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June 20, 2013 at 07:43 PM
Bruce Benton, the outgoing president of the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU), took a few minutes before the start NAHU’s 2013 annual convention to give us his thoughts through an e-mail interview.
Benton is a classically trained musician who once had a recording contract with a record company. He is the co-founder of Genesis Financial & Insurance Services. He holds the Registered Health Underwriter (RHU) professional designation.
The following is a lightly edited version of his replies to our questions.
What, in general, do you want to say to insurance agents and brokers?
The far-reaching implications of health care reform are obviously yet to be determined.
As of this writing there are some members of Congress who supported the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that are deeply concerned with the laws unintended consequences.
Even in my home state of California, in an environment where all stakeholders actually did come together in the development of our state based marketplace (Covered California) creating a structure most likely to succeed, the marketplace (exchange) is required to be self-sustaining after one year.
This requires a lot of working together.
But just like with any massive law or experiment, changes and adjustents are likely to occur.
The most important message I have for your readers is that we as insurance professionals and as an industry are highly resilient and innovative.
We have always been nimble, adapting to change, arguably coming out stronger and more knowledgable on the other side.
For those who do their homework, the future remains bright.
What would you tell a young producer who’s not sure whether or not to get involved with NAHU?
NAHU is our nation’s premier trade group representing agents, brokers, consultants and benefits professionals.
Any insurance professional deriving an income from the sale and servicing of health insurance and related products should be a member of NAHU.
Strength and political clout comes in numbers.
The best way for anyone to get involved is to become a member and get engaged with NAHU. Where else can you hire your own personal lobbyist for $23 a month?
