Hartford Promotes Bateman to Senior VP, Controller

The Hartford, Hartford, Conn., has promoted Robert Bateman to senior vice president and controller of the company. Bateman succeeds Beth Bombara who was recently promoted to lead The Hartford’s Life Runoff business. In his new role, Bateman will be responsible for the accounting operations of the company and will report to Christopher J. Swift, executive vice president and chief financial officer of The Hartford.

In his previous position, Bateman was senior vice president and chief financial officer for The Hartford’s Commercial Markets division. Bateman joined The Hartford in 2004 and has served in a variety of roles within the finance organization, including chief financial officer for Claims and The Hartford’s P&C Runoff business. Prior to joining the company, Bateman was a senior manager at KPMG LLP and vice president, Internal Audit for Kaman Corporation.

A certified public accountant, Bateman earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Massachusetts and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Connecticut. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

In other industry news:

The board of directors for OneAmerica Financial Partners Inc., Indianapolis, Ind., has elected Patrick F. Carr as its newest member. Carr is president of the individual line of business for UnitedHealthcare and also serves as president and chief financial officer for Golden Rule Insurance, a UnitedHealth Group company, where he has held senior leadership positions since 1995. Prior to his time at Golden Rule, Carr was with Mayflower Corporation, where he ascended to the role of president and chief operating officer. Carr also serves on the boards of several other organizations including the Indiana Bond Bank, Legatus of Indianapolis, Catholic Community Foundation, the Center for Leadership Development and Langham Logistics.

BenefitMall, Dallas, which merged with CompuPay in May, has announced that Charles Lathrop will be stepping down as president and chief revenue officer effective later this year. Although he will no longer be involved in day-to-day operations, Lathrop will stay on as an advisor and investor in the company.

As a result of Lathrop’s departure, Todd Waletzki, chief operating officer, will assume the operations responsibility for BenefitMall’s Third Party Administration services and will report directly to DiFiore as will Mike Gomes, executive vice president. Kathey Palmer, senior vice president, will now manage the After Payroll Services sales as well as Business Development and Mid Market Sales and report to Mike Gomes.

Lincoln Financial Group, Radnor, Pa. (NYSE:LNC), has introduced Lincoln VisionConnect, a fully-insured vision plan for employer benefit packages.

The Lincoln VisionConnect plan has a national network of more than 35,000 providers, with in- and out-of-network benefits. When visiting an in-network provider, the plan covers annual exams in full, with copay. The plan also includes discounts for laser vision correction procedures, an allowance for eyeglass frames with a scratch resistant coating, and a contact lens benefit for specific brands.

After the copay has been made, participants are covered in-full for contact lens fitting and evaluation, two follow-up visits to their vision care provider and up to four boxes of select contact lenses.