Welcome to a new year for LAAHU. It doesn't take a psychic to know that his year will be as ... exciting ... as the last few. There's the fourth quarter perfect storm of open enrollments. There's consolidation among our carriers. There's legislation we need to defeat that are less than helpful for our clients and our profession-and some helpful bills we need to help pass. There are new competitors-and new kinds of competitors-we need to address.
In short, it's business as usual.
And I have no doubt that, as usual, we will meet these challenges and win.
Why am I optimistic? In part because I've been around awhile (OK, a long while). I've seen my share of storm clouds. I've also learned that every trend and event has its reciprocal developments. So yes, simultaneous open renewals are painful, but carriers and general agents will do everything they can to make them manageable.
Lawmakers like to introduce bills. Yet thanks to Health Underwriters' strong and effective presence in Washington and Sacramento we help convince them to do the right thing more often than not.
New competitors come along and tilt the playing field in their favor; new tools show-up to help you restore balance. Think of it as the occupational equivalent of Newton's law: for every action (or trend) there's an opposite and equal reaction (or development).
But another reason I'm optimistic is I've had the privilege in the past few weeks to meet your LAAHU Board of Directors. As some of you know, I was recruited to step in as President on short notice. I haven't worked with the Board prior to June. Now that I am working with them I am pleased to report, they are an impressive group.
Your LAAHU Board is a mix of leaders with long histories of service to Health Underwriters and newcomers. They are geographically and professionally diverse, but they share a common commitment to LAAHU and to our members. Dede Kennedy-Simington, your immediate past president, along with others built a strong, sturdy foundation for LAAHU. Your new Board has spent the last few weeks developing a strategic plan and budget to build on that foundation.
The Board's goal and promise is simple: to help LAAHU members be successful by providing outstanding education, tools, and representation.
In short, this association exists to help you succeed, now and in the future. This promise informs our programing, our spending and every other action we take. Every Board decision is run through this filter.
If helping health insurance professionals is something you care about, I hope you'll join LAAHU. If you're already a member I hope you'll join a committee, help out an event; get involved.
The Board will be firming up our strategic plan and budget in early August. I look forward to sharing with you how we plan to deliver on our promise this year. I'm confident the next 12 months will be both interesting and successful for you and for your association.
Warm Regards,
Alan Katz
LAAHU President
