RIMScast: Public Policy Goals with CIAB President Joel Wood

Public Policy Goals with CIAB President Joel Wood

May 23, 2023

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.

Joel Wood joins RIMScast to discuss the shared goals of RIMS and CIAB in 2023 in the way of cyber, NFIP, and other major risk management issues. Though many of these issues are non-partisan, he provides a pragmatic view of how much progress might be made with such a divided Congress. Joel shares his hopes for the House and the Senate to work together on important data security legislation.

Joel expresses his appreciation for RIMS, as a pure voice for insureds, and how CIAB and RIMS come together for many objectives and goals.

We also hear about his career and some of the members of Congress and DC players who may prove to be valuable allies for RIMS and CIAB.

Key Takeaways:

[:01] About RIMScast.

[:27] About today’s episode with Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers (CIAB) President Joel Wood.

[:37] All about upcoming RIMS webinars, and more!

[1:10] The RIMS Canada Conference 2023 has been announced for September 11th‒14th in Ottowa! Visit RIMSCanadaConference.ca for more information.

[1:27] The RIMS Legislative Summit will be held October 25th and 26th in Washington, D.C. For information, visit the link in the show notes.

[1:43] The Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers is a prominent ally of RIMS.

[1:57] Joel Wood became president of CIAB in January 2023 and is well-known in the risk and insurance community, having lobbied on behalf of CIAB for thirty years.

[2:08] Justin recorded this interview with CIAB President Joel Wood prior to RISKWORLD. They discussed RIMS’s and CIAB’s common goals and visions for 2023.

[2:31] Justin welcomes Joel Wood to RIMScast.

[2:37] Joel Wood is President of CIAB after 30 years of lobbying for the organization.

[3:07] Joel went to Washington 40 years ago to work for a member of Congress from his hometown and after five-and-a-half years, he went to an insurance trade group. Joel joined CIAB 30 years ago. CIAB has about 185 members, responsible for over 90% of premiums placed in the commercial property/casualty insurance market nationally.

[4:05] CIAB members have a good chunk of premiums on the health benefits side, also, including two-thirds of all employer-sponsored group health insurance plans.
[4:30] All CIAB firms do business in all 50 states; most do international business. There is a commonality of interests among them. Joel talks of the extraordinary M&A environment over the last several years. CIAB has benefitted overall from M&A.

[5:35] The member of Congress Joel worked for was Don Sundquist, who later served for eight years as Governor of Tennessee. Joel talks about working for him.

[6:44] CIAB goes back 115 years. They host a premier event in the international commercial business insurance marketplace, at the Broadmoor, for brokers, carriers, and reinsurers to make connections. For most CIAB members, though, the one meeting that matches or surpasses it is the annual RIMS meeting.

[7:30] The relationship between CIAB and RIMS is extremely strong. Joel lists the threat of hard markets, shrinking capacity, inflation, and the rise of uninsurable events, in the eyes of the carriers. Joel comments on the chances of getting legislation passed by the divided government on Capitol Hill.

[9:34] Joel sees the most room for bipartisanship this year on data privacy legislation. Everyone in the insurance ecosystem shares frustration with 50 different standards on anything to do with data privacy. Joel explains his hope for the House and Senate to work together on data privacy legislation.

[11:33] A stretch goal is to reduce the cost of prescription drugs and enforce transparency for the PBM marketplace. Joel finds two-thirds of member firms spend two-thirds of their time on the benefits side, fighting existential threats, instead of on the property & casualty side, where two-thirds of their revenue is.

[12:42] PBMs have declared that the 2020 legislation requiring brokers to prospectively report all of their compensation from ERISA plans does not apply to them. Joel hopes the Senate will look closely at that.

[13:57] In property & casualty, Joel would like to see 2023 legislation on flood insurance. It’s going to take a dedicated Senate Banking Committee to make it happen.

[11:41] RIMS plug time! Sponsor a weekly or dedicated episode of RIMScast! Contact us at pd@rims.org. RIMS Fundamentals of Risk Data, Analytics and AI virtual workshop is coming up on June 15! It’s a course for the RIMS Fundamentals of Risk Data Analytics and AI certificate on completion! See the link. To support education visit SpencerEd.org.

[13:45] CSA Group is the Canadian Standards Association. They are a leader in developing standards to make the world safer and in testing, inspecting, and certifying products to make sure that the products that get into the marketplace are safe. They have global operations.

[16:20] About the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Joel has never heard anyone say they were happy with it. He would like to see more private solutions and private markets in the flood arena. We went a long stretch in a soft commercial marketplace. These are difficult issues.

[18:17] Justin and Joel share reminiscences about former Congress member, Dennis Ross. Joel would like to see him come back to lobby for risk retention insurance issues.

[19:20] The biggest and perhaps smartest champion of the insurance industry in the Senate is Senator Tim Scott a former Allstate executive and agency owner. In the House, Blaine Luetkemeyer has a strong industry background. Newer House members Monica De La Cruz, Anthony Garbarino, and Byron Donalds have industry experience.

[22:43] Anthony Garbarino chairs the cybersecurity subcommittee. He may be an ally on data privacy. A lot of carriers call cyber marketplace security breaches uninsurable events.

[23:48] Justin thanks Joel for being on RIMScast. Joel appreciates the opportunity and is grateful for the relationships between CIAB and RIMS and their similarities on many issues.

[24:54] Justin says a “special thanks to Joel Wood, the President of the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers (CIAB).” See the links to CIAB. The RIMS Legislative Summit will be held October 23rd through the 26th in Washington, D.C. A link is on this episode’s notes. There is also a link to RISK PAC coverage with Gregory McKenna.

[25:30] Sponsor a RIMScast episode to reach a global audience! Justin shares other RIMS offers, including a transitional membership!

Mentioned in this Episode:

RIMS Legislative Summit — October 25‒26 in Washington DC!

RIMS Advocacy

RISK PAC

RIMS Canada 2023 — Sept. 11‒14 in Ottawa!

Spencer Educational Foundation — Risk Manager on Campus

Spencer Funding Their Future Gala — Sept 14 in NYC!

Contribute to Risk Management Magazine

RIMS Diversity Equity & Inclusion page

Upcoming Webinars:

The Top 10 Must-Have Reports for GRC and InfoSec Leaders | Sponsored by Resolver | June 8, 2023