Risk & Insurance articles from April 2003

Risk & Insurance archives from April 2003

National tort reform--is it enough? (Up Front).
April 1, 2003... Early in February 2003, most patients visiting doctors in New Jersey were greeted with a sign taped to doctors' offices that read: "The Doctor is Out." The doctors' action protested skyrocketing premiums for medical malpractice insurance and...

Leftover risk: WTC health concerns? (Up Front).
April 1, 2003... The pictures told the story. Covered in ashes, Manhattan residents and office workers streamed out of the city. Smoke, ash and debris filled the air, blanketing Lower Manhattan with a fine powder. Within days of the Sept. 11 disaster, questions...

WC system--no relief in sight. (Up Front).
April 1, 2003... Employers looking for workers' compensation prices to moderate any time soon will probably be disappointed. "We believe there's a hardening market for workers' compensation," says Robert Partridge. managing director in Standard & Poor's...

Integrated Finance Limited. (News and Notes).
April 1, 2003... ACE Limited, NIB Capital, Peter D. Hancock, Roberto G. Mendoza and Robert C. Merton announced the formation of Integrated Finance Limited. New York-based IFL is expected to create a specialized investment bank for advice and implementation of...

SHPS Inc. (News and Notes).
April 1, 2003... Louisville, Ky.-based SHPS Inc. announced its merger with Minneapolis, Minn.-based eBenX Inc. The move was made in order to create a comprehensive spectrum of human resource and benefits outsourcing, health management, and consulting services....

AON Corp. (News and Notes).
April 1, 2003... Negotiations broke down in February between AON Corp. and current and former employees in a federal collective class action suit. Employees allege the company owes them overtime wages. AON, headquartered in Chicago, failed to meet a deadline...

The Employee Benefit Research Institute. (News and Notes).
April 1, 2003... Many Americans at or near retirement age would require more than $1 million each to prefund medical costs over their remaining lives, a new survey from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) shows. Future retirees who receive no health...

The Health Insurance Association of America. (News and Notes).
April 1, 2003... More than 4,700 employers offer long-term care insurance to employees, a survey has found. The survey, conducted by the Health Insurance Association of America, also found that more than 1.3 million long-term care policies were sold through the...

Allied World Assurance Company Ltd. (News and Notes).
April 1, 2003... In response to the continued contraction of capacity for excess casualty coverage, Allied World Assurance Company Ltd. has doubled its limit for qualifying renewals from $25 million to $50 million. The company focuses on placements for...

Computer Sciences Corp. (News and Notes).
April 1, 2003... Computer Sciences Corp. has signed separate agreements with Swiss Re Life & Health America Inc. and e-Nable Corp. that will add advanced automatic underwriting systems and services to one of CSC's life insurance offering, CSC has announced.

LIMRA International. (News and Notes).
April 1, 2003... Employees prefer to receive insurance benefits through their employers because it's cheaper and more convenient, a new study by LIMRA International has found. The survey covered employees between the ages of 2544 and 45-59. In addition, every...

Obesity debate weighs on workers' compensation. (Up Front).
April 1, 2003... With two-thirds of the U.S. population said to be overweight and Fast Food Nation a bestseller, workers' compensation administrators face a heavy burden handling disabilities linked to fitness. For disputes that arise in occupations that...

Two new editors take the helm at magazine. (Up Front).
April 1, 2003... Veteran journalist Jack Roberts, 54, is the new editor in chief of Risk & Insurance. Roberts brings 25 years of experience as both an editor and publisher. He is the former editor of the Philadelphia Business Journal, and was also the senior...

How to fend off a WC challenge. (Up Front).
April 1, 2003... Congressional proposals to reform tort laws and place caps on medical malpractice may be good news for product manufacturers and physicians, but trouble for employers. Workers suing their employers for workplace accidents have an excellent...

Court clarifies coverage in Liberty Mutual-Con Ed fight. (The Law).
April 1, 2003... An insurance policy may provide for coverage to be shared with what's technically called "other insurance." Does that mean that coverage is shared with "self-insurance"? Most U.S. jurisdictions have taken the position that self-insurance...

Bermuda Angle: a life re player emerges from the Bermuda hothouse.
April 1, 2003... Bermuda's insurance and reinsurance sector has traditionally concentrated on the property/casualty lines. Lately, however, life, health and annuity lines have been cropping up more frequently. Many of the large Bermuda companies --14 now have...

Out of the shadows: new rules offer risk managers more opportunity. (Cover Story).
April 1, 2003... It's a new day for the risk manager. Risk managers can't afford to think about themselves like an insurance purchasing agent with limited authority and hidden away from top management at a desk in the backroom of the financial department. ...

Strategies in pursuit of a softer market: waiting for kinder, gentler renewals? Strategies are well within reach to achieve key coverage objectives without breaking the bank. (Strategies).
April 1, 2003... RIMS president Chris Mandel has seen the future of risk management -- and it's on DVD. Mandel, assistant vice president of Enterprise Risk Management in San Antonio, Texas, marvels at a multimedia presentation in DVD format that one of his...

Modeling for terrorism: companies look for an edge using game theory, details and "silent vectors". (Reinsurance).
April 1, 2003... The 2002 Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) has been law for more than four months. Since then property/casualty carriers have had their work cut out for them. While TRIA created a much-needed reinsurance program for property and casualty...

Swis Re CEO faces rebuilding job. (CEO Profile).
April 1, 2003... It's probably not the best time to head up a big reinsurance operation. Insurers will probably pay about $50 billion for the Sept. 11 attacks. They face major claims on directors & officers as well as errors & omissions coverages that stem...

Preparing for product recall: risk managers may need more than general liability to insure against recall loss. (Liability).
April 1, 2003... A rash of product recalls in U.S. poultry processing plants last fall has once again brought to bear the importance of preparing for a product recall. The challenges in dealing with a recall are numerous. They include legal, financial,...

Don't take "no" for an answer! Ten ways to get your carrier to pay off on that claim. (Claims).
April 1, 2003... 1 Make noise. Scream. Get the carrier's attention. If your insurer refuses to pay or tries to negotiate down a clearly covered claim, don't settle-fight back. It's worth it. 2 Check out the background of your carrier before you sign....

Federal terror insurance act benefits New York's MTA: a small premium gives transportation agency $1 billion worth of coverage. (Legislative Reform).
April 1, 2003... New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority has been able to secure a whole lot more terrorism insurance coverage these days, thanks to a new federal terrorism reinsurance backstop program. The captive that insures the MTA, First...

Studies in success: to be most effective, disability management programs have to be tailored to meet a company's own specific needs, work environment and even the kind of business that it's in. Two companies are doing just that. (Disability).
April 1, 2003... Philosophically speaking, disability management aims to serve the best interest of both companies and their employees. It's a bottom-line issue that helps boost company productivity, while helping ill and injured workers remain connected to the...

Buyers' guide.
April 1, 2003... Managed Care Below is a select list of managed care organizations, categorized as follows: major medical managed care organizations, (including health maintenance organizations, preferred provider organizations, and point-of-service...

FM Global. (Executive Moves).
April 1, 2003... Wayne Krause has been appointed operations vice president, manager, ocean cargo at FM Global. He previously served in several roles at Zurich Financial Services Group including head of global marine, vice president and chief underwriting...

Swett & Crawford Group Inc. (Executive Moves).
April 1, 2003... Aon announced senior management changes within Swett & Crawford Group Inc., a wholesale insurance broker based in Woodland Hills, Calif.: David Hartoch will retire as chairman and chief executive officer. Thomas Corner, who served 10 years with...

Zurich Financial Services. (Executive Moves).
April 1, 2003... Zurich Financial Services has appointed Patrick O'Sullivan group finance director and a member of the group executive committee. He has been chief executive, general insurance and banking, at Zurich Financial Services' UKISA Division since

Endurance Specialty Insurance. (Executive Moves).
April 1, 2003... Endurance Specialty Insurance, a Bermuda-based global provider of property and casualty insurance and reinsurance, has hired two underwriting executives in its professional lines group: Mary Lou Douglas and Catherine Bennett. Douglas has more...

GE Employers Reinsurance. (Executive Moves).
April 1, 2003... GE Employers Reinsurance has appointed Dave Lovely claims leader for its commercial insurance business unit in Overland Park, Kan. He joined ERC in 2001 and most recently served as claims leader for its Global Life and Health business.

Paragon Reinsurance Risk Management Services Inc. (Executive Moves).
April 1, 2003... Kristi L. Wilts has been promoted to senior vice president of operations at Paragon Reinsurance Risk Management Services Inc. in Minneapolis. The company also announced other new hires. Corrina Conley has rejoined Paragon as senior vice...

Cigna Behavioral Health. (Executive Moves).
April 1, 2003... Sharon A. Carlin has joined Cigna Behavioral Health, based in Eden Prairie, Minn., as the company's senior vice president of operations, a newly created position. She previously served as a senior executive of health care operations, which...

AIG Trading. (Executive Moves).
April 1, 2003... Anthony J. Gordon has been appointed executive vice president and head of global energy at AIG Trading, headquartered in Greenwich, Conn. He joins the company from Goldman Sachs Group, where he was managing director.

Pilgrim, a business process outsourcing company. (Executive Moves).
April 1, 2003... Pilgrim, a business process outsourcing company in Boston, has appointed Charles E. Alley to the position of underwriting operations manager. Previously he was a territorial underwriting manager for Fireman's Fund Insurance Co. Alley earned his...

The Swiss Re Co. (Executive Moves).
April 1, 2003... The Swiss Re Co., based in Zurich, has named John Coomber chief executive officer. He recently was head of Swiss Re's Life & Health Business Group. He has been with the company for 30 years. John H. Fitzpatrick, Swiss Re's chief financial...

The Overseas Private Investment Corp. (Executive Moves).
April 1, 2003... Michael T. Lempres has been named vice president of insurance at the Overseas Private Investment Corp. in Washington D.C. He previously served as executive vice president and general counsel of the Pacific Exchange Inc. Lempres succeeds Rod...

Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. (Executive Moves).
April 1, 2003... Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. in Hamilton, Bermuda, has appointed James Kroner chief financial officer. He was also named chief financial officer of Endurance Specialty Insurance Ltd. He joined the company in December 2001 as chief...

Quest Technologies Inc. (Executive Moves).
April 1, 2003... Quest Technologies Inc., a safety and industrial hygiene instrumentation and software company based in Oconomowoc, Wis., has made several appointments: Michael D. Farrell has been appointed to the board of directors. He is the chairman and CEO...

Disability product. (Insurance Coverages).
April 1, 2003... GE Financial Employer Services Group is offering a new disability product sold through payroll deduction. It is designed to enable employers and employees to personally tailor their insurance needs by combining benefits and riders in an...

Directors' Insurance. (Insurance Coverages).
April 1, 2003... American International Group Inc. has announced the American International Cos. have introduced Independent Directors Liability Insurance, a stand-alone policy designed to provide independent board members with protection for their personal...

KR&E insurance. (Insurance Coverages).
April 1, 2003... Insurance Services Office Inc. is offering a kidnap, ransom and extortion policy for insurers. ISO has also teamed-up with Amsec International, a security-management and loss-control company, to provide insurers with risk-mitigation and...

Crisis tools. (Insurance Coverages).
April 1, 2003... AIG Consultants Inc., a member company of American International Group, is offering crisis management tools designed to provide AIG member company insureds with coordinated services that help assess, prepare for and respond to crisis...

Environmental Regulation. (Reference & Training).
April 1, 2003... Government Institutes has released The ABCs of Environmental Regulation, 2nd Edition. The reference book is designed to take the practical and basic approach to explaining the scope of environmental regulations and providing discussions of 38...

Arson reporting. (Reference & Training).
April 1, 2003... The Insurance Committee for Arson Control has updated the citations to the state laws that govern an insurer's arson reporting responsibilities, and provided a hyperlink to the applicable portion of the state code. The report summarizes the key...

Drug-Testing Guide. (Reference & Training).
April 1, 2003... The Institute for a Drug-Free Workplace is offering the Guide to State and Federal Drug-Testing Laws. The 900-page book was developed to provide a thorough analysis of the statutory law, case law and regulations affecting drug testing in the...

Reinsurance tool released. (Software & Systems).
April 1, 2003... The Genelco Software Solutions division of Liberty Insurance Services Corp. has released Genelco Reinsurance+ Version 3.0. New features include risk pooling, unlimited joint policies using Frasierization and the ability to schedule interface...

Predictive product. (Software & Systems).
April 1, 2003... DxCG Inc. has developed DxCG Risk Smart, a Web-based suite of predictive software modeling products. The suite combines DxCG's Diagnostic Cost Groups and RxGroups models for up to 20 percent more predictive power. It is a risk assessment system...

Calendar of upcoming events.
April 1, 2003... April 10 Schiff's Insurance Conference. This one-day mega-roundtable will feature commentary and debate on the motor insurance issues facing the industry today, delivered by professionals from financial, legal, accounting and insurance...

Captive stirrings at CICA conference. (Up Front).
April 14, 2003... Gordon Rowell's unexpected resignation from the head of insurance supervision at the Cayman Island Monetary Authority registered barely a ripple as 10-year veteran Mary Lou Gallegos took the helm on an interim basis. Gallegos told Risk &...

Top 20 global reinsurers.
April 14, 2003... Top 20 Global Reinsurers The distribution of reinsurance business amongst the major global reinsurers is set to change significantly with the growth in property catastrophe capacity in Bermuda since Sept. 11. Top 20 Ranking ...

Worth repeating.
April 14, 2003... "The pool of (asbestos) defendant companies keeps growing and moving outward with litigation sweeping up companies that have very little to do with asbestos in general. What we are seeing is only the tip of the iceberg--it will sink the US....

Report: industry still thirsty for capital. (Up Front).
April 14, 2003... There are three key issues for the reinsurance industry this year, anew study claims: Capital, capital, capital The question is whether the industry will be able to quench its thirst for capital. "The new influx of new capital into the...

From the editor.
April 14, 2003... Warren Buffet, the plainspoken CEO-billionaire of Berkshire Hathaway, advocates a fairly simple way of insuring that corporate board members truly represent shareholder interests. Inadvertently, he may have also come up with a way to solve...

Correction.
April 14, 2003... In the article "Hard Market Spurs Captive Growth," which appeared in the March 3, 2003 edition of Risk & Insurance, we incorrectly cited figures from Best's Captive Insurance Directory. The directory reported there were 4,932 captives worldwide...

Health insurance. (News and Notes).
April 14, 2003... A survey of 600 large and small U.S. businesses found that 92 percent say they are likely to increase the amount that their employees pay for health insurance. Companies expect costs to jump 18 percent this year, after an increase of...

Natural catastrophes. (News and Notes).
April 14, 2003... Natural catastrophes and manmade disasters cost nonlife insurers $13.5 billion in 2002, a report released by Swiss Re has found. The latest figure was $1.5 billion higher than a previous estimate issued in December. The increase was due mainly...

Marine Practice Group. (News and Notes).
April 14, 2003... Summit Global Partners has formed a new group specializing in complex marine risks, the firm has announced. The Marine Practice Group, to be located in San Francisco, will serve the insurance and risk management needs of yacht clubs, vessel...

ACE Group of Companies. (News and Notes).
April 14, 2003... The Philadelphia-based members of ACE NA, a part of the ACE Group of Companies, have signed a three-year sponsorship deal with the American Red Cross of Southeastern Pennsylvania. This sponsorship will assist the American Red Cross, ACE INA has...

Allstate Insurance Co. (News and Notes).
April 14, 2003... Ohio regulators have rejected a request by the Allstate Insurance Co. to raise rates by 3 percent for auto insurance the Ohio Department of Insurance has announced. "Allstate was simply unable to produce convincing evidence to justify its rate...

National Association of Insurance Commissioners. (News and Notes).
April 14, 2003... A committee of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners has adopted a report on improving privacy notices, the NAIC has announced. The notices are intended to educate consumers as to how their information is being disclosed. The...

Horizon Health Corp. (News and Notes).
April 14, 2003... Horizon Behavioral Services, a subsidiary of Horizon Health Corp., has been selected to provide risk-managed health benefits to Lakeland, Texas, Horizon has announced. With this latest agreement, Horizon Behavioral provides more than 2,000...

Risk Management Solutions Inc. (News and Notes).
April 14, 2003... Risk Management Solutions Inc. has introduced new software to evaluate the risk of storms to offshore oil platforms, the firm has announced. The software uses wind-hazard models and exposure data for more than 4,000 fixed and floating...

MarketScout. (News and Notes).
April 14, 2003... MarketScout, a Dallas-based insurance exchange specializing in the distribution of property/casualty insurance products, has designated Royal & SunAlliance as the insurance specialist for property/casualty insurance targeted at colleges and...

Inspections still come first. (Property).
April 14, 2003... A risk manager recently asked about boilers and pressure vessel inspections. She wasn't talking about the routine loss control, underwriting or rating inspections that insurance companies perform for other lines of business. Her concern was the...

Choose PBMs carefully. (Workers' Comp).
April 14, 2003... Workers' compensation payers have begun to adopt programs designed to control the cost of prescription drugs. Unfortunately, many payers have found that their programs are running into significant problems. The dirty secret behind many...

Consumer health plans lag. (Benefits).
April 14, 2003... Employers are still fretting about rising health care costs and one of the top prospects for controlling costs--consumer-driven health plans--isn't getting much respect. One of the most promising health insurance plan designs touted for...

CROs: is the glitz going...going...gone? (Cover Story).
April 14, 2003... When the market peaked in 2000, the idea of a CRO was seen as the biggest thing since the Chief Information Officer. Now that leadership isn't synonymous with title and that enterprise risk management has become less of a fad, the title of...

Lloyd's and reform: happy together. (International).
April 14, 2003... At Lloyd's the watchword is transparency. Whether this and other seismic changes at one of the world's oldest, and most venerable, financial institutions will restore Lloyd's to its former lofty position is a question awaiting an answer. ...

The world of PRA models: when certainty does not exist, frequency and probability is the best we can do. (Global Reinsurance).
April 14, 2003... Probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) is the use of modeling applied to technology systems. The technique relies on the application of logic, such as fault-tree or event-tree analysis, or component failure databases, to arrive at a quantitative...

Reinsurance reappraisal. (Global Reinsurance).
April 14, 2003... Facing financial downgrades, reinsurance contraction and rate increases, primary insurance companies are judging their reinsurance business partners in new ways. Financial strength remains the critical component in buying decisions. But intense...

Bermuda strengthens its grip as a choice destination for global reinsurers: a half-dozen players have set up shop on the island since Sept. 11, 2001. (Global Insurance).
April 14, 2003... As the global reinsurance industry struggles with losses in the tens of billions of dollars in capacity over the past two years, Bermuda's favorable regulatory environment is once again attracting new players. At least a half-dozen...

How to survive a $700 million property loss. (Case Study).
April 14, 2003... You're in your $2.8 billion company world headquarters with some 6,000 other employees just 200 yards from New York City's World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. When the terrorist attack causes the twin 110-story towers to fall, your...

Want to speed up that purchase? The pitfalls of environmental insurance. (Environmental).
April 14, 2003... An environmental insurance policy may let lenders give a quicker go-ahead, but it won't replace a Phase I assessment. Property owners may be liable, for example, for risks not covered by the policy. Who isn't looking for the one pill that...

Asbestos: a $275-billion time bomb threatens more than just insurers. (Liability).
April 14, 2003... It's now expected that the total cost of asbestos litigation will far surpass all the direct and indirect costs of the World Trade Center attack. It could be more than double the cost of a war with Iraq. And it will no doubt toss scores of U.S....

D&O's perfect storm: corporate scandals, a bear market, and new federal laws converge to make this the toughest D&O market in decades. How risk managers cope. (Liability).
April 14, 2003... Ask Lance Ewing why director and officer insurance premiums are skyrocketing and he'll answer with a meteorological analogy. "Director and officer insurance had the Perfect Storm," says Ewing, executive director of risk management for Park...

Genetic testing: consumers fear it will be used to deny coverage and raise premiums; experts say testing today is too costly and infrequent to have any impact on underwriting. Reports of coverage denials are called "urban legends". (Insurance Executive).
April 14, 2003... Fifty years after the discovery of DNA's double helix, researchers are unraveling the mystery of human genetics. As they unlock the secrets of life, strand-by-strand, a set of ethical and moral questions have arisen about how to use this...

Hard market of soft, captives keep streaming into Vermont: deregulation, flight to quality, demand for complex risk financing make Vermont more attractive. (Special Supplement: Vermont Captives).
April 14, 2003... The continued and steady growth in the number of captive insurance companies and captive domiciles led the short list of top trends in today's alternative market in a random poll conducted recently by Risk & Insurance magazine. In a hard...

Vermont captives fill serious voids in today's markeplace: Vermont had its most successful year in 2002. (Special Supplement: Vermont Captives).
April 14, 2003... Despite recent calls from London and elsewhere for the insurance business to shed its cyclical tendencies, few doubt that boom-to-bust, hard- to soft-market insurance scenarios will linger. That's good news for the captive insurance...

Captives in Vermont: two decades of success; a felsty new englander paves the way for the green mountain state's rise to prominence. (Special Supplement: Vermont Captives).
April 14, 2003... George Chaffee was there at the beginning. To borrow from the lexicon of creation myths, he was a prime mover, a key man who asked the right questions at the right time, and made things happen. It was 23 years ago and George Chaffee was the...

Forming a captive: where to begin? (Special Supplement: Vermont Captives).
April 14, 2003... Pricing, taxes, coverage and a hard market make a case for captive formation. Driven to choose between traditional insurance and an alternative risk mechanism, why opt for a captive insurance scenario? Then again, why not? And why now, in...