US 8,527,302 B2Granted

Managing an insurance plan

AssigneeFmr LLC

InventorsWilliam Joseph Johnson, Jr., Mark C. Leonard, Ross Mark Krinsky, Stephen Luke Deschenes

Life of this patent

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Abstract

Described are computer-based methods and apparatuses, including computer program products, for managing insurance plans. Multiple bids are received from multiple reinsurance companies for the price of a unit of an insurance product (e.g., a fixed annuity paying ten dollars a month starting at the age of sixty five). The unit of the insurance product is associated with a set of one or more risk factors (e.g., age, range of ages). A bid is selected from the bids based on a relationship between the bids (e.g., lowest bid, lowest weighted bid). The selected bid is associated with a selected reinsurance company. Units of the insurance product associated with the selected bid are offered to participants associated with the set of one or more risk factors.

Claims26

Dependent claims

A method for an insurer to offer an insurance plan to participants, comprising:

receiving, by a computing device of the insurer, a first plurality of bids from a first plurality of reinsurance companies, each bid including a price for a first unit of a first insurance product, the first unit of the first insurance product being associated with a first risk factor based on a participant characteristic;
selecting, from the first plurality of bids, by the computing device of the insurer, a first bid from a first reinsurance company, the first bid being the lowest bid of the first plurality of bids for the first unit;
receiving, by the computing device of the insurer, a second plurality of bids from a second plurality of reinsurance companies, each bid including a price for a second unit of a second insurance product, the second unit of the second insurance product being associated with a second risk factor based on the participant characteristic;
selecting, from the second plurality of bids, by the computing device of the insurer, a second bid from a second reinsurance company, the second bid being the lowest bid of the second plurality of bids for the second unit;
forming, by the computing device of the insurer, the insurance plan for the insurer including at least the first unit of the first insurance product and the second unit of the second insurance product;
and
offering, by the computing device of the insurer, the insurance plan to a first set of participants having the first risk factors at a first price equal to the first bid for the first unit and a second set of participants having the second risk factors at a second price equal to the second bid for the second unit,
wherein the insurer purchases a first asset from the first reinsurance company based on an amount of the insurance plan necessary to cover the first units purchased by the first set of participants and a second asset from the second reinsurance company based on an amount of the insurance plan necessary to cover the second units purchased by the second set of participants.

5 more elements

A computer program product, tangibly embodied in a machine-readable storage device, the computer program product including instructions being operable to cause a data processing apparatus of an insurer to:

receive a first plurality of bids from a first plurality of reinsurance companies, each bid including a price for a first unit of a first insurance product, the first unit of the first insurance product being associated with a first risk factor based on a participant characteristic;
select a first bid from a first reinsurance company, the first bid being the lowest bid of the first plurality of bids for the first unit;
receive a second plurality of bids from a second plurality of reinsurance companies, each bid including a price for a second unit of a second insurance product, the second unit of the second insurance product being associated with a second risk factor based on the participant characteristic;
select a second bid from a second reinsurance company, the second bid being the lowest bid of the second plurality of bids for the second unit;
form the insurance plan for the insurer including at least the first unit of the first insurance product provided by the first reinsurance company and the second unit of the second insurance product provided by the second reinsurance company;
and
offer the insurance plan to a first set of participants having the first risk factor at a first price equal to the first bid for the first unit and a second set of participants having the second risk factor at a second price equal to the second bid for the second unit,
wherein the insurer purchases a first asset from the first reinsurance company based on an amount of the insurance plan necessary to cover the first units purchased by the first set of participants and a second asset from the second reinsurance company based on an amount of the insurance plan necessary to cover the second units purchased by the second set of participants.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 11/964,980Filed 27 Dec 2007
Published: US 2009/0171831 A12 Jul 2009
Granted: 3 Sep 2013
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification4 codes

G06Q 30/08
Buying, selling or leasing transactions: auctions
G06Q 40/04
Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes: trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency…
G06Q 40/08
Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes: insurance
G06Q
Information and communication technology [ict] specially adapted for administrative, commercial, financial, managerial