Health and life insurance is affected and influenced by numerous occupational and environmental issues and trends. The purpose of this course is to identify and examine these issues and trends and their relationship to life and health insurance. Topics covered include mold, mold contaminants, general liability implications, workers compensation, homeowners insurance, environmental and occupational diseases, asbestos exposure, terrorism exposure and underwriting health and life insurance.

This course will introduce basic concepts for understanding Medicare coverage in its tw- parts: hospital insurance and medical insurance. A brief history of the program and a discussion of the role of private insurance companies is followed by eligibility requirements, exclusions, and claims payments. Peer Review Organizations and Service Provider Certification are also discussed.

This course was developed to provide licensed insurance personnel to renew their continuing education requirements as well as professional development. The basics of homeowners insurance are discussed in detail. Multiple practice questions are provided to test the student grasp of homeowners insurance.

This course discusses the basic tenets of personal auto insurance in detail. It outlines the duties that the insurer must perform along with what the insurer should expect from the insured. Multiple practice questions are provided at the end of each lesson to test the students knowledge.

The insurance industry in the United States consists of more than 5,000 companies with over $1.8 trillion in assets. The insurance industry is one of the largest and most interdependent of the United States industries, making it a critical U.S. industry. Insurance fraud has become one of the most prevalent and costly white-collar crimes. According to a published study by the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud (CAIF), fraud is among the most prominent cost components escalating the costs of insurance. The CAIF has estimated the annual loss figures relative to insurance fraud (non health insurance) to be approximately $26 billion. F raud is costing companies, businesses, and individuals, who pay higher insurance premiums. Identifying, targeting, and dismantling those individuals, organized groups, and con artists committing fraud against the insurance industry will accomplish reducing the amount of economic loss to the insurance industry due to fraud. This course provides an overview of insurance fraud, which will provide the student with an understanding of the nature, costs, results and methods of preventing insurance fraud. The ultimate goal of this course is to increase awareness of insurance fraud and demonstrate the importance of preventing insurance fraud. Topics covered include: Ethics, Fraud Detection and Prevention, Patterns and Indicators of Fraudulent Claims, Legal Issues, and Consumer Protection.

One of the hottest issues facing the insurance industry today involves toxic mold claims under both personal and commercial lines policies. After several recent multiomillion dollar judgments, attorneys are comparing this to asbestos and lead paint claims with regard to the litigation potential. From the standpoint of commercial exposures, toxic mold claims are beginning to rival ‘construction defect’ claims in numbers and magnitude. Home and business owners are looking to their insurers and contractors, building material suppliers, plumbers, and others for remuneration for real or perceived property damage and bodily injury. Mold exists everywhere in our environment. Some molds like penicillin are beneficial, while other types of mold can cause health problems. Concern over so-called ‘toxic mold’ is growing as the medical community begins to understand some of the ailments such mold can cause. Other than EPA and CDC guidelines, there appear to be few, if any, state or federal regulations regarding mold infestations and remediation. Lack of mold awareness also has been part of the problem. The truth is that while liability issues may be debated among insurers, property professionals, and others, uncontrolled mold growth will only heighten property and health claims unless quickly checked and remediated. The goal of this course is to increase awareness of mold and its affect on the insurance industry.

Legal responsibilities are fundamental. An insurance agent walks a difficult line with legal responsibilities to both an insurance company and a client. When the agent does not live up to these responsibilities, there is the threat of being sued. Periodically, every agent should review the legal responsibilities of an agent in modern society. An insurance agents social, ethical and professional responsibilities may be optional; but legal responsibilities are not. Legal responsibilities are the minimum amount that is required of every agent. If he does not live up to his legal responsibilities, he will end up out of business and maybe even behind bars. Because legal responsibilities are determined by common law, statute, and case law, they are evolving. An agent must remain current, making adjustments for trends and refinements. The purpose of this course is to provide the student with a knowledge and understanding of these legal responsibilities and insurance principles. Topics include: Principles of Insurance, Characteristics of Legal Responsibilities, Illegal Acts of an Insurance Agent, Ethics in the Insurance Agency, and Legal Issues in Insurance Fraud.

According to the Washington, DC-based Coalition / Against Insurance Fraud (CAIF) for the insurance industry, and for the public as well, insurance fraud costs $85 billion per year. With such substantial damage, it is no wonder that the industry is making significant efforts to battle this cancer. The industry has decided that increasing public awareness of fraud is its main course of action. The coalition strongly believes that public attitudes are crucial to curtailing fraud. There are no easy solutions to the problems of insurance fraud. Consumers, legislators, regulators, and insurers must work together over the long term to create an environment that either prevents insurance fraud or detects it easily when it occurs. The first step in this process is creating a baseline understanding of the problem and potential solutions .

Our industry is being besieged by matters of compliance. This is especially true in the areas of life insurance and securities. Some may privately express the view that compliance is an impediment to doing business and doing it successfully. But isnt the question really: should shortoterm gains take priority over Long Term client relationships? At first sight, it seems that career agents for the major companies are most affected by strict compliance regulations. While, independent insurance agents and those not closely associated with a major insurer are untouched by compliance requirements. Compliance enforcement and oversight may be more difficult, as those who supervise agents activities may be further removed in time and place from the sales process. The intention of this course is to refocus you on compliant and ethical professional behavior. If you always concentrate on a clients needs and place them above your own, compliance should not be an obstacle in your practice. Putting the client first seems a simple concept, but sometimes it is difficult to implement. Topics covered include: Compliance, Ethics and Professionalism , Our Working Legal Framework, Communication and the Sales Process, Common Compliance Problems, Ethics and Compliance in Practice.

The impact of Employer Practices for the insurance industry has become increasingly subject to legal constraints. An expanding series of laws regulate almost every facet of the employer-employee relationship. The laws deal with employee recruitment, testing, wages, benefits, nondiscrimination, occupational safety and health, workers compensation, wrongful discharge, unemployment insurance, pensions and other matters. Employers in the insurance industry must have knowledge of the law to avoid pitfalls. Employees in the insurance industry must also have knowledge of the law s- they can defend themselves when employers act illegally or when they feel their rights have been violated. Although the study of Employer Practices is worthy of several volumes, this course will provide a general overview of the more common employer practice issues confronting the insurance industry. to set the stage a brief overview is given of the industry and its employment of agents and brokers, who will be taking this course. This is followed by a history of the employer-employee relationship. In chapter one the laws are placed on a time line providing a rationale for why these prohibitions and rights were created. With this information as the foundation, the laws are outlined and employer practices, from pre-hiring to postotermination, are reviewed. This overview provides some practical applications to the law. Suggestions are made as to some dos and donts that should be considered.

Money laundering plays a fundamental role in facilitating the ambitions of the drug trafficker, the terrorist, the organized criminal, the insider dealer, and the tax evader, as well as the many others who need to avoid the kind of attention from the authorities that sudden wealth from illegal activities brings. By engaging in this type of activity, criminals hope that their proceeds will be beyond the reach of asset forfeiture laws. Financial institutions such as insurance companies are at the forefront of the battle against the money launderers. Under current legislation, insurance companies are responsible for policing their financial dealings and reporting any suspicious transactions. This course will dwell upon the new regulatory environment of the insurance industry vis a vis money laundering, specifically the USA Patriot Act 2001. The course aims to highlight the key aspects of the USA Patriot Act namely, the Suspicious Activities Report (SAR) and the Know Your Customer provision (KYC).

The peril of liability is one of the most severe risks facing any organization today. Operating an organization without liability insurance puts owners at risk. Learning about liability insurance is a great way to prolong the life of your organization! This course covers broad issues of liability insurance and Workers’ Compensation.

In the 1960s, Congress carried out a study that showed that the budget allocated for disaster was insufficient, measures taken for flood prevention were not effective and underprivileged members of the society could not afford flood insurance from private companies. It was decided that the federal government should start a flood insurance program with the maximum collaboration that would be practical for the private industry.In response to these findings, Congress passed the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968. This Act established the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Congress passed the National Flood Insurance Act because it wanted to:Authorize a flood insurance program with the cooperative effort of the federal government and the private insurance industry. Create a flexible flood insurance program based on effective methods of pooling risks, minimizing costs and distributing burdens in a fair manner among the general public and those who would be protected by flood insurance. This would keep the financial burden of paying for insurance to a minimum for each insured i.e.,, the amount each insured would contribute towards flood insurance would be proportional to his/her income. Encourage state and local governments to plan out construction in their jurisdiction.

This course provides an overview to the insurance students about four main types of insurance policies. The four policies Life, Health, Long Term Care and Disability Insurance are the most widely selling policies in the insurance industry. This course contains some valuable information about the principles of life, health, disability and long term care insurance policies, some important related definitions, needs for the purchase of different kinds of insurance policies, application process for applying these kinds of insurance, their after effects and different sub forms of these insurance policies.

This course will introduce you to the basic principles of insurance, including the concept of risk, the different types of risk, and techniques in managing risk. It will introduce you to several basic elements and terms used in the insurance industry. The course will focus on explaining the insurance contract by introducing and reviewing its various parts, including: the elements, characteristics, and parts of a contract, as well as various policy organizations. It will also lesson focus on the insurance transaction. The transaction includes such things as the application process, how the policy is selected, underwritten, and rated. This section will also review some of the legal requirements of applicants and the insurance company, with respect to the insurance transaction.

This course covers the basic concept of ethics with a detailed definition and what it entails. We will discuss the role of ethics in our personal as well as professional lives and the challenges faced. We will also discuss the core ethical values and how rationalization is used as a common tool. Finally, we will talk about the framework of ethical decisionomaking and conclude with a brief discourse on ethics and conflict of interests.