I’ve been thinking. I was born in 1958. I remember a time when insurance meant the following:

Def. of insurance according to Merriam-Webster

1 a : the business of insuring persons or property b : coverage by contract whereby one party undertakes to indemnify or guarantee another against loss by a specified contingency or peril c : the sum for which something is insured

2 : a means of guaranteeing protection or safety

In today’s world it means something completely different. It means “let’s make a deal, read the fine print” and it probably will NOT go in your favor. What I mean by this is there are so many contingencies, clauses, deductibles, terms and the list goes on and on. Do you remember when insurance meant insurance? You bought a policy, weather it was auto, life, home, fire, flood, travel and if something happened you were “insured.” You got a check for full value, less a small deductible.

Do you think it is time to change the name to “financial services?” So if you go buy a health insurance policy you now have to say, I’m going to buy a “financial services policy for my health.” Because if you have a preexisting condition you might not be covered. Because you could be paying a $5,000 deductible. Let me ask, what kind of “insurance is that?” In my opinion that is a sorry ass bill you have to pay all the while you and or your employer coughs up some dough every month to keep you showing up on a regular basis, am I wrong?

So I think it is time for the dictionaries to either update their definitions and meanings or for the insurance companies to actually change their names and be renamed financial services companies. Then we would see competition especially if the gold standard is to be “an insurance company.” This is all a bit simplistic, but I’m sure there are some lawmakers who can craft some language to make it work.

Now in the insurance companies defense, they have 2 huge forces working against them: Lawyers and Fraud. Both are formidable foes, but I’d like to see their names changed.