Category Archives: Data Management

Making Sense of the GAO Reports on Gaps & Errors in the SSA Death Master File

There have been many recent developments impacting the insurance industry.  This discussion covers the following: May 3rd 2013 GAO audit report identifying gaps in the SSA DMF and Verus Financial’s comments on same. May 8th 2013 GAO testimony addressing the … Continue reading

More Galleries | Leave a comment

New Department of the Treasury proposal and Senate Bill 676 Introduced to Limit Access to the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File

Contact Tom Berger if you are an advocate, attorney or professional with insurer relationships that can benefit from our shared expertise. Requirements for using the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File (SSA DMF) to review insurer books and records in … Continue reading

More Galleries | Leave a comment

Court Ruling Reinforces Death Matching Statute Obligation

A recent court case, “UNITED INSURANCE COMPANY OF AMERICA, THE RELIABLE LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, and RESERVE NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY as Plaintiffs vs COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY and THE KENTUCKY DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE (Civil Action No 12-CI-1441)”, has reinforced the need for insurers to … Continue reading

More Galleries | 1 Comment

John Hancock Lawsuit is a Wake-Up Call for Some Insurers

As reported in LifeHealthPRO on Feburary 1st 2013 (http://www.lifehealthpro.com/2013/02/01/hancock-hit-with-unclaimed-property-lawsuit) , John Hancock has been named in a class action lawsuit concerning their practices relating to life insurance death benefit payments.  The suit seeks damages for individuals who did not find … Continue reading

More Galleries | Leave a comment

Four More States Propose Legislation Requiring Routine Deceased Processing using the SSA DMF

On January 29, 2013, New Mexico joined Vermont, Massachusetts and North Dakota and became the fourth state this year, the tenth overall, to propose legislation requiring regular use of the Social Security Administration Death Master File (SSA DMF). However, as with the other … Continue reading

More Galleries | Leave a comment

FTC Orders Data Brokers to Disclose Information

http://www.dmnews.com/ftc-orders-data-brokers-to-disclose-operations-information/article/273181/ The link above will take you to an interesting article that may impact insurer’s evaluation of the reliability of ‘deceased databases’ beyond the Social Security Administration Death Master File (SSA DMF).   At times, we have been surprised to hear an insurer … Continue reading

More Galleries | Leave a comment

Five Things to Consider when Deciding Whether to Outsource SSA DMF Processing

Every company has its core competencies and most likely if you are an insurance company, your expertise has something to do with insurance and not necessarily data processing.  Having said that, many organizations will consider performing Death Master Processing for … Continue reading

More Galleries | Leave a comment

5 steps Insurance Companies Need to Take Now for Death Matching Compliance

With recent state mandates and audits on the rise, the following steps will help insurance companies who want to ensure compliance with these newly passed death matching requirements. Assign an Internal Champion and Get Informed: Each company needs a dedicated … Continue reading

More Galleries | Leave a comment

Right Size your Database Spend

Over my career, I have frequently been asked to demonstrate how marketers can achieve the ROI from their marketing database.   While there are many ways to generate incremental revenue and cost savings, the ability to realize the desired rate of … Continue reading

More Galleries | Leave a comment