"The first known life insurance contract was written in 1536 on the life of a British merchant, William Gybbons, for a term of one year. Gybbons died shortly before the policy was to expire, but the insurers refused the claim. They held that that Gybbons had indeed survived "twelve months" - twelve lunar months . The insurers were taken to court and ordered to pay."

“Life insurance is a commodity.”

“The larger the deductible you choose, the less insurance you are buying. Insurers want to sell insurance.”

“In short: Readily available low-cost life insurance would be a threat to the industry, and whatever threatens the life insurance industry threatens America.”

“Not surprisingly, the insurance lobby recoils in horror at the prospect of automatic coverage , no matter how efficient it may be. Automatic coverage eliminates sales commissions and profit.”

“The life insurance industry is filled with good people who believe in their work and their companies, but who may never have challenged the assumptions underlying their efforts.”

“The first American insurance company was the Friendly Society for the Mutual Insurance of Houses Against Fire, founded in Charles Town in South Carolina, in 1735.”