Jawja

[somarco]

Greetings from Jawja (as some here say it).

I invented health insurance in the mid 1500's and just never could give it up though I tried. One of the few people you will ever meet that majored in insurance in college when there were only 3 schools offering a degree in insurance. One of my professors was a former instructor at Wharton School of Business and sat on the board of the American College.

I have been in the business a long time (and even out of it for about 4 years) and have pretty much seen or done it all if it has to do with health insurance. Smallest account is probably a policy I wrote on a 2 year old a few months back. One of the largest accounts I handled in the past was probably Aladdin Industries.

My current focus is individuals & small group plans. This kind of client seems to appreciate service & advice more than the large clients ever did.

 

[J.R.]

I invented health insurance in the mid 1500's and just never could give it up though I tried. One of the few people you will ever meet that majored in insurance in college when there were only 3 schools offering a degree in insurance. One of my professors was a former instructor at Wharton School of Business and sat on the board of the American College.

Would you be kind enough to tell the rest of us what it was like to sit at the Round Table?

 

[somarco]

As I recall, and it was a very long time ago, there were quite a few folks in attendance. One was a guy named Lloyd who I believe lived in London. There was another who must have been a Mel Gibson fan. He was painted all in blue from head to toe. (At least the parts that were showing).

Beyond that, not much more to say.

We decided we wanted to create a market that would only take young, healthy folks & the wealthy. Anyone who had ever been sick, or injured would either be denied coverage, have to pay an additoinal premium, or would have the afflicted part excluded from coverage.

We also decided to raise rates at will and at 3x the overall rate of inflation and only pay agents when we had to. Agents were to be compensated initially at 35% for the first year and nothing thereafter.

We later had to temper the agent comp part of the rate structure.

 

[J.R.]

We decided we wanted to create a market that would only take young, healthy folks & the wealthy. Anyone who had ever been sick, or injured would either be denied coverage, have to pay an additoinal premium, or would have the afflicted part excluded from coverage.

What did you and King Arthur decide to do about the people who couldn't afford the insurance, including older people and children?

We also decided to raise rates at will and at 3x the overall rate of inflation and only pay agents when we had to. Agents were to be compensated initially at 35% for the first year and nothing thereafter.

Sounds like a good system. That would force agents to really push products onto people and really hammer home the importance of staying healthy and wealthy. Times have since changed since then though and I do not think that type of system would work in the current era that we live in now. There is great momentum right now towards offering health insurance to everyone, via increasing taxes on the middle class and affluent class. Kinda makes me wonder what it was like back then when you did not have income taxes. Do you think something like that would have worked back then?

 

[somarco]

What did you and King Arthur decide to do about the people who couldn't afford the insurance, including older people and children?

No one knew any poor people back then.

All of lived in castles, had wenches and drank stout.

There is great momentum right now towards offering health insurance to everyone, via increasing taxes on the middle class and affluent class

There is your problem.

The middle class doesn't pay taxes. Only the wealthy.

Kinda makes me wonder what it was like back then when you did not have income taxes. Do you think something like that would have worked back then?

Doubt it.

If we needed anything, we just raped & pillaged.

 

[CHUMPS FROM OXFORD]

Almost sounds like an old Monty Python movie!

 

[somarco]

Monty got his ideas from us.

So did Mel Brooks.

 

[CHUMPS FROM OXFORD]

So far...it sounds great. How about Larry David? He's my all-time favorite actor.

 

[J.R.]

Mel Brooks is the KING of Comedy.

If you watch History of the World, Part 1 or Blazzing Saddles and have a hard time watching the movie because you are crying from all of the laughing you will enjoy life.

I have come to realize there are two type of people who like comedy. The type who likes the comedy style of Mel Brooks, Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor and the type of people who like Bill Cosby. Bill Cosby is a very intelligent man but his stand-up is lacking.

 

[CHUMPS FROM OXFORD]

Mel is hilarious.

I still prefer Curb your Enthusiasm and Seinfeld as my all-time favorites.

Benny Hinn is pretty funny too...