Insurance

Unitrin Inc. reached an agreement with Physicians Mutual to sell Reserve National Insurance Co., its health insurance subsidiary that specializes in accident and health insurance products and Medicare Supplement insurance. “We believe that Reserve National is a very good fit with Physicians Mutual,” says Don Southwell, Unitrin’s chairman, president and CEO. “While Reserve National has performed well since we purchased it in 1998, we do not have the scale in health insurance to compete effectively in the years ahead.”

Knowing that relationships with producers can make or break and insurer, Montgomery Insurance, a Liberty Mutual Agency Markets regional company, developed an online training and development resource for agency partners to grow their businesses. Agent Learning Center is designed to alleviate the time and financial constraints that agencies face in developing new producers and staff.

Dallas-based Lockton Dunning Benefits announced the appointment of Sheri Pixley to the newly created position of EVP and practice leader. Pixley's role was created to lead the growing team of associates directly servicing clients in the ongoing pursuit of superior client service, clear accountability and consistent innovation, the company says.

President Barack Obama laid out the first detailed legislative proposal for health care reforms to the United States’ $2.5 trillion medical care system this morning with an approach that largely follows the Senate’s version of legislation proposed in December.

With their successes in the United States, U.S. health insurers should review growth opportunities overseas, specifically Asia and Europe, according to analysts at Conning Research & Consulting.

After getting wind of unauthorized sale of health insurance products to approximately 2,500 Floridians, Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has ordered seven companies and some of those companies’ officers to stop selling health insurance in the state.

The Group of North American Insurance Enterprises (GNAIE) executive director Douglas Barnet took to the podium at the 12th Global Conference of Actuaries to rally for the use of earned rate for discounting life insurance contracts.

We have daily discussions with insurers about how to balance the tasks involved with the maintenance of a legacy system environment with those required for strategic system renewal. It brings to my mind the analogy of “fixing a plane in mid-flight.” Most IT shops have neither the capacity nor the skill sets to do both with their in-house staff. These needs have created a large market for ITO, BPO, and system integration services. In observing this expanded sourcing model in action, it occurs to me that the whole organizational design of information areas is undergoing a change.

Hewlett-Packard ratcheted up the battle for a share of increasing cloud computing revenues this week by launching a new design service aimed at helping organizations accelerate the adoption of cloud-based infrastructures.

A couple months back, we reported on a study that showed younger people (under 30) were more likely to be receptive to electronic communications from carriers about new products and offers, which opens new possibilities for the way insurers can and should engage with this digital generation.

Essent Guaranty Inc. marked its arrival Thursday, announcing that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have approved it as an official mortgage insurer, making the Radnor, Pa., company one of only eight with such a designation.

Variable annuities (VA) sales experienced a rough start to 2009—a decline of 26% in the first six months of the year. But, the fourth quarter numbers—up 3% to $32.6 bllion—softened the blow. VA sales were only down 18% for the year, as quarterly VA sales slowly improve from the first quarter, according to LIMRA's U.S. Individual Annuities quarterly sales survey. VA sales totaled $127 billion.

Just about everyone dreams of making that big splash, that big score or that big impression that catapults themselves into fame, stardom, renown and/or lots of money. Just ask the thousands who waited for days at each of the audition sites for a chance to sing for 20 seconds in front of the American Idol judges.

Ironshore Inc., a provider of specialty commercial property and casualty coverage, announced that its Specialty Casualty division will now offer Employment Practice Liability Insurance (EPLI) for its public entity clientele. The new employer insurance emerged from an announcement earlier this month that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) had received a record number of employment discrimination complaints in the previous year, a trend the EEOC expects to continue to flourish due to the current economic climate.

Claims officers, more than ever, face rising loss costs, increased levels of litigation and higher rates of fraudulent claims, according to results from Towers Watson’s fourth “Property & Casualty Insurance Claim Officer Survey, The Economic Landscape and Operational Performance Metrics.”

Liberty Mutual Group announced plans to spend $300 million to expand its global headquarters in Boston. As a result of the expansion, the company expects to add 600 new full-time jobs.

Zurich announced the release of Zurich Pro Plus, an enhanced Errors & Omissions (E&O) coverage to address the needs of a broad range of business professionals, including consultants, and media and information technology customers.

As I write this, near-term predictions are multiplying for improvement in leading indicators; however, the pressure on cost containment remains strong. How should quality play into this cost reduction discussion? That question is likely to evoke strong opinions.

Instead of purchasing new software, more than half of nearly 2,200 IT executives and technology decision-makers from Forrester's Business Data Services survey say they will be spending IT budgets on the operation and maintenance of existing applications in 2010. The fastest-growing small to midsized software markets will be customer relationship management or information and knowledge management, more than 20% of all small- and medium-size businesses (SMB) have concrete plans to implement these in 2010 or later.

Insurers seeking to improve operational efficiency using predictive analytics will have new solutions from which to choose, and professional assistance in their implementation, thanks to an enhanced partnership between Dublin-based Accenture and Cary, N.C.-based SAS, announced today.