Indiana’s request for exemption from the medical loss ratio rule is denied

Earlier in the year, Indiana’s Department of Insurance submitted an official request to the federal government seeking to free the state’s insurance companies from the medical loss ratio requirement of the Affordable Care Act. The health care law dictates that all insurers should spend no less than 80% of the money they collect on premiums on improving medical care. According to the law, if companies fail to meet the requirement, they must return the money to consumers. Indiana’s request for an exemption from the rule has been denied by the…

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Insurance agents and carriers bring their mobiles with them everywhere

A study conducted by FirstBest Systems, Inc. has shown that the majority of insurance agents and carriers either want or already use a tablet computer, and that virtually all of them have a minimum of one smartphone, and that they all want to have convenient information access, to be able to be able to perform tasks of a time sensitive nature quickly and easily, and to offer superior service no matter where they are or what time it is. FirstBest performed the Mobile Technology for Insurance Survey while taking part…

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Insurance agents advised to create customer contact with social media tools

Social media and mobile commerce are becoming increasingly popular among business owners and insurance agents are being advised not to miss the lesson that has been learned by more than half of all business owners already. According to a survey called SB Authority Market Sentiment Survey, performed by Newtek Business Services, The Small Business Authority, which has more than 100,000 business accounts in its portfolio – 2,200 of which were polled – 57 percent of business owners are already working to bring in new customers through the use of social…

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Insurance Technologies LLC receives Most Compelling Case Study Award for the year

Financial services industry sales automation solutions provider, Insurance Technologies LLC, has received the award for the Most Compelling Case Study in 2011, the ACORD Award. The recipient of the award was announced in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at the ACORD Implementation Forum conference. Insurance Technologies received the award in recognition of the role it has played in standardizing eLabels – that is, tag values and instances – for any document which can be filled throughout a transaction with ACORD. Every year, the member partners of ACORD who have shown innovative development…

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Auto insurance companies may face a revenue reduction of $15 following a rating error

According to an error report published by Quality Planning, an estimated $15.4 billion in revenue was missed by the private passenger auto insurance industry in 2010 as a result of misinformation with policyholders. Quality Planning is an organization that provides data validation of policyholders for auto insurance companies. It produces its premium rating error report on an annual basis, quantifying the discrepancies and errors that can lead to the undercharging of policyholders by their auto insurance companies. Highlights of the report include the following: • When compared with 2008, the…

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