Insurance Networking News: Executive Strategies for Technology Management articles from July 2003

Insurance Networking News: Executive Strategies for Technology Management archives from July 2003

Digging For Retirement Gold.(insurance companies try to meet the financial planning needs of Baby Boomer retirees)
July 1, 2003... The Baby Boom generation is like a huge elephant walking through the economic, social, and psychological landscape of America, says Neal Slafsky, a financial planner in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., citing an analogy popularized by Ken Dychtwald, a...

E-Billing: Just What The Doctor Ordered.(Humana Inc. implements electronic billing system)
July 1, 2003... Humana needed to replace its outdated billing system that relied mostly on paper and snail mail. Today Humana offers its employer-group customers an easy-to-use e-billing alternative that's available in real-time on the Internet. Back in...

Small Business Remains A Challenge.(for insurers, agents and third-party providers of small-business insurance)
July 1, 2003... When the economy cools down as it has in the last few years, small businesses typically are the first commercial entities to reduce costs, with many scaling back expenses such as comprehensive business owners insurance. These tactics might...

Have We Reached The Turning Point?(Editorial)
July 1, 2003... At the midpoint of 2003, researchers are busy analyzing business activity during the first half of the year and providing their forecasts for the next six months and beyond. Technology is one segment that's drawn much attention from experts,...

Financial Convergence: Bank One/Zurich Deal: An Investment For The Long Term.(Bank One Corp. acquires Zurich Life Insurance Agency Inc.)
July 1, 2003... In an effort to become comprehensive financial service providers, some large insurers have taken an aggressive approach by forming their own banks. Banks, on the other hand, have carried out insurance expansion more conservatively-mainly...

Technology Investment: Carriers' IT Spending Creeping Back Upward.
July 1, 2003... At the recent ACORD technology conference, keynote speaker Larry Downes offered a theory that information technology spending shouldn't be curtailed just because operating conditions are poor. Downes, a technology strategist, noted that...

IN Focus.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... IT Spending: After an 8% drop in 2002, carriers IT budgets will grow modestly in 2003, and continue to climb annually through 2006. Emphasis: Spending on IT services consumes more than 50% of carriers' total IT budgets. ...

Calendar.(Calendar)
July 1, 2003... International Insurance Society Inc.'s 39th Annual Conference When: July 11-16 Where: Waldorf-Astoria, New York City www.iisonline.org 2003 Variable Annuities Summit Sponsor: Financial Research Associates LLC When:...

Business Alliances.
July 1, 2003... Lawson Teams With Velocity And Verizon Lawson Software, St. Paul, Minn., has forged a strategic alliance with managed hosting provider Velocity Outsourcing, a subsidiary of New York-based Eisner LLP. The alliance will enable insurance...

IN Focus.(Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Rhode Island)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... At Issue: Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island is transforming itself from a claims processor into a health and wellness company. The Solution: The health plan is outsourcing all IT and business process functions associated...

Contracts.(insurance information technology companies)(Directory)
July 1, 2003... The Contracts Update section includes announcements of contracts insurance information technology companies have signed with customers in recent weeks. Contract news can be faxed to Insurance Networking magazine at (312) 913-1366 or by...

Increased Spending Predicted: Riding The Offshore Wave.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... The number of offshore firms with insurance-specific skills and clear success stories has risen dramatically in the past three years. Because of these factors, offshore IT spending by North American insurance carriers will increase from $695...

Potential Offshore Savings.(for insurance carriers)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... (Amounts in millions) Annual IT Spending Potential Savings 2004 $20,600 $1,973 2005 $21,600 $2,047 2006 $24,192 $2,272 Carriers will fail to...

Insurers Strive To Make Thrifts Thrive: Stressing the basics and relying on agents, insurance company-sponsored banks have registered impressive growth over a two-year period. Can it last?
July 1, 2003... For many consumer-goods providers, one-stop shopping has long been regarded as the pinnacle of customer relationship management (CRM). But some have learned that offering one-stop shopping-as all encompassing as it can be-comes equipped with...

IN Focus.(banks operated by insurance companies)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... At Issue: As financial services convergence picks up, insurance company-sponsored banks are beginning to emerge as large carriers leverage their existing customer base to provide one-stop shopping. Experts' Advice: Banks operated...

Carrier-Operated Banks Sift for Selling Opportunities.(insurance agents selling bank products)
July 1, 2003... Although insurers may be tempted to offer the full gamut of banking products and services, there are a finite number of products and services that consumers will acquire-with confidence-from insurance companies, industry observers say. "A...

Not All Agents Bank on Insurers' Strategy.(Lee Gaudette is among agents who don't find meaningful selling bank products to insurance customers for Insurebanc)
July 1, 2003... If Lee Gaudette, a third-generation independent agent based in Worcester, Mass., had a nickel for all the good reasons he doesn't sell banking products to his customers, he could probably open his own bank. Gaudette's sentiments are...

IN Focus.(retirement planning tools developed for growing Baby Boomers population)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... At Issue: Seventy-eight million Baby Boomers are at the cusp of their retirement years. Insurers must compete with other financial services institutions to capture or retain retirement assets in an $11 trillion market. In Response:...

Noodle Nurtures Its Partnerships.
July 1, 2003... Although many insurers are taking the necessary steps internally to grow their books of business, many realize that they need to look outward and align with third-party distribution channels that have developed their own internal IT...

After the Shakeout, Survivors Stake Their Claim.(small-business insurance core players)
July 1, 2003... In May 2001, eWausau.com, the Web property serving small-business customers developed by Wausau, Wis.-based Wausau Insurance, was shut down after executives at the company realized that small-business owners were reluctant to use the Web to...

The Hartford Adds More Real-Time Functions For Agents.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Agents doing business with The Hartford Financial Services Group, Hartford, Conn., now can quote and request issuance of small commercial workers' compensation business in real-time directly from their agency management system. The new...

DORIS And InStar Roll Out Real-Time With IVANS.(Doris Insurance Systems LLC and InStar Corp.)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... DORIS and InStar agents can now conduct real-time service transactions with insurance companies for billing, policy, claims and loss runs using ACORD XML View transactions through the IVANS Transformation Station. DORIS Insurance Systems LLC.,...

ING Introduces MoneyMentor.com.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... ING's U.S. Financial Services, an Atlanta-based unit of ING Groep N.V., The Netherlands, has launched ING MoneyMentor.com, a Web site where consumers can access interactive segments about personal financial issues. ING signed AOL Time Warner...

AMS Expands Reach Of TransactNOW.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... With the addition of eight new carriers and the policy view inquiry transaction, AMS Services Inc., Windsor, Conn., has expanded TransactNOW, its new interface product that enables AMS customers to process business transactions with carriers...

Travelers Works With AMS.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Hartford, Conn.-based Travelers Property Casualty has made electronic policy view available with AMS Services Inc., Windsor, Conn., via TransactNOW, a product that enables interface communication between carriers, agents and the AMS Services...

IN Focus.(Humana Inc. benefits from e-billing )(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Case Study: Humana Inc. At Issue: Providing e-Billing capabilities for Humana's employer groups. The Benefits: A full gamut of e-billing capabilities, including "bill at a glance," invoice display, invoice payment and...

Humana Introduces ID/Credit Card.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Humana Inc. employees with flexible spending accounts (FSAs) or health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) will have a combined health plan identification and payment card to access account funds. Louisville, Ky.-based Humana plans to make the...

Penn National Partners with Rackley.(Penn National Insurance and Rackley Systems Inc.)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Harrisburg, Pa.-based property/casualty insurer Penn National Insurance has partnered with Rackley Systems Inc., Pulaski, Tenn., to bring Penn National's agents a .NET Web rating tool. Provided as an additional feature of the company's...

InsureMyTrip Adds International SOS Coverage.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Commack, N.Y.-based online travel insurance provider, InsureMyTrip.com, has added International SOS Assistance Inc. to its offerings. The new service provides medical assistance and transportation to travelers should they experience an illness...

Zurich NA Puts Customer Billing Online.(Zurich North America Insurance Co.)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Zurich North America Small Business has added a Direct Bill Web site to its company Web site accessible at www.zurichna.com. The new site gives agents and brokers direct online access to their customers' billing information, including the...

Selecting the Right Partner.(Humana Inc. chose edocs Inc. to build electronic billing software)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... When Humana Inc. began looking for electronic billing software, it narrowed a field of five or six vendors down to two or three finalists. Then, the health insurance giant called Gartner Inc., a Stamford, Conn.-based technology research and...

At a Glance: Humana Inc.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Headquarters: Louisville, Ky. Revenues: $11.3 billion in 2002 Income: $143 million in 2002 Members: 6.6 million in medical insurance programs Employees: 13,000 Major Business Lines: Commercial and Government Copyright...

Rebuild, Replace Or Modernize?(legacy systems)
July 1, 2003... As legacy applications move through their life cycle, they frequently evolve from assets that manage key processes and information to liabilities that drain time and resources. As a result, these applications become increasingly more difficult...