A View from the Press Box

Last Thursday, I asked how much you would pay to see NAMIC CEO Chuck Chamness shave his head until he was completely bald, especially if it was to help fund research into a cure for childhood cancer? Well, Chuck and other members of the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies’ operating team did their thing–with Chuck raising $13,284 and his team of 25 heads shaved generating at least $35,000 thus far. Chuck thanks everyone who has contributed, and invites you to click here for more information or to contribute.

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State lawmakers have been feisty this month. On Friday, I blogged about how one leading legislator challenged the National Association of Insurance Commissioners on whether its accreditation program usurped state authority. Today I spotlight a brewing controversy over whether state attorneys general went too far in negotiating settlements with insurance carriers over the payment of contingency fees to brokers that reverberated beyond their own borders.

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The headline of the lead story in yesterday’s edition of “The New York Times” was devastating to the insurance industry’s already tattered reputation–”Aged, Frail and Denied Care By Their Insurers.” (The word “Evil” before “Insurers” is implied.) Included was a page-one picture of a sweet, little old lady, being comforted by her daughter while battling long-term care insurers who are giving mom the runaround. Even though this does not involve property-casualty coverage, collateral damage will affect all types of carriers, as the general public doesn’t distinguish among the various types of insurers. It’s all one big, bad industry.

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Our associate editor, Mark Ruquet, came up with a brilliant column in this week’s edition of NU, speculating on how differently life might have turned out for Sen. Trent Lott and the insurance industry had the Mississippi Republican–who lost his house in Hurricane Katrina–gotten his coverage through an independent agent rather than a direct writer.

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Is the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ accreditation program an infringement of state legislators’ turf? And even if it is, since the program to establish regulatory standards has been around for so long, why is the president-elect of the National Conference of Insurance Legislators–Brian Kennedy–raising a ruckus now?

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How much would you pay to see NAMIC CEO Chuck Chamness shave his head until he was completely bald? What if I told you it was for a good cause? Chuck and other members of the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies’ operating team in Washington, D.C., and Indianapolis are joining thousands of volunteer shavees to publicize a campaign to help fund research into a cure for childhood cancer.

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Since filing my first-hand blog reports on the how insurers were beaten like a piñata at a recent Congressional hearing on Hurricane Katrina claims, I’ve heard some grumbling that perhaps my account was too theatrical, and that I didn’t give a fair assessment of how the industry’s sole witness–Insurance Information Institute President Bob Hartwig–represented the business. One party complained that I made him sound like a lamb being led to slaughter. All I can tell you is, you had to be there.

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The word out of Hollywood is that a TV pilot is being shot for a situation comedy featuring those ticked-off cavemen who make the GEICO commercials such a riot. What’s next? A show with the AFLAC duck as the star? Perhaps we are headed for the day when an entire TV network will spring up featuring insurance programming. Imagine the possibilities!

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After attending the first U.S. public address by Lloyd’s CEO Richard Ward, then listening to him dissect the formidable challenges he faces over lunch with a select group of business journalists, I came away with the firm impression he’s the right person to transform the world’s oldest insurance market.

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When insurers denied thousands of Hurricane Katrina damage claims in Mississippi on the basis of the flood exclusion, the industry was accused of holding to the letter, rather than the spirit of their policies, and of ignoring their “moral obligation” to policyholders, setting the stage for our next “Question Of Ethics.” Read on to get the question and file your comments.

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