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Education Program

The ICA Claims Education Program provides an introduction to life and health insurance and a thorough understanding of claim administration for both individual and group coverage. The valuable working knowledge students gain from the program provides them with a professional edge and becomes their "claim to excellence" in the industry.

The Program

The entire Program curriculum consists of three groups of courses with a specific examination given for each course. They include the required introductory course segment, the ALHC course segment and the FLHC course segment.

Download the Claims Education Program Brochure 2009

Continuing education has become a career necessity for many life and health claim professionals. Students who participate in the program reflect their commitment and dedication to the claim profession.

The benefits of ICA education are not limited to claim personnel. Many companies encourage underwriting, legal and actuarial personnel to participate. Since the program administered its first examination in 1965, students have enrolled for more than 100,000 examinations.

"The medical knowledge I have gained from Course C1 of the ICA Claims Education Program-Medical and Dental Aspects of Claims-has been especially helpful in my job and in my personal understanding of medical terminology."

Marjorie Tveitnes
Underwriter
Shelter Life Insurance Company

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New Professional Designation

Beginning in the Fall of 1997, the ICA Claims Education Program expanded to a two-tiered curriculum: the Associate, Life and Health Claims (ALHC) Program and the new Fellow, Life and Health Claims (FLHC) Program.

The ALHC Program remains unchanged and consists of six courses designed to provide students with a thorough understanding of the administration of life and health insurance claims. Over 10,000 claim professionals have distinguished themselves by earning the ALHC designation. The new FLHC Program builds upon the ALHC Program and offers a more advanced level of claim education through four additional courses.

One of the most advantageous aspects of earning the ALHC and FLHC designations are their long-term benefits. Information gained from these programs will be of optimum value to students both now and in the future. In turn, these claim professionals will be more valuable to their companies.

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Introductory Courses

The required introductory course segment consists of two introductory courses that present a basic working knowledge of life and health insurance, and the operations of life and health insurance companies. To satisfy the introductory course segment requirements, students may complete specified courses offered by:

LOMA (FLMI Program)
The Health Insurance Association of America (HIA Program)
The American College (CLU Program)*
The Life Underwriters Association of Canada (CLU Program)*

A listing of the specific courses can be found in the ICA Claims Education Program Booklet.

* Students wishing to use specified courses in either CLU Program must complete these courses before September 30, 1997. After that date, courses from the CLU Program cannot be used to satisfy the introductory course segment.

"We are pleased with the number of employees who are now trying to maximize their personal potential by participating in the insurance education program offered by the ICA . . . This program introduces newcomers to our business and polishes or expands the skills of our seasoned industry professionals."

Pat Wlodarczyk
Director of Human Resources
Monumental General Insurance Company

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Preparing for Examinations

The ICA Claims Education Program Booklet provides complete information about registering for and preparing for both the ALHC and FLHC Programs. The ICA Claims Education Program is designed as an independent self-study program. Preparation for the examination depends on individual circumstances and study habits. For most examinations, two or three months of preparation are required.

Examinations

Your company's designated Educational Representative is responsible for registering students for courses in the ALHC and FLHC Programs. All ICA administered exams are two hours long and consist of objective questions.

Upon completing all requirements of the ICA Claims Education Program, the student is entitled to use the professional designation "ALHC" or "FLHC", and will receive a diploma from the International Claim Association.*

*The ALHC and FLHC designations are awarded only upon successful completion of all required courses in both the introductory and ICA course segments. Completion of all required ICA courses does not result in a student earning the ALHC or FLHC designation until all introductory course requirements have been met as well and proof of such completion has been provided.

The ICA Claims Education Program is administered by CEU.com under the direction of the ICA Education Committee. More information about the ICA Claims Education Program may be obtained by contacting: CEU.com at 800-295-9010 or ICA at 202-452-0143.

The ALHC and FLHC Programs

Beginning in the the Fall of 1997, the ICA Claim Education Program expanded to a two-tiered curriculum: the Associate, Life and Health Claims (ALHC) Program and the Fellow, Life and Health Claims (FLHC) Program. The ALHC Program, which will remain unchanged, consists of six courses designed to provide students with a thorough background in the administration of life and health insurance claims. The new FLHC Program will build upon the ALHC Program by offering an advanced level of claim education through four additional courses.

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ALHC Program

The ALHC Program consists of six courses: two Introductory Courses and four ALHC Courses. Students may enroll for examinations in the Introductory or ICA Course segments in any order; however, the ICA recommends that students complete the Introductory Courses before enrolling for ALHC Courses.

Introductory Courses may be satisfied by successful completion of two specific parts of any of the following educational programs:

FLMI Program
HIAA Program
CLU Program (American)
CLU Program (Canadian)

Complete information about the specific courses in the programs that qualify as Introductory Courses can be found in the ICA Claims Education Program Brochure, which may be downloaded from this site.

The four ALHC Courses build upon the basic insurance knowledge gained through completion of the Introductory Courses. The ALHC Courses include:

Course C1, Medical Aspects of Claims - Describes the anatomy and physiology of the human body, as well as disorders and treatment of the various body systems.
Course C2, Life and Health Insurance Law - Provides the student with an understanding of the insurance policy as a legal contract. Sets forth aspects of statutory law, case law, and common law as they pertain to claim administration.
Course C3, Claim Administration - Describes the administration of claims under life and health insurance contracts (both individual and group), including investigation and cost control techniques. Course
C4, Management of Claim Operations - Focuses on the application of management theory to the operations of claim departments, including the management functions of planning, controlling, organizing and leading.

Upon successful completion of all required courses in both the Introductory and ALHC Course segments, students will be awarded the ALHC professional designation and will receive a diploma from the International Claim Association. Students achieving an average score of 90 or better (with no previous failures) on all ICA Course examinations will be awarded diplomas "with distinction."

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FLHC Program

For those students looking to pursue a higher, more advanced level of claim education, the ICA offers the Fellow, Life and Health Claims (FLHC) professional designation. This program is designed to provide a broader knowledge and understanding of claims by focusing on related insurance functions. Although the successful completion of the entire ALHC Program curriculum is a prerequisite to earning the FLHC designation, students may enroll for courses in either curriculum in any order. However, because the FLHC Program builds upon the knowledge gained from the ALHC Program curriculum, the ICA recommends completion of the entire ALHC Program before undertaking the FLHC Program.

Students who earned the ALHC designation prior to the 1991 introduction of C4, Management of Claim Operations, are required to complete C4 in order to earn the FLHC designation.

The FLHC curriculum consists of four courses in total: three required LOMA courses and one elective from LOMA or the American College.

The three required LOMA courses include:

ACS 100 — Foundations of Customer Service. Provides a solid base of knowledge in understanding customer service concepts and strategies, building a customer service culture, understanding customers and customer service research, establishing and measuring the performance of customer service systems, and developing a dedicated customer service staff.
LOMA 320 — Life and Health Insurance Marketing. Covers marketing principles and the function of marketing as an integral aspect of the life and health insurance industry.
UND 386 — Underwriting Life and Health Insurance. Provides an understanding of medical and non-medical aspects of the process of risk selection as practiced in life and health insurance companies.

For the fourth course in the FLHC curriculum, students are required to complete any one of the following electives:

LOMA Courses:

LOMA 351 — Financial Services Environment. Provides a foundation in economic concepts such as microeconomics and macroeconomics, supply and demand; the origin, behavior, and structure of interest rates; and the major types of money market and capital markets instruments used by individuals and businesses. The course also provides students with an understanding of the financial services environment in which insurance companies operate.
LOMA 371 — Managing for Solvency and Profitability in Life Insurance Companies. Explains the product design and capital management issues affecting profitability and solvency for financial services providers.
AIRC 410 — Regulatory Compliance: Companies, Producers, and Operations. Describes the structure of state and federal insurance regulation within the framework of financial services organizations. The focus of this course is on how specific roles and functions within a financial services company are affected by the changing nature of these compliance issues.
AIRC 420 — Regulatory Compliance: Insurance and Annuity Products. Introduces students to the environment of insurance compliance in the United States. The text includes information about NAIC model laws and state and federal regulation affecting insurance and annuity products.

American College Courses

HS 321 — Income Taxation. Provides an overview of the income tax system, basic income tax concepts, taxation of life insurance, items of gross income, deductions for business and production of income and expenses, and taxation of corporations and their shareholders.
HS 330 — Fundamentals of Estate Planning. Describes the estate planning process, forms of property ownership, lifetime transfers, federal gift tax taxation, income taxation of estates and trusts, and other estate planning techniques and considerations.
HS 331 — Planning for Business Owners and Professionals. Describes common business problems and planning objectives, unincorporated business enterprises, corporations, compensation planning in the closely held corporation, planning for stock redemptions, keeping the family business, and managing risk in the closely held business.

Complete information and registration information on American College Courses are available through The American College at (610) 526-1490.

Upon successful completion of all four courses in the FLHC Program curriculum and all six courses in the ALHC Program curriculum, students will be awarded the FLHC-professional designation and will receive a diploma from the International Claim Association. Students achieving an average score of 90 or better (with no previous failures) on all CEU.com administered exams will be awarded diplomas "with distinction."

CEU.com administers the ALHC and FLHC Programs under the direction of the ICA Education Committee. A brochure describing the ICA Claims Education Program in more detail may be downloaded from this site.

Many colleges and universities grant credits for successful completion of the ICA Claims Education Program courses. See the ICA Claims Education Program Booklet for details.

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Phone: (202) 452-0143 • Fax: (202) 530-0659 • E-mail: lisettew@claim.org