Claims

SIMSBURY, Conn. -- The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. today announced that Internet-based self- service reporting is now available nationwide to its group life and disability insurance customers, providing them immediate online access to standard reports that help them monitor and manage their group benefits plans.

Hotel clients of Fireman's Fund Insurance Co, Novato, Calif., can now buy an extended package of online employee safety training that satisfies all OSHA requirements for hospitality industry employees, such as housekeepers, clerks, and bellhops.This service, which includes courses, testing and tracking, is offered by WebFire Training, an e-learning company endorsed by the American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute. Fireman's Fund negotiated a month of complementary service for hotel clients of its iCustomer Series coverage when they subscribe to a year's safety training for their employees regardless of the customer's property size or employee turnover rate.

IVANS Inc., a Greenwich, Conn.-based provider of networking services for the insurance and healthcare industries is offering a new wireless fidelity solution (Wi-Fi) for insurance carriers that can significantly speed their ability to remotely process claims and improve customer service. The new Wi-Fi service is offered through IVANS business partner, AT&T.As the demand for Wi-Fi technology increases, so does the need for low-cost flexible solutions. According to data provided by The Yankee Group, a communications and networking research and consulting firm based in Boston, 14% of U.S. companies plan to implement the technology within the next twelve months, and another 14% plan to follow suit in the next two years. A recent IVANS study of large and mid-sized insurance carriers indicates that only 27.9% are currently using Wi-Fi technology to allow remote access to their systems by employees, highlighting the growth potential for Wi-Fi technology.

Results International Systems (RIS) will provide an end-to-end, Web-enabled policy processing system Partners Mutual Insurance Co.'s personal and commercial lines of business. The RIS solution will deliver a policy processing system with integration to claims, billing, rating and form printing. RIS will provide the hardware, software, systems personnel, systems security, back-up and disaster recovery.

SUNNYVALE, Calif.-- Vitria, a leading provider of business process integration solutions, today announced that Premera Blue Cross, a Blue Cross Blue Shield Association independent licensee for Washington state and Alaska, has selected Vitria's Healthcare Solutions as the integration infrastructure to simplify, streamline and automate its transaction management processes.

AMSTERDAM and MILAN--Accenture has signed an agreement to acquire Nomos Sistema, a leading provider of life insurance administration and product management software systems in Italy. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Toronto, Canada--DWL, a provider of Enterprise Business Services software, today announced that Empire Financial Group has launched phase two of groupweb - an initiative to achieve proven cost reduction with web-based self-servicing capabilities for group business. Following on the success of Empire's initial implementation of DWL InsuranceT for Group Life and Health, which provides a password protected site for electronic plan administration, phase two of the project now adds full update and enrollment capability in real-time, using version 3.0 of DWL Insurance for Group Life & Health.

TORONTO, April 6, 2004 - SOLCORP, a leading provider of software solutions to the life insurance and financial industries and a subsidiary of EDS, announced today that it is co-sponsoring a global insurance survey in conjunction with partner companies Whitehill Technologies and DSPA Software.

Miami, FL-- SunGard Insurance Systems, an operating group of SunGard, announced today the SunGard VIP sales illustration system has been awarded the Designed for Windows XP logo certification. This certification is a result of a long-standing technology affiliation between SunGard Insurance Systems and Microsoft, further strengthening the Microsoft Gold Certified Partner relationship recognized for many years. SunGard VIP clients running on Windows XP can realize benefits such as greater application stability and efficiency; as well as, the assurance that the SunGard VIP system will be fully functional in later versions of Windows.

WebMD Corp., Elmwood, N.J., has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Dakota Imaging, Inc., a privately held provider of automated healthcare claims processing technology and business process outsourcing (BPO) services.Dakota's scalable software and BPO services provide automation for mailroom, document processing, scanning, data capture, data scrubbing, automated workflow and online secure document management. Dakota's solutions can reduce costs associated with manual processing of healthcare documents and increase auto-adjudication and auto-payment of medical claims through advanced data scrubbing.

Insurity Inc., a ChoicePoint company, today announced that Georgia Casualty & Surety, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Atlantic American, has selected Insurity's Commercial Intellisys property/casualty policy processing services and software. A complete Web-based rating, intelligent underwriting and electronic issuance platform is being deployed across 11 states for workers' compensation, commercial business auto, general liability, commercial package and umbrella policies.

An Internet-only health plan for individuals and families, called Net Saver, has been introduced by Health Net Life Insurance Company, a Woodland Hills, Calif.-based health insurer.With Net Saver, there are no paper-based application or enrollment materials. Once a secure, encrypted online application is completed by an applicant, it is downloaded by the consumer for record keeping and submitted at the same time to Health Net for processing. Net Saver's online processes help to speed the application submission process. It's not uncommon for applications to be submitted in the middle of the night by Internet-based brokers such as EHealthInsurance.com, according to Health Net Life Insurance Co.

One-third (34%) of workers believe they may outlive their retirement savings. Among individuals who make less than $25,000, 54% believe they run the risk of outliving their retirement savings. This, according to the 14th annual national Retirement Confidence Survey (RCS) released today by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), American Savings Education Council (ASEC), and Mathew Greenwald & Associates.Men are slightly more confident than women (65% versus 61%) when it comes to believing they will not outlive their retirement savings, and married people are more confident than non-married individuals (66% versus 58%). When it comes to long-term care (LTC) in retirement, 51% of workers are confident that they will have enough money to pay for LTC expenses.

OLDSMAR, Fla. -- eAutoclaims today announced that it has secured a two-year contract with Michigan Millers Mutual Insurance Company. eAutoclaims will provide its national network of body shops and independent appraisers (IA) to process Michigan Millers' automobile and commercial heavy equipment physical damage claims.

New York, NY--Atlantic Mutual announced that it closed the sale today of its subsidiary, Atlantic Specialty Insurance Company, and the renewal rights to select commercial insurance business, including the unearned premiums on the acquired book, to OneBeacon Insurance Company, after receiving regulatory approval. The overall gross written premium for this book of business totals over $400 million.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. --Humana Inc. announced today that its subsidiary, Humana Insurance Company, has completed its acquisition of Ochsner Health Plan of Louisiana from the Ochsner Clinic Foundation. Ochsner Health Plan is one of the largest health benefits plans in the New Orleans market and the third largest in the state of Louisiana with approximately 152,000 Commercial medical members, primarily in large group accounts, and approximately 31,000 members in the MedicareAdvantage program. Ochsner Health Plan is licensed in all 64 of Louisiana's parishes.

They say sharing is good, but try telling that to insurance executives overseeing individual business units. Actuaries, underwriters, sales and marketing executives and claims adjusters have long regarded their departmental knowledge as sacrosanct, with the thought of sharing that information akin to giving up one's first-born.Perhaps out of necessity, this cloistered approach to knowledge-sharing might be loosening its territorial grip. Keeping departmental knowledge close to the vest might protect a business's so-called secrets, but reciprocally this approach also prevents a business from tapping into the knowledge that resides within other corporate units, industry experts relate.

If insurance carriers want their online shoppers to become online buyers, they need to give their customers more respect.That's a warning derived from recent analysis of 70 insurance Web sites that gave the insurance industry an average online Customer Service Index of 6.8 out of 10. Furthermore, the analysis reveals that although 93% of insurers post online privacy policies, 35% of them share customer data without the customer's permission.

When economic times are tough, executives turn their focus to increasing revenues and reducing costs. It's easy to say, but executing this simple idea can prove much more difficult, especially in the insurance industry.The events of Sept. 11, 2001 and the recession have brought the healthy profits the insurance industry saw in the 1990s crashing down into the depths of financial hardship.

BOSTON-- The family with a car each for dad, mom, the college sophomore and the high-school senior. The tenant in apartment 2B who's never had a ticket or an accident in 20 years of driving. The distracted shopper who backed into another vehicle in the supermarket parking lot. With OneChoice Auto, OneBeacon Insurance is delivering comprehensive protection to fit the needs and lifestyles of a broad range of Maine drivers. "We've expanded our approach to auto insurance significantly," said Dan Bridge, Vice President of Personal Lines New England for OneBeacon, "and we're now able to offer insurance solutions to most drivers and for most vehicles in the state. The key is to meet customers' needs at a price that's competitive in the marketplace yet appropriate to the skill levels and driving histories of individual operators."