“Life Insurance Awareness Month" Resolution Introduced in House
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Lee Allen
Vice President of Communications and Marketing
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July 13, 2006 –Last night two members of the U.S. House of Representatives introduced a resolution designating September 2006 “Life Insurance Awareness Month.” House Resolution 912 recognizes the role of life insurance as an essential part of a sound financial plan and encourages Americans to seek information and tools that will help them better understand life insurance—estimates put the number of Americans lacking the life insurance coverage they need to help ensure the financial security of their loved ones at 70 million.
Coordinated by the Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education (LIFE), Life Insurance Awareness Month includes the participation of some 90 life insurance companies and 14 trade associations, including the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA). This is the third straight year that the House has taken action to make Americans more aware of their life insurance needs and motivate them to secure their families’ financial future. Last year and in the inaugural 2004 campaign, similar resolutions were introduced and overwhelmingly passed by the House.
“Life insurance is too often thought of only when it is too late,” said Rep. Judy Biggert (R-Ill.), vice chair of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy. Biggert is a lead sponsor of the resolution along with Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski (D-Pa.). The resolution is expected to have at least 50 co-sponsors. “It is my hope that recognizing Life Insurance Awareness Month will motivate Americans to seek out information about the benefits of life insurance.”
“Life insurance is an affordable financial planning tool that all families should explore. It can help provide much-needed security in the event of an untimely death,” said Rep. Kanjorski.
“Our bipartisan efforts in Washington to again designate September as National Life Insurance Awareness Month will hopefully highlight the importance of this useful financial instrument,” added Kanjorski, the most senior Democrat on the House subcommittee overseeing the insurance industry—the Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises.
For its part, the life insurance industry will conduct a wide array of sales and publicity programs in and around the month of September. In addition to coordinating the industry-wide campaign, LIFE plans to spend millions of dollars in September educating consumers about the benefits of life insurance and the importance of seeking financial advice from qualified insurance professionals. LIFE’s publicity plans include print, radio and television advertising. It has also retained Olympic figure skating champion Scott Hamilton as this year’s celebrity spokesperson.
As a founding member of LIFE, NAIFA is promoting LIFE’s Life Insurance Awareness Month materials to its members, and state and local associations—including ads for local newspapers and multimedia educational kits for presentations to community groups. NAIFA is also spearheading industry efforts to gain government support of Life Insurance Awareness Month—in Congress, the White House, state legislatures, and among governors and state regulators.
“The support of the House of Representatives reinforces the government's continued recognition of the essential role of life insurance in the financial lives of the American people,” said David F. Woods, CLU, ChFC, LUTCF, NAIFA's chief executive officer and LIFE’s president. “In furthering the goals of Life Insurance Awareness Month, Representatives Biggert and Kanjorski, along with their House colleagues who have joined in this effort, have taken positive steps to help Americans understand the importance of having adequate life insurance coverage to protect their loved ones.”
About LIFE: The Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education (LIFE) was founded in 1994 in response to the public’s growing need for information and education on life, health, disability and long-term care insurance. LIFE also seeks to remind people of the important role insurance professionals perform in helping families, businesses and individuals find the insurance products that best fit their needs. To learn more about these topics, please visit www.life-line.org.
About NAIFA: Founded in 1890 as the National Association of Life Underwriters, the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors comprises 800 state and local associations representing the business interests of 225,000 members and their employees nationwide. Members focus their practices on one or more of the following: life insurance and annuities, health insurance and employee benefits, multiline, and financial advising and investments. NAIFA's mission is to advocate for a positive legislative and regulatory environment, enhance business and professional skills, and promote the ethical conduct of its members. NAIFA's website can be accessed at www.naifa.org.