BestWeek: Health Insurers Offer Consumers Comparison Shopping.OLDWICK, N.J. -- With a nod to consumers faced with the higher out-of-pocket expenses out-of-pocket expenses n. moneys paid directly for necessary items by a contractor, trustee, executor, administrator or any person responsible to cover expenses not detailed by agreement. of consumer-driven health plans, U.S. health insurers are offering comparison shopping options on their Web sites, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. an article in the Dec. 26 edition of BestWeek. With these online tools, they can comparison shop for doctors, hospitals and medical treatments. Ultimately, though, the companies that best explain the features of such plans to employers will have the competitive edge, a research firm says. Also in BestWeek: --Civil litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. procedures governing the discovery process have evolved along with technology in recent years to accommodate the use of electronically stored information as digital evidence in court proceedings. And as electronic data replaces the customary paper trail, risk management experts believe relevant civil and criminal evidence will increasingly be in the form of digital records stored on a computer, server, storage network or some form of backup media. --An A.M. Best special report outlining why scale has become more crucial than ever to the participants within the U.K. life industry. --A perspective on how commercial lines brokers are preparing their clients for the possible arrival of avian flu avian flu: see influenza. . Also featured is Best's Insurance Composite Index Composite Index A grouping of equities, indexes or other factors combined in a standardized way, providing a useful statistical measure of overall market or sector performance over time. Also known simply as a "composite". , which finished the week Dec. 22, 2005, at 1,161.78, up 16.62% compared with a year ago. The composite index reflects the performance of 138 insurance stocks. The week's top performers were Humana, PMA PMA (papillary-marginal-attached), n a system of epidemiologic scoring of periodontal disease devised by Schour and Massler in which the symbols denote the areas involved in gingival inflammation. PMA Progressive muscular atrophy Capital Corp., Specialty Underwriters' Alliance, EMC (1) (EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, MA, www.emc.com) The leading supplier of storage products for midrange computers and mainframes. Founded in 1979 by Richard J. Egan and Roger Marino, EMC has developed advanced storage and retrieval technologies for the world's largest companies. Insurance Group and Republic Companies Group. BestWeek is published by A.M. Best Co. for insurance professionals, including home office executives, agents and brokers. To subscribe to BestWeek, please call A.M. Best's customer service department at (908) 439-2200, ext. 5742, or e-mail your request to customer_service@ambest.com. A.M. Best Co., established in 1899, is the world's oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more information, visit A.M. Best's Web site at www.ambest.com. |
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