Core systems

COLLABORATION TOOL FOR COMMERCIAL INSURERS

ARNOLD FISHER INSURANCE PICKS SAAS PORTAL SOLUTION

DOCULEX UPGRADES IMAGING AND CONTENT MANAGEMENT

STONERIVER ADDS CAPABILITIES TO WORKERS' COMP SOLUTION

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has joined with other U.S. financial regulators in completing a self-assessment under the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP). While the U.S. Treasury is the principal coordinating body for the FSAP, in the insurance sector, the NAIC has evaluated the extent to which U.S. insurance regulatory practices “observe” international principles established by the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS).

Innovation! What does it really mean to be innovative for an insurer? Does innovation deal mainly with insurance products or does it concern also processes? Are there external elements or factors that contribute to facilitate innovation? According to me, innovation relates to both products and processes:

CIGNA, FM Global and Tower Hill Companies are some of the insurers seeing recent ratings action from A.M. Best and Fitch.

WANTED Technologies forecasts a loss of 8,000 jobs in finance and insurance—much better than U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ July report of 12,900.

A changing IT workforce continues to be a concern for the insurance industry. Could talent management software help insurers in their quest for tech-savvy IT workers?

A survey from Nationwide Insurance shows eight out of 10 Americans favor a ban on texting while driving.

The Governor of North Carolina, Bev Perdue, has signed into law House Bill 1305, legislation that makes statutory changes to the North Carolina Insurance Underwriting Association, commonly known as the Beach Plan.

Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Companies (BHHC), a group of six regional insurance carriers that are part of the Berkshire Hathaway Insurance Group, launched the second phase of its implementation of a policy administration solution from Duck Creek Technologies Inc., Bolivar, Mo. Phase I allowed BHHC to issue policies directly through the Duck Creek's system for workers' compensation business for more than 30 states. Phase II, which is currently underway, will allow BHHC to issue an array of commercial insurance line products including automobile, property, and general liability.

SNL Financial released their initial compilation of Q2 statutory results for the U.S. P&C industry yesterday. Loss ratio numbers were in the low 70’s, demonstrating good pricing and underwriting decisions. The combined ratio for the quarter was right at 100% — surprising given that revenues have been decreasing and this lower revenue base makes the loss and expense ratios worse. Investment gains added to net income results at many companies as the rise in the markets benefitted badly battered portfolios.

According to Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner Inc., picking the correct business focus is the most important first step to successful enterprise content management and information governance.

A new survey by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) finds that many small business owners lack confidence in determining the health insurance that best fits their employees’ needs.

The Department of Health and Human Services issued an interim final rule on Aug. 19, 2009, establishing standards for notification of breaches of unsecured protected health information (PHI).

When I penned my recent rant on the inadvisability (at least at present) of SaaS for core systems in insurance, little did I know I would hear from some enthusiastic fans eager to sing the virtues of SaaS.

In the Twitter era, the ability of information or misinformation to spread rapidly poses operational risks for businesses, a new survey from Hartford, Conn.-based Travelers Cos. Inc. finds.

Oldwick, N.J.-based A.M. Best Co. has withdrawn several of its rating classifications for a raft of health insurance companies, saying it can no longer justify the ratings based solely on publicly available data.

What was positive in theory back in 1986 became a dark reality for health insurance policyholders. When the U.S. government first enacted the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) legislation to help provide the unemployed with access for up to 18 months of continued medical insurance coverage, the premiums passed along to the unemployed were not discounted; in reality, they carried a 2% additional administrative fee. There were fewer unemployed then; compared to today’s unemployment rate of 9.7%, the average unemployment rate in 1986 was a paltry 7.0%, reports the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.