With insurance costs rising dramatically, many corporations are opting for some form of self -insurance. Group health policies now have stop-loss provisions beyond which insurance coverage kicks in for the most dramatic illnesses and product liability insurance is often based upon the company's ability to pay for small losses and warranty expenses while leaving catastrophic damage recovery to the insurance companies for coverage.

Address the following issues:

Whether this process of self-insurance is a method of controlling product costs or are rising costs still being passed along to the ultimate consumers.

Whether the process of self-insurance has had an impact on the rising cost of risk management.