Customer service

Daily, there's news affecting health insurers. What's becoming clear is that transparency is a demand from consumers and regulators that health insurers are going to have to keep up with.

Foreign insurers are meeting a wall of resistance as they try to penetrate the Chinese market, new analysis from Moody's indicates.

Sponsored by Swiss Re, a new report from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) finds risk management practices surrounding renewable energy projects wanting.

Thanks in large part to health information technology, small businesses in Arizona’s Maricopa and Pinal counties are about to be pitched on an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) insurance plan called Aetna Whole Health, a collaborative effort by Aetna and Banner Health Network. Experts say that the ACO model of care shifts the focus of payment from a fee-for-service model to a focus on tying payments to quality metrics and decreased costs of patient care.

JHPInsite.com, an insurance quote engine technology company and off-shoot of Health One Insurance Agency, found that “35 percent of website visitors clicking for information on additional products that are entirely different than what they were initially looking for." To address unpredictable shoppers, the vendor has developed a cross-sale platform enabling insurance brokers to place any product they wish into the quote engine environment for prospective clients.

The introduction of telematic technologies will help improve overall road safety, new data from U.K.-based The Co-operative Insurance shows.

AgentsofAmerica.org (AoA) reports that it will publish a 26-chapter e-book on risk management in early 2012. The “E&O Loss Control & Risk Management Program for Insurance Agents and Brokers” represents a collaborative effort by more than 25 top E&O insurance attorneys and experts from across the country, notes AoA, and includes an appendix on best practices.

Some say social media can serve as a comfortable setting for learning and receiving encouragement from others suffering similar circumstances, but how can patients verify the information's integrity?

The retail theft claims insurers expect to pay out this holiday weekend may take a back seat to those presented by clients with commercial package policies that include business interruption. CNBC reports that demonstrators are taking the Occupy Wall Street movement to retailers with an organized effort called “Stop Black Friday.”

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued its first rebuke to an insurer under the federal rate review provision of the Affordable Care Act.

According to a new study from the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI), the extra weight hybrid vehicles carry around because of their battery makes them safer. In fact, the study found that the odds of being injured in a crash are 25 percent lower for people in hybrids, when compared to conventional fuel models.

Survey shows employers not meeting employee desires for health plan programs that are easy to use, motivating, meaningful and personalized.

In a move that reflects global insurance broker Willis Group Holdings’ acknowledgement of the growing role analytics plays across all domains of insurance and risk management, the global insurance broker announced that Rowan Douglas has been appointed CEO Global Analytics for Willis.

Christi Daughenbaugh, 2011 Chairman of the National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies (NAILBA), selected Melinda Meyer, VP, Member Office Development for national broker/dealer ValMark Securities, as the recipient of the 2011 NAILBA Chairman’s Award. The honor was presented yesterday at the association’s annual meeting, NAILBA 30, in Phoenix, Arizona.

People in Portland, Ore. are mad as hell at distracted drivers and they’re not going to take it any more, according to a poll conducted by PEMCO Insurance. The problem is: some of those same drivers admit to the driving-while-distracted behavior, violating safe driving laws on a regular basis.

Marsh & McLennan Agency (MMA), a subsidiary of insurance broker Marsh Inc., has set forth a strategy to build a preeminent property/casualty and employee benefits organization to serve the needs of the middle market. And, the firm is acting on it. Just in the month of November, MMA announced three acquisitions: Seitlin Insurance, an insurance brokerage firms South Florida, Gallagher & Associates Inc. a property/casualty insurance agency specializing in public school districts, and the employee benefits division of Kaeding, Ernst & Company a Marlborough, Massachusetts-based employee benefits, life insurance, and financial planning consulting firm. Terms of all three transactions were not disclosed.

Roughly two-thirds of life and annuity producers surveyed by Deloitte (http://www.deloitte.com) expect to change carriers within the next 12 months. Twenty-nine percent plan to add carriers and one-third expect to both add and drop carriers. Sales support, speed of underwriting and policy issue, and carrier brand are the top factors influencing these decisions. Forty percent are not satisfied with the support they currently receive. And, with more than 80 percent of a producer’s total compensation coming from two favored carriers, there is room for improved producer loyalty and sales through better support, said Rebecca Amoroso, vice chairman, Deloitte LLP and insurance leader.

The Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America (IIABA) recently honored Caliper Corporation's Founder and CEO Dr. Herb Greenberg, for his role over a five-decade period in improving the performance of its state associations and member agencies. In particular, Greenberg was noted for his development of the Caliper Profile, a proprietary personality assessment.

Insurance executives downplay their service delivery and mobile capabilities so far, which is promising.

Accenture survey says industry needs to embrace analytics and better tailor products and services to customers’ needs.