Digital distribution

CEOs and other senior executives are increasingly engaged as their companies step up efforts to build digital enterprises.

Aetna has dropped plans to offer health policies through the insurance exchanges in Ohio and its home state of Connecticut, the company revealed last week.

New capabilities to increase customer service, productivity for agencies, brokerages.

Owners of captive insurance companies tightened margins and used capital more efficiently in 2012, according to a new A.M. Best financials report on the industry. Over the longer term, the five-year combined ratio for the captive composite of 92.3 compares extremely favorably with the commercial casualty composite of 103.3.

Adoption numbers are up from 18 months ago, and users are reporting up to an hour and a half saved per day, according to a recent survey.

Celent reports that interest in mobile apps, especially those for tablets, is fueled by the desire to lower front-office costs and facilitate customer interactions.

Over the course of three years, Aegis Insurance, a midsize mutual specialty commercial insurer, completed an overhaul of its legacy core systems. The result is a 50-percent reduction in the average time it takes to process a transaction, a 70-percent improvement in quoting and an 80-percent improvement in renewal processing.

While vendors are optimistic about revenue growth over the next few years, a new report from Aite Group urges them to do a better job of aligning with P&C carrier needs.

Calling an insurance agent or broker is one of the least attractive options for getting information about health insurance plans, according to new survey results from Forrester.

Celent warns of a dramatic shift in the technology that group-enrollment insurers use to gain consumers’ attention and interact with them.

The individual annuity market continues to be hyper-competitive, with technology playing an ever-larger role in insurers’ ability to attract, retain, and profitably serve clients, according to a new market trends report from Novarica, titled “Business and Technology Trends: Individual Annuity.”

Insurer is approved to provide health care coverage to eligible small businesses in all 58 counties in the state.

Insurance aggregation platform looks to Informatica Cloud to accelerate process automation.

Employee benefits mobile platform upgraded to accept vision claims, provide ID card through app.

The shift to digital means carriers must focus on sales and service portals, agency management and compensation systems.

The new version, ForeSight 6.0, is designed to have improved tablet functionality and added customization.

Among life/annuity insurers, distribution is an area increasingly attractive for analytics investments. More than half of life/annuity insurers surveyed by Strategy Meets Action say they're currently investing in analytics technology to supplement distribution.

The shift to digital means carriers must focus on sales and service portals, agency management and compensation systems.

Online distribution isn't just for personal auto anymore. Insurers are now expanding electronic application functionality to small commercial, life and annuity and beyond, leveraging business rules and third-party data to satisfy consumers and agents, expand their reach and shrink sales cycles.

While small employers are scaling back benefits this year—a potential hedge against higher costs expected under the U.S. health care law—WellPoint plans to spend $150 million preparing to sell on the exchanges.