GAMA International names new president

Oracle Health Insurance Claims Pricing helps payers to reduce operational costs by bundling claims into an episode of care and making a single payment to a provider, who then reimburses the other providers;

Oracle Health Insurance Product Definition enables payers to configure plans to meet unique client requirements;

Oracle Health Insurance Benefit Accumulator Management enables payers to avoid overpaying deductibles or benefit limits by providing a central source of truth for all member and family-level accumulators shared across multiple claims engines, and automatically tracks annual deductibles, out-of-pocket maximums and other limits;

Oracle Health Insurance Alternative Reimbursement helps payers to reduce operational overhead by providing automated payment generation; and

Oracle Health Insurance Claims Analytics provides payers with prebuilt dashboards, reports and metrics that enable them to monitor performance analyze key performance indicators and compare them to benchmarks.

American General Life Companies (American General), a part of AIG, launched the Lifestyle Income Rider issued by American General Life Insurance Company. This new rider can be issued with AG Secure Lifetime GUL (Guaranteed Universal Life Insurance) policies creating the Lifestyle Income Solution.

The Lifestyle Income Solution on AG Secure Lifetime GUL is available for issue ages 18-70 in specified amounts of $100,000 to $10,000,000 (conditions and limitations apply; see your agent for details). The Lifestyle Income Solution, which has its own premium, must be issued in conjunction with the Terminal Illness Rider on AG Secure Lifetime GUL.

"Our Lifestyle Income Solution features guaranteed monthly withdrawal benefits after as few as 15 years, regardless of the cash surrender value within the policy," said Tim Heslin, Vice President, Product Strategy and Implementation for American General. "Further, clients have the flexibility to transform a portion of their life insurance benefit while they are still living to help supplement their retirement income. Customers can choose this living benefit and then stop it during payout if they decide they no longer need it and want to maintain a life insurance benefit. If they stop the living benefit, they can restart it at a later date. We want our customers to have more choices for supplementing their retirement income."

Aflac introduced Aflac Group Disability Advantage to provide benefits that help protect covered employees from loss of income resulting from accident or illness.  

The product's guaranteed-issue coverage includes increased disability benefits, optional benefits for pre-existing conditions, and optional limited benefits for mental illness and alcoholism/drug addiction. Other product highlights include:

• The maximum benefit replaces up to 60 percent of salary (or 40 percent in states with a state disability program);
• Increased maximum benefit to $6,000;
• The minimum hours worked has been reduced to 19 hours per week for employees to qualify for coverage;
• The minimum income has been reduced to $9,000 per year for employees to qualify for coverage;
• After a covered individual has been totally disabled for 90 days, premiums are waived until the benefit period expires.

A.M Best affirmed New York Life's A++ ratings for financial strength, while Standard & Poor's restored the company's stable outlook following a similar move restoring the outlook of the United States to stable. A.M Best and Fitch Ratings have New York Life on a stable outlook.  Moody's currently has New York Life at Aaa (exceptional).

Midland National Life Insurance Company introduced MNL SecureVantage, a flexible annuity solution featuring an enhanced death benefit. MNL SecureVantage is the first fixed index annuity from Midland National that offers a built-in enhanced death benefit equipped with a stacking roll-up feature to help grow the death benefit value for heirs.

The fixed index annuity has a built-in guaranteed minimum death benefit (GMDB) which provides multiple growth opportunities through a combination of bonuses and a GMDB stacking roll-up credit, plus interest credits. This combination is designed to grow the GMDB amount over the years to maximize the death benefit available to beneficiaries.

The annuity product also provides clients the opportunity to add an optional lifetime income rider for a cost with stacking roll-up potential as well, which gives clients more flexibility.

The Unity Financial Life Insurance Company in Cincinnati completed a productive aid drive for the victims of the Oklahoma tornados.

The day after Moore, Okla., was hit, Matthew 25 Ministries, an international humanitarian aid and disaster relief organization headquartered in Cincinnati, was on the ground in that city beginning distribution of their first 60,000 pounds of disaster relief. Within the next two days a semi tractor-trailer filled with 44,500 pounds of additional supplies (including the donations from Unity Financial) departed for Moore. The initial 60,000 pounds of aid included personal care kits, blankets, tarps, beverages, paper products, diapers, wipes and more than 90,000 of rice/soy meals.