Claims

Chicago - Blue Cross Blue Shield's vision for rounding out its consumer-driven products initiative took a giant leap forward today with the announcement of a new bank to help BCBS companies provide its customers with more technical tools and greater financial options to manage how they direct their healthcare spending.

Using the right analytic tools to analyze and manage terrorism risk is paramount, according to a review of methodologies available for insurers and reinsurers published by Boston-based AIR Worldwide Corp., a risk management division of ISO, Jersey City, N.J.

Creating economic value from distribution has never been more difficult for life insurers trying to increase business and reduce costs. Balancing the complexities inherent in a competitive marketplace, more than 1,000 U.S. companies currently offering a host of life and annuity products are in a scramble to hold on to representatives from traditional channels and acquire those from nontraditional channels.In the face of a growing market (Baby Boomers looking at retirement strategies now count 77 million), Internet-based customer self-service and a host of alternative distribution channels, keeping traditional, dedicated life insurance sellers on board is no easy task. The number of career life agents dropped to 178,000 in 2000 compared to 238,000 a decade ago, reports TowerGroup, a Needham, Mass., research and advisory firm.

Although insurance carriers have been slower than banks in adopting e-billing and e-payment technologies (see "Carriers Have Some Catching Up to Do), two insurers recently have taken a lead in this area.Esurance, a San Francisco-based direct-to-consumer auto insurer, has added a PayPal payment option to its Web site. PayPal is one of the leading forms of online payment, with approximately 79 million accounts worldwide.

As wildfires scorched California's Los Angeles and Ventura counties in October, thousands of firefighters tried desperately to extinguish the flames that-fanned by dry winds-threatened to spread.Homeowners weren't the only ones following the spiraling fires with concern, as insurers, too, have seen how once seemingly safe urban areas are now vulnerable.

When you've got a lemon, make lemonade. That's basically what Medical Mutual of Ohio did when the Cleveland-based health insurer decided it was time to ditch its 15-year old phone system.While installing a new private branch exchange (PBX) and automatic call distributor (ACD), the company took advantage of the new technology's advanced functionality to bring its two call centers up to award-winning status.

By converting from paper to e-billing, companies can reap appreciable cost savings, achieve significant efficiencies, hasten incoming payments, gain greater accuracy in accounting and invoicing systems, and reduce labor operations.But only a relatively few carriers have thus far converted to e-billing, also known as Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment (EIPP).

The debate in the industry over an optional federal charter for insurance companies has been brewing for several years. But now, there are some numbers that attest to the value of a single federal regulator-at least for the life insurance sector.More than $250 million, or 55% of all regulatory costs, are directly related to addressing the requirements of multiple regulatory jurisdictions, according to a recent study conducted by the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI), Washington, D.C., and El Segundo, Calif.-based Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC). A majority of respondents to the ACLI/CSC survey indicated their companies had lost premium (73%) and deferred or shelved products (83%) as a result of delays in the state-by-state approval process. What's more, nearly every aspect of a life insurer's delivery system is affected by regulatory costs-from designing new products to paying claims.

Washington, D. C. - Health insurance plans are advancing information technology (IT) on many fronts, and in the process are achieving impressive results in health care quality, service, cost, and efficiency, according to a report issued by America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), a Washington, D.C., national trade association. "Innovations in Health Information Technology" profiles more than 40 innovations in the use of health IT that address a variety of healthcare system needs with effective new solutions.

Kansas City, Mo. - Representatives of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the United States Department of Treasury will be attending the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Winter National Meeting in Chicago during the Antifraud Task Force meeting on Monday, December 5, to present two final rules that will affect certain insurance companies.

New York - CIGNA Inc. is expanding its on-line pricing data for consumers, the company reports.

Chicago - The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) and Visa USA have agreed to support participating Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies nationwide that are offering their members co-branded debit cards to pay for healthcare related expenses. The Blue-branded Visa debit card will allow customers to pay for qualified medical expenses by providing them with access to their health plan personal savings accounts. The co-branded cards are part of a larger initiative by Blue Cross and Blue Shield to provide consumers with the information and tools they need to make better decisions healthcare for themselves and their families.

Washington, D.C. - The American Insurance Association (AIA) is urging insurance regulators to go slow in considering a national catastrophe insurance program, affirming support for catastrophe modeling technology but discouraging federal and state governments from storming through private sector business practices.

New Orleans - McGlinchey Stafford PLLC, a law firm based in the Gulf Coast region, has developed a weblog for companies with business interests in hurricane-affected areas. The blog, found at www.hurricanelawblog.com, features up-to-date information about post-hurricane legal issues, including insurance, real estate, healthcare, environmental, finance and litigation.The blog, which was created in response to client needs, offers businesses a single location to find information regarding legislation, litigation, and regulatory issues in and affecting Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Alabama. McGlinchey Stafford's hurricane blog will serve as a central repository for relevant information from both federal and state organizations, legislative bodies and courts.

Kansas City, Mo. - The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has selected CooperKatz & Co. to promote a major national public education program focused on teaching consumers how to select the right type of insurance coverage to fit their needs and how to protect themselves from buying worthless policies from fake insurance companies."We chose CooperKatz for their broad knowledge of insurance issues and deep experience in consumer public relations," says Catherine J. Weatherford, NAIC executive vice president and CEO. "They demonstrated a combination of solid strategic thinking, outstanding creativity and great enthusiasm to help us achieve our goals."

Pittsburgh - Highmark Inc., an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans, is contributing $26.5 million to The Pittsburgh Foundation, which will use the funds for an electronic prescribing (ePrescribing) initiative.The foundation has created the Highmark eHealth Collaborative to encourage the adoption of health information technology used in patient care in order to improve patient safety and quality while increasing cost efficiency.

Horsham, Pa. - NextGen Healthcare Information Systems Inc., a subsidiary of Quality Systems Inc. has completed a pilot project with Empire Medicare Services, a fee-for-service Medicare contractor, and the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) Foundation to facilitate the use of electronic attachments between a health plan and its providers.The pilot program, which was funded for Empire Medicare Services and WEDI by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), tested the use of electronic claims attachments in accordance with HIPAA's transaction code sets, including ANSI 275 and 277.

Jersey City, N.J. - ISO and claims technology provider First Notice Systems (FNS) have entered into an agreement to deliver a new first-notice-of-loss (FNOL) fraud-detection solution to the property/casualty insurance marketplace.

Warren, N.J. - Chubb Group of Insurance Companies, Warren, N.J., has released its Business Recovery Planning Guide, a CD-ROM designed to help businesses create site-specific plans. The interactive CD-ROM features revised editable questionnaires and checklists to help companies analyze their current exposures and develop a business-recovery plan.

In 16 states and the District of Columbia , independent agents and brokers now can go online and quote complex package operations (commercial property and general liability insurance combined) with the same ease as writing a Safeco businessowners policy (BOP). That's because Seattle-based Safeco has fully automated the sale of commercial insurance packages to more than 800 classes of small- and mid-sized businesses.Accounts such as manufacturers, restaurant chains and auto mechanics can be quoted online in as few as 15 minutes, with the first price being the right price, the company claims.