Connolly Healthcare, a permanent Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), has signed a five-year license agreement with Milliman Care Guidelines.
Connolly will use the Care Guidelines content and software to review Medicare claims in 15 states — West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, [...]

Workscape, Inc., a leading provider of outsourced benefits and talent management solutions, and the Human Capital Institute (HCI), a professional association and think-tank advancing the science of strategic talent management, today unveiled details from their follow-up research into what the future might hold for executive and high performer compensation, including gaining insight into organizations’ current [...]

C.V. Starr & Company, a subsidiary of C. V. Starr & Co., Inc., is pleased to announce that it will begin offering its Resolute PortfolioSM products, designed specifically for Private and Public Companies as well as Not For Profit Organizations, through Starr Indemnity & Liability Company (Starr Indemnity) for business effective June 1, 2009 and [...]

A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of A (Excellent) and issuer credit rating (ICR) of “a” of Regence BlueShield (Seattle, WA). A.M. Best also has affirmed the FSRs of A- (Excellent) and ICRs of “a-” of Regence BlueShield’s two subsidiaries, Asuris Northwest Health (Asuris) (Washington) and Regence Life and Health Insurance [...]

After a successful pilot venture last spring and summer, PEMCO Insurance and Pacific Science Center again are offering free bus rides to Seattle-area school children, enabling them to take field trips to the region’s premier educational science and technology museum.
Rising transportation costs have impacted many schools’ ability to transport students on field trips, but the [...]

MetLife, the nation’s largest life insurer and leading provider of employee benefits, today announced the national expansion of its innovative retirewise® program. Launched in 2007, retirewise® is designed to help employees answer the big questions about retirement and serves as an enhancement to an employer’s existing benefits program. The retirewise® program was created to meet [...]

Results from Milliman’s 2008 Group Health Insurance Survey indicate estimated premium rate increases for January 2009 renewals are 8.4% for Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) and 10.7% to 12.1% for Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs). The PPO results were compiled for a high deductible plan and a standard lower deductible plan, respectively.
The reported annual increase in [...]

PEMCO Insurance announced the first winners of its “Supercharged Seahawks Fan” photo contest, which encourages Seahawks fans to submit a photo showcasing their “supercharged” fan characteristics.
The first winners from the photo contest include John M. Reynolds of Sammamish, WA and Ben Simon of Kent, WA.
Both winners posed for their photo at PEMCO’s booth in Qwest [...]

Michael A. Paschke, Regional Executive Vice President of Brown & Brown, Inc., and Bruce A. Curry, Principal of Health Insurance Exchange, Inc. of Seattle, Washington, today announced the asset acquisition of Health Insurance Exchange, Inc. by a subsidiary of Brown & Brown, Inc.
Health Insurance Exchange, Inc., with annualized revenues of approximately $1.2 million, focuses exclusively [...]

National Investment Managers Inc., a nationally-based and regionally-operated company, today announced that Woodside Capital Partners has purchased the Note and Warrants that Lehman Brothers held in National Investment Managers.
In December 2007, Lehman participated in a $27 million debt package, whereby Lehman and Woodside Capital Partners each offered National Investment Managers $6 million in subordinated debt, [...]