IDIS members dedicate themselves to providing disability insurance to individuals, families, business owners and employers to afford financial security in the event that an unforeseen disability occurs. They are devoted to growing consumer awareness and enhancing the disability insurance industry by expanding their members’ resources, remaining current on industry trends, and providing a community for producers, distributors, underwriters and carriers to establish relationships and drive innovation.

Tom Petsche is president of Brokerage Solutions, Inc., in Cedar Rapids, IA. For the past 22 years he has done employee benefit consulting, specializing in disability income and long term care insurance for both individuals and groups. His agency covers most of the Midwestern states as well as the East and West Coast.

He has been a frequent speaker for agency and industry groups throughout the U.S. and Canada. Petsche has over 40 years of industry experience, 17 of those years as a career agency manager for Paul Revere Life in Cedar Rapids. His agency won numerous company awards for excellence in quality agency production and agent development. He qualified for the company’s Hall of Fame in just three years. In 1980 he was promoted to sales manager, became general manager in 1983 and became president of Brokerage Solutions, Inc., in 1997.

A former national board member and past president of the Eastern Iowa Chapter of the Society of Financial Services Professionals, he was the 2010-11 president of the National Society of FSP. He served on the Board of Directors for the International DI Society for six years and was national president of the Society in 2014. He is a past president of the Cedar Rapids General Agents and Managers Association and has been an LUTC instructor many times for the DI and long term care courses as well as an AMTC moderator.

Petsche was elected to the Iowa Insurance Hall of Fame in May of 2011, and was the recipient of the prestigious Kenneth Black Leadership Award from the Society of Financial Services Professionals in 2013. He is currently the president of the Board of Directors for the Eastern Iowa chapter of the American Diabetes Association. He is also active with St. Pius X church in Cedar Rapids.

I’ve had the distinct pleasure of developing a friendship with Tom over many years of covering the IDIS and have found him to be an extremely dedicated purveyor of DI products and a tireless advocate for the disability income insurance industry. We as an industry are lucky to have Tom on our side and I’m very fortunate to be able to call him friend. [SPH]