Wrestling with a fork in the road: as carriers begin to update their outdated legacy claims systems, which platform insurers choose is less important than the architecture the system is built upon.
Today, the ability of an insurance carrier, third-party administrator or reinsurer to respond quickly, accurately and fairly to reported claims is more important than ever. Outdated legacy claims systems are becoming more costly to operate and often have cumbersome integration features. Increasingly, claims are being processed using browser-based technology,...

Wrapping up 2006: perhaps the most important claims-technology development this year has been that carriers are quietly abandoning the notion of building their own claims systems.
As the property/casualty industry closes its books on 2006, exciting advances in the area of claims-technology trends come to light. The year saw shifts in thinking toward the realization that technology can be a tool for profitability and better customer service, in addition to efficient claims processing. ...

What is the best way to reform the U.S. health care system?
Single payer is the way to go. The health care financing organ in the United States is failing. It has all the manifestations of a patient with heart failure. We have poor output, where we can't circulate health insurance to cover the entire population, so...

The E&S market softens up: the E&S market is softening, but a consensus as to whether it's gone soft is lacking. The biggest profits are expected to come from property-catastrophe areas.
The overall property/casualty insurance market has been showing signs of softening, but insiders in the excess and surplus lines market are cautiously optimistic about the state of the industry for 2007. In 2005, the surplus lines market remained fairly stable, despite the decline of the bull market...

RIMS 2006: hits and misses: floor traffic at the annual convention of the Risk and Insurance Management Society Inc. in April was down by as much as 30 percent, but there was still plenty of action, just not where you might have expected it.
MISS: LONG FLIGHTS For many attendees, this year's excursion involved traveling from the East Coast. Some, for better or worse, came with toddlers. Though these parents may have considered themselves good risk managers, planning for this trip a month in advance, mapping out the possible risks and...

What is the best way to reform the U.S. health care system?
A single-payer program is the way to go. The health care financing organ in the United States is failing. It has all the manifestations of a patient with heart failure. We have poor output, where we can't circulate health insurance to cover the entire population,...

Heating up: modeler adds wildfire peril model to the Safest Cities List mix for 2006. Rochester, N.Y., emerges as the nation's safest city.
Sacramento, Calif., no longer is No. 1 in safety from catastrophic property loss. San Diego is also out of the 10 Safest Cities list. And Phoenix was leapfrogged for the top spot. Why? This year, AIR Worldwide Corp., the Boston-based risk modeling firm, added the peril of wildfire to...

Malpractice myths and coverups.
Mention the subject of medical malpractice, and the debate will most likely focus on money-hungry patients exaggerating their frivolous injuries, evil insurance companies squeezing money from hard-working doctors, or a corrupt cabal of reckless physicians leaving wristwatches and sponges inside of every third patient. A study published...

Taking note, except in writing: climate change may be upon us. Investors are asking questions related to the economics of climate change, but few carriers have disclosed these risks in SEC filings.
The U.S. insurance industry is finally taking a closer look at the myriad perils emerging from the growing risk of climate change as it grapples with devastating weather-related losses that topped $100 billion over the past two years. While European reinsurers have spent a decade examining the...

Coming storms: method predicts intensity of U.S. hurricane seasons.
A new computer model that analyzes summer-wind patterns can predict whether the United States will suffer a damaging hurricane season, according to the scientists who developed the tool. Hurricanes are among nature's most destructive disasters. Eight of the 10 costliest U.S. calamities were hurricanes, says Mark A....