California is relaxing mask mandates but we’re still in an emergency, folks. President Joe Biden announced last week that the U.S. national emergency declared in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic will be extended beyond March 1 due to the ongoing risk to public health posed by the coronavirus.
NOMINATE
Know an Elite Woman?
Insurance Business America’s Elite Women report will celebrate the outstanding achievements of women in the insurance industry.
If you are, or you know, a U.S. insurance professional who deserves a spot on the Elite Women list, fill out the form here. Self-nominations are accepted and encouraged. Nominations should focus on achievements and initiatives from the past 12 months. March 4 deadline!
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS
Podcast: Financial Wellbeing Benefits
We’ve been hearing a lot about financial stress and employee wellbeing. If this interests you, tune into HRchat episode 391. The guest is Rebeca Liebman, CEO and cofounder of LearnLux, a provider of workplace financial wellbeing benefits. The podcast deals with the stresses money worries can place on mental and physical health, and offers tips if you’re looking for new financial wellbeing programs. Tune in right here.
HEALTH
The Leadership Development Group Accepting Applications for The Health Ecosystem Leadership Institute
The Leadership Development Group, a full-service health ecosystem talent development firm, is launching the inaugural Health Ecosystem Leadership Institute. The Institute is focused on developing leaders across diverse health industry sectors such as providers, purchasers and payers, pharmaceuticals, biotechs, public/private organizations, communities and entrepreneurs to work together to transform health and wellness. Applications for this 12-week multi-modality leadership development program, which begins April 6, are now being accepted.
The Institute will be facilitated by Tracy Duberman, PhD and Bob Sachs, PhD, TLD Group Board Chair and former vice president of national learning and development at Kaiser Permanente. Bob and Tracy co-authored From Competition to Collaboration: How Leaders Cultivate Partnerships to Drive Value and Transform Health which explores how health ecosystem leaders can navigate the difficult issues that arise when multiple organizations from different sectors and with different operating models, objectives, and cultures work together toward a shared purpose. By embracing HELM, the leadership philosophy explored in the Institute, participants will learn how to engage with others toward a broad purpose of enhancing health and wellness.
FINANCIAL PLANNING
Sex Workers Need Financial Help
ThinkAdvisor has an interesting post up about a largely untapped financial planning segment. From the story:
“There’s value to working with stigmatized groups and in markets that aren’t overly saturated,” argues Lindsey Swanson, founder of Stripper Financial Planning, whose clientele is exclusively sex workers, in an interview with ThinkAdvisor.
KUDOS
Victor Castellanos Honored by ICMG
The Inter-Company Marketing Group (ICMG), the non-profit association that fosters business networking among insurance and financial services companies, recently named Victor Castellanos, VP, senior client manager at Swiss Re, the recipient of the 2022 Don Kampe Lifetime Achievement Award.
The Don Kampe Lifetime Achievement Award is the highest honor awarded by the ICMG. This award was established in 2001 to recognize ICMG members who have made significant, ongoing contributions of time and resources for the benefit of the organization. The award was named in honor of Don Kampe, who served on ICMG’s first board of directors, was president for two terms, and continued to be active in board and committee work for 24 years.
An ICMG member since 1999, Mr. Castellanos served on the board of directors from 2010–2019, and was ICMG president in 2015. He has exhibited a long-standing commitment to the ICMG annual meeting and to the board or directors, and has given many hours of voluntary work, both inside the industry and in his community. He has provided great leadership, creative ideas, and strong stewardship to ICMG.
The ICMG’s 2022 Annual Conference was held February 1 and 2, 2022, in Miami, Florida. More information about the organization and its 2023 conference can be found at ICMG’s website, www.icmg.org.
INSURTECH
AdminaHealth Ranks
AdminaHealth®, an insurtech and provider of automated benefits billing solutions for the healthcare, insurance, and employee benefits marketplace, has been named a Top 10 Billing & Invoicing Solution Company to Watch by Insights Success magazine. AdminaHealth was recognized for being at the forefront of premium billing innovation.
HELP WANTED
Insurers Are Hiring
Life and health insurers want you and you and you. That’s the takeaway from a labor market survey conducted by the Jacobson Group and Aon. The insurers have been doing so well that they plan to expand employment by 1.69% over the next year, and roughly 65% of insurers surveyed say they will increase their workforce in the coming year. Get the skinny right here.
MENTAL HEALTH
AHIP: Integrating Behavioral Health and Primary Care
America’s Health Insurance Plan’s recently published a report advocating for better integration of behavioral health in primary care.
Key Takeaways from the report:
• Every American deserves access to mental health and substance use disorder treatment as an important part of their overall health.
• Health insurance providers are leading the way with many varied and innovative approaches to improve a person’s behavioral health.
• Policymakers can improve access by implementing policies to expand the workforce of behavioral health clinicians, support research
for evidence-based behavioral health care, and promote coordination among an integrated care team of physical and behavioral health providers.
Read the whole report here.
We Need You for Cal Broker Survey of Mental Health Providers
Our survey and View from the Top goddess Thora Madden is looking for folks in the mental health benefits space. We want you to participate in an upcoming article. Please reach out to Thora at: thora@calbrokermag.com.
PEOPLE
Steve Nelson Get Newly Created Role at EPIC
EPIC Insurance Brokers and Consultants has appointed Steve Nelson as Chief Growth Officer of their Private Client Practice. In this newly created role, Nelson is being elevated to continue to drive growth within the Private Client Practice of EPIC. He will provide broad direction in the high-net-worth private client space regarding national strategy, new sales development, and talent acquisition.
EVENTS
- NAIFA-LA & FSP-Pasadena Will G. Farrell Awards Event, online, Feb 24, Info here.
- LIMRA’s 2022 Distribution Conference, in person, March 1-3, Miami, FL, Info here.
- OCAHU’s Annual Sales Symposium, in person, March 11, Lake Forest Community Center. Info here.
- CAHIP’s Women’s Leadership Summit, in person, March 14-16, 2022, Green Valley Ranch, Las Vegas, Info and registration here.
- LAAHU Annual Symposium, in person, April 26, Pasadena Convention Center. Info here.
- BenefitsPro Broker Expo, in person, May 23-25, 2022, Austin, TX. Request more info here. Register here.
