INSURANCE NEWSCAST "Headlines Only Edition" for: Wednesday, 10/18/06

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INSURANCE NEWSCAST "Headlines Only Edition" for: Wednesday, 10/18/06  

Here is a quick look at the stories that will be in Wednesday's INSURANCE NEWSCAST.

 

1) Affirmative Insurance Holdings Announces the Acquisition of USAgencies  - ADDISON, Texas & BATON ROUGE, La.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Affirmative Insurance Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: AFFM) and privately-held USAgencies, L.L.C., today announced a definitive agreement under which Affirmative will acquire 100% of the membership units of USAgencies, in a fully-financed all cash transaction valued at approximately $200 million. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and other usual closing conditions associated with similar transactions.

 

2) Women See the Reality of Retirement Years Spent Alone  - Allstate Survey Also Shows Women Need to Adopt Tougher Attitude As They Approach Saving for Retirement to Avoid the Poverty Trap -- NORTHBROOK, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Women clearly have gotten the message that they are likely to spend at least some of their retirement years alone because of divorce or the high probability of outliving their husbands.

 

3) Insurance-for-All: A Public-Private Model for Providing Coverage for the Uninsured; New Deloitte Center for Health Solutions Proposal Promotes Fresh Debate on U.S. Health Care Financing   - Restores Free Market Forces; Develops a Model for Financing Coverage for the Uninsured - WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- A new "Insurance-for-All" proposal from the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions (the "Center"), part of Deloitte & Touche USA LLP, shows how the more than 45 million Americans who do not have health insurance could obtain reasonably priced coverage, improve their quality of life and generate savings for the majority of key stakeholders in the U.S. economy.

 

4) UnitedHealth CEO to leave amid options probe - By Lewis Krauskopf -- NEW YORK, Oct 15 (Reuters) - William McGuire, the longtime chief executive of UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH.N: Quote, Profile, Research), will leave the U.S. health insurer by Dec. 1, the company said on Sunday, making him the biggest casualty so far in a growing national scandal over stock-option practices.

 

5) Altera CFO leaves; options review ends - BOSTON, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Altera Corp. (ALTR.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday that Chief Financial Officer Nathan Sarkisian has resigned and it expects to restate some financial statements to reflect an additional $47.6 million in expenses for past stock options grants.

 

6) CME to acquire exchange rival CBOT for $8 bln - Tue Oct 17, 2006 11:32am ET - By Dan Wilchins and Caroline Humer -- NEW YORK (Reuters) - Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. (CME.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Tuesday said it would acquire rival exchange CBOT Holdings Inc. (BOT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) for more than $8 billion in a deal that combines the two largest U.S. futures exchanges.

 

7) RESEARCH ALERT-Morgan Stanley ups insurance cos targets - Oct 17 (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley on Tuesday raised its price target on companies in the insurance sector to reflect macro and industry data that has emerged throughout the quarter.

 

8) U.S. Labor Department Sues Plan Officials for Mismanaging $50 Million in Assets of New York 401(k) Plan - Contact: Gloria Della, 202-693-8664 or Peter Hong, 202-693-4676, both of the U.S. Department of Labor -- NEW YORK, Oct. 16 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The U. S. Department of Labor has sued the fiduciaries of the Agway Inc. 401(k) plan, in DeWitt, N.Y., for imprudently investing approximately $50 million of the plan's assets in the securities of the company, valuing the stock at prices higher than market value, and giving participants false information about the investment.

 

9) Frank N. Darras: PENN TREATY NETWORK AMERICAN INSURANCE COMPANY Cheats Grandmother  - 87 Year Old Policyholder Wrongfully Denied Benefits - ONTARIO, Calif., Oct. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Frank N. Darras, the nation's leading disability and long term care insurance lawyer has filed suit in the Pomona Superior Court of California against PENN TREATY NETWORK AMERICA INSURANCE COMPANY (NYSE: PTA) on behalf of an elderly woman who once worked as a presser and riveter during WWII.

 

10) Diamond/Goldman Sachs Symposium Finds Consumerism, Technology Reshaping U.S. Health Care System in Unexpected Ways   - Provider/Patient Relationships, Payments Process, Financial Planning Being Upended by Trends in Consumer-Directed Health Care -- CHICAGO, Oct. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Industry experts at a recent health care symposium sponsored by Goldman Sachs and Diamond Management & Technology Consultants agreed: the $2 trillion dollar healthcare industry is headed towards uncharted territory as consumer-directed health care takes hold, and as information about health care choices becomes more available.

 

11) TOWERGROUP: INSURANCE CARRIERS ARE EMBRACING SERVICE-ORIENTED ARCHITECTURE (SOA) - Needham, MA, October 17, 2006 - The insurance industry is rapidly embracing Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), as well as related Web services and standards, according to new TowerGroup research conducted in partnership with ACORD. The comprehensive industry survey was designed to gain an understanding of the readiness, state of adoption, and challenges of SOA, Web services and use of standards across the insurance industry.

 

12) Latest Eastbridge Report Examines the Voluntary Term Life Market  - AVON, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Life plans are a mainstay in virtually every carrier?s voluntary product portfolio, and life insurance is the most frequently sold voluntary product. Term life sales alone accounted for almost 15 percent of all voluntary sales in 2005, out selling UL/WL by a margin of almost two to one, according to Eastbridge?s U.S. Worksite Sales Study.

 

13) More Women Select Universal Health Coverage as Their Most Desired Health Advance   - NWHRC's Annual Women Talk Survey Explores Barriers to a Healthy Lifestyle -- WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the National Women's Health Resource Center's (NWHRC) second annual Women Talk national survey, universal health coverage was selected as the health advance women desire most.

 

14) Whitehill Technologies releases Tracker 6.4 - Latest release of leading compliance automation software helps insurance companies get products to market 50% faster -- MONCTON, NB, Canada - Oct. 17, 2006 - Whitehill Technologies, Inc. today announced the release of Tracker 6.4, designed to work with SERFF version 5 being released by NAIC (the National Association of Insurance Commissioners) on October 30, 2006.

 

15) Grange Insurance to Use Myriad's Risk Manager System - (October 2006) Austin, TX?Myriad ¬¬Development, Inc. is pleased to announce that Grange Insurance, based in Columbus, Ohio, has chosen to license Myriad?s Risk Manager property inspection system. Grange believes it can better serve its independent agents with Risk Manager, which provides increased access to inspection and underwriting data, enabling the company to make better risk evaluations. Risk Manager will also give the company additional insight into its business through increased detail in inspection reports.

 

16) Insurance Commissioner Garamendi Announces Final Decision to Expand Low Cost Automobile Insurance Program to Monterey, Sonoma, Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties  -  SACRAMENTO ? Insurance Commissioner Garamendi today announced his decision to expand the California Low Cost Automobile Insurance program to Monterey, Sonoma, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. The announcement follows his final determination that the program, which provides eligible low income good drivers with state-required liability insurance for under $400 a year, is necessary and desirable in those counties. Rates are set in each county so that premiums are sufficient to cover losses and expenses incurred in each county.

 

17) DSPA Software Inc. releases FASAT 4.0 - Toronto, Ontario ? October 17, 2006  -DSPA Software Inc. today announced the general release of Version 4.0 of the Field Administration Support and Tracking (FASAT) System. FASAT 4.0 allows insurance carriers to lay a foundation for future growth by providing a flexible and cost-effective solution to manage the proliferation and growing complexity of sales channels.

 

18) PIANJ supports DOBI?s proposal to prohibit discretionary clauses - New rules would benefit insurance consumers -- TRENTON, N.J.?The Professional Insurance Agents of New Jersey Inc. provided written testimony to the Department of Banking and Insurance, supporting its proposed new rule to prohibit the inclusion of discretionary clauses in individual and group life, health and long-term care insurance policies and annuity contracts.

 

19) Blue Ribbon Commission on Mega Catastrophes presents: ?Accelerating the Katrina Recovery? - Washington, DC ? The Financial Services Roundtable?s Blue Ribbon Commission on Mega Catastrophes will sponsor a panel discussion entitled, ?Accelerating the Katrina Recovery?.  -- Dr. James A. Richardson, Alumni Professor of Economics at Louisiana State University, will present this new study which recommends potential reforms that will aid in the Gulf Coast?s economic recovery from Katrina, with a panel discussion to follow.

 

20) INSURANCE NEWSCAST Pictures Of The Day?

 

21) HR-Led Diversity Initiatives Advance in Workplace - SHRM Survey Shows More Companies Embracing Diversity Policies and Practices -- (Alexandria, Va., October 17, 2006)? More than half of human resource (HR) professionals agreed that diversity in the workplace had advanced significantly in the past ten years, according to the 2006 Workplace Diversity Practices and Changes to the EEO-1 Process Survey Report.  The survey was conducted by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM).

 

22) Kaplan? Financial Launches Compliance Management System Generation 2? - -- Automated, Intuitive Workflow for Management of Insurance and Securities Licensing, Appointment, and Registration Compliance -- Chicago, October 16, 2006 -- Kaplan? Financial (www.kaplanfinancial.com), a leading provider of education and compliance solutions to the insurance and financial services regulatory markets, announces the first release of its Compliance Management System Generation 2? (CMS G2?). This new, Web-enabled system will provide true automated workflow support for the licensing, appointment request, and registration processes associated with insurance producers and securities representatives at insurance companies, insurance agencies and securities firms.

 

23) The Hartford?s Playbook for Life Brings Personal Finance 101 to Gonzaga University  - Former Student and Professional Athletes Allen Pinkett and Nancy Lieberman Encourage Gonzaga Bulldogs to Start Planning for Tomorrow ? Today

 

24) Arch Reinsurance Ltd. Announces Opening of Zurich Branch  - HAMILTON, Bermuda--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Arch Reinsurance Ltd. is pleased to announce the opening of its branch office in Zurich, Switzerland. The new office further extends Arch Reinsurance Ltd.?s commitment to the Continental European reinsurance market, and will focus on regional business that is complimentary to the existing relationships of Arch Re in Bermuda. The new office will also have a strong emphasis on the broker market.

 

25) A.M. Best?s E-Fusion Podcast Interviews Penn National CIO William Jenkins on Effective IT Presentations  - OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The latest edition of A.M. Best?s E-Fusion Podcast explores, with William Jenkins, how technical and operations leaders can make more effective presentations.

 

26) Connective Technologies, Inc. Announces TEAM-UP Download Contract with Tuscarora-Wayne Mutual Insurance Company  - HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Connective Technologies announces their TEAM-UP Download contract signing with the Tuscarora Wayne Group of Companies, Wyalusing, Pennsylvania for promoting ease-of-use and superior serviceability of the Group's independent agencies.

 

27) Travelers Pairs With buySAFE To Increase Protection For Online Shoppers  - HARTFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Travelers announced today that it has joined with buySAFE and its other financial institution partners to provide greater security to online shoppers. Consumers who purchase online products with the buySAFE seal are protected by surety bonds that guarantee each bonded transaction for its full value ? up to $25,000.

 

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