Insurance

New York - CIGNA Inc. is expanding its on-line pricing data for consumers, the company reports.

In a new report, Celent, a Boston-based research and consulting firm, predicts how new technologies are impacting the future of the insurance industry.

Western United Life Assurance Co. (WULA), a Spokane Valley, Wash., provider of annuity products, has successfully completed conversion of its first block of business from its legacy environment to AdminServer Inc., a Chester, Pa., provider of administrative software and services.

Chicago - The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) and Visa USA have agreed to support participating Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies nationwide that are offering their members co-branded debit cards to pay for healthcare related expenses. The Blue-branded Visa debit card will allow customers to pay for qualified medical expenses by providing them with access to their health plan personal savings accounts. The co-branded cards are part of a larger initiative by Blue Cross and Blue Shield to provide consumers with the information and tools they need to make better decisions healthcare for themselves and their families.

Zurich, Switzerland - Swiss Re has agreed to acquire GE Insurance Solutions, the fifth largest reinsurer worldwide, from General Electric Co. (GE) in a $ 6.8 billion (U.S.) transaction.The acquisition is designed to add a strong franchise to Swiss Re, complementing its own strengths. After the closing of the transaction, Swiss Re would have estimated combined revenues of CHF 46 billion (based on 2004 figures) and assets of CHF 265 billion (as of June 2005) and a highly diversified business globally.

Washington, D.C. - The American Insurance Association (AIA) is urging insurance regulators to go slow in considering a national catastrophe insurance program, affirming support for catastrophe modeling technology but discouraging federal and state governments from storming through private sector business practices.

New York, N.Y. - Financial services companies are currently capturing less than one-third of the potential cost savings offered by offshoring operations, according to a study by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (DTT).

New Orleans - McGlinchey Stafford PLLC, a law firm based in the Gulf Coast region, has developed a weblog for companies with business interests in hurricane-affected areas. The blog, found at www.hurricanelawblog.com, features up-to-date information about post-hurricane legal issues, including insurance, real estate, healthcare, environmental, finance and litigation.The blog, which was created in response to client needs, offers businesses a single location to find information regarding legislation, litigation, and regulatory issues in and affecting Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Alabama. McGlinchey Stafford's hurricane blog will serve as a central repository for relevant information from both federal and state organizations, legislative bodies and courts.

Kansas City, Mo. - The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has selected CooperKatz & Co. to promote a major national public education program focused on teaching consumers how to select the right type of insurance coverage to fit their needs and how to protect themselves from buying worthless policies from fake insurance companies."We chose CooperKatz for their broad knowledge of insurance issues and deep experience in consumer public relations," says Catherine J. Weatherford, NAIC executive vice president and CEO. "They demonstrated a combination of solid strategic thinking, outstanding creativity and great enthusiasm to help us achieve our goals."

Pittsburgh - Highmark Inc., an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans, is contributing $26.5 million to The Pittsburgh Foundation, which will use the funds for an electronic prescribing (ePrescribing) initiative.The foundation has created the Highmark eHealth Collaborative to encourage the adoption of health information technology used in patient care in order to improve patient safety and quality while increasing cost efficiency.

San Francisco - The results of a newly released consumer survey commissioned by TeaLeaf Technology Inc. and conducted by Harris Interactive indicate that online transaction failures can have a detrimental impact on businesses, forcing customers to abandon transactions.The study, which focused on consumer transaction experiences on shopping, banking, travel and insurance Web sites, found the vast majority of online consumers (89%) say they experience problems when conducting online transactions.

Horsham, Pa. - NextGen Healthcare Information Systems Inc., a subsidiary of Quality Systems Inc. has completed a pilot project with Empire Medicare Services, a fee-for-service Medicare contractor, and the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) Foundation to facilitate the use of electronic attachments between a health plan and its providers.The pilot program, which was funded for Empire Medicare Services and WEDI by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), tested the use of electronic claims attachments in accordance with HIPAA's transaction code sets, including ANSI 275 and 277.

Jersey City, N.J. - ISO and claims technology provider First Notice Systems (FNS) have entered into an agreement to deliver a new first-notice-of-loss (FNOL) fraud-detection solution to the property/casualty insurance marketplace.

Indianapolis - The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC), an Indianapolis-based full-service national trade association with more than 1,400 member companies, has unveiled the latest version of its Web site, NAMIC Online, featuring simplified site navigation, streamlined page layouts and realigned presentation of content. The site contains information on public policy and legislation as well as advocacy, including state agendas and resources, and state, federal and association news. Its redesigned information tools assist visitors to find the information they want more quickly and efficiently. Founded in 1895, NAMIC underwrites 43 percent ($196 billion) of the property/casualty insurance premium in the United States. Source: NAMIC

Warren, N.J. - Chubb Group of Insurance Companies, Warren, N.J., has released its Business Recovery Planning Guide, a CD-ROM designed to help businesses create site-specific plans. The interactive CD-ROM features revised editable questionnaires and checklists to help companies analyze their current exposures and develop a business-recovery plan.

In 16 states and the District of Columbia , independent agents and brokers now can go online and quote complex package operations (commercial property and general liability insurance combined) with the same ease as writing a Safeco businessowners policy (BOP). That's because Seattle-based Safeco has fully automated the sale of commercial insurance packages to more than 800 classes of small- and mid-sized businesses.Accounts such as manufacturers, restaurant chains and auto mechanics can be quoted online in as few as 15 minutes, with the first price being the right price, the company claims.

Boston and Bothell, Wash. - SC-integrity and Lexington Insurance Co., a member of American International Group Inc. (AIG), are working together to encourage motor carriers and shippers to reinforce their risk management activities to concentrate on the issue of cargo theft.SC-integrity, a Web-based technology and data solutions company, and Lexington believe a significant reduction in theft losses can be achieved through a combination of security driven loss prevention techniques and a new cargo theft protection device. Called SC-tracker, the state-of-the-art tracking and monitoring technology is a rechargeable, portable tracking unit that is buried within the cargo and not installed on the trailer, which allowis the cargo to be tracked from point of origin to point of destination remotely over the Web. While in transit, the tracking unit reports its location every 30 seconds for over a week. The monitoring system will immediately notify security personnel if the cargo is being stolen.

Boston - As the congressional battle to extend the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) gets into full swing before the law's December 31, 2005, expiration, a new Web site launched by Liberty Mutual is designed to helps commercial insurance policyholders take an active role in securing an extension for this critical federal insurance backstop.Risk managers can use the site to encourage their federal legislators to support TRIA's extension, they can distribute the site's link to help their company's senior management push for the extension, and they can use the site to involve employees at all levels.

Brookfield, Wis. - Fiserv, Inc. has acquired Xcipio, Inc., a Web-based insurance rating and automation solution provider. The acquisition will allow the Brookfield, Wis., company to provide Web-based comparative insurance rates directly from insurance carriers to producers in real time. Details of the transaction, which closed November 1, were not disclosed.

El Segundo, Calif. -- Computer Sciences Corp. has been awarded a contract by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), a branch of the Department of Homeland Security, to continue supporting the U.S. federal government's National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). CSC estimates the value of the contract, which has a three-month base period and two one-year options, to be approximately $35 million if all options are exercised.This new agreement follows and is incremental to a contract signed with FEMA in 1999 under which CSC provides training, consultation and analytical support services.