Distribution

Detroit - Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, will extend an e-prescribing partnership with the nation's three largest U.S. automakers, General Motors, Ford Motor Company and DaimlerChrysler Corp., the companies announced today. The Southeast Michigan e-Prescribing Initiative (SEMI), which is designed to reduce medication errors and decrease prescription drug costs through the use of e-prescribing technology, will be in effect for an additional year.

Los Angeles - Transamerica Retirement Services, a provider of Multiple Employer Plans (MEPs), has implemented online adoption and acceptance agreement capabilities. The new feature, called "AAA on the Web," is designed to simplify and streamline the process of adding new companies into an MEP by enabling both primary sponsors and adopting companies to review and accept the adoption agreement documents online.Prior to this implementation, the MEP and adopting company had to manually review the adoption and acceptance agreement. Now, the entire acceptance process can be completed online. Additionally, before this online feature was made available, the process of adopting employers into an existing MEP required the same amount of time and resources as a traditional single-employer plan set-up. This new online program can save companies time by limiting the provision approval process to only those that are unique to the adopting company, while the standard MEP provisions are automatically implemented.

Columbia, S.C. - Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company, a Columbia, S.C., business unit of UnumProvident Corp., Chattanooga, Tenn., has launched a new online enrollment platform that offers employers daily enrollment reporting and secure employee data exchange, reports the company.

Atlanta -Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia (BCBSGa) has launched statewide the 360 Health benefits program. Georgia is the first state to have access to this new program through WellPoint, BCBSGa's parent company, which will provide health information and counsel collected from thousands of physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals to BCBSGa's 3.1 million members through a single point of contact.360 Health is a program designed to integrate all care management programs and tools into a centralized, consumer-friendly resource that assists members in navigating the health care system, using their health benefits and providing information to help them to access comprehensive and appropriate care.

Los Angeles - Mercury General Corp., a Los Angeles-based auto insurer, is using a new interactive destination Web site to highlight its recent advertising campaign—Mercury Theory.The campaign features a suite of 10 30-second TV commercials and the interactive Web site www.mercurytheory.com.

St. Paul, Minn. - Travelers, a business of St. Paul, Minn.-based The St. Paul Travelers Cos. Inc., developed a two-CD set called The Best of Technology Risk Control to help small technology businesses deal with issues such as property protection, employee safety, reducing liability exposures and creating business continuity plans.The risk control CD contains 120 of the most requested risk control information guides on topics pertaining to the information technology, medical technology, telecommunications and electronics manufacturing industries.

Hartford, Conn. - The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc.'s online Quote-to-Issue (QTI) system for rating, quoting and issuing comes in handy with its enhanced Dimensions auto insurance program, which will now be offered as Dimensions with Auto Packages. The Hartford expects online users to get and compare quotes for these packages to be faster and easier than before."We understand the demands on agents and the need for their staff to process business fast and efficiently," says Mike Concannon, senior vice president of personal lines for the Hartford, Conn.-based insurer. "Our QTI technology makes it easy for them to work with The Hartford."

Newark, N.J. - Chronically ill Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey members and emergency room physicians can now access health histories and records, along with other important information, with a quick scan. The Newark, N.J.-based insurer announced a two-year collaboration with Hackensack, N.J.-based Hackensack University Medical Center, its physicians and the VeriChip Corp., Delray Beach, Fla., to implant FDA-approved microchips in chronically ill patients enabling emergency room physicians to access those patients' medical record electronically. The microchips provide immediate access to family contact information and information about the patients' medical histories.Horizon BCBSNJ will make the new technology, developed by VeriChip, available to select members with chronic conditions. Those members who participate in the program will agree to have an implantable radio frequency identification device (RFID), the size of a grain of rice, placed under their skin.

Needham, Mass. - Recent trends and statistics on how we live, communicate, and work today point to significant changes poised to reshape how U.S. insurance carriers respond in areas such as products, services, and the use of technology. TowerGroup believes that over the next few years, the leading insurance companies will embrace these changes and use their scale, financial strength, and flexibility to maintain a sustainable advantage.

Hartford, Conn. - Though Citigroup's recent sale of Travelers Life & Annuity to MetLife may appear to indicate that the "financial supermarket" idea of full-scale mergers is an untenable working model, banks and insurers continue to find ways to integrate their services, according to a new study by Conning Research and Consulting, Inc., Hartford, Conn.