Posted by
Stephanie Castro
on
11/30/2011 at 12:24 PM
From November 14 to 17, 2011, San Diego was home to the 31st IRMI Construction Risk Conference. Representatives from VUE Software, a proud sponsor of the event, attended to participate in conversations about this year’s most important construction risk management issues.
Nearly 1200 attendees from the nation’s construction insurers, brokers, contractors, and construction management firms were present. It was a great opportunity for VUE Software representatives to meet with clients of its VUE Wrap-Up Management solution, the preeminent technology available for administering OCIP and CCIP programs. Client Turner Surety and Insurance Brokerage sponsored the popular internet café, where attendees could relax with a cappuccino and free WiFi. Alliant Insurance Services, the newest VUE Wrap-Up Management client, also attended and hosted a gracious after-hours invite-only networking event.
A major highlight of the event was the general session on rebuilding the World Trade Center. Representatives from the contractors, insurers and brokers for the insurance coverage on the building at the World Trade Centers were in attendance to discuss the risk management challenges this epic construction project, including terrorism risk, damage to public property, and the high level of pedestrian traffic around the job site. It was inspiring to hear from this highly talented group of individuals and the level of attention that went into to every detail of the project. And as an enduring symbol of American pride, the World Trade Center’s rebuild project signifies hope for the nation’s future prosperity.
In addition to the inspiring general session, two sessions of note focused on various issues of wrap-up programs. The Wrap-Up Debate got the audience’s opinion on major aspects of wrap-up binding and administration, including Program type, Enrollment, and Coverage. Deconstructing the Wrap-Up Pro-Forma was an in-depth exploration of the importance of an accurate pro-forma, or feasibility study, to ensure the program meets the intended goals.
Thank you to all speakers, IRMI representatives, attendees and sponsors who made this 31st conference a success. We are proud to be a part of this esteemed event and look forward to another valuable conference next year.
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Posted by
Stephanie Castro
on
11/30/2011 at 12:21 PM
On November 17, 2011, the Departments of Health & Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury (the "Departments") issued an FAQ document that addressed the concern of many health plans about being able to meet the proposed March 23, 2012 deadline for the summary of benefits and coverage (SBC) requirement that is part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).
The document states that health plans are not required to comply with the regulation until final regulations are issued. As of today, the Departments have not yet issued final regulations, and there is no word on the final release date. While the Departments’ FAQ may have eased concern over the tight deadline, they may have raised additional questions for health plans on how they should implement given an extended timeframe.
Most health plans have come to the same conclusion about the SBC regulation: as one recent prospective VUE Software client put it, “This is a software issue”. Plans have recognized that in order to comply with various aspects of the SBC, an automated solution is necessary. Previous to the deadline extension communication, many health plans were scrambling to find a vendor who could assist, feeling pressured into making hasty decisions on important investments.
Now, plans have more time to figure out how to go about acquiring the right software for the SBC. Many who were considering building a solution in-house may have the time to do so with a looser deadline. Still, with no final regulations, many development efforts may be wasted trying to hit a moving target. And, since the Departments have stated neither the final regulation release date, nor the duration between time of issue and new deadline, health plans who wait to begin implementation until after the regulations are issued may find that they still don’t have enough time to meet the new deadline.
With such uncertainty, smart health plans will take the extended deadline lightly, and move forward on implementing a flexible infrastructure that will allow them to comply with the final regulations, no matter what their final form. For more information on VUE Benefit Summary Tool, which functions both as a flexible infrastructure for storing plan data and creating benefit summaries – and comes out-of-the-box with the current format for SBCs and includes free updates to future formats – register now for an informational call with a product consultant.
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Posted by
Stephanie Castro
on
10/19/2010 at 12:43 PM
We are excited that the 2010 LOMA Distribution and Emerging Technology Conference is being held in our backyard, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. As always, we plan to put our best foot forward by helping numerous insurance companies realize the value of VUE Software solutions for managing agents, incentive plans, and compensation.
We look forward to networking and engaging with insurance company representatives, customers and partners during the event. Apart from providing you with the best in insurance business solutions, it’s one of our top priorities to make sure we listen to you. I hope that you will be able to stop by our booth (#16) and discuss ways for us to provide even greater value to customers.
Additionally, we have some treats and a special gift to share with those who stop by to speak with us. Come and experience how VUE Software solutions empower insurers to effectively manage distribution channels. See you at the conference tomorrow!
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Posted by
Stephanie Castro
on
7/2/2010 at 12:02 PM
The second installment of our Producer Insights series of interviews is with Chuck Stout, broker and co-owner of Meridian Insurance, a thriving full-service benefits brokerage firm located in South Florida.
Meridian offers a full menu of coverage, including personal medical, group medical, dental, vision, long and short term disability, property, business and life. Partly due to these diverse offerings, the group has enjoyed a 12% growth in business versus this time last year, even as some of its competitors have been hit by hard times. How do they keep pace with their bustling business? Mr. Stout says that a key ingredient to staying current is using the right technology to communicate with carriers and nurture relationships with clients.
Mr. Stout shares his appraisal of carriers’ technology to see how well it delivers the most important factor for brokers: easy access to critical data.
The transcript:
Q. Which technology is most important to your work on a daily basis?
Mr. Stout: I travel a lot, so I love my Motorola Droid, which syncs with my work calendar and email addresses so I can keep up with work from anywhere. I get 100 emails per day, so being able to address them as they arrive is essential for my productivity.
For quoting, we use Norvax for our individual business and Centrax for our group business. These sites are great because we can submit the business online once, and we get quotes back from many different carriers. If a carrier we want to quote is not subscribed to either of those sites, we can usually submit the quote on the carrier’s website, but it slows us down. With both of these sites, we choose which quotes to show our clients and can send the quotes to them via email. Then they can submit the application online or email us their completed application. It’s a very clean, professional process.
Q. What other technology does Meridian use to run its business?
Mr. Stout: We have seen how technology can really help our business, so we try to stay plugged-in. For Customer Relationship Management (CRM) we use an agency management system that allows us to load contacts and keep track of communications with them. We can attach emails and faxes, which helps us in our effort to go paperless. For keeping track of our commissions received from carriers, we rely mostly on their statements and track them in Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. We are also experimenting with a service that lets us build websites on behalf of our group clients for their employees to view and sign up for benefits online. Clients love this idea and it is a good differentiator for us, but client adoption has been slow. We also recently started using Constant Contact for keeping in touch with our clients via email.
Q. Do any carriers offer mobile applications to help your productivity?
Mr. Stout: A few carriers, such as Aetna, have started to come out with mobile apps for insureds. As far as I know, there is nothing similar geared towards the broker community. But carriers do have websites that we can log in to for running quotes and servicing groups and those sites are mobile friendly.
Q. Which carriers’ technology do you most enjoy working with?
Mr. Stout: Humana and UnitedHealthcare are two carriers that have very broker friendly online sites and tools.
Q. What are some things that carriers could do better when it comes to technology for brokers?
Mr. Stout: One thing that would be helpful would be a “one stop shop” for agents to find everything they need. Right now, some carriers have different sites for different activities. I might have to go to one website for enrollment, but a different site with a different username and password to view my commissions. If carriers could combine all activities into one site, it would make things much easier. Another thing that would help me in servicing accounts would be real time insight or regular reports on my clients’ billing status. Occasionally a client forgets to pay a bill and their coverage gets cancelled, causing us to have to go through the re-enrollment process. It would save everyone time and energy if I knew a client was late in paying and could give them a quick call to check in.
Q. How do you expect healthcare reform to impact your business?
Mr. Stout: We’re a bit concerned about the future. In the near term, things look good; but we expect that in the next 3-5 years, brokers will be doing more work for less money. Employers will need more service and have more questions, and individuals are entering the market that may never have purchased insurance before, so they will really depend on the broker as an advisor. It may take extra education and effort, but we’re not getting any extra commission for that extra work. It will be more important than ever for us to rely on technology so we can be as efficient as possible and service a higher volume of clients. Luckily, Meridian has a good amount of diversity in product offerings, and many clients have all their different types of coverage through us. When we start to see less commission for health products, we’ll know that we have to sell more of the other types.
Q. How are you preparing for changes ahead?
Mr. Stout: I’ve been actively sharing information in my accounts and in the community about how health reform will impact employers and their health insurance so they can be informed and prepared. Besides that, I feel that the way we do business now is well suited for a post health reform world. We have a strong idea of what type of firm we are and what type of clients we want. We don’t want to be the Wal-Mart of insurance; we’re not a good fit for people who are looking for nothing more than the lowest quote around. We’re the brokerage for people that want advice, good service, and a full explanation of their options. We always take the time to create a detailed and professional proposal when delivering quotes and treat every client like a VIP. That’s important because we have a very strong referral business; we actually don’t advertise or market at all. Through networking and getting involved in the community, we can find the right type of client that will value our advice and continue a deep and lasting relationship with us.
Q. What trends have you observed in the commission statements and incentives you receive from carriers?
Mr. Stout: On our statements, many carriers indicate the total premium they are compensating us for and what the commission rate on that business is. With those types of statements it is easy to see how our commission payment has been calculated.
As far as commission and incentive trends, I’ve seen a lot of carriers cut base commissions but offer bonuses for volume and client retention to reward agents that have larger blocks of business with them. I understand this because it motivates the high performers to sell even more. Plus, the carrier gets to identify the brokers they most want to work with, and give a little less commission to lower performers. Also, some carriers give reward vacations and sales trips. These are fun, but I feel I speak on behalf of all brokers when I say that we would much rather have the money so we can go on our own vacations with our families, instead of with other brokers who may be our competitors.
Q. What advice do you have for carriers looking to improve their commission statements and agent tools?
Mr. Stout: Our statements usually include the total premium we’re being paid on, but they don’t have information on the number of covered lives. It would be great to be able to see the number of enrollees, as well as their dependents. It would also be wonderful to see some more in-depth analysis into the commissions we’ve received from our groups, like a year over year comparison of commission per group. And this information should all be available online, so I can get to it whenever I am interested in reviewing it. We brokers are constantly on the go and looking to reduce paper, so carriers need to have good online sites that are easy to use and have all the information we need in one place.
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Posted by
Joseph Westlake
on
5/28/2010 at 12:09 PM
During this year’s sessions, the discussions centered on the technology imperatives for carriers and agencies to help lead them through these ultra-competitive and fast-changing times. Three points from a trio of industry analysts nicely summed up the direction that carriers need to focus:
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“Insurers should invest in IT for capability more so than cost efficiency.” – Matthew Josefowicz, Director, insurance, at New York-based Novarica
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“Being fast doesn’t help if you have the wrong product mix.” – Kimberly Harris-Ferrante, VP & distinguished analyst at Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner
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“Insurers need to think more about the big picture, and use that to make tactical adjustments.” – Craig Weber, SVP at Boston-based Celent
There is additional emphasis on technology being customer centric and improving distribution channel productivity. We’re already witnessing a strong pace of core system replacement amongst carriers with more stable and agile systems able to accommodate future growth. Today, this flexibility is a norm in the functionality of the systems.We also observed a renewed focus on straight through processing with the intention of reducing transaction friction to ensure agents’ focus remains on selling.
Additionally, technology should provide a platform for agents to take on diverse roles and be more flexible with their sales efforts. Utilizing the services of Customer Relationship Management as a part of their internal systems seems like an old idea, but it’s still not deployed uniformly through the industry and is one of the most reliable returning technology investments. Equipped with the right insight, both product specific and customer specific, agents can establish their value as insurance advisors, resulting in greater customer loyalty.
In a nutshell, the major takeaways are:
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Agile and capable systems
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Growing and diversifying distribution channel
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Utilizing CRM
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Carriers focusing on loss prevention rather than solely on loss reimbursement
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