Compliance

HARTFORD, Conn., Dec. 11-- Aetna InteliHealth, Aetna's online consumer health information resource, and Aetna Navigator, the company's self-service website for members, have received 2003 eHealthcare Leadership Awards for Health/Healthcare Content and Interactive Site, respectively.

The insurance industry appears poised to remove the "technology laggard" label. Despite a back-to-basics management philosophy brought on by the two-year economic slump, insurance companies continue to move forward with their Internet strategies.For the third consecutive year, Internet-related categories ranked at the top of Insurance Networking News' "Best of the Newest" survey, a poll of 17 technologies rated by insurance company executives and industry experts. The panel rated each technology based on its impact on carriers' operations and its level of innovation.

The old adage of "What, me worry?" isn't part of the lexicon of CIOs, CTOs and other senior level executives in charge of IT functions at life/health and property/casualty firms, according to a survey completed by Celent Communications Inc. in partnership with Insurance Networking News.Twenty executives from small, medium and large carriers paint a picture of insurance IT organizations in a double bind of diminished resources and increased demand this year and anticipated again in 2004.

As insurance companies develop a blueprint for compliance to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, an alarming number of U.S. corporations admit they are still uncertain about how they plan to adhere to the mandate.Moreover, industry experts believe that insurers who disregard the role of technology to comply with the Act might be in for a rude awakening.

The term "Web service" was coined only three years ago, according to Celent Communications Inc. And, already, U.S. insurers are spending roughly $78 million--or 5% of their integration dollars--on Web services-related initiatives (see "Web Services Spending By Insurers," page 14).What's more, by 2006, more than 40% of insurers' new systems integration spending will involve Web services, the Boston-based research and advisory firm predicts.

Rising somewhat like the Phoenix, an alternative bill that would provide compensation for workers injured by exposure to asbestos clawed its way through Congress in mid-October.Accepting a proposal drafted by Senate Majority Leader William Frist, R-Tenn., and his aides, insurers and defendants accepted a proposal on Oct. 16 to seed a trust fund projected to have enough capacity to settle $115 billion in claims over 27 years.

Forty years ago, mischievous adolescents got their kicks by calling people on the phone and asking them, "Do you have Prince Albert in a can?" Today, they concoct computer viruses and worms designed to knock out the networks of global corporations.

One of the core activities regularly performed by insurers-its telemarketing efforts is about to undergo modifications now that the federal Do Not Call (DNC) list has been given the green light for national enforcement.In October, a federal appeals court ruled that the Do Not Call registry-a list that currently includes about 50 million phone numbers-was within the legal boundaries of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Information technology strategy plays a critical role in the success of American Modern Insurance Group Inc. (AMIG), a wholly owned subsidiary of The Midland Co., Amelia, Ohio.The provider of specialty personal lines insurance products has an average annual premium of just $450 across its book of business. So having information technology in place "so that the business can flow relatively untouched by human hands is critically important to us. There's not enough money in a $450 premium for us to have to fondle each file," says John Hayden, CEO and president of The Midland Co., and president, CEO and chairman of AMIG.

In a California intellectual property lawsuit that could have sweeping implications over the way insurers and vendors approach software licensing agreements, a federal judge in late August granted a preliminary injunction barring San Diego-based Arrowhead General Insurance Agency from using insurance pricing software developed by a La Jolla, Calif.-based software solutions provider.In ruling against Arrowhead, a privately-held managing general agency, Chief Judge Marilyn Huff of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California prohibited Arrowhead's unlicensed use of the software in online insurance applications, including its Web-based distribution platforms, Arrowhead Exchange and YouZoom.com.

Privacy advocates will have to pin their hopes on Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., if they want to see national privacy standards enhanced through legislation extending provisions of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) that expire at the end of this year.The House in September passed its version of FCRA legislation, via the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, using the measure more as a vehicle to provide citizens with increased protection from, and remediation for, identity theft.

Advocates of the use of credit scores in personal lines underwriting and rating could be excused if they are feeling a bit under siege lately.The industry has been generally pleased with the actions of state legislatures that have supported carriers' use of consumers' credit information for approving policies and setting policy rates.

Insurers long ago developed tools to perform risk modeling for natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes and tornadoes. But Aon Corp. has launched a different kind of venture to help its clients reduce workplace violence.Realizing the great amount of pressure on its corporate clients to understand the dynamics that contribute to workplace aggression, Aon in July aligned itself with the Center for Aggression Management (CAM), a Winter Park, Fla.-based organization dedicated to identifying, measuring and preventing risks related to workplace aggression and violence.

Although the federal government granted the healthcare industry an extra year to comply with the transactions and code set rules mandated under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), experts say a procedural mess is set to occur on Oct. 16.That's the date for the HIPAA deadline-which originally was set for Oct. 16, 2002-for health plans, providers and clearinghouses to cease processing proprietary transactions and use only standardized transactions that comply with the 1996 law.

Although the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 is focused primarily on financial reporting and accounting processes, the law is forcing publicly traded companies to assess their IT systems too.Thanks to the transgressions at Enron, WorldCom and other now notorious corporations, all publicly traded companies in the United States-including insurers-are in the throes of trying to determine how to comply with the law that was passed to deter such corporate malfeasance in the future.

Humana needed to replace its outdated billing system that relied mostly on paper and snail mail. Today Humana offers its employer-group customers an easy-to-use e-billing alternative that's available in real-time on the Internet.Back in 1999, Humana Inc. began to implement a wide-ranging e-business strategy that would include customer self-service features across its spectrum of business lines.

Life insurers are seeking quick and painless solutions for compliance with the USA PATRIOT Act, which requires insurers to develop and implement anti-money laundering (AML) compliance programs intended to disrupt financial networks that support terrorist groups.How they plan to achieve it is the next hurdle: will life insurers decide that it's more prudent to develop a compliance program in-house or seek third-party support? A survey released in February by Gartner Inc., Stamford, Conn., focused on how enterprises choose their anti-money laundering software, whether they were pleased with their choices and whether they were able to remain within their budgets.

The insurance industry could learn as early as this week the broad outlines and ballpark costs of the so-called third wave of asbestos litigation.That's the timeline Sen. Orin Hatch, R-Utah, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has established for drafting proposed asbestos litigation legislation as he has woven his way between industry, insurer and labor interests in an effort to forge consensus legislation that will pass the Congress.

Facing a mandate to reduce their loss exposures for a variety of reasons-from the threat of terrorism to the need to secure better insurance coverage terms-risk managers are upping the ante on loss control spending.A survey of nearly 400 risk managers conducted by Warren, N.J.-based Chubb Group of Insurance Cos. revealed that nearly 50% of respondents increased their loss control spending over the past year; 34% held their budgets constant; and 5% decreased their loss control spending.

As concerns over asbestos liability continue to mount, industry observers say carriers need to find solutions to manage the risk-other than just throwing money at it.Insurance Services Office Inc. (ISO) estimates that newly incurred asbestos loss and loss-adjustment expenses rose from $1.4 billion in 2000 to $3.7 billion in 2001. Based on partial data, Jersey City, N.J.-based ISO estimates newly incurred asbestos losses more than doubled in 2002, rising to about $8 billion.