This will not affect your bill. Please take the time today to click “Subscriber Verification” to verify your subscription with us and continue your access to MtDemocrat.com before the new service takes over. We apologize for the temporary inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your patience and continued support while we make this transition. Losing its insurance could hurt Central Basin’s standing in financial markets and its ability to get loans, and would mean the district would have to find another insurance provider, possibly at a much higher rate. Gary Milliman, a municipal insurance expert who once served as South Gate city manager, said Central Basin would be hard-pressed to find replacement insurance without paying considerably more. Losing its insurance could make it harder to secure loans and grants, and even to proceed with projects. “The general fund of your agency would be at risk for losses that would normally be insured.” Milliman said. “Reputation really does matter when you’re going into the financial markets.” Central Basin serves a largely working-class area of southeast Los Angeles County.

Research from Spring Consulting ( http://springgroup.com/ ) also suggested that having a self-service portal is no longer an option for insurers; it is a requirement to remain a top competitor in the industry. As well as creating a competitive advantage and improving the customer experience, portals can increase the efficiency of claim processing for insurers. The use of employee and employer portals reduces the need for the employee to call to create a claim or check the status of their case. Another major benefit is the reduction of pressure on calls centers. Claims administrators balance processing of claims, while answering calls from employees. This can result in either missed calls or lost information.  The portal allows employees to create their claims and report their absences online instead of making a call, providing the necessary information for the claims administrator. This information can then be easily accessed to determine the level of attention each claim needs. This reduces the amount of time spent on the phone and reduces the number of unanswered calls that need to be returned.
Source: http://www.prlog.org/12309922-claimvantage-releases-employer-and-employee-portal-to-improve-efficiency-of-claims-management.html Cyber insurance providers already are using security scores, similar to credit scores, to help gauge what kinds of businesses those insurers want to cover. Cyber insurance “is by far the fastest growing area of insurance,” said Stephen Boyer, chief technology officer and co-founder of BitSight, a start-up that rates businesses’ security infrastructure. More businesses are buying the insurance. Clients purchasing cyber insurance rose 21 percent in 2013 from 2012, according to Marsh Risk Management, a global risk management and insurance broker. Clients who bought cyber coverage of $100 million or more also rose significantly last year compared to 2012, according to a recent report from the company. “This is one of the brightest areas of [insurance] growth for many years to come,” said Robert Hartwig, president and economist at the Insurance Information Institute. What if the patient’s chronic illness is stabilized only for a while? What drug has ever prolonged life compared to a diet that can reverse the clogged arteries filled with soft plaque? Or what if a combination of nutrition and exercise can work for a longer time than certain drugs? With all those clubs on letting food be medicine to help health in the long-term, each individual usually asks whether he or she deserves better than what’s out there now? Meantime, you still can’t get insurance to cover non-prescription supplements or organic vegan foods, for example. Most people might say they deserve better solutions. You might take a look at the following Wall Street Journal articles, ” Scientists Make First Embryo Clones From Adults .” Or see, ” Search for Better Diabetes Therapy Falls Short – WSJ.com .” Do numerous current treatments fail to prevent major health problems? You might look up the article, “Current treatments, while effective, fail to also help prevent heart attacks and stroke, in blow to researchers, patients,” by Winslow R, Wall Street Journal, A5, March 15, 2010. Or see, ” A Simple Health-Care Fix Fizzles Out – Wall Street Journal ,” by Winslow, KJ., February 11, 2010, A1, A18.

Health insurance gains since last fall hit 12 million, survey shows – latimes.com The ACA now offers discounts on drugs purchased in that gap and slowly closes the doughnut hole until its gone in 2020. At that point, drug costs that previously fell in the gap would be covered, but seniors would have a 25 percent co-pay. Seniors could face some higher costs under the ACA provision, too. The data also take into account any losses in coverage the law may have brought about by the cancellation of health plans that did not meet new standards. The health law allows Americans who do not get coverage through an employer to select a plan on state-based marketplaces. Insurers must offer a basic set of benefits and can no longer turn away sick customers. Americans making less than four times the federal poverty level or about $94,000 for a family of four qualify for government subsidies in most parts of the country. In about half the states, very low-income Americans can sign up for Medicaid. Most Republican-led states, however, have not expanded the program to cover all low-income residents, an option provided by the health law.

Duck Creek Templates include active maintenance with changes and updates, delivered 90 days in advance of the effective date. Implementation of these solutions was managed by Discoverture Solutions, a strategic delivery partner for the Accenture Duck Creek software. We chose Accenture Duck Creek software to modernize our technology system because its functionality-rich solutions can be utilized and adapted by business users without a deep technical background, said Eric Russett, Chief Operating Officer, Southern Trust. With the new systems, our agents have a more efficient solution for policy and billing management, which has already helped grow our business in new territories. Southern Trust needed software that was flexible and scalable, said Michael A. Jackowski, global managing director of Accenture Duck Creek. The configurability of our policy and billing software empowered them to make better decisions more quickly promoting continued bottom line growth. We are excited to work with Southern Trust and deliver the system solutions they need to build their regional business. Accentures award-winning policy, claims and billing software offers carriers an integrated suite of software with modules that can be implemented individually or as part of a broader migration strategy.

DNA and Insurance, Fate and Risk – Room for Debate – NYTimes.com Brendan Smialowski for the New York Times As costs for DNA sequencing drop, hundreds of thousands of Americans are undergoing the procedure to see if they are at risk for inherited diseases. But while federal law bars employers and health insurers from seeking the results, insurers can still use them in all but three states when considering applications for life, disability and long-term care coverage. Should insurance companies be barred from seeing genetic information when considering those policies so people can get the tests without fear that the results would be used against them? Risks Are Too Small for Insurers to Worry Angus S. Macdonald, professor of actuarial mathematics Only the rarest hereditary disorders would create a major cost burden for insurers. They should agree to ignore genetic tests, and avoid a legal ban. Guarantee Privacy to Ensure Proper Treatment Jeremy Gruber, Council for Responsible Genetics If the promise of the genetic revolution is to be fulfilled, the public must know that genetic testing will not endanger their economic security.
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