A dying breed of yesterday wonders hoping to stay relevant……….
By Bill Rusteberg
Ask just about any legacy health insurance broker if they like what they do and you will be hard pressed to find one who does. But few will admit it. It’s not cool.
This became starkly evident when I dropped by a health insurance function recently. The audience was a small dour group of aging men and women staring vacuously through glaucomic eyes as the speaker droned on and on.
“How many of you think government’s take over of health care is imminent?” asked the speaker. Before startled reflexes had time to react the speaker boomed “If you raise your hand you don’t belong here!” The audience remained silent in passive obedience.
A middle-aged man who I didn’t recognize at first spotted me standing in the back of the room and sprinted towards me. “Bill, I saw your name tag and WOW, I thought you were dead! Remember me? We butted heads years ago. Remember that?”
Before I could respond he continued. “Don’t you hate this business? It’s not the same anymore!”
I’ve found his view of the business among those with dissimilar views is not unusual. It’s pervasive within our industry. The Golden Age of health insurance brokerage is long gone replaced by a new age of fast-moving innovation bringing new opportunities for those with the vision and courage to adapt. That’s hard to do for aging legacy brokers.
The average age of the audience was close to approaching Medicare eligibility. and it was obvious they couldn’t wait to get there.
Meanwhile organizations like Health Rosetta and others have symposiums too but there is a difference. Energized participants hell bent on fixing a broken system, change agents willing to work hard to fix it work together towards that end. Nothing is impossible. They don’t carry the baggage of yesteryear.
P.S. – I asked the fellow who thought I was dead if he was still selling group health insurance he said “Are you kidding? Heck no, I’ve started a direct primary care organization and I’m up to 30,000 lives! We should talk!” He’s one of the few legacy brokers I know that has the vision and courage to adapt. He will do well and for the first time in a long time he will have fun doing it. That’s because he isn’t selling health insurance anymore.
