In any given week, there's a lot more going on in the life and health insurance world than you might think. The past week was a great example of this, when several interesting press releases caught my eye.
As I found them interesting, I thought you might as well, and I think the stories in the following bullet points are all worthy of some extra attention. Please read on, and make sure you cast your vote for LIFE Foundation cause listed below; it's particularly close to our heart at LifeHealthPro.
8 in 10 consumers fail basic health insurance quiz
Recently, LIMRA asked more than 2,000 Americans a series of 10 true/false questions to gauge their understanding and basic knowledge of health insurance. The results were grim:
- Nearly 8 in 10 consumers failed the test — answering five or fewer questions correctly.
- Only 1 in 10 consumers correctly answered at least seven questions.
- Uninsured consumers, on average, answered less than 3 in 10 questions correctly.
"Overall, Americans expressed a great deal of confusion about how health insurance plans work," said Anita Potter, assistant vice president, LIMRA Group Insurance Research. "Not surprisingly, insured Americans had a better understanding of health insurance than those uninsured — but not by a large margin."
LIMRA found consumers with low levels of health insurance knowledge more likely to be younger, less affluent, less educated, more likely to be a student, unemployed or uninsured. Many showed a tremendous lack of knowledge about plan features, the costs involved, and how various types of plans work.
The study found that few consumers (14 percent) understand how the public health exchanges, established by PPACA, will work. For uninsured consumers — who are most likely to use these exchanges — less than 1 in 10 know what types of plans will be available.
No one surveyed answered all 10 questions correctly. (Take the quiz and compare your knowledge.)
Consumers didn't do much better with life insurance questions. Earlier this year, LIMRA released a similar study, where 70 percent of respondents failed a basic life insurance quiz.
Next page: AARP/New York Life deal; Advisors Excel expansion AARP re-ups with New York Life
New York Life announced July 11 that AARP has extended its agreement through 2022 for New York Life to serve as the exclusive provider of life insurance products to AARP's 37 million members. New York Life has provided AARP members with life insurance for nearly two decades and is also the endorsed provider of lifetime income annuities to AARP members, under a contract begun in 2006.
More than two million AARP members are currently enrolled in the life insurance program.
Advisors Excel co-founders (from left) Cody Foster, David Callanan and Derek Thompson. (PRNewsFoto/Advisors Excel)
Advisors Excel growth leads to fourth move in eight years
In the company's fourth move in just eight years, Advisors Excel, a national insurance and financial services marketing organization headquartered in Topeka, Kan., moved into its new home office on July 12, setting the stage to hire up to 150 new employees over the next five years.
The move will give the company room for expanded growth, offering more than 78,000 square feet, with approximately 65,000 square feet being occupied upon the initial move-in. Advisors Excel works with independent insurance producers and financial advisors across the country, and company officials say the ability to add capacity through the more spacious headquarters will allow the company to improve and add services for clients.
Next page: Watch and vote in LIFE's scholarship contest Your vote counts in LIFE scholarship contest
Voting is underway for a nationwide college scholarship contest organized by the nonprofit LIFE Foundation for young adults faced with paying for a college degree after the death of a parent who had no life insurance. The LIFE Lessons Scholarship Program serves as a call to action to American families to protect the ones they love and include life insurance in their financial plans.
