Guest Speakers
Dr. Marius Barnard
Dr. Barnard is a South African cardiac surgeon and the inventor of critical illness insurance.
He was a member of the team headed by his brother Christiaan Barnard who performed the world’s first human-to-human heart transplantation in 1967. Dr. Barnard was motivated by the financial hardship he saw his patients suffer after he had treated their critical illnesses to convince the South African insurance companies to introduce a new type of insurance. He argued that, as a medical doctor, he can repair a man physically, but only insurers can repair a patient’s finances. Just over 30 years ago, on October 6, 1983, the first critical illness insurance policy was launched.
Dr. Barnard was a member of the South African parliament between 1980 and 1989, for the Progressive Federal Party — one of the few political parties to oppose apartheid. He is currently semi-retired, acting as a technical consultant for Scottish Widows. Barnard has received many awards for his contributions to medicine and humanity, and was voted in the top 25 most influential people in the field of health insurance and protection. He has written two books: one is his autobiography, Defining Moments, detailing his life story and the second, I Hate my Prostate, that details his battle with prostate cancer and also creates awareness of this cancer.
Carol A. Harnett, M.S., GBDS®
@carolharnettCarol Harnett is an employee benefits consultant specializing in healthcare and absence as well as a speaker, writer and trend spotter in the fields of general employee benefits, health and productivity management, and value-based health. Carol’s approach focuses on decreased or maintained benefits costs, improved employee performance, corporate profitability, and innovation-within-reach projects. She is also a clinical physiologist with broad experience in sports medicine, physical medicine and industrial rehabilitation.
Carol has held key positions in the insurance industry as the vice president and national disability and life practice leader for The Hartford and The Prudential’s director of resources and rehabilitation services. She currently chairs the Health and Performance Innovation Institute Board and sits on the boards of directors of the American College of Sports Medicine Foundation and Disabled Sports/USA as well as numerous industry boards and think tanks.