Issue 58
January 4, 2013

In This Issue

•SOI: Upload from an Excel File Directly in SERFF

•IIPRC Insight

•Rate Summary Worksheet: What You Need to Know.

•Looking ahead at E-Reg 2013

•The PSC Wants You!

•SERFF Welcomes Three New Interns

•Update Those Email Addresses!

Exchange Plan Management

Are you responsible for Exchange Plan Management in your state, or do you know who is? Send an e-mail to thiebert@naic.org and we'll be sure you and your colleagues receive updates and important information.

 

SERFF Tips and Tricks

Do you have any tips you'd like to pass along to your fellow SERFFers? Send them to the SERFF Marketing Team at serffmktg@naic.org and you may be featured in a future issue of The Insider!

 

SERFF Help Desk

The SERFF Help Desk is available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., Central Time. Contact the Help Desk at 816-783-8990 or serffhelp@naic.org.

If you have any article suggestions or if there is anything you'd like to learn more about, please send an e-mail to serffmktg@naic.org.

 

SERFF Canned Reports

Did you know there are a handful of prebuilt, or "canned," reports built into SERFF? These reports can help you or your management teams get vital filing statistics on turnaround time, productivity and filing counts.

If you are a state regulator, you have access to five different reports. Just navigate to the Reports tab in SERFF to see what's available. All reports have selection criteria to narrow the data included in the result, and nearly all will produce the report in one of four different formats (PDF, Excel, CSV, XML).

Industry, if your company is contracted with a data hoster (HP or Risk Analytics), you have access to reports, as well. There are four reports available to you when logged in to your hoster site. The reports will help you gather filing statistics on Dispositions, turnaround time and productivity. Similar to the state reports, you must specify your report criteria and report format — then, voila! — you have an organized report that is ready to turn into your management team!

For more information, please review the Industry User Manual, located in SERFF Online Help.

 

Suggestions

If you have any article suggestions or if there is anything you'd like to learn more about, please send an e-mail to serffmktg@naic.org.

 

SOI: Upload from an Excel File Directly in SERFF

To provide better usability for mix-and-match filers, the SERFF application now supports the upload of Excel files to create Statement of Intent (SOI) Schedule Items.

Users that would like to create an SOI template using an Excel spreadsheet will find the correct documentation in SERFF Online Help and in the IIPRC General Instructions. Please note that the only Excel form that will be accepted is the form found in the previously mentioned areas.

Helpful Hints:
  • In order to correctly upload from Excel to SERFF, the state abbreviation must be used.
  • When completing the SOI Excel document, do not skip lines between states.
  • When uploading an SOI Excel document, do not leave the template until each SOI line item has been created and saved.
  • More than one SOI Excel document may be uploaded, but only one at a time.

SOI templates may be imported to any draft IIPRC filing. SERFF will only add the lines for the states included on that filing. For more information, please contact the Help Desk at (816) 783-8990 or serffhelp@naic.org.


IIPRC Insight

The IIPRC has developed some additional tools for filers in an effort to continue to improve the IIPRC filing experience.

Industry filers can now create, save and modify an Excel file (in the format provided by SERFF) that can be automatically uploaded into the Statement of Intent (SOI) schedule using the template functionality. This will help minimize the data entry required for the SOI schedule for IIPRC mix-and-match filing submissions. The use of templates allows industry filers to create reusable schedules containing information for the SOI. This SOI template can be used like all other templates in SERFF and can be found in SERFF Online Help and in the IIPRC General Instructions.

Checklists for each uniform standard are now in an interactive format. The checklists can be found in the Record – Adopted Standards section of the IIPRC website, right next to the corresponding uniform standard. This update provides ease of use: electronic completion and saving capabilities.

To keep a finger on the pulse of our IIPRC user community, a suggestion box was recently developed. Suggestions regarding the IIPRC website, rules and uniform standards, filing process or member and customer service may be submitted to us by clicking on the suggestion box icon found on each page of the IIPRC website www.insurancecompact.org.

One of the main initiatives of the IIPRC is speed-to-market. We hope these latest enhancements get you there faster!


Rate Summary Worksheet: What You Need to Know

One of the most common issues reported to the SERFF Help Desk involves errors received when submitting a federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) filing that includes a Rate Summary Worksheet (RSW). Here are some tips to help users submit their filings without needing to contact the SERFF Help Desk.

The requirement for the RSW is found on the Supporting Documentation tab. In most cases, the filer will need to satisfy the requirement by attaching a copy of the RSW.

Helpful Hints:

  • Always try to have the most recent RSW, which can be found on the federal Health Insurance Oversight System (HIOS) website. You can tell how new the spreadsheet is by looking at the date in the bottom right-hand corner.
  • The RSW must be saved as an Excel file. A PDF file or any other filing type will not work.
  • Always complete and upload the copy that is downloaded directly from the HIOS website. If you try to copy/paste the data into a different Excel spreadsheet, SERFF will be unable to validate the document.
  • Only submit one RSW per company. The system will show a section for each company, but will not allow more than one worksheet per section.
  • Make sure all data fields are filled out in the correct format. For example, if you accidentally type an alpha character into a numeric field, the submission could error. The worksheet should auto-correct many of the fields, such as the dates.

Hopefully, this information will help guide you to successful submissions with the RSW. As always, if you have questions or need assistance, contact the SERFF Help Desk at (816) 783-8990 or serffhelp@naic.org.


Looking Ahead at E-Reg 2013

We are excited to announce that the 14th annual E-Reg conference will be held in Kansas City, May 5-8, 2013. The SERFF staff is planning a variety of sessions for the Rate and Form track including SERFF tutorials, IIPRC presentations and other industry and state topics.

Registration opens in February and registered Rate and Form attendees will receive more information about the scheduled sessions in the coming months. To learn more to go: http://ereg.naic.org. See you at E-Reg!


The PSC Wants You!

The SERFF Product Steering Committee (PSC), meets regularly and is comprised of 10 state and 10 industry voting members. Additionally, other users of the SERFF application (either state or industry) are welcome to join PSC calls as interested parties.

The PSC is invaluable to the SERFF staff as it:

  • Provides the end-user perspective to requests for changes in format and/or functionality of the SERFF application.
  • Reviews and prioritizes requests received via the Design Suggestion Survey, found on the SERFF Splash Page https://login.serff.com.
  • Provides an avenue for industry comments and input into the development of the SERFF application.

It goes without saying that the most effective way of getting involved is to, well … get involved! We're always looking for different perspectives to keep our application innovative and relevant to the needs of our end users. Participation only takes two or three hours per month.

If you would like to participate in the PSC conference calls and play a role in SERFF's future, send an email to serffhelp@naic.org to let us know that you would like to become an interested party.


SERFF Welcomes Three New Interns

The SERFF team recently welcomed three interns to the SERFF Help Desk: Thomas Gasaway, Kelsey Johnson and Michael Okpewho.

Thomas Gasaway is a student at Metropolitan Community College – Longview, working toward a degree in software development. Prior to joining the SERFF team in August, Thomas worked at a local hotel as a room service attendant. In his spare time, Thomas enjoys playing video games and spending time with his friends.

Kelsey Johnson joined the SERFF team in August and is a business student at the University of Missouri – Kansas City. Following graduation, she would like to go to law school. Outside of school and work, Kelsey enjoys spending time with friends and family. Kelsey is looking forward to summer 2013, as she will be traveling to England to visit family.

Michael Okpewho is a recent graduate of the University of Central Missouri (UCM) and joined the SERFF team in October. During his time at UCM, Michael worked on campus in the athletics department. In his spare time, Michael enjoys watching Netflix or playing basketball with his friends.

Welcome to the team, Thomas, Kelsey, and Michael!


Update Those Email Addresses!

It is very important that SERFF users keep their email addresses updated in SERFF. SERFF uses email addresses to contact users regarding newsletter publications, training events, and other important notifications.

To update your email address in SERFF, please go to Settings, and the default screen is Contact Information. Please confirmation that all of your contact information is correct and click "Save.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) is the U.S. standard-setting and regulatory support organization created and governed by the chief insurance regulators from the 50 states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories. Through the NAIC, state insurance regulators establish standards and best practices, conduct peer review, and coordinate their regulatory oversight. NAIC staff supports these efforts and represents the collective views of state regulators domestically and internationally. NAIC members, together with the central resources of the NAIC, form the national system of state-based insurance regulation in the U.S.