Business News: Plymouth Rock, State Farm, Ametros

Plymouth Rock Assurance Enters New York State Auto Insurance Market

On the heels of its expansion into Pennsylvania, Plymouth Rock Assurance will introduce drivers in the Empire State to its unique product and service offerings like the Crashbusters mobile claims vans, Door to Door Valet Claim Service and its Pledge of Assurance.

In 2017, the Plymouth Rock Group of Companies had annual revenues of $1.3 billion from writing and managing auto and home insurance in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Having earned regulatory approval from the New York department of financial services, Plymouth Rock’s initial entry into the state was done through the acquisition of 21st Century National Insurance Company and its New York private passenger auto business.

State Farm to Sell Headquarters Building in Bloomington, Ill.

State Farm says the insurance company plans on selling its 89-year-old original headquarters building in downtown Bloomington.

The company made the announcement Monday after State Farm officials met with representatives from the central Illinois city to discuss marketing the property. The brown brick building has about 200,000 square feet and large red letters at the top spelling out “State Farm Insurance.” The McLean County assessor says its value is just under $9 million.

The (Bloomington) Pantagraph reports State Farm moved the last 150 employees from the building at the end of January to other Bloomington facilities. The building once was home to as many as 900 workers. Company officials say the building isn’t conducive to its new collaborative workplace model.

State Farm spokesman Jim Camoriano says the company has about 15,000 employees based in Bloomington.

Chubb Launches Proprietary Online Cyber Risk Index

Chubb has launched its Chubb Cyber Index, a new interactive platform that utilizes nearly two decades worth of its proprietary commercial cyber claims data. The Index is designed to highlight a range of cyber threats based on an organization’s industry and size.

The innovative Index provides users with a simple and immediate means of identifying the leading cyber risks their business may face based on real-world examples of cyber attacks and data breaches. With a user-friendly interface, accessible via desktop or mobile device, users are able to set parameters unique to their company, and view historical trends based on type of threat, size of a company and which industry that company operates within.

Along with delivering key intelligence to businesses of all sizes, the Index will be updated biweekly, and ultimately will deliver real-time data.

The Index is free to access and can be used at http://www.chubb.com/cybermedia.

Ametros Hires VP of Pharmacy and Managed Care, Director of Clinical Solutions to Form Health Navigator Service for Injured Parties

Ametros hired Chris Lagnese and Phyllis Ramondetta, RN, BS, CCM, CLCP, MSCC, CLNC, to lead a new service offering, Health Navigator, within Ametros.

Ramondetta and Lagnese will be focusing primarily on leading and developing a Health Navigation team to provide injured parties with post-settlement resources to better understand their medical care and treatment, provide opportunities for savings to extend the life of medical funds received from a settlement, and to provide 1-on-1 clinical attention and advocacy after they settle their cases.

Ametros provides post-settlement solutions for injured parties to help manage their medical care once they settle, which can include a Medicare Set Aside or any other allocated medical settlement funds related to a workers’ compensation or liability case. Ametros puts a high focus on providing resources and support so that injured parties can make the most informed decisions possible. The introduction of Health Navigator provides injured parties with more personalized 1-on-1 resources to manage their medical care post-settlement.

Chris Lagnese will be Ametros’ Vice President of Pharmacy and Managed Care and is a pharmacist with more than 25 years of experience managing pharmacy benefit administration and related services. His management and operational experience includes both large pharmacy chain providers as well as pharmacy benefit managers. Most recently, he served as vice president, Sales & Services at TRICAST and is the former director, PBA Pharmacy Product for Change Healthcare/Emdeon. Lagnese brings expertise in group benefits, consumer savings programs and workers’ compensation. He is a member of the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy and National Council for Prescription Drug Programs.

Lagnese will be focused on diversifying and building Ametros’ medical networks to continue to provide injured parties (members) with the best prices and discounts on treatments and prescriptions. He will also work to help members identify areas where they could save more on their medical treatments and provide them with resources to help them make more informed choices as they navigate a complicated healthcare world after settlement.

Ramondetta will be Ametros’ director of Clinical Solutions and is a registered nurse and legal nurse consultant with a clinical background in occupational health, case management and catastrophic injury. Before joining Ametros, Ramondetta was a Medical Major case specialist at Travelers Insurance and previously worked for AIG and The Hartford. She is an expert in the field of workers’ compensation and maintains certifications in Case Management, Life Care Planning, Legal Nurse Consulting and Medicare Set Aside Consulting. Ramondetta’s expertise in the medical, claim and legal aspects of a case means she is uniquely qualified to provide medical insight for a broad range of cases.

Ramondetta will be working to build Ametros’ in-house team of nurses providing care coordination to Ametros’ members. She will be focused on providing quality clinical support for injured parties and their families, promoting wellness for Ametros’ members, and ensuring members fully understand their treatment plans and the options available to them.

By providing a team to give insight into medical care and treatment plans and to guide members through complex medical issues, Health Navigator can help reduce the burden on injured parties and allow them to focus on returning to health, while receiving personalized attention with a dedicated in-house nurse. Ametros’ Health Navigation team will be available to members through online chat, email, and by phone.

The Health Navigation team will deliver experienced in-house nursing and pharmacy resources for their members and referral partners, including:

• An in-person nurse consultation at settlement which includes 1-on-1 wellness planning.
• Ongoing dedicated nurse and pharmacy resources readily available.
• Monthly nurse check-ins.
• Annual prescription reviews for safety and savings assessment
• Annual financial planning analysis.
• Specialty opioid / rehabilitation management by a nurse upon request.