Claims

Des Moines, Iowa - Recognizing the value of saving time and money with online access to disability claim information, The Principal Financial Group is offering enhanced employer reporting capabilities for long-term and short-term disability. A new report design will give employers daily access to information such as claim status and trend data."When we started seeing a need from a few customers for this type of reporting, we realized this reporting model would benefit all of our group disability customers," says Cindy Ford, claims director, the Principal Financial Group. "Our goal is to provide employers not only with the information necessary to understand their current employee claims, but also with a trend reporting program that might help reduce claims going forward and enable employees to continue working."

Honolulu - St. Paul Travelers has released a new and enhanced dashboard for e-CARMA, the customer portal to its risk management information system.Launched at the Risk and Insurance Management Society Inc. (RIMS) conference, e-CARMA is available for demonstration. Customers can view a choice of three distinct dashboards that are available directly from e-CARMA's home page. These dashboards automatically organize and visually present actionable information (red flags), performance trends, and claim outcome and metric drill-down analysis.

San Francisco--The Phoenix Companies Inc., a Hartford, Conn.-based provider of life insurance, annuity and asset management products, is using San Francisco-based salesforce.com Inc.'s AppExchange platform to customize, create, deploy and manage a number of business critical applications.Phoenix recently sought to replace the software that managed its relationships with independent agents who sell life insurance policies. The company evaluated several leading customer relationship management (CRM) products, including vertical financial services solutions, and decided that salesforce.com's automation offered the flexibility, user-friendliness, connectivity and customization ability to meet its business needs. With AppExchange platform, Phoenix was able to build and deploy custom applications to support its life insurance division's sales, marketing, finance and human resources organizations.

New York - In the April 2006 online edition of Marketplace Realities and Risk Management Solutions, Willis Group Holdings describes events in the natural catastrophe (Nat Cat) segment of the property marketplace as "nothing less than tumultuous." Directly affected are "clients with assets and operations in areas exposed to the Nat Cat perils of wind, flood and earthquake and to the peril of terrorism."With the beginning of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season fast approaching, "Terms and conditions offered by insurers and reinsurers have deteriorated rapidly and precipitously." The bar has been raised "for program design and marketing strategies for programs renewing in the near term, while prompting comprehensive studies of long-term business plans and risk-funding arrangements."

Sun Prairie, Wis. - Agents across General Casualty's Midwestern and Northeastern operating territory can now quote, submit and bind business auto coverage through the company's Web site.This new capability is designed to complement the company's existing online quoting/submission systems for its commercial marketplace (BOP), contractors and workers' compensation products, making it possible to submit an entire account via the Internet.

Washington, D.C. - Microsoft Corp. has launched a technology framework for the health plan industry, called "Knowledge Driven Health Plans." The announcement came as Microsoft participated in the third annual World Health Care Congress in Washington, D.C.As health plans face mounting pressure to respond to the rising costs of healthcare, growing member and provider expectations, intense competition, regulation, and the inefficiencies of a fragmented care-delivery ecosystem, Microsoft's Knowledge Driven Health Plans solutions framework is designed to deliver a technology platform that enables seamless business transformation. Microsoft and its industry partners are working together to provide health plans with integrated solutions designed to improve collaboration and access to information, thereby empowering people to make business and healthcare decisions that are based on the best evidence available.

Newark, Calif. – A new 2006 analysis from Risk Management Solutions (RMS) reveals that a Mw7.9 earthquake on the northern section of the San Andreas Fault today would result in at least $260 billion of damages to residential and commercial exposures, of which $50 billion to $80 billion would be covered by property and workers' compensation insurers. In contrast to the 1906 event, where 80% of the losses were caused by fire, less than 15% of the estimated total insured property losses are expected to be fire-related in 2006.The study analyzes the impacts of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire based on the 2006 population and property exposures of the San Francisco Bay Area. The property and workers 'compensation losses estimated in the RMS report include residential and commercial property and contents losses, as well as direct business interruption and additional living expenses due to ground shaking. In the RMS scenario, strong ground shaking affects 19 Bay Area counties, with an estimated building inventory value of approximately $2 trillion for residential, commercial, and industrial properties.

Warwick, R.I.--InsureMyTrip.com, a worldwide on-line travel insurance aggregator, has expanded operations into Canada, providing a new resource for the Canadian travel consumer. InsureMyTrip.ca allows consumers to analyze, rate, compare and purchase travel insurance from Canada's top travel insurers, all on one site.

Mayfield Heights, Ohio - The Progressive Group of Insurance Cos.' national catastrophe response team (NCRT) stands at the ready to handle increased claims volume resulting from weather-related events including hurricanes, tornadoes, hailstorms and floods.The company has opened its first permanent catastrophe response center in Mayfield Heights, Ohio, claiming it is even better positioned to deliver 24/7 claims service when people need fast, accurate claims resolution most.

Boston - Financial institutions that make online retirement tools readily available can increase consumer retirement account participation and action. That's the conclusion of a study conducted by Compete, Inc., a market research firm, with MSN and Media Contacts.The study, titled " Consumer Adoption of Online Retirement Planning Tools," was initiated to understand how consumers use online retirement tools at leading financial sites to develop and execute their wealth accumulation strategy. It revealed that every month an average of 180,000 consumers use online retirement tools, and consumers who are aware of the availability of online retirement tools and use them, are more likely to take action, according to Mike Bailey, managing director, financial services practice, Compete Inc. "Retirement sites need to seize this opportunity to leverage tools that develop relationships with consumers who will evolve into active customers with higher value accounts."

Jersey City, N.J. - ISO has identified a six-point strategy where technology now exists for the effective management of claims through improved visibility of the claims handling process, establishing best practices and a more accurate assessment of injuries and recovery implications.Statistics from the Insurance Research Council (IRC) have shown that claims cost inflation has risen at an average of around 7% every year since 1997, with the average bodily injury claim cost rising from $4,804 in 1997 to $6,711 in 2002.

Pittsburgh - Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield will offer members additional information on hospital quality information and treatment options online through its member Web site. As consumer-driven products shift decision-making responsibility to consumers, insurers are providing more information to help members make health care decisions."Highmark continues to provide additional resources to help our members make informed decisions that give them a greater hand in their health," says Kim Bellard, Highmark's vice president of e-marketing and CRM. "Our goal is to give members clear, accurate information about their health care options --choice of providers, costs and treatment options."

Simsbury, Conn. - The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. has named Mark Esposito as chief information officer for its individual life division.Esposito, who is also vice president and director of business technology, will lead the division's project management office and technology initiatives. He will be a member of the senior planning group, which helps Executive Vice President Michael Kalen, director of individual life, set direction for the division.

New York - The property/casualty insurance industry will report an increase in its capital base and an overall profitable performance in 2005, enabling it to meet the insurance needs of the growing U.S. economy, according to preliminary financial results compiled by the Insurance Services Office (ISO) and the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI). Insurers achieved these results despite catastrophe losses totaling a record $57.7 billion before reinsurance recoveries, according to ISO's Property Claims Services unit."A financially strong, stable and secure insurance industry benefits consumers and communities devastated by disaster," says Dr. Robert Hartwig, senior vice president and chief economist of the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.). "U.S. insurers entered 2005 well capitalized and well prepared for major catastrophic losses, having implemented effective risk management strategies which helped insurers better manage losses and control costs. Additionally, insurers' investments benefited from higher interest rates and--like other American industries--a resurgent economy in 2005. Last year's financial performance is also a testament to the efficiency of the global market for sharing and spreading risk, principally through the use of reinsurance, which is insurance purchased by insurance companies. That being said, the $43.2 billion earned by property/casualty insurers in 2005 translates into a 10.1% return on surplus or net worth, well below the 14.9% return on equity earned by the Fortune 500 group of companies."

Newark, N.J. - Horizon Blue Cross Blue of New Jersey and WebMD Health Corp. have teamed up to provide Horizon BCBSNJ's members a new service called My Health Manager. The new online service is a personalized, interactive health application that provides Horizon BCBSNJ members with tools and health information resources they need to better assess, track, and manage their health."Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey members now have access to reliable health information in the privacy of their own home whenever they need it through My Health Manager," says William J. Marino, president and CEO of Horizon BCBSNJ. "Working with WebMD, we are making health care easier by putting at our members' fingertips a powerful new tool and tremendous health resources."

Washington - At a hearing before the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, Joseph Smith, senior vice president and chief information officer of Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, urged Congress to adopt a realistic timetable for a major shift in medical coding, moving systems from ICD-9 to ICD-10. Smith testified at the hearing, which focused on health care information technology, on behalf of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA).The bill Smith referenced, HR 4157, the Health Information Technology Promotion Act of 2005, calls for the major conversion of diagnostic and procedural codes that providers and insurers must use by 2009. Systems would change from ICD-9 diagnosis codes, which include 13,000 codes, to ICD-10, which includes over 120,000 possible codes.

Hartford, Conn. - Beginning May 3, Aetna will cover online physician-patient communications for members in California and Florida through RelayHealth, a provider of secure online health care communication services.RelayHealth enables online communication between doctors and patients, including clinically based doctor-patient consultations, appointment requests, the ability to get referrals, lab and test results, and electronic prescriptions and medication refills.

Andover, Mass. - CGI's special investigative unit (SIU) operating within Clarendon National Insurance Co. has concluded a probe that resulted in the arrest of four California residents. Six felony charges have been lodged in connection with a fraudulent auto theft claim that was filed with Clarendon.On March 1, 2006, California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi announced the arrests and added: "These types of false claims cost all of us more in the form of higher insurance premiums. My department will continue to fight this fraud to help ensure a fair, affordable insurance system for all Californians."

Washington, D.C. - United States Senators John Sununu (R-N.H.) and Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) have introduced the "National Insurance Act of 2006," legislation that would allow life and property/casualty insurers to choose federal rather than state charters under an "optional federal charter" regulatory system.Sununu and Johnson, both members of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, introduced the legislation on Wednesday, April 5. The measure has been referred to the Banking Committee where hearings are expected later this spring.

Santa Clara, Calif. - Itemfield, a provider of complex data transformation software, has formed a relationship with Adobe Systems Inc. to work together to develop a solution designed specifically for the insurance industry.The combination of Adobe's intelligent forms that support the ACORD XML data standard with the process-specific business rules and complex data transformation capabilities from Itemfield can help insurers increase efficiency by accelerating the processing of transactional data in electronic forms, such as quotations and new business submissions, according to the two companies.