Several insurance companies disclosed new products and coverage enhancements in recent days.
Life and health
The New Hampshire Department of Corrections re-awarded Centurion of New Hampshire LLC a contract to continue providing medical and dental professionals to New Hampshire state prison facilities. The contract is expected to commence July 1, with a base term of four years plus two optional years to renew. It was originally held by MHM Services Inc., which has been acquired by Saint Louis, Mo.-based Centene Corp. Centurion is the correctional healthcare services joint venture between Centene and MHM.
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Centene also teamed up with the National Council on Independent Living to increase the accessibility of provider medical offices and services for people with disabilities. The Provider Accessibility Initiative will kick off with the Barrier Removal Fund in Illinois, Texas and Ohio, as well as other components that will be rolled out in Centene markets nationwide. The components include educating health plan staff about disability access requirements and available tools to assist with compliance and enforcement, improving disability access data in the company's provider directories and offering Centene participating providers in the three states with access to a national Barrier Removal Fund.
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U.S. Pacific Northwest-based not-for-profit organizations MultiCare and Premera Blue Cross partnered to introduce Peak Care. The product will allow policyholders to see a specialist without first getting a referral. Other integrated services include digital services, including appointment scheduling, customer reviews of doctors and clinics and integration with Lyft and Uber's applications. Peak Care will be available beginning fall to Pierce County, Wash.-based employers and in 2019 to customers who purchase their insurance through their employer. Premera, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, plans for wider distribution in 2020.
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Des Moines, Iowa-headquartered Athene Annuity and Life Co. unveiled Athene Agility, a fixed indexed annuity product for retirees in the U.S. The product offers a fixed crediting strategy and indexed crediting strategies with protection from market downturns; liquidity features, including free annual withdrawals up to 10%; a death benefit for beneficiaries; and opportunities to accumulate wealth for retirement. The product also includes a built-in income and death benefit rider at no additional charge. Athene Annuity and Life is a subsidiary of Athene Holding Ltd.
Property and casualty
XL Catlin's North American environmental insurance unit updated its professional and pollution insurance for contractors and environmental consultants in the region. The business incorporated certain programs that address specific risks into its policy form. New additions include green building materials expense, rectification expense, protective loss coverage as well as protective loss or pollution protective loss bankruptcy litigation expense indemnity. XL Catlin is the brand used by XL Group Ltd. insurance and reinsurance companies.
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Massachusetts-based Hanover Insurance Group Inc. enhanced its Architects and Engineers Advantage professional liability product. It now provides added protection against the financial impact of claims or lawsuits resulting from allegations of negligence, malpractice, errors and omissions. Supplemental endorsements include remediation expense, withheld client fee assistance, reputation protection expense, crisis event expense, peer review expense, disciplinary proceedings expense and cyber privacy, security and media liability coverage. In addition to these coverages, the company also offered risk management services, including employee background screening services, contract review services, a risk management hotline and an online portal with risk management tools and information for insureds.
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U.K.-based specialist insurance provider CFC Underwriting Ltd. launched the Investment Management Insurance policy for financial institutions. The policy combines traditional cover with comprehensive cover for emerging risks, including cyber and kidnap and ransom. Cover is provided for management liability, professional liability, crime and regulatory investigations. The policy offers global coverage and is suitable for hedge funds, long-only equity funds, private equity and venture capitalists, real estate investment trusts and other property (U.K.) and real estate (U.S.) funds as well as registered investment advisers. It provides investment managers and financial institutions with a maximum liability limit of $10.0 million, while minimum policy premiums start at $10,000.
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Oregon-based Standard Insurance Co. rolled out Platinum Advantage and Platinum Advantage Guaranteed Standard Issue as part of its individual disability insurance products. The two products provide policyholders in Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Washington, D.C. ability to protect their income and lifestyle after experiencing a disabling illness or injury. Platinum Advantage offers a guaranteed renewable contract and several riders, including an automatic increase rider and a benefit increase rider to help policies keep pace with salary increases. The Platinum Advantage Guaranteed Standard Issue serves as a recruiting and retention tool for employees who may need additional disability coverage.
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London-based Beazley PLC expanded its InfoSec policy to include coverage for first-party risks, including cyber extortion, data recovery costs, business interruption costs, contingent business interruption costs and scams. The policy also includes access to Beazley's in-house breach response unit, Beazley Breach Response Services, which helps clients handle breaches.
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U.S.-based insurtech company SURE offered RideSafe, an insurance product for passengers of ridesharing networks Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. The product, underwritten by Chubb Ltd., gives passengers the ability to purchase accidental medical expense and accidental death and dismemberment coverage on an episodic basis. RideSafe works by connecting a customer's Uber or Lyft account to their SURE Insurance app. The coverage is now available in 38 U.S. states, and the company is working on introducing the policy to other states.
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Old Mutual introduced Well4Work, which offers income protection benefits for the South African workforce. The product allows employers and employees to structure the benefits at a cost they can afford. The benefits are supported by Old Mutual Group Assurance’s Integrated Wellness approach, which helps employers reduce their exposure to the risk of many disability claims and limits the financial impact of claims on their business.
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The European specialty platform of Bermuda-headquartered Sompo International Holdings Ltd. launched the transaction risk insurance line of business, expanding the company's professional lines insurance offerings in Europe. The business targets public and private companies on either side of a merger transaction and are domiciled or conducting their core business in Europe. It provides coverage against losses arising from warranties and indemnities breaches and other risks. Primary and excess attachments are available for buyer-side warranties and indemnities, seller-side warranties and indemnities, seller-induced buyer-side warranties and indemnities and tax liability insurance for European tax risks related to M&A transactions.
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