Brenda Cude

  • Professor Emerita, Graduate Faculty, Financial Planning, Housing and Consumer Economics -
  • NAIC Consumer Representative
  • DSA - Direct Selling Association
  • DSEF - Direct Selling Education Foundation
    • Academic Advisory Council
    • 2017 - DSA - Direct Selling Association - Academic of the Year - Brenda Cude, Professor and Undergraduate Coordinator at University of Georgia, College of Family and Consumer Sciences, Direct Selling Association - p21
      • As the recipient of DSEF’s Academic of the Year honor, the Foundation recognized Brenda Cude for her outstanding service to direct selling through her leadership, personal involvement, teaching and research.
      • Cude has helped DSEF broaden the understanding of the direct selling channel as a powerful go-to-market strategy, distribution model and entrepreneurial option among DSEF academic fellows, university students and the public.
  • 1996-3v2, NAIC Proc. - 1996 0815 - 6. Discuss Amendments to Life Insurance Buyer's Guide - Report of the Cost Indices Subgroup of the Life Disclosure (A) Working Group
    • Mr. Dunlap said that a small group consisting of Tony Higgins [North Caroline - Senior Deputy Commissioner], Brenda Cude (University of Illinois Cooperative Extension Service), and Chris Kite (FIPSCO) and himself had rewritten the buyer's guide (Attachment One-C).
    • 1996 - NAIC Draft redlined Life Insurance Buyer's Guide - Draft 1996-3B 931 - 6p 
  • 1996-3v2, NAIC Proc. - 1996 0917 - Consumer Participation Board of Trustees - re: Readability of NAIC Publcations Consumer Disclosures - Brenda Cude - p1268-1269 - 2p
  • 2021 - Curriculum Vita of Brenda J. Cude - 30p
  • Consumer Advocacy
    • NAIC
      • 1994-present - NAIC - National Association of Insurance - Funded Consumer Representative
      • 1996-present - NAIC - Board of Directors for the Consumer Participation Program Member
    • 2013-present - IAIS - International Association of Insurance Supervisors Consumer Representative Observer
    • DSEF - Direct Selling Education Foundation - Academic Advisory Council - [link] 
  • 1991 05 - Kiplinger's Personal Finance
  • breadwinnersinsurance.com/pdf/Article-on-New-York-Lifes-Deceptive-Ad.pdf
    • Cude, IMSA, CFA, NYSID
  • "Reviewed by Brenda J. Cude"
    • nerdwallet.com/reviewer/brenda-j-cude
    • 2010 - ACLI - Improving Annuity Disclosure: A Life insurance Industry Initiative.  Templates, guidelines, and instructions for life insurers to prepare disclosure documents for fixed, index, and variable annuities
  • DSEF - Direct Selling Education Foundation
    • 2017 - Cude, B. (2017, June). DSEF student outreach. Direct Selling Fellows Workshop, Orlando, FL.
    • 2018 0119 - TheDSEF - Opening the Door - Brenda Cude, Direct Selling Education Foundation -  [VIDEO-YouTube]
    • 2020 1119 - TheDSEF - How to Recognize a Pyramid Scheme - Brenda Cude, Direct Selling Education Foundation -  [VIDEO-YouTube]
  • 2007 0624 - ThinkAdvisor - New Disclosure Documents Seen Aiding Annuity Purchasers, By Jim Connolly - [link]
    • Brenda Cude, a NAIC-funded consumer representative and a professor with the University of Georgia in Athens, said the project is important because its developers went right to consumers to ask them what they felt was important.
      • Consumer focus groups gave developers a better sense of what consumers read and what they need, she added. The overall opinion of consumers that assessed the work was that it is readable, she noted.
    • “I think it is admirable that an industry group says, ‘We need help doing a better job,’” Cude said.
      • There are different disclosure templates for variable and fixed annuities, she noted. “This is a requirement, and they’re saying, ‘Why shouldn’t we do the best that we can?’” she added.
    • “In many ways the insurance area is behind the curve, compared with other areas in the financial services industry in finding more effective ways of disclosure,” and this offers a way to catch up, Cude said.
  • 1995 - AP - The Consumer Participation Program of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, by Brenda J. Cude - 2p
  • dsef.org/whats-your-financial-iq/
  • 2010 0321 - colodnyfass.com - NAIC INSURANCE CONTRACT READABILITY PUBLIC HEARING SCHEDULED FOR MARCH 28 - [link]
  • 2021-? - Presentation - to NAIC - Insurance Consumer Education/Information Issues, by Brenda Cude - 21p
  • Cude, B. (1989). Insurance decisions: A guide to education programming through the media [7-section notebook]. Urbana: University of Illinois.
  • Cude, B. J. (1995). The Consumer Participation Program of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Journal of Consumer Education, 13, 39-40.
  • . *Cude, B. (1997). Understanding life insurance. (Circular 1350) [16 section electronic publication]. Urbana: University of Illinois Cooperative Extension Service
  • Cude, B. J. (1998). Emergent issues in insurance regulation: A consumer perspective. In E. M. Dolan (Ed.), Eastern Family Economics Resource Management Association Proceedings (pp. 1-9). Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Tech University. (invited)
  • Cude, B. J. (2000, Summer). Barriers to business-to-consumer electronic commerce. Southern Perspectives, 4, 3-4.
  • 2001 - AP - Consumer information and education features of state insurance department Web sites: A report to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, by Brenda Cude - 5p
  • Cude, B. J. (2002). Consumer information and education resources found on insurance department Web sites. In M. J. Alhabeeb (Ed.), Proceedings, Eastern Family Economics Resource Management Association Annual Conference (pp. 1-11). Athens, GA: University of Georgia.
  • *Mayer, R. N., Huh, J.†, & Cude, B. J. (2003). Terminal prognosis: Cue-based trust of life insurance shopping sites. In P. Bonner (Ed.), Consumer Interests Annual, 49. http://www.consumerinterests.org
  • *Mayer, R. N., Huh, J.†, & Cude, B. J. (2003). Trust and transparency of life insurance comparison web sites. In S. Burton (Ed.), Proceedings, American Marketing Association Marketing and Public Policy Conference.
  • 7. Cude, B. J., Goldsmith, E., Ketsche, P., Kitt, K., & O’Conner, J. (2003). The roller coaster ride of insurance regulation: Where’s the research? [Panel discussion]. In P. Bonner (Ed.), Consumer Interests Annual, 49. http://www.consumerinterests.org
  • *Mayer, R. N., Huh, J.†, & Cude, B. J. (2005). Cues of credibility and price performance of life insurance comparison Web sites. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 39(1), 71-94.
  • 2005 - JIR / NAIC - Insurance Disclosures: An Effective Mechanism to Increase Consumers’ Insurance Market Power?, by Brenda Cude --- 25p
  • **Cude, B. J. (2006). Disclosure: Taking the high road. [Power Point]. LOMA LIMRA Meeting Series: Compliance & Market Conduct Exchange (pp. 12.0-12.17).
  •  *Cude, B. J. (2006). Do consumers read and understand insurance disclosures? [Abstract]. In I. Martin (Ed.) Marketing and Public Policy Conference Proceedings (p. 36). Chicago: American Marketing Association
  • Cude, B. J. (2007). Insurance disclosures: Implications for insurance regulation of recent research. Journal of Insurance Regulation, 26(2), 3-6.
  • Cude, B., & Schwarcz, D. (2013). Consumer viewpoints on effective disclosure. CIPR Newsletter, pp. 26-32.
  • Cude, B. (2013). Technology and consumer preferences drive changes in distribution channels.  Section prepared for the CIPR’s State of Life Insurance Industry White Paper.
  • Certificate of Appreciation, National Association of Insurance Commissioners, 2015 (in recognition of more than 20 years as a Consumer Representative to that organization)
  • i. Invited presentations
    • 1. Cude, B. J. (2020, June 26). Financial education in the U.S. Invited keynote address presented online to the International Academy of Financial Consumers.
    • 2. Cude, B. J. (2020, June 6). Connecting with readers: Using active voice. Webinar presented to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
    • 3. Cude, B. J. (2020, September 17). Connecting with readers: Using active voice. Webinar presented to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ Insurance Summit.
    • 4. Cude, B. J., & Kitt, K. (2020, January 16). The role of financial education in retirement preparedness. Webinar presented to the Retirement Security Working Group of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
    • 5. Cude, B. (2019, October 30). Improving consumer disclosures. CFP Board of Standards Standards Resource Commission, Washington, DC.
    • 6. Cude, B. (2019, September 25). NAIC’s Consumer Participation Program: An untapped resource. NAIC Regulatory Leadership Forum, Kansas City, MO.
    • 7. Cude, B. (2019, September 25). Engaging consumers in designing consumer information, education and disclosure. International Association of Insurance Supervisors Market Conduct Working Group, Kansas City, MO.
    • 8. Cude, B. (2019, September 19). Methods to develop better disclosures for investor. [Panel member].  Securities and Exchange Commission Investor Advisory Committee, Washington, D.C.
    • 9. Cude, B. J., & Kitt, K. (2019, August 5). Engaging consumers to design education information and disclosures. NAIC Consumer Liaison Committee, NAIC National Meeting, New York City.
    • <More>
  • fcs.uga.edu/people/bio/brenda-cude
  • Consumer Advocacy
    • 1994-Current (as of 2023) - NAIC Consumer Representative
      • 2013-2017 - Editorial Board Member, Journal of Insurance Regulation (JIR)
      • 2015 - Certificate of Appreciation, National Association of Insurance Commissioners, (in recognition of more than 20 years as a Consumer Representative to that organization)
    • 2006-2010 - Board of Directors, Insurance Marketplace Standards Association (IMSA)
    • Direct Selling Education foundation (DCEF) - dsef.org/
      • 2011-2017 - Member, Direct Selling Education Foundation Board of Directors; Co-Chair Consumer Committee, 2011-2017.
      • Direct Selling Education Foundation Board
    • 2014-2017 - Federal Insurance Office Advisory Committee on Insurance (FACI)
  • The group first considered a suggestion from Chris Kite (FIPSCO) for a new type of index that would allow consumers to compare the assumptions in the illustration.
    • Mr. Kite said his index has the advantage of prompting the prospect to question assumptions used.
    • Delmer Borah (MassMutual) suggested that consumers are more concerned about total cost than assumptions. 
    • Brenda Cude (Cooperative Extension Service) opined that the target audience does not care about assumptions. (p931)

--  1996-3V2, NAIC Proceedings - 1996 0815 - Report of the Cost Indices Subgroup of the Life Disclosure (A) Working Group 

􀁸 How much do the benefits build up in the policy?

􀁸 How will the timing of money paid and received affect interest?

2018 0918 - LIBGWG (NAIC) - Cude Letter / Markup Life Insurance Buyer's Guide - Revised 2-9-18 for discussion on conference call 2-22-18

  • 2016
    • 4/3 - ACLI (ML) narrow the charge, BC- all products (Market Conduct / Lawsuits)
  • 2017
    • 11/6 - AAA - NGE's, BC - NGEs ....not something the average consumer would understand.
    • approx. 11/17 - BC - Call Universal Life Permanent
  •  2018
    • 2/22 - What Benefits? What Interest?
  • Have the right info? - Retirement Security WG - NAIC isn't best place for Education

2016

  • 2016-1, NAIC Proceedings
    • Brenda Cude said the Buyer’s Guide needs a total overhaul, not just a revision. 
    • She explained that the products in the marketplace have radically changed since the time the Buyer’s Guide was first written.
  • 2016 0403, NAIC Proceedings, LIIIWG, Life Insurance Illustrations Issues Working Group, Conference Call
    • Mr. Lovendusky said the ACLI work group discussed whether the charge should include revising the Buyer’s Guide, which was a suggested addition to the charge from the American Academy of Actuaries (Academy).
    • While the ACLI work group did not oppose including the Buyer’s Guide, some on the work group thought that revisions to the Buyer’s Guide might work instead of revisions to the models.
    • However, Ms. Cude pointed out that the Buyer’s Guide has a different purpose from the policy summary and that revisions to one would not take care of the other because the Buyer’s Guide is designed to be educational, while the policy summary is informational and explains a particular policy.
    • He (Michael Lovendusky - ACLI) said consumers are mostly confused about options, guarantees and riders.
    • The ACLI work group was considering asking the Life Insurance and Annuities (A) Committee to narrow the charge to look at only products with options, guarantees and riders, but Ms. Cude said she thinks that it is important to consider how the disclosures for all products could be improved.
  • 2016-3, NAIC Proceedings
    • Brenda Cude (University of Georgia) offered to assist the Working Group with drafting consumer-friendly language once the content has been decided.
  • [re: Brenda Cude]
  • Finally, and briefly, note the story of University of GA Professor Brenda Cude. Professor Cude has served for years as one of the NAIC's Funded Consumer Representatives and also on the Board of Directors of the Insurance Marketing Standards Association (IMSA}, an organization established by the life insurance industry following its sales misconduct scandals of the 1980s and 1990s.
    • She is also an active member of the American Council on Consumer Interests, an organization with close ties to both the Consumer Federation of America and Consumers Union.
  • Yet when the complete financial services history of the 20th century is written, IMSA will no doubt be irrefutably proven to have been an unmitigated fraud-failing to uphold its core principles and allowing insurers to claim membership without sufficient mandatory auditing and controls (see my August 2010 letter to IMSA's President and note that two months later IMSA announced that they were shutting down.)
    • Previously, in 2008, I had testified to the NY State Department of Insurance about IMSA's defective and fraudulent practice of awarding "Good Housekeeping" seals of approval to insurers with illegal practices.
    • While Professor Cude in her role as an NAIC Funded Consumer Representative can certainly not be held responsible for the terribly diseased NAIC, it would seem that one day she ought to account for her involvement as a Director of the fraudulent IMSA enterprise.
    • Similarly, others who were involved with IMSA, such as one of AARP's Executives, and others who knew or should have known about Professor Cude's misguided involvement with IMSA, could have and should have spoken up because as has famously been noted, "The Road to Auschwitz was paved with indifference."

2011 - Brian Fechtel - New York Life's Fraudulent Claim that its Whole Life Policies Provide Guaranteed Annual Growth, and  What the Regulators Didn't Do About It - 12p  

  • 2016-3, NAIC Proceedings
    • Karrol Kitt (University of Texas at Austin) said that she and Brenda Cude (University of Georgia) suggest that the first thing that should be decided is the purpose of the buyer’s guide and whether it should be paper or electronic.

2017

  • Thank you for the clarification you provided in our recent conference call about the target market for the draft life insurance buyer’s guide.
  • With that in mind, we started by making a list of basic information about life insurance that first-time buyers probably don’t know.
  • We didn’t find any scholarly research on the topic but did find references to a number of industry-sponsored surveys.

2017 0719 - NAIC / LIBGWG - Letter - Consumer Reps to Mary Mealer, Chair Life Insurance Buyer's Guide Working Group (NAIC),  From: Brenda Cude, Karroll Kitt, Birny Birnbaum - 6p

  • Ms. Cude said there is a tension between creating a comprehensive guide and making sure it is useful for consumers.
    • She said the electronic format allows more information to be included because it is not available all at one time, and is less overwhelming than if the same information were provided in a booklet.
    • Ms. Cude suggested focusing on an electronic tool and also creating a more streamlined printable version.
  • Director Ommen said the Buyer’s Guide should be short and tailored to address more typical issues and could include a reference to other resources to get additional information.

2017-2,  NAIC Proceedings - Attachment One-A, Life Insurance and Annuities (A) Committee, 8/7/17

2017 1106

Life Insurance Buyer’s Guide (A) Working Group

Conference Call

Attachment Four

Life Insurance and Annuities (A) Committee

 
  • American Academy of Actuaries  - "Because NGEs are likely to change, the ongoing performance of products with NGEs should be reviewed periodically after purchase to assess the impact of any NGE changes and consider actions that policyholders may wish to take (e.g., adjust premium payments or death benefits)."
  • Brenda Cude (Consumer Representative / University of Georgia) said the issue of NGEs is interesting, but not something the average consumer would understand.
    • She did not think it was information that was appropriate for a short guide for first-time purchasers.
    • Mary Mealer (Missouri Insurance Department) - ...also agreed that this was an important topic probably best addressed in the online tool.
    • [Bonk: NGEs = Non-Guaranteed Elements

2017 1106 - LIBGWG - Life Insurance Buyer's Guide Working Group - NAIC Conference Call - Proceedings

 

  • 2017 1115 - Letter - ACLI to NAIC (LIBWG-Life Insurance Buyer's Guide Working Group) - 12p
    • Unlike a term policy, which can end after a specified number of years, permanent life insurance will continue to the policy’s maturity age so long as premiums are paid.
    • (Note that this isn’t exactly accurate for UL, where policies can continue as long as the cash value is sufficient to pay the policy charges. We may want to make that distinction.)  <<< ----ACLI Wording <Bonk>>>>
  • 2017 1120-?? - NAIC - LIBGWG, Life Insurance Buyer's Guide Working Group - Brenda Cude to NAIC - re: 08-18-2017 Draft Life Insurance Buyer’s Guide - 5p - - 6p - [cmte_a_libg_wg_171120_karrol_kitt_brenda_cude_buyers_guide_comments]
    • Comment [BJC2]:
      • Permanent insurance is a term used only by the industry – not by consumer educators.
      • We would prefer – Life insurance comes in two basic types: Term and whole life (also referred to as permanent insurance).

2018

􀁸 How much do the benefits build up in the policy?

􀁸 How will the timing of money paid and received affect interest?

2018 - LIBGWG - Cude Letter / Markup Life Insurance Buyer's Guide - Revised 2-9-18 for discussion on conference call 2-22-18

2019

  • She <Mealer> said an additional outline of topics (Attachment Four-B) submitted by Brenda Cude (University of Georgia) had been posted on the Working Group’s web page.   

2019-1, NAIC Proceedings - Life Insurance Online Guide (A) Working Group, Conference Call, March 18, 2019

  • <1> We want you to know that Financial Education is important, but that many other groups are better situated to design deliver and evaluate education than NAIC is.  
  • We think NAIC's most important role in Retirement Security is to make sure that consumers can safely buy well-designed insurance products in stable insurance markets.
  • ... NAIC should focus it's efforts on consumers who have fewer resources.
  • <3> 4th Graders / 12th Graders
  • Teachers are going to teach what they know and what they are interested in and Insurance will be one of the items that gets short changed....
  • So..... this concept of Just in Time education ....suggests that it will be most effective after high school.

-- Brenda Cude

  • Knowledge lets consumers make rational decisions...
  • However, as I say often, consumers do not make rational decisions....
  • We know that knowledge is necessary to make a plan... so, that we can get the security we want in our lives.
  • Our attitudes, our beliefs... they really come from our life experiences and they point us to different actions...

 

  • National Endowment for Financial Education Task Force (College Level)

  • Teachable Moments

2020 01 - NAIC - Retirement Security - Conference Call -  Brenda Cude / Kitt Presentation

  • 2015 - AFCPE - Financial Advisor Characteristics and Quality of Advice: Fiduciary and Suitability Standards of Care, Joseph E. Goetz, Ph.D., Swarn Chatterjee, Ph.D. & Brenda Cude, Ph.D., University of Georgia., Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education - (p77) - 134p
    • Key words: client communication, ethics, fiduciary, financial advisor, financial planner, professional standards, standards of care, suitability

+++++++++++++

Transparently Opaque: Understanding the Lack of Transparency in Insurance Consumer Protection, Daniel Schwarcz

  • 2013 01 - CIPR / NAIC - Consumer Viewpoints on Effective Disclosure (p26), Brenda J. Cude & Daniel Schwarcz 
    • The second article, written by Brenda J. Cude and Daniel Schwarcz, discusses the importance of effective disclosure of complex financial products and outlines specific recommendations for designing disclosures in insurance.
  • 2010 - <WishList> - See Public Hearing on Insurance Contract Readability Standards Before the NAIC Consumer Connections Working Group for the Public Hearing on Insurance Contract Readability Standards (Mar. 2010) (testimony of Brenda Cude, Prof. of Hous. & Consumer Econ., Univ. of Ga.) (on file with author).
    • 2014 - LR - Transparently Opaque: Understanding the Lack of Transparency in Insurance Consumer Protection, 61 UCLA Law Review 394, Daniel Schwarcz - 69p
    • See Public Hearing on Insurance Contract Readability Standards Before the NAIC Consumer Connections Working Group for the Public Hearing on Insurance Contract Readability Standards, supra note 146 (testimony of Daniel Schwarcz, Brenda Cude, and Amy Bach).
  • In 1994 I was selected as a funded ....
    • In these meetings, groups work consumer representative to the on specific charges they have identified National Association of Insurance or that have been assigned to them by Commissioners (NAIC).
  • In reality, much of what NAIC consumer representatives do to represent consumers is to educate regulators.
    • If regulators learn about issues only by listening to the industry, their knowledge is unquestionably biased.

1997 - AP - What Does it Mean to be a Consumer Representative?, by Brenda Cude - 3p 

  • The other board members agreed and upon motion duly made and seconded, the board voted to appoint Ms. Cude to the two-year term as a consumer representative to the Consumer Participation Board of Trustees.

1996-1, NAIC Proceedings

  • (141) - January 24. 1996 - Conference Call
    • 1. Appointed Jason Adkins (Center for Insurance Research) to a two-year term to fill a vacancy on the board and appointed Brenda Cude (University of Illinois Cooperative Extension) as an alternate board member, to serve in the event Mr. Adkins cannot serve.
  • 149 - Section 13. Disclosures to the Debtor:
    • Commissioner Williams indicated that she had previously directed Walter Runkle (CCIA) and Brenda Cude (University of Illinois Cooperative Extension Service) to work together to modify this section. Mr. Runkle presented modified language for the committee's consideration. Ms. Cude indicated that she had reviewed this language with several consumers and that they found it to be easy to understand and acceptable. The committee agreed to incorporate the proposed language with the addition of a drafting note after Subsection D to indicate that states with residual market mechanisms may want to amend notices under this section to include information on how to access those programs including any available toll-free telephone numbers
  • 914 - CONSUMER PARTICIPATION BOARD OF TRUSTEES
    • Ms. Cude serves as a Board member and focuses on consumer information and education.
  • 917...Mr. Adkins has been delayed on a trip outside of the country.
    • Superintendent Atchinson said it was important for the board to move forward with the 1996 appointments of funded consumer representatives; therefore, he recommended that Ms. Cude be appointed to the vacant consumer position on the Consumer Participation Board of Trustees.
    • The other board members agreed and upon motion duly made and seconded, the board voted to appoint Ms. Cude to the two year term as a consumer representative to the Consumer Participation Board of Trustees.
  • CONSUMER PARTICIPATION BOARD OF TRUSTEES
  • Letter on Readability of the Life Insurance Buyers Guide (Attachment One) 1268
    • 1267 - Ms. Cude said that her main focus is consumer information and education.
    • She has worked extensively on the Life Insurance Buyers Guide and the model consumer information report.
    • Ms. Cude expressed concern about the NAIC process of developing consumer guides and other documents.
    • She suggested that the group drafting process used to develop these documents does not result in a document that is easily readable for most consumers.
    • Ms. Cude distributed a letter dated Sept. 17, 1996, (Attachment One) bringing this issue of readability to the attention of the Consumer Participation Board of Trustees and asking for suggestions about a way to address this problem.
  • Superintendent Atchinson agreed with Ms. Cude's observations and suggested that NAIC staff try to educate insurance regulators on this issue.

1996-3v2, NAIC Proceedings

  • Brenda Cude (University of Georgia) suggested the Working Group not worry about the language or format at present, but focus on what should be included for content and suggested including charts and tables. A lower reading level should be used and not include any jargon.
  • Ms. Cude provided a brief overview of the focus group information Mr. Birnbaum mentioned earlier.

2007 0905 - NAIC - Property and Casualty Insurance (C) Committee - Consumer Guides (C) Working Group - Conference Call

  • Ms. Cude reminded the Working Group that she and Ms. Kitt provided the Working Group in March 2007 with a summary of various states guides and various concepts the states had on their websites.
  • Dr. Brenda Cude (University of Georgia) said disclosures are not a summary that tells policyholders what is in the contract; rather, a disclosure is a document that directs a policyholder’s attention to specific information they may need to know.
    • Ms. Cude said the issue of good disclosures is about much more than readability; it is about more effective communication.
    • Ms. Cude asked that the NAIC and the Working Group look at the issue in general and develop a recommendation with regard to readability standards.
  • Mr. Lisson said Flesch scoring measures readability from the standpoint of word choice and sentence structure, but cannot assess whether the text being analyzed provides the reader with the necessary information to help him/her understand the insurance disclosure or policy.
  • 5. Receive Brief Update on Consumer Information Source (CIS) Suggested Wording
    • Mr. Lisson said regulators from Colorado, New York and North Carolina and Dr. Brenda Cude are currently working on recommendations for simplification of the wording on the NAIC Consumer Information Source (CIS) Web page.
    • He added that the recommendations will also include revisions to some of the statistics and how they are calculated.
    • He said a draft document is currently circulating among the individuals working on this issue. Ms. Baker said her concern is that the language used on the CIS Web page does not match the content of the market analysis-related sections of the Market Regulation Handbook.
    • Mr. Belo said this issue is not yet final and will continue to be analyzed by the individuals charged
      with this project.
  • 2009 - NAIC Proceedings - Market Regulation and Consumer Affairs (D) Committee - Consumer Connections (D) Working Group Washington, DC, September 22, 2009
  • Both Brenda and Bonnie are frequently called upon by state legislatures and state insurance departments, as well as numerous NAIC members, to offer consumer perspectives at public hearings and conference calls, as well as interim and national meetings.

2015-3, NAIC Proceedings

  • The use of the term “prices” versus “premiums” is inconsistent throughout this document, so Ms. Cude said she will go through the document and replace “prices” with “premiums.”
    • The Subgroup agreed to these changes. 

2016-1, NAIC Proceedings

  • Brenda J. Cude (University of Georgia) commented that there are agents and brokers not doing a good service to consumers and that educating the agents and brokers is important.

--  Attachment Four-F - Senior Issues (B) Task Force

2016-2, NAIC Proceedings -  8/26/16 -ltc

  • Brenda J. Cude (University of Georgia) said the benefits of the DOL fiduciary rule to consumers are that it will help to align the interests of advisors with those of their clients; it will encourage consumers to have greater trust in advisors; and it will lead to greater consumer demand for advisor services.
  • Ms. Cude said many consumer groups—such as AARP; Consumer Federation of America; Americans for Financial Reform; the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations; the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees; and the Pension Rights Center— representing tens of millions of consumers, support the DOL fiduciary rule.

2016-2, NAIC Proceedings - NAIC/Consumer Liaison Committee, San Diego, California, August 28, 2016

  • Brenda J. Cude (University of Georgia) said that, in order to determine how helpful state insurance department websites are to insurance consumers, NerdWallet did a survey in the fall, the purpose of which was to lookup financial resources, not just insurance resources.
  • Commissioner Lindeen said the ranking for Montana should be higher than it is currently.
  • Ms. Bach said the state could contact NerdWallet to challenge its respective rankings.

2016-3, NAIC Proceedings - NAIC/Consumer Liaison Committee, Miami, Florida, December 12, 2016

  • Mr. Gendron asked Ms. Cude what she thinks of including information about the use of life insurance in estate planning.
    • Ms. Cude said she thinks that consumers who are interested in that topic should be urged to seek the guidance of a qualified expert.
  • Brenda Cude (University of Georgia) said an interactive online cost calculator would be helpful, but not a static form in an online PDF file or hardcopy format.
    • Brenda J. Cude (University of Georgia) said that form and format are as important as content.....

2017-1, NAIC Proceedings

  • Dr. Cude asked about the intended audience, or not the intended audience, for this document.
    • She said the document appears to be for professionals and not consumers.
  • Commissioner Miller replied that the document is geared toward professionals, policymakers, the press and similar entities.
    • She said she envisions the states taking the document and creating a consumer friendly version for consumers.
  • Ms. Burns said there is a deficit of information about these products in the document.

2017-2, NAIC Proceedings - Attachment Two, Senior Issues (B) Task Force, 8/6/17

  • 4. Heard a presentation from Karrol Kitt (University of Texas at Austin) and Brenda J. Cude (University of Georgia) on maximizing states’ use of resources to better serve consumers.

2017-3, NAIC Proceedings

  • Brenda J. Cude (University of Georgia) said there are similarities and differences between consumer guides and shopping tools.
    • She said consumer shopping tools are more specific than consumer guides....

  • Ms. Cude said the Privacy Disclosure as well as the SBC are both examples of how consumer testing can be useful in developing consumer shopping tools.

  • She said going forward, the NAIC can move toward smart disclosures that consumers can input personal data specific to their insurance needs in order to pinpoint the insurance product that will be the best fit for that particular consumer.

  • She said the Working Group collected numerous resources on this topic that may not be readily available on the NAIC’s website.

  • Ms. Cude suggested that an NAIC web page be created specifically to house these types of consumer services in one place and to enhance the current use of these resources by states leading to additional success of these resources in helping consumers.

2017-3, NAIC Proceedings - NAIC/Consumer Liaison Committee, Honolulu, Hawaii, December 4, 2017