Thursday, July 28, 2011

Healthcare Use May Temper Premium Hikes

Consumers may catch a little break when their health insurance policies renew. Lower-than-expected use of healthcare has helped push insurer earnings higher and that may temper how much they increase premiums.


Analysts and industry observers say people tend to hold off on elective surgeries and skip doctor visits after a deep recession, and that makes utilization grow more slowly. Insurers consider this trend when they determine what they will need to collect in premiums to cover future claims, and employers will likely use it as a bargaining chip when they negotiate prices of the plans that cover their workers.

This doesn’t mean consumers on a steady diet of rising premiums in recent years can expect a price drop.

“I think what it promises is some level of stability in rates,” said Dan Mendelson, CEO of the research firm Avalere Health. “It doesn’t promise that rates are going to go down or they are going to be flat, but it does predict that there shouldn’t be wild increases in rates.”

Healthcare use has slowed to a growth rate “we haven’t seen in many years,” said Robert Laszewski, a former insurance executive and now a policy consultant. He said this means premiums will keep rising, but at lower rates than recently.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

What it takes to be an Effective Leader

In a recent Caliper study, more than 300 president and CEO’s listed what they considered to be the most important and most difficult aspects of being a leader:

• Creating the right vision

• Getting people to embrace that vision

• Maintaining momentum (motivating, influencing and persuading others)

• Managing change (strategic planning, problem solving)

• Surrounding oneself with the right people

• Developing staff (coaching, managing performance, transforming teams)

• Delegating authority

Surrounding oneself with the right people was selected 41% of the time, second only to creating the right vision as one of the most critical parts of leadership. Surrounding oneself with the right people was also selected as one of the three most difficult aspects of being an effective leader. In Northwest Arkansas, we are having a problem with higher unemployment rate, but nothing like in other parts of the country. If you really want a job, you can find one. From the employer’s side of it, however, sometimes the “pickins” are pretty slim. Do you hire the experienced person who has changed jobs about every 2 years for the last decade, or do you hire the “newbie” right out of college? Do you promote from within, or bring in a “fresh face” with new ideas? These are all difficult decisions for leaders of organizations in Northwest Arkansas.

Anyone can become a “Manager”, but it takes a special person to actually be a “Leader”. These same CEO’s in this study said that there are three main factors that keep most managers from becoming leaders:

• Not understanding others well enough (or not trying to understand them)

• Not solving problems quickly enough

• Not taking necessary risks

We have heard from the experts. Now let’s hear from those of us that are in the trenches every day here in Northwest Arkansas. I will give you my opinions, and then I want to hear from you leaders out there.

Here’s my take on how to become an effective leader:

• First you have to believe in yourself, but care more about the people on your “team”. Narcissism has no place in the work environment or on any team. If you are working to help those around you, your sense of purpose is better, the people around you will follow that lead, and you will tend not to quit as easily.

• Then, you have to create the vision for your organization or team. I really believe that it is much more important that the vision be your concept than it is that the vision is “correct”. There is no right or wrong vision… just visions that weren’t followed through and communicated to your team properly.

I believe these are the basic two ingredients needed to being an effective leader. If you really care about the people who work alongside you, it will show every day in how you treat them. In addition, if you believe in the vision you have set forth and they know you care about them; your team will follow you into battle. From there, the war is much closer to winning!

I want to hear from you- what are your thoughts on leadership in your organization or team? What do you believe are the most difficult of being an effective leader? I look forward to hearing from you.

Bobby Bland PWCA, CIC
Vice President
Commercial Risk Service

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Marine General Liability vs. General Liability

Marina operators and boat dealers have unique liability protection requirements to protect the business from lawsuits related to the business operations. Did you know that a standard General Liability policy excludes coverage for watercraft including the “ownership, maintenance, use of” watercraft owned or operated by an insured? This exclusion is especially problematic for marina operators and boat dealers because of the frequent operation of owned and also customers watercraft. Operations such as marina employees operating work boats or rental boats around the marina, test drives and demo drives of boats for sale or repaired boats are excluded in an unendorsed General Liability policy.


Another exclusion in an unendorsed General Liability policy is the “care, custody, or control” of personal property of others. This means that operations such as boat repair, fueling, storage, hauling and launching, slip rentals are all excluded by an unendorsed General Liability policy.

For boat dealers who sometimes install aftermarket parts or equipment on boats for sale, there is a “your product” and “your work” exclusion in an unendorsed General Liability policy that excludes coverage for a claim related to the installation of the aftermarket part.

Insurance companies that insure marine businesses have created a Marine General Liability form that eliminates the above exclusions so that marina operators and boat dealers are properly protected. Do you know which liability form you are protected by?

The above exclusions are important reasons to know if your agent is a marine insurance specialist, to know if the insurance company that your liability policy is with uses a Marine General Liability form instead of a standard General Liability form. The differences are critical for the protection of your business.

What can you do for me?

I was visiting with a prospective client the other day, and they asked me a very interesting question:

“What can you do for me that I’m not already getting from my current agent?”

Now THAT’S the million dollar question! To be honest with you, I spent the first 10 years of my insurance not really able to answer that question with an effective response. Some of my stammering included:

---“Because I am very knowledgeable”

---“I have 10 years experience”

---“My winning personality!”

---We give the best service (what does that really mean?)

The last few years, I have been more focused on helping the customer find ways to reduce their risks in their business through focusing on their operation and creating more knowledge and awareness of claims management in their organization. I have found that it’s not the truck that causes a wreck, not the building that causes liability, and not the job function that causes an employee to get injured- it’s the people in your organization that cause the claims!

I have spent the last 4-5 years trying to help my customers create a better working environment for their employees, as well as setting expectations for those employees. Some insureds are better than others at taking experienced advice. Those customers have seen tremendous results in their risk management programs- others not so much.

Back to original question: “What can you do for me that I’m not already getting from my current agent?” Let me answer that question-

“We have been very successful at helping you the business owner or manager find new and innovative ways to run your business more effectively with fewer claims and better response to the claims you do have. In short, we can make your company more profitable in the long run than our competition. I feel extremely confident about that fact.”

What about your business? What can you do for your customers that they are not already getting from a competitor? Let me know your thoughts to this question.

Bobby Bland PWCA, CIC
Vice President
Commercial Risk Service

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Confessions of a Food-aholic

Many times in life, we tend to make up rules as we go, such as:

---“If you cross your eyes too many times, you could end up that way permanently.”

---“It’s OK to tell your mother a little white lie, as long as it “makes her feel better.” (or as you get older, maybe a little bigger lie!)

---“Don’t remove this tag under penalty of law”. (I wish I would have thought of that!)

---“If you do something wrong, it will go on your permanent record.” (where do they keep that “permanent record?”

…or we make up our minds about our own personal limitations, such as…

---“My brother got the brains in our family, so I guess I’m just a screw-up.”

---“I would never be able to make it through college because our family doesn’t have the money.”

---I am not really fat, just “big boned”! ( Or I heard this one- “I can carry more weight because I’m long-waisted!.”

As a child, I always loved being the biggest kid in school. I was WAY bigger than everyone else my age- taller, bigger, and stronger- the fat part came later. Along with that came the fact that I ate more- my parents always told me “eat as much of meat and potatoes as you want, and drink all the milk you want, and it will make you bigger and stronger” (another questionable rule!). So I did- I ate steak and potatoes and all the trimmings every meal, along with about 7 gallons of whole milk per week.

When I got into adulthood, I still ate a lot of food, even though I was obviously through growing taller, just wider. I always told myself that “I was just a bigger person than everyone else, and I needed more food to maintain”. Everyone always told me “You’re not really fat, just big boned.” Somebody even once told me that “You’re not overweight, you’re just under-tall!”

Fast forward to February of this year: I had been diagnosed at a Type II Diabetic about 5 years ago, having to take insulin for the high blood sugar, medication for high blood pressure and high cholesterol. In addition, I had been diagnosed 5 years ago with sleep apnea because of my morbid obesity and was using a C-PAP machine to help control that at night when I slept. I had lost 50 pounds 3-4 years ago (down from 390) to now weigh 340 pounds, but couldn’t get any more weight off because the insulin makes you gain weight.

I decided to make a last-ditch effort to change my life and had gastric bypass surgery on February 1st this year. In the 5 ½ months that have followed, not only have I lost 120 lbs., to now weigh 220, I also no longer take any medications! I don’t have to use Insulin because my blood sugars are now normal. I am completely off high blood pressure medications, high cholesterol prescriptions. I now work out 90 minutes EVERY DAY.

Even better, I have also lost a lifetime of pre-conceived ideas that have held me back all these years:

---I am not doomed to be “big and fat” all my life”. I can choose to be the size and shape I want to be.

---My knees (which I have had 5 surgeries on) don’t have to hurt all the time. I can now walk 7-8 miles hard and have no pain.

---I no longer believe that if I work out 3 times per week, I can improve my health, because I am dedicated to working out EVERY DAY, no matter what.

---I also am saving about $500-$700 every month simply because I no longer feel that I need to eat out at a restaurant every meal. (I can even drive by a Zaxby’s without pulling in!)

My point is this…

You can be anything you make up your mind to be. If you choose to be fat, you will be fat. If you choose to be unhappy, you will be miserable. If you choose to keep your business (or your career) in the same mediocrity it is in today, you will be stuck with that mode forever. Instead, decide to change your life and your business for the better. Take the limitations off of yourself, and go accomplish something! Get excited about what you are doing in your life, even if it means changing your life completely.

Give me some feedback and tell me what you want to change in your life or your business today.

Bobby Bland PWCA, CIC
Vice President
Commercial Risk Service

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Americans Keep Getting Fatter, Especially in the South

Los Angeles—In 1995, no state had an obesity rate above 20 percent. Now, all but one does.


An annual obesity report by two public health groups looked for the first time at state-by-state statistics over the last two decades. The number of obese U.S. adults rose in 16 states in the last year, helping to push obesity rates in a dozen states above 30 percent, according to a recently released report.

Mississippi is the fattest state in the union with an adult obesity rate of 34.4 percent. Colorado is the least obese—with a rate of only 19.8 percent—and the only state with an adult obesity rate below 20 percent, according to “F as in Fat,” an annual report from the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

“When you look at it year by year, the changes are incremental,” says Jeffrey Levi, executive director of the Trust for America’s Health, which writes the annual report with the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation. “When you look at it by a generation you see how we get into this problem.”

Obesity rates did not decline in any state and even Colorado does not win high marks—it’s score means one in five state residents is at a higher risk for conditions like heart disease and diabetes.

“Today, the state with the lowest adult obesity rate would have the highest rate in 1995,” said Levi.

Four years ago, only one U.S. state had an adult obesity rate above 30 percent, according to the report. Obesity is defined as a body mass index – the weight to height ratio – of 30 or more.

The study, based on 2010 data, says a dozen states top the 30 percent obesity, most of them in the South. Mississippi topped the list for the seventh year in a row, with Alabama, West Virginia, Tennessee and Louisiana close behind. Just five years ago, in 2006, Mississippi was the only state above 30 percent.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Does a Marina need Flood Coverage?

Most property policies exclude flood coverage for land-based property such as buildings. A flood policy can be purchased to cover the land property but unfortunately, due to the location of marinas in high hazard flood zones, the coverage can be very expensive. In addition, a flood policy has a 30-day delay before coverage takes effect. Do you need flood coverage for your land property? Have you experienced a major flood since you have owned your marina? If so, is any of your land property at risk if the lake floods to maximum elevation or even a couple of feet higher than the “top of flood pool”? A lake can definitely flood to heights above the “top of flood pool” if the conditions are right. I have personally experienced this on Beaver Lake. So, if any of your land property is at risk of flood damage, you should ask your agent for a flood quote to determine whether you wish to cover this peril with insurance.


Boat docks are typically covered under an inland marine “Piers, Wharves, and Docks” policy and flood is usually a covered peril under those types of policies and that coverage is in effect for the entire policy term, with no 30-day delay in coverage. There are a few insurance companies that will endorse a standard property policy to include dock coverage but those types of policies would exclude any dock damages due to flood. You need to check with your agent to confirm which type of coverage you have because a flood can damage dock walkways, electrical systems, fuel systems, winches/cabling, etc. If your policy covers flood damage to your docks, you may also have a loss of business income claim as well.

If you have, or are considering purchasing an insurance policy that excludes flood for your docks, ask yourself whether you are prepared for fast rising water, water current, and able to maintain access to your docks. If you have already experienced flood conditions, you have a pretty good idea what can happen to your docks, electrical system, and fuel system. Flood damage to docks is typically limited and due to the flood deductible, this exclusion may not be a huge issue to you. However, if you haven’t experienced a major flood, you may want to purchase a policy that will cover flood so that you don’t experience any financial loss due to a flood.

If you are unsure, you should discuss this issue with your agent.

Doug Timmons, CIC, CMIP
Marina Insurance Specialist
Commercial Risk Service