Come the end of April, I will be retiring after 30 years with National Underwriter. (And yes, Virginia, it is a voluntary retirement, thank you.)
So, this will be one of my last pieces as NU Life & Healths Editor-in-Chief and the first of two parts of a farewell to the business Ive been fortunate to cover for 3 decades. What I thought Id do is use thisposting for some reflections about the life and health insurance business in general and then inanother oneremember some of the outstanding people its been my benefit to meet and be associated with in the course of these 30 years.
Let me start by saying that this has been a fascinating business to cover for a number of reasons. For one, life and health insurance (and here Im also including disability, ancillary coverages, annuities, etc.) have a visceral importance to people. You cant get more to the core of what deeply concerns people than dealing with their life and their health, and by extension, their families, what they love and what they value most.
For another, this is a business that for one reason or another always seems to be under attack and thus in the midst of a struggle. As a journalist I can tell you that this makes for good copy and it makes for interesting stories. Not only do you have to cover the attacks, but also the industrys defense and, in some cases, its counterattacks.
This situation has only been exacerbated as the shadow of Washington continues to grow over the insurance business.
For another, this is a business riddled with contradictions. Its very basis is solemn promises and high aspirations, but the delivery on those noble ideals can run the gamut from total fulfillment to being very shabby indeed.
Society, information technology, communicationsall have changed greatly over the last 30 years. In some cases, the life and health business has kept pace with these changes, but in many other cases the industry has not changed much at all or has lost some ground.
