Insurance Agency Research Articles

The insurance agent of modernity: Jean Delannoy’s cold humanism

ABSTRACT Jean Delannoy suffered more than any other director from the New Wave narrative of the Tradition of Quality as a bureaucratic, academic, professional and soulless production disconnected from everyday life. Compared to an insurance salesman by his critics, Delannoy came to encapsulate the ultimate commodification of cinema. However, a close look at the director’s work during the late 1940s – arguably his peak – shows that it was far from old-fashioned. On the contrary, the author argues that his late 1940s output contributed to French cinematic modernism, particularly Les Jeux sont faits/The Chips Are Down (1947), Aux yeux du souvenir/To the Eyes of Memory (1948) and Le Secret de Mayerling/The Secret of Mayerling (1949). The author turns the view of Delannoy as a mere insurer on its head to instead reframe the director as a moderniser. The first part of the article situates in historical context Delannoy’s rise to prominence and his reformist attitude. The second part theorises the relation between insurance and modernity. The final part conducts a close reading of Les Jeux sont faits to showcase what the author calls Delannoy’s ‘cold humanism’, an intellectualisation of cinema that entailed embracing non-cinematic registers and destabilising narrative expectations.

Legal Protection of Savings and Loan Cooperative Members' Funds Related to Payment Delays and Bankruptcy in Economic Development

This research was conducted with the aim of knowing the legal protection of KSP members' funds, then analyzed using the theory of legal protection with an economic approach. The scope of the research includes that cooperative members' funds are only covered by the KSP management. Summary of the problem in the research, currently there are many cases of KSP failing to pay cooperative members, due to irregularities carried out by KSP Management, to the point where KSP is declared bankrupt. However, the provisions of the law regarding cooperatives do not yet regulate the protection of KSP members' funds. The findings from this research are the amendment of Law Number 25 of 1992 to Law Number 17 of 2012 and the Decree of the Minister of Cooperatives (Kepmenkop) Number 351/Kep/XII/1998, these three regulations do not yet regulate the protection of KSP members' funds. Then, this research uses a type of juridical-normative research and is supported by literature study, and from the results of this research it is found that the protection of KSP members' funds is only handled by the KSP management and is not regulated in the provisions of the Cooperative Law and there is no guarantee institution for KSP members' funds such as banks, namely, Deposit Insurance Corporation (LPS). Therefore, it is necessary to establish legal provisions that regulate the protection of KSP members' funds and establish a deposit insurance agency to guarantee members' funds, apart from being paid by the KSP management, in order to provide legal certainty and guarantee the protection of KSP members' savings funds.

Making the most of a captive audience: Do specialist teams in custodial settings offer a way to assist people to access the NDIS?

AbstractWhile the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has been operating in Australia for 10 years, numerous eligible people with disability have not accessed the scheme, many of whom are in prison. The South Australian Government, in partnership with the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), implemented a pilot programme to assist people in prison to access the NDIS as having NDIS supports on release may reduce the risk of returning to custody. This qualitative study, drawing on interviews with 20 stakeholders, explores the enablers and barriers of assisting people with disability in prison access the NDIS. Our findings show that while custodial settings provide opportunities to assist people with disability to have their eligibility for the NDIS assessed, prisons are difficult settings in which to undertake subsequent assessment and planning processes to determine the supports available on release. People with disability exiting prison also face significant challenges accessing suitable accommodation and support services, particularly when their needs are complex. Further work is required to ensure planning and assessment processes meet the needs of this group. The findings provide useful insights to both justice and other institutional settings and respond to many of the questions raised by recent public inquiries and reviews.

Assessing the Impact of Big Five Personality Traits on Job Performance: A Study in Association with Insurance Agents in Northern Province, Sri Lanka

The flourishing life insurance industry in Sri Lanka underscores the pivotal role of insurance agents in advancing revenue streams and overall success. This study examines the nexus between the Big Five personality traits and the Job performance of insurance agents in the life insurance companies in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. The independent variables encompass the dimensions of openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and emotional stability, while the dependent variable comprises job performance. A stratified random sampling approach was employed to distribute 300 structured questionnaires among insurance agents in life insurance companies. The collected data were analyzed by using different statistical techniques. The outcomes of the multiple regression analysis underscore a substantial impact of all Big Five personality dimensions excluding agreeableness on job performance. These findings offer valuable insights for insurance agents, aiding them in making informed career choices. Simultaneously, life insurance company managers can leverage this research to refine their selection criteria, ensuring the recruitment of individuals whose personalities align with the dimensions that significantly impact job performance in the industry and identify the training needs for the personality development of the insurance agent in the life insurance companies in Sri Lanka.

Satellite Based Composite Weather Insurance Product for assessing mid-term adversary

The present study formulated a satellite-based rainfall insurance product (SRIP) at sub-seasonal scale during 2015–2020 by integrating meteorological, geophysical and vegetation index products e.g. rainfall (CHIRPS:Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station), soil moisture (SMAP), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and normalized difference water index (NDWI) from moderate resolution imaging spectro-radiometer (MODIS). The SRIP was meticulously designed to integrate both cause (rainfall) and impact (NDVI, NDWI, soil moisture) parameters to enhance the assessment of min-season crop risks, with a particular emphasis on deficit rainfall. The performance evaluation of SRIP was conducted in two distinct agro-climatic zones viz. Deoria district of Uttar Pradesh (Upper Gangetic Plain Region) and Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh (Southern Plateau and Hills Region) spanned from June to October, which aligns with the major crop-growing season corresponding to the Southwest monsoon period in India. Three sets of SRIPs were investigated i.e. SRIP with cause parameter (SRIP1), SRIP with cause-impact parameters with no lag response (SRIP2) and SRIP with cause-impact parameters with one-month lag response (SRIP3). The SRIP was structured to provide a numerical index on a scale ranging from 0 to 1, representing poor to good crop-growing conditions that could effectively identify the rainfall deficit threshold (SRIP≤0.43) corresponding to negative percent deviation in rainfall (PDR≤−20%). This threshold level was recognized for compensation of triggers at the multiple crop growth phases during the crop-growing season. The district average of SRIP and PDR showed fair correlation co-efficient (0.77 ≤ r ≤ 0.88). Good correlation between sub-seasonal (monthly, bi-monthly, tri-monthly) SRIP and normalized MODIS Gross Primary Productivity (0.65 ≤ r ≤ 0.98), and SRIP deviation and yield deviation (0.45 ≤ r ≤ 0.97) reflect sensitivity of SRIP to crop carbon productivity and crop yield. The findings of the present study recommend SRIP not only a multi-phase composite index for assessing mid-season crop risks in terms of rainfall deficit for clusters of insurance units, but it has the potential to be used by insurance agencies to settle the claims by farmers in a transparent and faster manner for crop loss due to large-scale rainfall deficits. However, SRIP needs to be customized in future to make it more adaptable to settle insurance claims due to weather adversaries at individual farm level.

Progressive degradation behavior and mechanism of lithium-ion batteries subjected to minor deformation damage

Minor deformation damage poses a concealed threat to battery performance and safety. This study delves into the progressive degradation behavior and mechanisms of lithium-ion batteries under minor deformation damage induced by out-of-plane compression. The effects of varying initial states of charge and loading speed on battery degradation are also analyzed. It has been observed that a deformation damage degree as low as 3.1 % can cause a significant transient capacity reduction up to 6.3 %. More transient capacity reduction can occur at higher initial state of charges and loading speed. Additionally, the investigation reveals that the capacity decay rate between the normal cell and cells experiencing deformation damage degree of <4.7 % is almost similar, with a maximum difference of merely 1.887 mAh/cycle and a minimum difference of 0.001 mAh/cycle, both observed over 3000 cycles. Non-destructive and destructive analysis methods are used to investigate degradation behaviors of the cells experiencing minor deformation dagame. It is found that such progressive degradation is primarily driven by the loss of active lithium ions, followed by the loss of cathode and anode active materials. It is anticipated that the findings will offer theoretical underpinnings for advancements in battery damage assessment, early failure prediction, and facilitation of loss adjustment and compensation by insurance agencies.

Cooperation in Return-to-work Interventions for Common Mental Disorders: An Ideal Theory Analysis of Actors, Goals, and Ethical Obstacles.

The rise in the number of people on sick leave for common mental disorders is a growing concern, both from a societal and individual perspective. One common suggestion to improve the return-to-work process is increased cooperation between the relevant parties, including at least the employer, the social insurance agency and health care. This suggestion is often made on the presumption that all parties share the common goal of reintegrating the patient-employee back into the workplace. In this paper we investigate this presumption by mapping out the ethical frameworks of these three key actors in any return-to-work process. We show that although the goals of these actors often, and to a large extent, overlap there are potential differences and tensions between their respective goals. Further, we emphasise that there may be other limitations to an actor's participation in the process. In particular the health care system is required to respect patient autonomy and confidentiality. There is also an inherent tension in the dual roles of health care professionals as therapists and expert witnesses in work ability assessment. In conclusion, there are potential tensions between the key actors in the return-to-work process. These tensions need to be addressed in order to enable an increased cooperation between actors and to facilitate the development of a feasible plan of action for all parties, including the employee.

A collaborative approach to support people with a disability living in Australian group homes during the COVID-19 pandemic: a case study.

In this case study we describe how Sydney Local Health District (SLHD) Disability Inclusion and Advice Service (DIAS) provided support to disability group homes during the COVID-19 Delta and Omicron waves. The study provides insights into group home providers' experience of supports implemented by SLHD and other stakeholders. A mixed method approach was undertaken that included analysing data from a database and electronic medical records and a survey of disability group home managers. DIAS developed a range of processes to support prevention, outbreak preparedness and response. This included developing a Disability Shared Living COVID-19 Pathway, engaging with group home providers through a fortnightly Community of Practice, assisting with improving vaccination status and procuring personal protective equipment. During an outbreak DIAS provided a 24h, 7days per week on call support, coordinated outbreak management team meetings and collaborated with several internal and external stakeholders. SLHD infection prevention and control nurses were recruited to undertake a process of reviewing outbreak management plans and providing support during an outbreak. Most disability providers (86%) reported that they felt very prepared to manage outbreaks at the time of the survey (August 2022) compared with the pre-Delta wave, for which 36% reported feeling 'not prepared'. The proportion who rated the support from the stakeholders as very supportive/supportive was as follows: SLHD (100%), NSW Health (64%), National Disability Insurance Agency (50%) and National Disability Insurance Scheme Quality & Safeguards Commission (37%). Our case study provides insights into the support that LHDs can provide to disability homes in response to future outbreaks.

A - 64 Neuropsychological Assessment of Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract Objective Now more than ever, the neuropsychologist is frequently called upon to assess and diagnosis Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Neuropsychological assessment provides a comprehensive and objective analysis of a child suspected of having ASD. To ensure accurate and early diagnosis of young children, this review will inform on the essential domains to include in the evaluation of ASD, highlight the cognitive profile of individuals with ASD, and address gender differences to consider as part of the diagnosis. Data Selection The following selection criteria were utilized: -articles published in peer-reviewed journals during the previous 10 years focusing on neuropsychological evaluations of ASD -employed a variety of assessment tools and methodologies - reporting on validity and reliability of specific measures to include in the evaluation of ASD in children. Data Synthesis It is essential to evaluate intelligence, attention, executive functioning, social communication, and fine motor skills as part of a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation. Intelligence tests can sometimes underestimate the IQ of individuals with ASD. The uneven cognitive development in children with ASD makes accurate diagnosis even more challenging. Sex related cognitive profiles should be considered to assist in the accurate diagnosis of girls with ASD. Conclusions Early and accurate identification of ASD in children is essential for improved outcomes. Schools, physicians, insurance agencies, and other stakeholders rely on the results of the neuropsychological evaluation to authorize essential interventions. Therefore, it is imperative to employ the most recent research related to the assessment of ASD, with an emphasis on increasing the identification of girls.

Does Knee Arthroplasty Have a Beneficial Effect on Return to Work in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis who Receive Long-Term Disability Benefits in the Netherlands?

Optimal timing of knee arthroplasty (KA) is complex: operating at a younger age increases life time risk of revision, while delay results in an increased risk of job loss. This study evaluates whether disability benefits recipients due to knee osteoarthritis have an increased odds of returning to work (RTW) following KA. A retrospective cohort study was performed among long-term disability benefits recipients due to knee osteoarthritis using data of the Dutch Employee Insurance Agency. Logistic regression assessed whether recipients with KA had a higher odds of RTW in 10years following start of disability benefits, compared to those without KA. A total of 159 participants were included. During 10-year follow up, 42% had received KA and 37% had returned to work. No association was observed between KA and RTW (OR 1.39, 95% CI 0.62-3.12). Prognostic factors for RTW were being the main breadwinner (OR 7.93, 95% CI 2.95-21.32) and classification as 100% work disability (OR 0.20, 95% CI 0.09-0.45). KA has no beneficial effect on RTW among patients with knee osteoarthritis granted long-term disability in the Netherlands. For RTW, KA is probably best performed within the two years of paid sick leave before long-term disability is assessed in the Netherlands.

Follow-up Performance assessment of a Social Health Insurance Scheme in a southwest Nigeria state

Aims: Social health insurance and other forms of prepayment health schemes are effective approaches to enhancing access to available healthcare services. While prepayment schemes are generally common and well established in developed countries, they are relatively new and in the early stages of development in sub-Saharan countries, including Nigeria. Social health insurance in Nigeria, hitherto centralized, has devolved to the subnational state levels. The Oyo State Health Insurance Scheme, which is managed by the Oyo State Health Insurance Agency (OYSHIA), is one of the subnational schemes. The present study is a follow-up on the first three-year performance assessment of OYSHIA. The aim is also to assess the performance of the scheme and, most importantly, whether the recommendations made in the first study were used and if these recommendations have had a desirable impact on the scheme. Methods: Secondary data on enrolment in the social health insurance scheme of Oyo State between July 2020 and June 2023 were downloaded from the server of OYSHIA. The data were collated and analyzed. Data extraction, cleaning, and analysis covered a period of one and a half months (February–AApril, 2024). Excel software was used to analyze the data. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data. Population coverage distributions were expressed as frequencies and percentages. Frequency tables and graphs were generated to disaggregate the findings. Results: Although population coverage was still generally low, as it was in the first three-year performance assessment of the scheme, However, the present study shows that population coverage in the informal sector is very encouraging. Conclusions: In the absence of external limitations, the Oyo State social health insurance scheme has the potential to perform and achieve universal health coverage. Acknowledgements: The authors wish to acknowledge the Oyo State Health Insurance Agency for their permission to make use of the data and to submit the manuscript for publication. All enrollees are also appreciated. Contributions: David Adewole conceived and designed the study. Sola Akande, Boluwatito Orimadegun, and Ganiyu Owolabi were responsible for the data collection and analysis. Adewole, Akande, Orimadegun, Osungbade, and Owolabi contributed equally to the manuscript write-up. All authors read through the manuscript draft a second time. All authors agreed to the final manuscript.

Game-theoretic analysis of governance and corruption in China's pharmaceutical industry.

With the rapid development of China's pharmaceutical industry, issues of corruption and regulatory effectiveness have become increasingly prominent, posing critical challenges to public health safety and the industry's sustainable development. This paper adopts a bounded rationality perspective and employs a game-theoretic evolutionary approach to establish a tripartite evolutionary game model involving pharmaceutical companies, third-party auditing organizations, and health insurance regulatory agencies. It analyzes the stable strategies of the parties involved and the sensitivity of key parameters within this tripartite game system. The study reveals that adherence to health insurance regulations by pharmaceutical companies, refusal of bribes by third-party auditing organizations, and the implementation of lenient regulations by health insurance agencies can form an effective governance equilibrium. This equilibrium state contributes to reducing corruption in the pharmaceutical industry, balancing the interests of all parties, and promoting healthy industry development. Pharmaceutical companies must balance compliance costs against the risks of non-compliance benefits while maximizing profits; third-party auditing organizations need to choose between fulfilling their duties and accepting bribes, considering their economic benefits and professional reputation; health insurance regulatory agencies adjust their strategies between strict and lenient regulation to maximize social welfare. The paper suggests enhancing policy support, strengthening compliance supervision, improving audit independence, and adjusting regulatory strategies to optimize governance in the pharmaceutical industry. Additionally, the research highlights the role of collaborative efforts among the three parties in achieving sustainable governance. Furthermore, the study conducts a numerical simulation analysis to demonstrate the impact of various parameters on the evolutionary stability of the system, providing practical insights into the implementation of regulatory policies. This research offers new insights for policy formulation and governance in China's pharmaceutical sector, providing significant reference value for guiding the industry's sustainable development.

Административно-правовой статус Агентства по страхованию вкладов

The article examines the Deposit Insurance Agency (hereinafter referred to as the Agency), determines its administrative and legal status. All the powers and functions of the Agency have been analyzed. The problem of the legal status of the Agency as a state corporation, including in the bankruptcy procedure, is investigated. The Agency is a special state corporation with responsibilities to carry out effective and responsible management of funds included in the deposit insurance fund. He also has the right to act as a bankruptcy trustee. The Agency is the main link in the banking system of the state, ensuring effective protection of depositors from loss of insured deposits, as well as stable operation of the banking system as a whole, increasing the level of confidence of the Russian population in the banking system, which coordinates the work of the deposit insurance system based on the legislation of the Russian Federation.

Customer retention strategies used by jubilee insurance in Burundi

The main purpose of this study was to assess the customer retention strategies used by Jubilee Insurance Burundi. The paper intended to answer to the following questions: what are the strategies used by Jubilee Insurance Burundi to attract customers? What are the challenges faced by Jubilee Insurance Burundi in so far as customer retention is concerned? How can Jubilee Insurance effectively increase its customer base? The results show that Jubilee Insurance Company of Burundi mainly attracts customers through sales representatives (34%) followed by advertisement (24%), Corporate social responsibility programs (18%), sales promotions (16%) and new product/service development (08%). The findings also indicate that the major challenges of customer retention at Jubilee Insurance Company Burundi are affordability of insurance services (32%), ineffective promotion (20%), competition (18%), government regulation policies (16%) and availability of trained staff. Finally, the respondents indicated that the management in insurance agencies need to employ skillful, knowledgeable and qualified marketing workforces (26%) who can effectively market the agency insurance services; they also indicated that the insurance agencies need to improve on delivery quality of insurance services (32%), adopt effective marketing strategies (24%), select efficient channel of advertisement (18%) and as well as advertise aggressively to attract more customers.

The Legal Responsibility of Insurance Companies towards Customers for Mistakes by Commercial Health Insurance Agents in Indonesia

The Legal Responsibility of Insurance Companies towards Customers for Mistakes by Commercial Health Insurance Agents in Indonesia

PET imaging of gliomas: Status quo and quo vadis?

PET imaging, particularly using amino acid tracers, has become a valuable adjunct to anatomical MRI in the clinical management of patients with glioma. Collaborative international efforts have led to the development of clinical and technical guidelines for PET imaging in gliomas. The increasing readiness of statutory health insurance agencies, especially in European countries, to reimburse amino acid PET underscores its growing importance in clinical practice. Integrating artificial intelligence and radiomics in PET imaging of patients with glioma may significantly improve tumor detection, segmentation, and response assessment. Efforts are ongoing to facilitate the clinical translation of these techniques. Considerable progress in computer technology developments (eg quantum computers) may be helpful to accelerate these efforts. Next-generation PET scanners, such as long-axial field-of-view PET/CT scanners, have improved image quality and body coverage and therefore expanded the spectrum of indications for PET imaging in Neuro-Oncology (eg PET imaging of the whole spine). Encouraging results of clinical trials in patients with glioma have prompted the development of PET tracers directing therapeutically relevant targets (eg the mutant isocitrate dehydrogenase) for novel anticancer agents in gliomas to improve response assessment. In addition, the success of theranostics for the treatment of extracranial neoplasms such as neuroendocrine tumors and prostate cancer has currently prompted efforts to translate this approach to patients with glioma. These advancements highlight the evolving role of PET imaging in Neuro-Oncology, offering insights into tumor biology and treatment response, thereby informing personalized patient care. Nevertheless, these innovations warrant further validation in the near future.

Feasibility of Short-Term Use of Ivabradine in Critical Ill Patients Who Have Atrial Fibrillation and Tachycardia.

Ivabradine is approved for heart rate reduction in patients with stable symptomatic heart failure (HF). The United States Food and Drug Administration and Taiwan Central Health Insurance Agency approved the use of ivabradine for patients with chronic stable HF with sinus rhythm, but it has not yet been approved for patients with acute decompensated HF or with atrial fibrillation (AF). To investigate whether short-term ivabradine use is feasible in critically ill patients with AF and rapid ventricular response (RVR). This study retrospectively analyzed 23 patients admitted to an intensive care unit with acute HF and AF-RVR who received ivabradine. All patients initially received a slow IV of amiodarone. Other medications for HF were prescribed according to current HF guidelines. The time taken for ivabradine to reduce HR to 80 beats per minute, referred to as "Time to 80," was measured in each patient. Overall, 69.6 % (16/23) of the patients had New York Heart Association functional class IV HF. In addition, 60.9% (14/23) of the patients required endotracheal intubation and ventilatory support, with more than half receiving vasopressor treatment to manage hypotension. Five patients died during the study period. The surviving patients had a significantly shorter "Time to 80" compared to those who did not survive (p = 0.037). Adding ivabradine to standard treatment might be feasible for critically ill patients with AF and tachycardia. The finding that surviving patients had a shorter "Time to 80" duration than those who did not survive may have clinical implications. However, further investigations are needed to assess its clinical utility.

Att ge information i skriven interaktion

To provide information in written interaction – responsiveness at the digital welfare state’s frontline Digitalisation has created opportunities for people to have contact with representatives of human service organisations through various text-based channels (e.g., online chat, social media, email). Despite the fact that such text-based interaction is common in social work practice today, there is remarkably little knowledge about how the interaction is structured in practice and what characteristics the different forms have. Such knowledge is central to designing appropriate contacts that respond to clients’ needs. This study uses conversation analysis to study two forms of digital text-based interaction between clients and representatives of the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (SSIA). The data consist of circa 900 exchanges via email and the SSIA’s official Facebook page for parents. Identified patterns are also compared with 300 recorded phone calls to the SSIA, to make visible how participants orient to the limitations and affordances that the textual arenas provide in practice and which functions they thereby fulfill with regard to client relations. The analysis focuses on how practitioners manage responsiveness in replies to client questions. We show how practitioners’ replies tend to deviate from conversational norms by not being designed in line with the design or content of the questions. For example, practitioners often provide information that is conditioned (e.g., “if …then …”) rather than yes/no answers (even when replying to yes/no questions). Through this, the analysis also demonstrates how practitioners realise policy and organisational goals in digital text-based interaction. The study contributes knowledge about how help and service is provided in digital text-based interaction and highlights the problem of generally held replies that are not adapted to the recipient, as the interaction risks not fulfilling the expected function for the clients. We also problematise how textual interaction on social media platforms poses risks for clients’ privacy from an ethical perspective.

Tracing the refinement of policy tools for disability rights: a content analysis of how the granting process of state-funded personal assistance in Sweden is aligned with the LSS Act

Purpose According to the Swedish Act concerning Support and Service for Persons with Certain Functional Impairments (The LSS Act), personal assistance (PA) aims to enhance good living conditions for people with disability. The Act is operationalised by a policy tool, an instruction developed and refined by the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (SSIA) to grant PA. The study explores how this instruction is aligned with the LSS rationale and goals. Material and method Qualitative content analysis was applied on the material i.e., a government bill preceding the LSS Act and the policy tool, i.e., the SSIA instruction, versions 1994 and 2019. Results The result shows that the instruction has deviated from the LSS Act over time, by decreasing users’ access to community life, a shift towards health care activities, lack of support for the PA user, increased control and service-granting criteria. Conclusion This paper emphasises that the selection of policy tools goes beyond mere pragmatism, as they are subject to refinement procedures that have significant impacts over time. The deviations observed in fulfilling the objectives of the LSS Act highlights the importance of ongoing adjustments to policy tools to align with the original policy goals in order to promote disability rights.

Deposit Insurance Agency Between Legal Protection and Banking Crime

Deposit Insurance Agency Between Legal Protection and Banking Crime