Former Sun Life exec launches emergency cover disruptor
A new virtual advisor platform which aims to “reimagine” how consumers buy emergency insurance coverage has gone live.
The online solution called Emerge was founded by the former US president of Sun Life Financial, Wes Thompson, who raised almost $2 million to launch it as a solution to large medical costs faced by some consumers due to high deductible health plans.
"At Emerge we want to disrupt the status quo of the insurance industry by changing the customer experience, eliminating manual paperwork and the hours spent on the phone or in-person with brokers in favor of a fully digital, mobile-friendly experience," said founder and CEO Thompson. "We are the first virtual advisor for finding, comparing, and purchasing emergency insurance online."
Thompson was inspired to create Emerge after hearing a story of a former employee who was struggling to pay medical bills for his wife's illness even though the family had health insurance. He said the insurance policy was hard to understand, and left critical gaps in coverage.
Arthur J. Gallagher acquires Louisiana benefits brokerage
Arthur J. Gallagher has acquired Louisiana-based employee benefits brokerage Group Insurance Associates for an undisclosed sum.
GIA was founded in 1983 and is an employee benefits insurance broker that provides all lines of group benefit insurance products to small and middle-market businesses and individual clients throughout the United States, especially health, life, dental and disability coverages.
The addition of the GIA team will expand the capabilities of Arthur J. Gallagher’s South Central employee benefits operation.
Lawmakers commit $5 million to anti-DUI technology
A system which could eliminate drunk driving has been given a $5.1 million boost from the federal and Virginia state governments.
DADSS, a public-private partnership between the government and leading auto-makers, is developing and implementing technology which prohibits a vehicle from being started if the driver is at or above the .08 limit for blood alcohol level which is the legal limit across all 50 states, DC and Puerto Rico.
“Drunk driving crashes are no accident – they are 100 percent preventable. They all connect back to human choices and errors, but we’re not stopping there,” said NHTSA Administrator Dr. Mark Rosekind. “With the help of our safety partners we’re looking at a technological path forward to create a world where there is no more drunk driving.”
Figures from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that there were 10,265 deaths resulting from drunk driving crashes in 2015 with drivers involved in 67 per cent of crashes showing around twice the legal alcohol limit or higher.
