Digital distribution

Benefitfocus.com Inc., a Charleston, S.C.-based provider of insurance enrollment and benefit solutions, has launched BenefitfocusSM eBilling, an electronic invoice presentment and payment (EIPP) application designed specifically for insurers and their policyholders. The application features three primary components: Web-based invoicing, automated reconciliation, and online bill pay.

NEW YORK--Vettro, a leading provider of mobile enterprise applications, today announced that Phoenix Life Insurance Company, a subsidiary of The Phoenix Companies, Inc., has selected Vettro RainMaker to empower its sales managers and wholesalers with always-available access to Salesforce.com via BlackBerry from Research In Motion (RIM).

WASHINGTON--As the Internet becomes an increasingly important resource for informing decisions about health and health care options, a new national survey of older Americans by the Kaiser Family Foundation finds that less than a third (31%) of seniors (age 65 and older) have ever gone online, but that more than two-thirds (70%) of the next generation of seniors (50-64 year-olds) have done so.

HARTFORD, Conn.--The convergence of regulatory environments for the financial markets and the banking industry have created a friendlier climate for multinational life insurers, according to a new study by Conning Research and Consulting, Inc.

NEW YORK--The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian) today announced a major expansion of its group small business distribution capabilities. In 2005, Guardian will open dedicated Small Group Sales (SGS) counterparts for each of its Regional Group Offices (RGO) nationwide.

Beaverton, Ontario--People looking into new insurance now have a new resource available that will help answer some of the questions they might have when looking for a new insurance company.

WASHINGTON, D.C.--With the start of a new Congress and state legislative sessions, the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America is announcing its legislative agenda for 2005. Top issues for the nation's largest insurance association this year will include the following items:

WAUSAU, Wis.--With the beginning of a new year, the direct sales force of Wausau Insurance has reorganized as a new legal entity as Wausau Signature Agency.

Washington, D.C. --The American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) issued today its 2005 Bank Insurance Study titled, "Catalyst for Change: Next Steps in Bridging the Cultural Divide Between Banks and Life Insurers." The report offers specific proposals designed to support the growth of a vibrant bank insurance marketplace.

A new study by London-based research firm Datamonitor suggests U.S. corporations that aggressively invest in speech-enabled self-service technology have the opportunity to reduce long-term dependency on offshore call center operations.However, one insurance call center executive contacted for this article questions the validity of this notion in its entirety, stating that there isn't necessarily a direct correlation between speech-enabled technology investments and offshore call center scale-backs.

The agent/broker compensation model is poised to change, with a departure from commissions based on profitability and volume incentives.A poll of attendees at The Conference Group's 16th annual executive conference for the property/casualty industry in December revealed insurance executives expect changes in the brokerage and regulatory models to have fundamental and long-lasting effects on the industry.

Allianz Life Insurance Co. of North America plans to add bank distribution alliances and increase its multicultural marketing efforts next year, according to the company's new director of sales and distribution. Hayward Sawyer, who joined the company in June and was promoted to the twin posts in December, says Allianz Life is in the process of hiring a manager to expand its bank relationships in the next 12 months."We currently have a couple major relationships, but we want to work with major banks, including regional banks," he says.

When Sachin Shah began working at MetLife in 1999, the carrier was using a DOS-based system to support online benefits administration. Five years later, Shah and the MetLife Inc.'s IT team have built an award-winning benefits administration portal that has been adopted by more than 17,000 corporate customers, brokers and third-party payers.

Health insurers face a difficult dilemma today: Although customers are demanding higher levels of service that are more convenient to access, they are also increasingly sensitive to rising health care costs.Most health carriers are trying to balance these new demands against operational cuts designed to improve their bottom line-a seemingly impossible task.

You no doubt have seen ads from property/casualty insurers that promise fast results when disaster occurs. While customer satisfaction equates with continued revenue, a more pragmatic reason for mobilizing claims adjusters is economic.Carriers are in the risk business and therefore tend to be risk averse-and rightly so. Careful scrutiny should always be paid before deploying new technologies or making large IT expenditures.

ATLANTA--COUNTRY Insurance & Financial Services of Bloomington, Ill. announced today the closing of two transactions with Cotton States Insurance Group of Atlanta. Under the first transaction, Cotton States Life Insurance Company merged with a subsidiary of COUNTRY Life Insurance Company. In the second transaction, Cotton States Mutual Insurance Company pooled premiums and losses with those of the COUNTRY property/casualty group.

When it comes to IT spending this year in the insurance industry, it's déjà vu all over again. In general, industry analysts concur that U.S. insurance companies will increase IT spending only slightly this year-between 1% and 4%. Last year, they predicted cautious increases of 2.5% all the way up to 6.7%.Similarly, carriers' priorities for IT spending in 2005 will focus on projects that ranked high on the list last year as well. Namely, their attention will focus on IT projects with the potential to increase revenues by improving distribution and customer service, and those that cut costs by streamlining business processes and workflow. Also like last year, insurance executives remain resolute about making sure their technology investments align with business strategy. IT governance is key.

The challenges insurers face with handling paper documents have been well documented. Dealing with reams of paper is one thing. Coping within a manual and de-centralized content management scheme is another.The process of printing and mailing policies is both cumbersome and costly, as is storing policies in archived files. For some, retrieving older, existing policies is akin to finding a needle in a haystack.

SAN FRANCISCO--WorldGroup, a leading provider of flexible, component software solutions for the insurance industry, today announced that it has submitted a signed, definitive agreement to acquire Taliant Software, LLP. Established in 1992, Denver based Taliant has insurance software applications installed and in production use in insurers throughout both the United States and Canada.

INDIANAPOLIS--Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield customers can now enroll in their health care benefits through secure, online tools available at http://anthem.com . The new capabilities not only make enrolling fast and easy for employees and individuals, but allow employers to streamline their work, lower administrative costs, and save time, all in an effort to improve the ease of working with Anthem.