E-MAIL THIS 
PRINT THIS |
Life & Health breakout session targets Consumer education,
regulatory changes
Considering the length and content of the list of issues amassed
during the Life & Health breakout sessions, customer relations
people and regulators engaged in these lines of business are losing
about as much sleep as their property-casualty counterparts.
 |
Kathy Ashby Merry facilitates the Life-Health
breakout sessions during the Nashville Exchange. |
The L&H attendees took a more structured approach than their
P-C counterparts, first throwing out issues and problems in a random
way and then prioritizing those problems and their potential solutions
with a vote. Nevertheless, the Life & Health attendees, with
the assistance of Kathy Ashby Merry, expert facilitator, came up
with yet another list of issues guaranteed to cause as much sleep
loss as any point on the property-casualty list.
Brainstorming sleep-losers
During the brainstorming portion of the breakout, Life & Health
participants amassed a list that included:
- Lack of proactive consumer education and protection, which
contributes greatly to consumer misunderstanding and complaints.
- New regulations and requirements, in addition to variations
in existing regulations, and the need to keep abreast of new
developments.
- Suitability of the sale of insurance products any given customers.
- Misleading annuity sales.
- Lack of regulation of some products, leaving the business open
to problems due to lack of clear ground rules.
- Developing more effective ways to share great ideas and successes.
- Falsification of applications, both by agents and consumers.
- Use of unapproved applications.
- Protecting privacy in an age of expanding technology.
- Duplicate medical supplement policies.
The lack of proactive consumer education and protection was the
lead issue to receive a brainstorming of solutions. Giving consumers
more information to read was not seen as a viable answer. Information
needs to be targeted and specific. Most people do not understand
the basics of insurance much less the particulars of their products,
so deluging them with more information would just compound the
problem.
One idea offered the concept of an “owners manual” to
the product. Some attendees suggested collaborating with educators
on the design and delivery of consumer financial services courses,
with detailed lesson plans provided with industry input to help
focus the educational experience. Lesson plans could be developed
in an age-appropriate manner to allow the material to be presented
to a broad range of learners. Others suggested that detailed FAQs
on company web sites might help do the trick. Another suggestion
involved computer-assisted training, perhaps in the form of quizzes
or games provided with web-easy access. However the communication
is framed, it ought to be written in plain English.
‘Big ideas’ list
Working with a range of input and opinions offered by breakout
attendees, the group compiled a “big ideas” list aimed
at tackling the major issues. The choices on the list were then
prioritized according to a vote taken among breakout participants.
The concept of an ‘owners manual’ to be provided with
insurance products got the most votes, with computer-assisted training
or game design coming in second. Age-appropriate classroom curricula
and the concept of a “Get Smart about Insurance Week” received
some support from the group. Computer-assisted consumer testing
and more FAQs on the web came in last.
 |
Linda Sedillo (Anthem Blue Cross and Blue
Shield) assists as a scribe during one Life-Health breakout
sessions in Nashville. |
Keeping up with regulation
The L&H group offered several ideas for helping companies
keep up with the introduction of new regulations or changes in
existing regulations. One was a Lotus Notes company-level database
that would allow different areas to advise customer relations staff
and others whether particular actions were in compliance or not.
Specific individuals could be assigned particular states to monitor
and would be required to post any changes. Another suggestion was
a monthly newsletter that could be emailed to interested parties
with news about state regulatory changes.
It was noted that the federal government would like to see greater
consistency in regulation and regulatory compliance across the
industry. Some states, such as Texas, are taking the lead in training
company people on new laws and regulations.
Following a discussion of possible solutions, the L&H breakout
group once again undertook an exercise in democracy by prioritizing
the solutions with a vote, focusing on the issues that participants
would most like to see the ICAE address as a group. Company-level
databases on regulatory changes tied with the suggestion to create
an industry-level database of state regulations. Regulator-sponsored
education of companies came in third, while the cultivation of
company-level experts on regulatory issues came in last.
|
