Mutual of Omaha

Mutual of Omaha

Mutual of Omaha Logo
Company type	Mutual company
Industry	Finance, Insurance
Founded	1909
Headquarters	Omaha, Nebraska , USA
Key people	James Blackledge (Chairman of the Board and CEO)
Products	Life Insurance Medicare Supplement Insurance Annuities and Retirement Plans Long-term care Insurance Health, Accident and Special Coverages Investment Products Disability Insurance Dental Insurance Voluntary/Worksite Products Special Markets(2006)
Revenue	US$8.732 billion (2017)
Net income	US$863 million (2017)
Total assets	US$42.429 billion (2017)
Total equity	US$6.684 billion (2017)
Number of employees	5,896  (2017)
Website	Mutual of Omaha

Mutual of Omaha is a privately held Fortune 500 mutual insurance and financial services company based in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded in 1909 as Mutual Benefit Health & Accident Association, Mutual of Omaha is a multi-line organization providing insurance, banking, and financial products for individuals, businesses and groups throughout the United States.

The company provides a variety of health insurance options and product services, including Medicare Supplement, life insurance, long-term care coverage and annuities, as well as group coverage including life, disability and 401(k).

Mutual of Omaha has faced repeated litigation because of its unsavory claim denial methodologies, including insisting that a terminally ill woman who died within years of filing a disability claim was not really sick to harassing and attempting to embarrass individuals that bring lawsuits against the company. See the legal problem section for more details.

Subsidiaries

Mutual of Omaha has multiple subsidiaries including:

United of Omaha Life Insurance Company

Founded in 1909, this company provides life insurance, pension and annuity products for groups and individuals.

United World Life Insurance Company

Through direct marketing and independent agent networks, this company has offered health and accident coverage and specialty life plans since 1983.

Mutual of Omaha Investor Services, Inc.

Mutual funds are offered to individuals through the company's agents and Retirement Plans brokers.

Omaha Financial Holdings, Inc.

Omaha Financial Holdings, Inc. (OFHI) is a holding company for Mutual of Omaha's banking operation.

East Campus Realty, LLC

East Campus Realty, LLC was established to develop Midtown Crossing at Turner Park, which is directly to the east of Mutual of Omaha's headquarters.

History

Mutual of Omaha was founded in 1909 by a medical student at Omaha's Creighton University and his wife, Dr. C.C. and Mabel Criss. It has grown into a Fortune 500 company offering insurance and financial solutions for individuals, businesses and groups throughout the United States. In 1927, V.J. Skutt joined their team and was named president in 1949. With a license to sell insurance in all 48 states, an abbreviated name and distinctive Native American symbol, the company gained nationwide prominence in the 1950s. In 1963, the company began sponsoring Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, a wildlife program hosted by Marlin Perkins and Jim Fowler that remained on television for more than 20 years. The company was one of the first companies to provide disability insurance to non-professional workers, and in 1966 was among the first companies to provide supplementary coverage for people enrolled in Medicare.

• March 5, 1909 – Mutual Benefit Health and Accident Association filed articles of incorporation with the Nebraska Insurance Department.
• 1920 – Premium income exceeded $1 million for the year.
• 1924 – Mutual of Omaha ranked 8th in comparison to other insurance companies
• 1926 – The subsidiary, United Benefit Life Insurance Company, was founded
• 1941 – The company founded its Group Insurance department
• 1950 – Mutual Benefit Health & Accident Association changed its name to Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company
• January 6, 1963 – Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom premiered on network television. The original show was hosted by hosts Marlin Perkins, Jim Fowler, and Peter Gros, and ran until 1988.
• 1981 – United Benefit Life Insurance Company became United of Omaha
• 2001 – The company revitalized its brand and began sponsoring USA Swimming
• 2002 – A new Wild Kingdom series premiered on Animal Planet

2005 – Daniel P. Neary is named Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

• 2007 – Omaha Financial Holdings, Inc. was created as the parent company of Mutual of Omaha's banking initiatives
• 2009 – Mutual of Omaha celebrates their 100-year anniversary.
• 2015 – James T. Blackledge is named Chief Executive Officer and elected to the board.
• 2016 – The Company reaches $3 billion in policyholder surplus
• 2018 - James T. Blackledge replaces Dan Neary as Chairman of the Board.

As of 2017, Mutual of Omaha holds the 367th rank on Fortune 500's top companies. The current CEO is James T. Blackledge. The company and its affiliates have more than 5,000 employees plus a network of sales advisors. The Home Office remains in Omaha, NE, with satellite or sales offices in most states. The Company holds an A+ rating from A.M. Best and AA- rating from Standard & Poor's.

Legal Problems

In 2010, a woman in Kentucky sued Mutual of Omaha when it denied her disability claim, saying her illness did not affect her ability to do her job, even though her docotr said she could not drive and her job required her to drive around six counties. The Court disagreed and chastised Mutual of Omaha. Quoting several cases which pointed to the insurer’s lack of basing its evaluation of Nancy C.’s claim in a reasonable fashion, the Court ruled that Mutual of Omaha did act arbitrarily and capriciously when it decided to deny her claim for long term disability benefits. The Court further opined that it was “troubled” by the insurer’s “determination that the available medical documentation did not support [Nancy C.’s] reported restrictions when it never had a physician examine her or provide a full analysis of her claim.” And, the Court further admonished the insurer that it believed that the denial of Nancy C.’s claim “was not the result of a deliberate principled reasoning process and was not supported by substantial evidence. However, the Court did state that it didn’t believe that the record associated with this case automatically entitles Nancy C. to receive long term disability benefits and thus, remanded the claim back to the defendant to conduct a full and fair review of her case.

In 2011, Heather Chalfant also became ill. She filed a claim with Mutual of Omaha, begging Mutual to pay her benefits so that she could get proper medical care or she would die. Unfortunately, Mutual of Omaha decided to drag out and delay her claim for benefits for years until, as she predicted, Heather died from her illness.

In Radecki v. Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company, Tadeusz Radecki submitted an application to Mutual of Omaha for long-term disability benefits. Mutual of Omaha denied Radecki’s claim, because it disputed whether he became totally disabled while covered by the policy. The company also argued that Radecki did not make his claim within the allotted statute of limitations time frame. Radecki sued Mutual of Omaha for bad faith and breach of contract, and a jury ultimately decided the case. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Radecki on the breach of contract cause of action and awarded Radecki damages equal to 24 months of disability benefits. An appeals court later upheld the judgment.

In Egan v Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company, Egan purchased an individual disability insurance policy with Mutual of Omaha; he later filed a disability claim under his policy. Mutual of Omaha denied Egan’s claim, stating that Mutual of Omaha’s own claims manager for Egan’s policy deemed the claim fraudulent. Egan brought suit against Mutual for bad faith and unfair dealing. Egan presented evidence that he was no longer able to work despite his own good-faith recovery efforts. Furthermore, Egan had offered to undergo a medical evaluation by a doctor of Mutual of Omaha’s choosing before he sued, but Mutual of Omaha declined his offer; Mutual of Omaha also did not order any medical evaluation before wrongfully denying Egan’s claim. The trial court found in favor of Egan, holding that Mutual had not sufficiently investigated Egan’s claim before denying it. Mutual of Omaha appealed, and the state’s supreme court affirmed the trial court’s finding, agreeing that Mutual of Omaha failed to properly investigate Egan’s claim before denying it.

In Greguhn v. Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company, Greguhn purchased a disability insurance policy with Mutual of Omaha. The disability insurance policy entitled Greguhn to monthly benefit payments for as long as Greguhn was unable to work. After a year of payments, Mutual of Omaha (along with the other co-defendant insurer) stopped paying Greguhn; they argued that he was able to continue working. Greguhn sued. The trial court ruled in Greguhn’s favor, ordering Mutual of Omaha (and the other company) to pay the money past due under the terms of the policies. In addition, the court found that Mutual of Omaha (and the other company) breached their contracts with Greguhn. The appeals court upheld the judgment.

As seen on https://www.consumeraffairs.com/insurance/mutual_omaha_disability.html, Mutual of Omaha does not show any signs of changing its ways, instead it has become more aggressive against insureds that sue it. For example, Mutual of Omaha is currently being sued in Nevada for fraud, instead of doing the right thing, it has engaged in a campaign of harassment and is using the plaintiff's personal life to try to embarrass him into dropping his lawsuit, apparently with no success.

Company Governance

Chief Executive Officer

1964–1983	V.J. Skutt
1984–1996	Thomas Skutt
1998–2004	John Weekly
2005–2015	Dan Neary
2015–Present	James Blackledge

Chairman of the Board

1949–1953	Dr. C.C. Criss
1953–1985	V.J. Skutt
1986–1996	Thomas Skutt
1998–2004	John Weekly
2005–2018	Dan Neary
2018–Present	James Blackledge

Recognition

• 2016 - Mutual of Omaha received an A+ rating from A.M. Best Company, Inc. for overall financial strength and ability to meet policy holder-related obligations.
• 2017 - Mutual of Omaha was ranked 5th of 18 large life insurance companies by NerdWallet.

External Sponsorships

Wild Kingdom - In 1963, Mutual of Omaha introduced the wildlife television program, Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. The original show ran from 1963 to 1988, and was revitalized in 2002 with a new series on Animal Planet. The program currently is shown via webisodes starring with the program's first female host, wildlife expert Stephanie Arne.

Golf - Mutual of Omaha sponsors 7 PGA Tour golfers and 2 LPGA Tour golfers, including Russell Knox, Henrik Stenson, Padraig Harrington, Paula Creamer, Jessica Korda, Bud Cauley, Brandon Hagy, Robby Shelton and David Leadbetter.

See also

• Midtown Omaha
• Economy of Omaha, Nebraska
• Mutual of Omaha Building

External links

• Official Mutual of Omaha company website
• Mutual of Omaha Bank website
• Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom website