Exigen Fills Gap in Group Benefits Core System Solutions Market

Celent's Chuck Johnston says its makes sense that compelling new solution offerings in the group administration space should come from property & casualty system vendors such as Exigen.

Exigen Insurance Solutions, a San Francisco-based provider of core insurance systems known for its activity in the property/casualty insurance sector has introduced a new solution for what analysts characterize as the underserved group benefits systems market. The Exigen Suite for Group Benefits offers what the vendor calls a single system for customer enrollment and policy, billing and claims management that supports all group and worksite business lines and provides a single view of the customer to enable business growth, efficiency and improved customer service.

Exigen says the new system gives carriers a technology response to the business, regulatory and social drivers that are reshaping the Group Benefits market. The Exigen Suite offers plan management for group and worksite products – life, disability, accident and health, and medical – that accommodates all classes of participant and all billing options from non-contributory to voluntary.

Chuck Johnston, Celent

That response is overdue, according to Chuck Johnston, director, Americas Life/Annuity & Group Practice with Celent’s Insurance Group. “As the group and voluntary insurance markets converge, changing distribution and service models will strain IT application architectures and legacy systems past the breaking point,” he comments. “Insurers and brokers have underinvested in group and voluntary insurance solutions over the last 20-plus years, and will struggle to meet new market requirements.”

Johnston adds that it makes sense that compelling new solution offerings in the group administration space should come from property & casualty system vendors such as Exigen. “Given the fact that they have a well-architected systems that handle multiple coverages, it may be easier for them to enter the group marketplace than for traditional life systems vendors to rearchitect their systems —ven though those traditional life vendors might have more business product subject matter expertise,” Johnston says.

Among the key features of Exigen Suite for Group Benefits are the following, according to the vendor:

• A single multi-line platform for group and worksite insurance that reduces cost and provides greater control of distribution;

• A single view of the customer to improve service and increase cross-sell opportunities;

• Simplified eligibility and enrollment that saves time and increases accuracy;

• Flexible billing as a strategy to improve customer relationships; and

• Full real-time self-service for participants, brokers and sponsors.

Chad Hersh, Novarica

Chad Hersh, managing director of Novarica’s insurance practice says that Exigen’s modern, configurable system based on open standards brings a new option into an underserved market. “Few systems adequately address the unique needs of the group benefits space, including the robust flexibility and scale requirements,” Hersh comments. “Market forces demand greater investment in technology as insurers seek to build more effective channels that market to employees directly, while dealing with the convergence of traditional group and voluntary insurance and customer desire for greater control over their benefits.”

Anthony O'Donnell has covered technology in the insurance industry since 2000, when he joined the editorial staff of Insurance & Technology. As an editor and reporter for I&T and the InformationWeek Financial Services of TechWeb he has written on all areas of information ... View Full Bio