Policy adminstration

Although Democrats and Republicans continue to disagree over whether talks ever really broke down, lawmakers from both sides say they're making progress bridging the gap.

With the health care debate receding, President Obama has stepped up his efforts to aid passage of comprehensive financial services regulatory reform. While most of the reform measures are aimed squarely at banks, the breadth of the proposed reforms may well encompass many activities currently performed by insurers. Indeed, while insurers may have avoided the purview of a proposed consumer financial products regulator, the issue of whether large insurers will have to help fund a bailout mechanism for systemically risky institutions remains an open question.

A report from the Insurance Research Council concludes the current cost shifting means significant costs for the property/casualty insurance industry.

Reaching out to touch someone via the Yellow Pages and other conventional marketing tools has been rendered ineffective as insurers attract customers using LinkedIn, Facebook.

Planned acquisition of compliance specialist firm will pay dividends in an industry sharply focused on complying.

Making its auto insurance application available on Google’s mobile Android smartphones, Progressive sees immediate uptick in Web site traffic.

Industry weighs in as legislators seek long-term fix to the troubled National Flood Insurance Plan.

Cambridge, Mass.-based Pegasystems Inc., a provider of business process management (BPM) software, has acquired Cupertino, Calif.-based Chordiant Software, Inc., a provider of claims management and business acquisition software to the insurance industry.

Blue Shield of California will identify on its Web site physicians in the state who score above average in up to eight quality measures.

While mainframes are still both viable and valuable, perhaps the key to this semantic pretzel is that the needs of the business must come first, and executives shouldn’t rush to adopt new systems simply because they're the latest-and-greatest new tech.

Pharmacists Mutual pointed to the 2009 H1N1 flu outbreak as the catalyst for seeking a unified communications system.

WorkCenter Loss Total 4.0 combines Mitchell’s processing solutions with J.D. Power’s data analysis and pricing capabilities.

Sixteen percent of Americans online are responsible for 80% of brand impressions in online social media; insurance marketers should take heed, Forrester says.

Gene Berry will continue to build and develop the OneAmerica’s IT strategy.

RiskRover records addresses and GPS coordinates, takes photographs and translates the info into risk models all on a mobile device.

With consumers using digital tools to search for information before making an insurance purchase, insurers must plan accordingly, a new report says.

The companies will join expressor’s semantic data integration system to Attunity Integration Suite.

A.M. Best upgrades Grain Dealers Mutual Insurance and affirms Missouri Employers Mutual Insurance, while Moody’s affirms Unitrin’s senior debt ratings.

AIG may pursue Goldman Sachs on losses from $6 billion of insurance deals similar to those that prompted the SEC's recent fraud charges against the bank.

NAIC, ISO and NICN announce streamlined reporting process.