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Hey, says the federal government, we just had a great idea: We could put together a staff of government employees to explain health insurance options to people all over the United States, eliminate independent insurance agents and save money for the consumers. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

Bob Skow, CEO of the Independent Insurance Agents of Iowa (IIAI), would have to say “I think not.” He kind of likes the system we have.

Among the health-care insurance reform ideas floating through the U.S. Capitol is one sponsored by Sen. Ted Kennedy that contains something called the Navigators program. “Navigators is nothing short of an amazing proposal by the government,” Skow said, and he wasn’t using “amazing” in the sense of “What an amazing dunk by LeBron James.” It was more along the lines of “Can you believe these dimwits?”

“Basically,” Skow said, “it says we don’t need independent insurance agents.” Skow has spent 20 years with the IIAI, so it’s not surprising that he’s on the side of the independent agent. But he’s also happy to list practical arguments for sticking with the model we have.

Skow contends that Navigators singles out a minor expense in a vast landscape of high costs. Also, he says we tried a similar program for crop insurance back in the 1970s, and it didn’t pan out.

“We’re nothing short of shocked by this concept,” Skow said. “The administrative cost of health coverage is 3 to 5 percent of the total; they seem to be ignoring the cost of treatment and claims.” Besides, he said, “nobody has really explained why they think this is going to save money.”

He described the earlier crop insurance experiment as resulting in farmers having to make appointments to buy insurance. It seems as if a lot of farmers have plenty of time for appointments in the depths of winter, but we’ll let that go.

The program was abandoned, and Skow said, “Do they not go back and look at what was tried before? This is clearly a half-baked idea, in our opinion.”

Next week, Skow and 40 other insurance people from across the state will fly to Washington, D.C., to meet with Iowa’s congressional delegation and talk things over.

Sen. Chuck Grassley is working with Sen. Max Baucus of Montana on another health coverage plan, and Skow has spoken to Grassley and Sen. Tom Harkin about his concerns. “They’re both keeping their cards close to the vest,” he said, but “they understand we need to do something about health-care costs in our country.”

As if the government’s eagerness to meddle weren’t enough to worry about, the latest IIAI newsletter reported on a survey that showed “younger and more affluent customers were more inclined to purchase (insurance) products via the Web versus purchasing products through an agent.”

We’re on top of that, Skow said. “Research has shown, no question, that it’s an evolutionary process. People are buying more simple products on the Net.” However, he noted, “When they have a claim or a problem, they want to talk to a person they know, not somebody in India. Consumer surveys are overwhelming in that area.”

Yep, that’s the point we’ve reached. We’re making hopeful mental lists of things that can’t be outsourced: So far: farmland, trash collection and hand-holding.

The Internet challenge is a mystery the insurance industry will deal with for some time to come. If it needs a sympathetic ear, it can always invite the newspaper industry over for coffee.

However, the health-care reform issue calls for direct action, and soon.

“Most of us do believe they’re going to pass significant reform in 2009,” Skow said. “This is huge; it could forever change the way health care is delivered in this country.”

Plus, it will determine whether thousands of insurance agents get to keep filling out policy forms or have to start filling out job applications.