Digital Platforms

Reports show that five large private insurers and the trade group America's Health Insurance Plans spent a total of $6.4 million in the first quarter on lobbying efforts.

The president says all the right things about the threat to our nation’s systems, but his plan remains sketchy at best.

Document/content management saw the most activity among property/casualty and life/health insurers and vendors.

President signals intentions regarding health care reform in letter to Senate heavyweights.

In a letter to the Treasury Secretary, ACLI chief denies federal charter will cause regulatory race to the bottom.

New report holds that of the lessons to be learned from the financial crisis, risk management should serve as the primer.

Forrester research finds that 60% of U.S. insurers hope to replace their core applications and its underlying server infrastructure.

Casualty Actuarial Society hosts panel on climate change.

Life insurer says malware at fault for leak.

The companies posted a combined net realized loss of $3.17 billion for the quarter, according to a report from the Reinsurance Association of America.

Celent profiles 45 policy admin systems for commercial and personal P&C insurers, and details seven advanced functionalities that indicate a good modern system.

Given insurers' tight budgets and expectations of greater regulation, more companies have begun to adopt governance practices.

Insurers should consider ERM a process, not just a platform, say study authors.

Wisconsin senator cautions on health insurers’ solvency issues.

Downturn results in biggest drop in 66 years.

Travelers chosen "to restore the financial industry to full representation in the Dow.”

Experts say that the next wave of bank and wealth management products will be linked more to insurance offerings to provide customers more guaranteed income streams.

In a down economy, gold futures are up, and the insurer is betting on a healthy return on its investment.

The insurance industry was at the forefront when mainframe technology began to be used in business some 40 years ago, but we quickly lost that reputation in the years since. In fact, insurance—by nature a risk-averse business sector—has been slower than most to adopt new technologies, and wireless devices are no exception.

Rochelle, Illinois is probably not the first place one would look to find a data center replete with leading edge technology. Yet, it is here in this pastoral hamlet 80 miles west of Chicago that Northbrook, Ill.-based Allstate Insurance Co. has built a new facility that employs a mix of technologies and design elements to markedly reduce energy consumption.

Auto-Owners Insurance Group and Transamerica Life Canada among those rated in A.M. Best’s most recent reports.

Puerto Rico-based property and casualty firm Universal Insurance Co. has contracted with The Insurance Automation Group to develop an enterprise software solution to automate its surety bonding workflow. Insurance Automation Group is the developer of iAutomate: Erlon Surety, a leading surety workflow automation solution for insurance firms.

Supporters of an optional federal charter (OFC) for insurers are taking exception to a New York Times editorial, which charged that an OFC would engender regulatory arbitrage.

Vertafore, a provider of software and services to the insurance industry, today announced that TransactNOW and PL Rating facilitated more than 3.4 million agency-carrier transactions in the first quarter of 2009. The strong first quarter results show that agency-carrier connectivity has reached a critical mass, with more carriers enabling real-time transactions through Vertafore's systems and more agencies taking advantage of this connectivity, the provider says.

The insurer plans to sell $1.25 billion in stock and use the funds to boost capital or repay debt.

Technology can integrate loss-inspection reports into workflows, and create a standardized way to collect and decipher information.

ACCENTURE UNVEILS ENHANCED SOLUTIONS

PHILADELPHIA INSURANCE SELECTS ENTRUST AUTHENTICATION PACKAGE

AGENCYPORT AND RISKMETER INTEGRATION PROVIDES INSURERS WITH STP

Pressed to reduce risk and boost compliance, more insurers are automating the management of their investment portfolios.

Commercial messages in our inboxes are a commonly accepted nuisance, but we have lost sight of the danger they represent.

Insurance customers aren't happy with the current level of customer service, preferring to talk to customer service reps rather than use the Web.

MetLife's mortgage business has taken off, and provided additional opportunities for the company to cross-sell its insurance products and services.

Forrester says P&C insurers fair well annually in its rankings due in part to their massive advertising spend.

Life insurers need to redouble efforts to parlay Web searches into meetings with agents.

A tight credit market won’t eliminate deals involving insurance agencies and brokerages.

The health insurer was the top-rated national payer as ranked on overall performance in a survey conducted by athenahealth Inc.

Companies, associations and individuals now have until June 12, 2009, to nominate a woman in the insurance industry who is a true leader, progressing to greater and more diverse positions of influence and authority, and carving a path of excellence for others to follow.

Fast-fingered motorists demonstrate devilish dexterity while driving, but what happens when they check their spelling?

Rating agency issues optimistic note on the sector, stating that the industry is set to weather further economic storms.

Global insurers facing financial hardships may adopt cautious optimism, says the German insurer.

The technology solution market will experience expansion as the health insurance industry considers claims processing as yet another value proposition.

The Committee on Capital Markets Regulation is looking to consolidate the regulatory structure by increasing the Fed's authority, and increase oversight of credit default swaps.

Despite the sharp decline in customer advocacy for financial services companies nationwide, insurers USAA and State Farm still led the pack.

Expert says Congress should proceed with caution when revamping regulation of insurance industry.

What you don't know about your processes may be costing you money.

Many insurers still aren’t fully aware yet of the risks in the cloud, where data is exchanged between sites and users that may be beyond the control of cloud providers and their clients.

Zurich provides Webinar, information to help business owners protect their employees and profitability from risks associated with a possible Swine Flu Pandemic.

Collaboration with CNA Insurance results in out-of-the-box automated workflow enhancements to ProductAuthority, Authority Suite, helping insurers see 60% improvement in speed-to-market initiatives.

A House bill looks to supplant the current state-based system of non-resident licensing with a national one.

The legislation aims to establish a federal insurance office.

After winning approval last week for federal aid, the insurer is focused on delivering on its “historical strengths.”