Compliance

The saying goes: "If you want something done right, do it yourself." And, when it comes to sales and marketing analysis, risk management and financial reporting, insurance analysts, managers and executives are taking matters into their own hands-thanks to software that gives them immediate access to corporate data.Instead of waiting in line for an IT department to generate static (often paper) management reports, more and more insurance companies are employing business intelligence tools to interact directly with the data they need for planning and decision-making.

As insurers in September mobilized their claims efforts following three powerful hurricanes, many insurers came to the realization that risk assessment for hurricanes is under closer scrutiny. Some insurers that conduct business in Florida might be best served reassessing their strategies to reduce their exposure to risk.An actuarial executive for one Florida-based insurance company asserted that the industry needs to have a better grasp of the cyclical nature of hurricanes. The industry must also better understand hurricane frequency over a short period of time, such as the three hurricanes--Charley, Frances and Ivan--that walloped the U.S. mainland in just over one month's time.

As it relates to their online activities, insurance companies are jeopardizing their relationships with customers by failing to protect the privacy of their personal information.That's according to the Customer Respect Group, a Bellevue, Wash.-based research firm that studies how corporations treat customers online.

NEW YORK --Even before the full impact of the recent hurricane activity is known, the majority of the 150 senior insurance executives surveyed are less optimistic about premium growth and the industry's ability to increase margins, according to KPMG LLP.

Newark, Calif.--Responding to increases in the frequency and severity of global terrorist activity in each of the past three years, Risk Management Solutions (RMS), the world's leading provider of products and services for the management of catastrophe risk, today announced the launch of a new suite of tools designed to help insurers and reinsurers manage terrorism risk outside the U.S. The tools include the industry's first Global Terrorism Risk Model, as well as a multi-country expansion of the RMS(R) Terrorism Scenario Model and accumulation management functionality in the company's RiskLink(R) catastrophe management software.

BATON ROUGE, La. - While Louisiana's new insurance high-risk pool hasn't had enough time to build up a financial cushion to absorb the potential effects of Hurricane Ivan, other reforms in place should enable insurers to pay ensuing claims.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -The Credit Scoring Working Group of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) adopted its "best practices" document today in Anchorage, despite strong objections from insurers.

HARTFORD, Conn.--Life insurers suffered a steep decline in gross investment returns over the last five years, led by falling interest rates, corporate defaults, and rating agency downgrades, according to a new study by Conning Research & Consulting, Inc.

When it comes to e-commerce, insurers have made a lot of progress over the past several years. They've equipped their employees with browser-based policy, claims, and customer service applications. They've developed self-service features for policyholders on their Web sites. And they've rolled out real-time transactions-such as quoting, policy issuance and inquiry-to their agents and brokers.But just as the insurance industry is embracing the Internet and increasingly harnessing its ability to improve productivity and operational efficiency, malicious attacks--which can bring down corporate networks and compromise confidential company and customer information--are growing exponentially.

Mutual of Omaha Insurance Co. decided that 2004 would be the year to significantly increase its e-mail sales and marketing efforts. The e-mail program would be part of a comprehensive Internet marketing strategy that would enable the insurer to generate sales for such products as life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment, hospital indemnity and medical supplement.In the big picture, the electronic marketing effort was just a fraction of the Omaha, Neb.-based insurance and financial services giant's ambitious multimedia marketing strategy, which includes television, telemarketing and direct mail.

With a legal challenge mounting from industry trade groups, several states that were planning to conduct a multi-state study of credit-based insurance scores have suspended that effort.Instead, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) will appoint a five-member panel to work with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Federal Reserve Board on their federally mandated research into the underwriting practice.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Humana Inc. today announced the filing of applications for five patents in pharmacy and health metrics by its Innovation Center. All five of the patent applications are for Humana's use of innovative information technology applications to engage consumers in health benefits.

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.--A small but growing group of customers are turning to the Internet rather than phone calls or office visits to communicate with their auto insurance provider, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2004 National Auto Insurance Study released today.

A lot has been made about insurers' attempt to comply with federal regulations, such as The USA Patriot Act and Sarbanes-Oxley, but lost often in the shuffle are the ongoing state-level regulations with which insurers must contend.

Insurance companies are quite accustomed to living with regulations. With each state promulgating its own requirements, carriers consider investments of time and resources for state filing and reporting as a fundamental cost of doing business.But several federal laws enacted over the last few years are ratcheting up the costs and complexity of regulatory compliance for the insurance industry, which is forcing carriers to consider a broader role for technology in their compliance programs.

BOSTON--The American Insurance Association (AIA) is pushing Congress for a two-year extension of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), an extension that AIA says will help avoid destabilizing the insurance market and the economy, and will enable policymakers to develop a more permanent solution for managing our nation's economic exposure to catastrophic terrorism.

Cyber Security Industry Alliance (CSIA), a Washington, D.C.-based CEO public policy and advocacy group composed of security software, hardware and service vendors to address key cyber security issues, has released its recommendations for the development of a secure electronic health care system.These recommendations are designed to support the nation's first strategic framework report on a 10-year initiative to develop electronic health records and other uses of health information technology, which was announced today by Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy G. Thompson and David J. Brailer, M.D., Ph. D., the National Health Information Technology Coordinator.

Safeco today announced strong second-quarter results, reflecting the company's solid underwriting and the competitive strength of its automated sales platform. In addition, weather-related catastrophe losses were relatively light for the second quarter. The company posted net income of $247.5 million -- or $1.77 per diluted share. This represents an increase over second-quarter 2003 net income, which was $111.9 million--or $0.81 per diluted share.

New York--Fitch Ratings has revised its Rating Outlook for the U.S. commercial lines insurance sector to Stable from Negative. Fitch had maintained a Negative Rating Outlook on the sector since September 2000.

WebMD Corp., Elmwood Park, N.J., has released a white paper on the implementation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) that concludes the law's administrative simplification provisions are increasing in complexity and costs for healthcare providers and payers across the country.The White Paper, which is the result of WebMD's analysis of HIPAA implementation nationwide, identifies concrete steps that the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services can take to steer the implementation back on course, through what the company calls a "rational roll- out plan."