Tag: Indiana health insurance

Indiana Health insurance may change the way smoking is factored into rates

Health Insurance for Smokers

Employers may be required to charge higher rates for plans covering smokers. Some employers in Indiana have already made the choice to charge higher rates for health insurance plans covering employees who smoke, but labor leaders are cautioning that this could lead to a trend where there is legislation against a larger number of health habits. The debate could impact the way that group rates are calculated within the state. The statewide ban on smoking has been into effect for several months, but there is now a hope among some…

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HHS rejects Indiana request for medical loss ratio waiver

Nordstrom

Indiana has finally received a response from the federal government regarding the state’s request for a waiver from the Affordable Care Act’s medical loss ratio provision. The provision requires insurance companies to pay at least 80% of the money they collect from premiums on improving medical care. Indiana had sought an exemption from the rule, claiming that it served as a detriment to the state’s insurance companies. The Department of Health and Human Services, however, has rejected the state’s request for a waiver. The state may have failed to obtain…

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Indiana’s request for exemption from the medical loss ratio rule is denied

S.Vagus

Earlier in the year, Indiana’s Department of Insurance submitted an official request to the federal government seeking to free the state’s insurance companies from the medical loss ratio requirement of the Affordable Care Act. The health care law dictates that all insurers should spend no less than 80% of the money they collect on premiums on improving medical care. According to the law, if companies fail to meet the requirement, they must return the money to consumers. Indiana’s request for an exemption from the rule has been denied by the…

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Workers at Indiana University to pay more for health insurance next year

Nordstrom

Employees at the Indiana University can expect to start paying more for their health insurance next year. According to Neil Theobald, vice presidents and chief financial officer of the university, the school is unable to keep up with the pace at which insurance rates are being increased. The university is unwilling to cut health care benefits for its staff, so has introduced a new initiative that has earned some controversy. Next year, the cost of health insurance for university employees will be based upon how much they earn, as well…

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Indiana to lose five different health insurers

Nordstrom

Five individual health insurance companies, including two of the largest in the country, have chosen to stop selling their policies in Indiana, leading the Indiana Department of Insurance to ask that certain elements of the reform law of 2010 be phased in. The third and fifth largest health insurance companies in the United States, Aetna Inc., from Hartford, and Cigna Corp., from Philadelphia, have decided that they will no longer be taking part in the market for individual health insurance in Indiana. Moreover, American Community Mutual Insurance Co., from Michigan,…

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