NAHU rebrands to National Association of Benefits and Insurance Professionals

By Susan Rupe

The National Association of Health Underwriters will begin the new year with a new name, as the organization’s rebrand to the National Association of Benefits and Insurance Professionals takes effect Jan. 1.

At NAHU’s annual convention in June, the members voted in favor of the name change, while leadership said the rebranding would better reflect the association’s mission and would more accurately describe the work of its members.

The name change “has been a long time in coming,” NAHU president Kelly Fristoe told InsuranceNewsNet.

Fristoe said the idea for the name change came from the membership several years ago.

“It was, ‘Why don’t we change our name to better reflect what we do, how we do it?’” he said. “Because the word ‘underwriters’ was a tough word for us to explain to the public. Before the Affordable Care Act, we were field underwriters, asking clients health questions back when there was some qualification to enroll in health insurance based on a person’s health.”

As the health insurance world has evolved to focus more on NAHU members becoming benefit professionals, consulting with clients on the type of benefit plan would best suit their needs.

“It’s no longer a cookie-cutter environment,” Fristoe said. “So we became more strategic in our role with the consumer.”

Fristoe said the new name will make it easier for legislators to understand what the members do, something that will help the association’s political advocacy work.

“When we have a lot of new legislators and we go to them and say, ‘We are the National Association of Health Underwriters,’ it’s like, ‘What is that?’ And then we would have to explain to them what it is we do and what we are. Now we can go in and say, ‘We’re the National Association of Benefits and Insurance Professionals,’ and they will know we are talking about insurance. It will be a lot easier to have conversations because we won’t have to spend time explaining what we do.”

Fristoe said the association’s membership “is eager to get this done and to move into a new era for our organization.”

“I think our greatest days are ahead of us.”

Susan Rupe is managing editor for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly served as communications director for an insurance agents' association and was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @INNsusan.