Leadership is a necessity in times of comfort and crisis. But now is the time for the insurance industry to lead by subsidizing the cost and distribution of a specific necessity: disposable face masks. Now is the time for insurers to be true to their respective brands by respecting the urgency of the present, so they may respond to the challenges of COVID-19 by presenting the public with ample supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE).
Leadership of this kind is a lifesaving measure, which also offers immeasurable savings. The alternative is wrong as a matter of morals and money, because when an act does not make sense, when an act violates common sense, the cost comes in the form of many dollars and cents; billions of dollars in medical bills for millions of patients nationwide.
Were insurers to subsidize one of the least expensive but most effective ways to stop the spread of COVID-19, were insurers to advance the issue of public health by promoting this issue on the outside of every face mask, were insurers to show their faces to the public, the reaction by the public would be huge.
An insurer’s logo would be a mobile advertisement. Truth in advertising would no longer be a contradiction in terms. Not when it would be impossible to deny what people could see: PPE in action.
According to Vitali Servutas and Brent Dillie of AmeriShield:
“Compliance governs the insurance industry as much as it inspires the industriousness of our commitment to public health and personal safety. By complying with the rules of the CDC and the Berry Amendment, we give hospitals, businesses and consumers a safe, affordable and convenient means of protection against COVID-19. Disposable face masks are essential to winning this fight, which is why insurers should support or subsidize the use of these masks for everyone.”
I agree with this statement because the words speak to a third “P,” patriotism.
Helping Americans by increasing jobs for Americans is good for all Americans. This policy is wise, too, because it highlights the value of oversight and quality control. Put another way, what works well for consumers is a policy that works to expand wellness.
Insurers have every reason to support this policy, given the nature of the pandemic and the pandemic’s toll on the nature of how we live now; of how we live to survive, for now.
We need protection, yes, but we also need to know we share the same goal: that we are in this fight together, that we will hang together, that we are and will be stronger together.
See also: Insurance CEOs Spec Out a Post-COVID World
Insurers have the resources to achieve great things. If they summon the will to do this one thing, protect the public by providing the public with disposable face masks, then insurers will achieve greatness.
History will record these things, just as people now living will tell future generations about the good works that make insurers institutions of greatness.
The public welcomes this moment.
