Eastern Alliance Insurance Group and Eastern Life and Health Insurance Company Announce Affirmation of A- (Excellent) A.M. Best Ratings and a Positive Outlook for Eastern Alliance Insur...( LANCASTER Pa. April 21 /- Eastern...),Health

LANCASTER, Pa., April 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Eastern Insurance Holdings, Inc. ("EIHI") (Nasdaq: EIHI) today announced that A.M. Best Co. has affirmed it's A- (Excellent) financial strength ratings of EIHI members Eastern Alliance Insurance Group ("EAIG") and Eastern Life and Health Insurance Company ("ELH") and upgraded the outlook for EAIG to positive. EAIG is a domestic casualty insurance group specializing in workers' compensation. A.M. Best reaffirmed a stable outlook for ELH, a domestic life and health insurance company.

Bruce Eckert, Chief Executive Officer of EIHI, stated "A.M. Best's affirmation of these A- ratings confirms our ability to successfully compete for additional customers in our existing market place. We are extremely pleased with the upgrade of EAIG's outlook to positive, in recognition of our continuing excellent operational and financial results."

In its news release affirming the A- rating, A.M. Best recognized EAIG's "strong operating results, excellent capitalization and diversified organizational structure." A.M. Best additionally highlighted EAIG's "cultivation of a loyal agency base" and its "five-year average combined ratio, which remains well below the workers' compensation average." The positive outlook "reflects the strong operating results, focused underwriting initiatives and aggressive claims closures."

EAIG consists of Eastern Alliance Insurance Company, Allied Eastern Indemnity Company and Eastern Advantage Assurance Company, which operate under an intercompany pooling agreement.

A.M. Best reaffirmed the A- financial strength rating of ELH, noting that ELH "maintains a very strong level of risk-based capital," and has improved its "loss ratios across its core business
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