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November 05, 2006 at 02:00 PM
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, an Empire State gubernatorial candidate, created some excitement during the week before the general election by announcing a $15.5 million group insurance broker compensation agreement with UnumProvident Corp.
UnumProvident, Chattanooga, Tenn., the biggest U.S. disability insurer, also has agreed to unveil a new, simpler group insurance broker compensation system, and it has negotiated a settlement with regulators at the California Department of Insurance that calls for it to improve broker compensation disclosure.
The terms of the New York settlement and the California settlement are detailed in the accompanying chart.
At press time, UnumProvident was preparing to tell agents and brokers about its new compensation program.
“We proactively sought out the [New York] attorney general’s support for the compensation plan,” UnumProvident spokesman Tom White says.
Spitzer himself says in his settlement agreement announcement that UnumProvident itself conceived of many of the changes included in the agreement.
For Spitzer, who has been running for governor of New York as a Democrat, the UnumProvident announcement was the third major insurance-related announcement in less than a week.
Spitzer also has announced a major suit alleging bid-rigging in the life settlements market, and he has ordered Oxford Health Plans Inc., a unit of UnitedHealth Group Inc., Minnetonka, Minn., to provide health coverage for children adopted overseas the instant they become dependents of UnitedHealth insureds who are eligible for dependent coverage benefits.
