California pushes for insurance exchange despite fate of Affordable Care Act

California health insurance news update California seems to be moving ahead with its plans to build a health insurance exchange despite the current controversy surrounding the Affordable Care Act. The federal health care law is currently awaiting ruling from the Supreme Court after lengthy and uncomfortable litigation last month. Speculation suggests that the Court may rule the law as unconstitutional, or at least a part of which, which means that states would no longer be required to build insurance exchanges. California lawmakers are well aware of the possibility that the…

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Earnix unveils new Product Manager Workbench for the American insurance marketplace

Insurance technology news Leading insurance and banking industry integrated customer and pricing analytics solutions provider, Earnix, has unveiled their latest offering in the form of the Earnix Product Manager Workbench module. This new product allows product and state managers from American insurers to bring together price elasticity models and decision processes for pricing. The predictive analytics functionality is easy to use, and any level user will be able to forecast the result of upcoming rate changes on key performance indicators (KPIs). This includes the written premium, retention, the conversion rate…

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Consumer Watchdog proposes new ballot initiative to curb health insurance rate hikes

California health insurance industry being eyeballed Consumer Watchdog, a non-profit advocacy group focused on the insurance industry, has proposed a new ballot initiative to the California Legislature that would put a stop on rising health insurance premiums. The organization claims that the state’s largest insurance companies have increased premiums by 20% since April 1, 2012. Consumer Watchdog suggests that these companies will raise rates a second time in May, and increase that will likely be 20% again. These higher rates have affected more than 1 million Californians, many of whom…

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Connecticut lawmakers mull over plan to make license plates transmit insurance information

Proof of auto insurance in Connecticut Connecticut lawmakers are considering a new plan that could make checking for auto insurance coverage easier. The plan would have small transmitters embedded in the license plates of vehicles. These transmitters would be able to send out insurance verification via RFID signals. Legislators believe that this system would be a more efficient way to track uninsured drivers and issue tickets. If the plan is enacted, the state could collect as much as $29 million each year. According to the Insurance Research Council, a non-profit…

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Carnival announces Costa Concordia insurance will recover $851 million

According to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing, Carnival Corp. has posted $851 million in recovered funds from its insurance policies as being among its first quarter assets for 2012. Carnival has announced that “substantially all” of the amount recovered through insurance are connected to the Costa Concordia disaster, which occurred on January 13, when the cruise ship ran aground and then capsized off of the Italian island of Giglio. In early March, the cruise liner company had announced that its first quarter net losses for 2011 were…

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