Risk & Insurance articles from April 2006

Risk & Insurance archives from April 2006

Keep homeland honcho.
April 1, 2006... Critics of U.S. Homeland Secretary Mike Chertoff, including the respected New Orleans Times-Picayune, want his head and have called for his ouster. Given the disastrous response of the federal government in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the...

D&O interest on the rise.(NEWS & NOTES)
April 1, 2006... Half of all public and private companies have received directors' and officers' liability insurance inquiries from their board members, according to the D&O Liability 2005 Survey on Claims and Insurance Purchasing Trends by the Tillinghast...

Reform group grows.(NEWS & NOTES)
April 1, 2006... Trade association Agents for Change, a group of agents and brokers pushing for the enactment of an optional federal insurance charter, has exceeded the 1,000-member mark. Such a charter would allow producers and insurers the option of being...

Aon out of Iran.(NEWS & NOTES)
April 1, 2006... Insurance broker Aon Corp. has suspended indefinitely all business activities involving Iran. As of April 1, neither Aon nor any of its subsidiaries will maintain an office in Iran, nor will they do work for government or businesses domiciled...

New coalition formed.(NEWS & NOTES)
April 1, 2006... A coalition of risk retention groups has been formed to protect the interest of RRGs. The group, American Risk Retention Coalition, is a stand-alone affiliate of the Self Insurance Institute of America.

Drop in insurer failures.(NEWS & NOTES)
April 1, 2006... The number and size of insurer failures fell in 2005, according to Standard & Poor's. In a new report, the ratings agency found that 16 insurers were put under regulatory supervision in 2005, compared with 19 in 2004 and 28 in 2003. Of the 16...

Settlement values up.(NEWS & NOTES)
April 1, 2006... The total value of securities class action settlements reached $3.5 billion in 2005, up 17 percent over 2004, according to Cornerstone Research.

Corrections.(Correction notice)
April 1, 2006... In the Power Broker listings in the February 2006 issue of Risk & Insurance[R], broker Catha Pavloff's name was spelled incorrectly (page 36). The correct spelling, Pavloff, appears here. In addition, the name of broker Freeman Wade, also known...

Upcoming events.(Calendar)
April 1, 2006... APRIL 11 Schiff's Insurance Conference "The Dirty Work." This program, the annual Schiff's Insurance Conference, offers brutally frank commentary and spirited debate on the major insurance issues of the day. This year's program...

The Cali drug war: a drug loophole has severe side effects for the California workers' comp system.(UPFRONT: News, Updates and Other Emerging Strategies from Around the World)
April 1, 2006... Beware of what you wish for. Workers' comp regulators in California, trying to contain medical costs, introduced in early 2004 a tough drug fee schedule, reducing reimbursement to the lowest level in the country. Entrepreneurs then seized upon...

Early marks on TRIEA: dust is settling after last year's debate. Carriers may not like what they see, Will buyers?(UPFRONT: News, Updates and Other Emerging Strategies from Around the World)
April 1, 2006... Terrorism insurance capacity is already more restricted because property capacity is shrinking in general, said Aaron Davis, vice president of property syndication at Aon Risk Services. Now with the Terrorism Risk Insurance Extension Act,...

Marsh arts brokers jump to DeWitt Stern: an exodus of expertise in insuring the fine arts is a boon for one brokerage, a bust for another.(UPFRONT: News, Updates and Other Emerging Strategies from Around the World)
April 1, 2006... Numerous collectors, museums and galleries that have long placed their fine arts risk through Marsh & McLennan Cos. have recently had to reassess their placement options. In a development that sent a not-so-small tipple through the arts...

The soft side of executive scandals: D&O coverage seems more important these days, and luckily, it's cheap.(UPFRONT: News, Updates and Other Emerging Strategies from Around the World)
April 1, 2006... Bernard Ebbers, Dennis Kozlowski, John Rigas--if these big dogs can tumble from corporate power to ignominy, then any director or officer can. This realization seems to be on many company leaders' minds, according to the D&O Liability 2005...

Follow the money.(BENEFITS)
April 1, 2006... That's always been good advice for investigative journalists, but it's also turning into good guidance for human resource executives, employee benefits managers and risk managers as they look for new ways to integrate their cost-containment...

Don't we all need safe harbor?(ROGER ON RISK)
April 1, 2006... One of the skills required of public company executives is the ability to hold up their end at quarterly earnings broadcasts. Following prepared statements, the execs answer questions from an audience usually composed of analysts, bankers and...

No 'tiers' for big three.(BROKERAGE)
April 1, 2006... Tom Golub, the young and energetic president of Beecher Carlson, is a realist with a keen sense of place in the brokerage business, a man who knows as much about what he can't do well as what he can do well for his customers. "Customer,"...

A guide to useful research.(WORKERS' COMP)
April 1, 2006... So that you don't have to, I spend a lot of time peering into management and research journals and e-mailing the authors, most of whom respond with grace. Every year, maybe 10 articles appear truly worthy of attention by the workers' comp...

Hooray for hurricanes.(RISK MANAGEMENT)
April 1, 2006... Risk professionals should be happy that Hurricane Katrina caused so much damage. While it would be improper to express this happiness in mixed company, a disaster of this magnitude is very good for the profession as a whole, even if it did...

A key man's imprint: Michel Rodrigue, the risk point man for the acquisitive Canadian commercial printer, Transcontinental Inc., is responsible for integrating risk management across a vast printing empire.(Cover story)
April 1, 2006... Michel Rodrigue, director of risk management at fast-track Canadian printer and publisher Transcontinental Inc., is hurtling along the Trans-Canada Highway in his blue 2004 Buick Rendezvous sport utility vehicle, 45 minutes more to go to reach...

Aloha Pacific RIM(S): it's not every day you get a chance to meet, learn and network in paradise, so you might as well take advantage of it.(RIMS PREVIEW)
April 1, 2006... RIMS 2006 will be held later this month in Honolulu on the lovely island of Oahu. With any luck, you might find yourself with a free afternoon to take in the lush scenery or grab a bite to eat, such as a mixed-plate special--an island...

A life of mergers still pending: with less revenue from traditional products, the life insurance business is providing fertile ground for consolidation. The next shakeout wave will pair prominent European players with U.S.-based insurers.(BENEFITS)
April 1, 2006... Twenty years ago a colleague said that pending consolidation would make the U.S. life insurance sector an exciting and dynamic place to build a career. His words proved to be prescient: there have been many mergers and acquisitions among U.S....

The big squeeze: reinsurers are squeezing primary carriers. Primary carriers are pinching their clients. Brokers are desperate to scrape together as much capacity as they can. Welcome to the merry-go-round of 2006.(PROPERTY/CASUALTY)
April 1, 2006... Feeling a little pinched in the wallet, are you, oh, commercial buyers? Taking a big gulp of fresh air before sitting down with your chief financial officers? Don't despair. You're not alone. Just in case you haven't heard by now, there's a...

Slicing both ways: SEC executive pay disclosure is a double-edged sword. Proposed new rules will mean more disclosure, but may also lead to more directors' and officers' claims.(D&O)
April 1, 2006... Shareholders of publicly traded companies are showing more interest in executive compensation, and with the Securities and Exchange Commission's proposed rule changes on compensation disclosure, they're about to learn a lot more. ...

Buying out liabilities: with the management of environmental risk no longer limited to an engineering function, risk executives have options when it comes to risk transfer.(SPECIAL REPORT: ENVIRONMENTAL)
April 1, 2006... Recently, much has been written on the topic of liability buyouts in the context of environmental risk. The heightened demand for a liability buyout transaction is being driven to a great extent by the increasingly sophisticated market for the...

Legacy liabilities: an electronics manufacturer gets the jolt of a lifetime when it finds the competitor it has bought comes with some expensive underground environmental liabilities.(SPECIAL REPORT: ENVIRONMENTAL)
April 1, 2006... When AG Electronics in 2002 purchased El Camino Systems, a much larger and older competitor, it was justifiably proud of the progress it had made in less than ten years of operation. (The names of the companies have been changed.) As a...

Printing pressed from all sides: globalization may leave some printing business executives in a cold sweat. But companies with a clear vision, and a strong risk manager to oversee its deployment, see the risks as opportunities.(INDUSTRY RISK REPORT: PRINTING)(Company overview)
April 1, 2006... Newly installed Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke, in his first appearance on Capitol Hill, said, with hands folded firmly on the table in front of him, that dealing with the myriad influences of globalization will be his toughest...

Here today, gone tomorrow: the directors' and officers' insurance market has grown, as the risk of rescission and securities settlements climb in the wake of regulatory investigations.(D&O)
April 1, 2006... Recruiting qualified individuals to serve as directors has always been a paramount concern for public companies, and the possibility of personal exposure of directors has always been a significant consideration in the decision to serve. Many of...

Directory: third-party administrators.(Directory)
April 1, 2006... DIRECTORY THIRD-PARTY ADMINISTRATORS Below are paid listings of third-parry administrators (TPAs) according to the types of claims they handle: health care; disability; workers' comp; managed care automation; software automation;...

Property/casualty.(INSURANCE)
April 1, 2006... GE Insurance Solutions has announced a new primary insurance product designed for specific segments of the hotel industry. Offered through Klein Insurance Services of West Paterson, N.J., and available only through insurance agents and brokers,...

Public entities.(INSURANCE)
April 1, 2006... The Florida League of Cities has announced a new insurance initiative called The Alliance. This partnership will provide Florida public entities with an array of insurance coverage and service options that will enable them to design custom...

Specialty cover.(INSURANCE)
April 1, 2006... Philadelphia Insurance Cos. has announced it is offering a new product for fitness and wellness studio operators. It will focus on storefront risks for facilities that offer one-on-one fitness training or group fitness training in the areas of...

Health management.(Software)
April 1, 2006... Guided2Health (formerly known as Managed Care 2000+) has introduced a new component in its suite of fully integrated medical management programs for serf-insured employers. The new program, called Guided2Health Wellness, aims to reduce chronic...

Compliance.(Software)
April 1, 2006... LexisNexis U.S., a leading provider of information and services, has announced the launch of LexisNexis Insurance Compliance. This solution combines LexisNexis content with insight, expertise and analysis in a single easy-to-use Web-based...

Health management.(Technology)
April 1, 2006... The Alcott Group has unveiled a new service, ZivaGuide. This subscription-based service provides individuals with access to unbiased, personalized, customized and localized health-care information and enables them to create customized health...

Business continuity.(Technology)
April 1, 2006... STORServer, manufacturer of the all-in-one suite of Business Continuity Appliances, has begun offering its most comprehensive disaster recovery consulting services to date. The new Disaster Recovery Planning and Support service will provide...

Policy administration.(Technology)
April 1, 2006... Unify Corp., a provider of business automation solutions, has announced the availability of the NavRisk Policy Administration Portal, a Web-based, secure environment that extends NavRisk policy and underwriting information to an insurer's...

Litigation risk.(Technology)
April 1, 2006... ARMA International has developed a tool to help uncover an organization's risk in litigation and e-discovery. ARMA International's Risk Profiler Serf-Assessment for E-Discovery was developed with content expertise from LECG. This tool...

New York State Insurance Fund.(EXECUTIVE MOVES)
April 1, 2006... New York State Insurance Fund Chairman Terence L. Morris and the Board of Commissioners announced they have named Workers' Compensation Board Chairman as executive director of the State Insurance Fund. Wehner, nominated by Governor George E....

Genworth Financial Inc.(EXECUTIVE MOVES)
April 1, 2006... Genworth Financial Inc. has named Samuel D. Marsico senior vice president and chief risk officer, the firm has announced. Marsico most recently was chief risk officer of the company's mortgage insurance business. Before joining Genworth, he had...

Insurity.(EXECUTIVE MOVES)
April 1, 2006... Insurity, a provider of business-processing services and technology to the property/casualty insurance industry, has hired Sergio Oyola as regional vice president, sales, and Mark Menard as client executive, compliance reporting. Oyola will...

American International Group Inc.(EXECUTIVE MOVES)
April 1, 2006... American International Group Inc. has announced that Charles Williamson has been appointed president of the AIG Private Client Group, which serves the insurance and risk management needs of high-net-worth individuals. Christopher L. Sparro...

Lane Co.(EXECUTIVE MOVES)
April 1, 2006... Lane Co., a full-service real-estate company, has named Sue Mitro as director of risk management. Mitro joined the firm in July 2005 as risk manager, and distinguished herself in handling the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. She has more than 20...

AIG.(EXECUTIVE MOVES)
April 1, 2006... AIG has also named Rodney O. Martin Jr. chief operating officer of AIG's worldwide life insurance business. Martin will remain chairman, president and CEO of AIG American General Life Cos. and AIG executive vice president, life insurance.

By the numbers: (un)safe workplace.
April 1, 2006... Top 10 Causes of Workplace Injuries in 2003 1--Overexertion 2--Fails on Same Level 3--Bodily Reaction (1) 4--Fails to Lower Level 5--Struck by Object 6--Repetitive Motion 7--Highway Incident 8--Struck...

Diatribe 'degrading'.(LETTERS TO THE EDITOR)(Letter to the editor)
April 15, 2006... Dear Editor, I found myself remotely interested in (Roger Crombie's) diatribe about the fictitious TV show regarding Hurricanes, et al (Risk & Insurance[R], Jan. 1, 2006, page 13) until I found his very degrading remark about our current...

Interjections unwelcome.(LETTERS TO THE EDITOR)(Letter to the editor)
April 15, 2006... Dear Editor, I see no matter the subject, individuals still have to interject Liberalism and their own narrow-minded views, even a columnist for Risk & Insurance[R]. There was absolutely no reason to characterize a "cleavage-heavy bimbo"...

Assertions painful.(LETTERS TO THE EDITOR)(Letter to the editor)
April 15, 2006... (Ed. note: The writer's comments are directed at columnist Peter Rousmaniere, regarding his March 2006 column in Risk & Insurance[R], page 14.) Dear Editor, You are not a doctor and you have no clue as to what was going on with this...

RIMS 2006.
April 15, 2006... For those lucky risk executives now enjoying the annual RIMS convention in Honolulu, what does this year's conference have to say about the state of the Risk and Insurance Management Society? From the RIMS members that I've talked with...

Upcoming events.(Calendar)
April 15, 2006... APRIL 18-20 2006 TPA & MGU/ Excess Insurer Executive Forum The Self-Insurance Institute of America's TPA & MGU/ Excess Insurer Executive Forum provides a learning and networking environment for third-party administrator and...

Workers' comp coincidence? Study: states with best workers' comp outcomes have lowest medical costs.(UPFRONT: News, Updates and Other Emerging Strategies from Around the Word)
April 15, 2006... Spending more on medical care for injured workers doesn't necessarily translate to better medical outcomes. That's one finding from a new study that compared key outcomes for injured workers in seven diverse states. The research showed that...

Set-asides go skyward: Medicare's drug benefit creates sticker shock in WC settlements.(UPFRONT: News, Updates and Other Emerging Strategies from Around the Word)
April 15, 2006... Those extra zeros you notice on the next Medicare set-aside agreement you see probably aren't typos. The prescription drug plan that took effect this year for Medicare recipients is sending workers' comp settlement amounts through the roof,...

Katrinas all around? Effects of global warming may be worse than thought.(UPFRONT: News, Updates and Other Emerging Strategies from Around the Word)
April 15, 2006... Two recent scientific reports should put global warming back on the front burner of the insurance industry's consciousness, and maybe its conscience. Both articles show that the world's ice sheets are melting quicker than anticipated, leading...

No winging it: an eating contest is not hard to swallow.(UPFRONT: News, Updates and Other Emerging Strategies from Around the Word)
April 15, 2006... It was sloppy good fun, according to press reports. This year's Wing Bowl, an eating contest that takes place every February in Philadelphia, starred such contestants as Dr. Slob, Wing Tutt and Dave the Dumpster. They rode on floats not quite...

A mixed bag of numbers.(RISK STATS)
April 15, 2006... Below are questions and results from the survey of about 100 property/ casualty industry leaders who attended the 10th Annual Property/Casualty Insurance Joint Industry Forum in New York earlier this year Do you expect improvement in...

Talkin' Toms: Tom Golub, CEO of Beecher Carlson, says the marketplace has developed into a free-agent market where brokerage firms have to earn the loyalty and commitment of customers.(BROKERS: People, Ideas and Trends shaping the Brokerage Community)(Interview)
April 15, 2006... Risk & Insurance[R] writer Thomas Slattery recently met with Thomas A. Golub, president and CEO of Beecher Carlson, at the broker's Atlanta headquarters. The conversation ranged through the fallout from the Spitzer probe to marketplace trends....

U.K. broker battle.(BROKER NEWS & NOTES)
April 15, 2006... U.K. broker Aon Ltd. has threatened legal action against fellow broker Heath Lambert, on the grounds that Heath Lambert improperly recruited Aon employees based in Newcastle, northern England. The action is also directed at former Aon employees...

HRH acquires Zutz.(BROKER NEWS & NOTES)
April 15, 2006... Hilb Rogal & Hobbs is acquiring Zutz Associates, an independently owned insurance agency in Delaware. Zutz specializes in professional liability insurance for associations. Its gross revenues in 2005 were approximately $11.3 million, with...

JLT restructures.(BROKER NEWS & NOTES)
April 15, 2006... Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group PLC, in reporting a 23.3 percent drop in pretax profits for 2005 to 73.8 million [pounds sterling] ($126.9 million), said it is restructuring some of its operations. The London-based brokerage has announced it will...

Brokers honored by Lloyd's: Lloyd's of London has recognized two U.S. brokers for their contribution to the Lloyd's market.(BROKERS: People, Ideas and Trends shaping the Brokerage Community)
April 15, 2006... Garry Edwards, senior vice president and western region leader for the major accounts property practice of Glen Allen, Va.-based Hilb Rogal & Hobbs Co., was named Lloyd's 2005 surplus lines broker of the year. William H. Eyre Jr., managing...

Lockton Cos.(BROKER MOVES)
April 15, 2006... Lockton Cos. Inc., the Kansas City, Mo.-based privately owned insurance broker, has opened a New York retail office. Michael Calabrese The New York office is being led by Co-Presidents MICHAEL CALABRESE and GARRETT MATHIESON, who join Lockton...

Willis Group Holdings Ltd.(BROKER MOVES)
April 15, 2006... Willis Group Holdings Ltd. has announced the appointment of DEREK A. SMYTH as chief financial officer of Derek A. Smyth the company's North American operations. Smyth, based in New York City, joins Willis from General Electric Co., where he...

Captive to regulation: be ready for investigation, expects say.(UPFRONT: News, Updates and Other Emerging Strategies from Around the Word)
April 15, 2006... Offshore captive insurance companies and third-party claims administrators could become targets for state regulators, and captive risk executives who think they can sweep compliance issues under the table are in big trouble, according to...

Transparency leaves some domiciles in a fix: fixed costs on the rise for fees to run a captive, new and small firms feel the brunt.
April 15, 2006... New transparency laws have helped jack up costs for professional services to a level where they have now become a "material" issue, particularly for smaller firms, captive insurance experts said. Accountants, consultants and actuaries are...

How to avoid getting scalped.(WORKER'S COMP)
April 15, 2006... I've never been enthusiastic about state-based medical fee schedules but my experience with ambulatory surgical centers is making me change my mind. Here's why. Surgery may consume 10 percent of medical costs of workers' comp. The most...

Au Revoir, Oahu.(ROGER ON RISK)
April 15, 2006... RIMS, as you know, is in Hawaii this year. At first, I was going; then I wasn't; then I was; and now I'm not. I have become the Zen mountain of insurance. Talk about your long strange trips--I have been trying to get to Honolulu since November....

Buffett less than 'oracular'.(BROKERAGE)
April 15, 2006... Far be it from me to wrestle with angels or, for that matter, to grapple with oracles, especially the one from Omaha. Still, some recent observations from Warren Buffer can't pass without comment in a space devoted to the travails and triumphs...

The flaws of arbitration.(THE LAW)
April 15, 2006... Today's subject is arbitration and why you should avoid it. Blasphemy you say? Read on to find out why court litigation before a judge sitting without a jury may be preferable. Recently, I found myself before an appellate court trying to vacate...

Liability: design changes afoot.(RISK PRIMER)
April 15, 2006... Perhaps one of the more vexing risk management issues that arise in construction projects is the professional liability exposure for design professionals, also known as architects, and construction managers. Architects have significant...

Spinning a cytokine storm: the likelihood of an avian flu pandemic is the subject of raging expert debate. Alarmists claim corporate America isn't doing enough to protect itself. Skeptics point to interests vested in whipping up hysteria. Either way, we have "been warned," says Michael Leavitt, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.(Cover story)
April 15, 2006... A deadly virus sweeps through towns across the globe, wiping out millions of people in days. Victims suffer from high fever. They're left gasping for air. It sounds like a plot from a Stephen King novel. The problem is that this isn't...

The avian contingency: some of the biggest names in the corporate world have decided it's wiser to develop a plan they may not need than to find out too late they need a plan they don't have.
April 15, 2006... For Wilmington, Del.-based specialty-chemicals manufacturer DuPont Co., the risk of a pandemic has been just too big to ignore. Although businesses like DuPont have contingency plans for natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes,...

Model apocalypse: the modeling firm Risk Management Solutions comes up with a new probabilistic influenza Pandemic Risk Model. Out of it comes one doozie of a scenario.
April 15, 2006... It begins on January 9, 2007. That's when the H5N1 virus goes global, mutating so that it can be passed from one human to the next. Seven days later, a cluster of 30 unusual flu cases appears in the state of Penang in Malaysia. This cluster is...

Flying on a wing and a prayer: avian flu losses sail below, above and between existing policies. Just how far coverage extends is anyone's guess.
April 15, 2006... Let's face it, insurance simply doesn't cover three of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Yes, life insurance does cover death. But when it comes to war, famine and pestilence--a contagious, epidemic disease that is virulent and...

Facing killer terms: life insurers face massive payouts in the event of an outbreak of the avian flu. There is a silver lining as well: there would be a spike in demand for new life policies from survivors of the cytokine storm.
April 15, 2006... Life insurers have good reason to be alarmed by the prospect of an influenza pandemic. While just about every sector of the economy would experience a loss of sales and financial hardship in a pandemic, life insurers would be especially...

Avian. Flu@edu: with so many people living in such close quarters, colleges and universities "act like giant petri dishes" in which a virus can grow and mutate. The paradox of some pandemics is that they are more likely to kill the healthiest among us.
April 15, 2006... Like a Rorschach inkblot test, merely mention college students and our first thoughts are of boisterous parties, out-of-control drinking and a "what, me worry?" attitude. Who would suspect that this healthy, invincible age group would also be...

Targets of the avian trigger: travel, tourism, the poultry business and the hospitality sectors are especially vulnerable, according to analysts.
April 15, 2006... No business would have an easy time of it during an influenza pandemic. In addition to high employee absentee rates, companies might have to deal with disruptions to essential services like electricity and garbage collection as well as...

Employers play benefits card: employers intent on cutting or capping employee benefits costs are finding organized labor still a force to be reckoned with, despite shrinking membership.(BENEFITS)
April 15, 2006... Highly publicized recent attempts to contain costs were stymied by labor roadblocks for Wal-Mart, Delphi and New York City Mass Transit Authority. The Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association is exploring ways to protect employee pensions,...

The carve-out solution: for years, it made sense to pool retirees with active employees for health-care benefits. But retirees today live longer and prescription-drug expenditures are increasing at a significant rate, driving explosive health-care costs. Bottom line: it's time for a new strategy.(BENEFITS)
April 15, 2006... In 2005, General Motors spent $5.4 billion for health-care benefits, with 70 percent of the cost going to cover retirees. This overhead adds more than $1,500 to the sticker price for each vehicle GM produces--making health insurance more costly...

'Premium' wars: the cold war over high-net-worth clients goes hot. Just who are AIG, Chubb and Fireman's Fund fighting over?(PROPERTY/CASUALTY)
April 15, 2006... In the rolling hills of eastern Pennsylvania sits a two-story home on 10 acres of land. This is shelter, but not for just anyone. It is shelter that belongs to members of a class the insurance industry likes to call the "mass affluent." In...

Unlocking the identity puzzle: are your customers friend or foe? Insurance companies and a variety of other industries are required to take precautions against accidentally doing business with terrorists and other enemies of state. But global language differences can make this a daunting rule to comply with.(COMPLIANCE)
April 15, 2006... In November 2005, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, promulgated regulations for the insurance industry stemming from the Bank Secrecy Act and USA PATRIOT Act of 2001. The purpose of these regulations is simply to plug all...

Traction troubles: more than three years after the introduction of consumer-directed health plans, the jury is still out. Several factors are influencing enrollees' satisfaction levels.(HEALTH CARE)
April 15, 2006... Consumer-directed health plans, designed to slow health-care cost increases by making consumers more aware of the cost of healthcare services by having them accept higher deductibles, combined with savings accounts through which they pay for...

The taste of bittersweet: workers' comp rates have stabilized, but the cost per claim is surging and the gains of 2005 are under attack this year.(WORKERS' COMP)
April 15, 2006... The workers' compensation community has seen a push for much-needed reforms in recent years, and in 2005, many of these efforts began to yield positive results. However, as we move forward in 2006, many of these reforms are under siege in...

From promises to prime time: early adopters got into the Web-services game a while ago, but most insurers took a wait-and-see stance and held off for proof of performance. The time may now be ripe to get on board--but jumping on without a good strategy could make for a rough ride.(TECHNOLOGY)
April 15, 2006... Decades ago, wine maker Paul Masson's spokesman, Orson Welles, proudly proclaimed, "We will sell no wine before its time." After all, a good wine requires more than a quality grape; it requires an adequate fermentation process, proper storage,...

Quiet tension: decreased fatality statistics have helped keep prices fairly soft, but the nation's aging infrastructure is forcing some highway authorities to retain more risk. That may foreshadow future hardening of prices.(INLAND MARINE)
April 15, 2006... In the inland marine marketplace, contradictory forces are at work. First, the good news: relatively speaking, fatality rates on the road have been going down. Now, the bad news: the nation's infrastructure is aging. In the eyes of the...

Nuke Duke to step aside: Quentin Jackson, president of Nuclear Electric Insurance Ltd., steps aside in June. His departure ushers in a new era as successor David Ripsom takes the helm.(RISK & INSURANCE[R]: SPECIAL REPORT: CATASTROPHIC RISK)
April 15, 2006... Quentin Jackson may not have led the nation's nuclear power utilities to the promised land, but he certainly has led them through their time in the wilderness. Jackson is widely credited as the guiding force for the Nuclear Electric...