Following the end of the state-set auto insurance rates in Massachusetts three years ago, there have been over a dozen new insurers that have rushed in to take their piece of that sector. However, the largest auto insurer in the country, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., has decided that it will be remaining outside of the state. Other insurers that have made their way in include Allstate, Geico, and Progressive. It’s believed that a fourteenth new auto insurer, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin-based General Casualty, will soon be joining that market.…
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Mutual Life of Massachusetts approves $1.33 billion in dividends for consumers
Mutual Life Insurance, one of the largest insurers in Massachusetts, has announced that it will pay $1.33 billion in dividends to policyholders in 2012. The dividend is a long-standing tradition for the company, extending back to 1860 when it was first introduced. Last year, the company paid out more than $105 million. This year’s large sum is due to a number of factors, including growth in the life insurance market and less competition overall. The insurer will be doling out the money throughout 2012 to eligible policyholders. Customers that have…
Read MoreMassachusetts lawmakers look to change the state’s health care system with a global payment plan
Massachusetts lawmakers are struggling to rein in on rising health care costs, but a solution may be on its way as the state reaches the conclusion of a three-year long study. The study concerns the state of Massachusetts’ health care system and how insurance companies, hospitals and doctors interact with one another. The state is not the first to consider sweeping changes to its health care system, but it may be the first in enacting such changes. Legislators are currently working toward a plan they call “global payments.” The basic…
Read MoreMassachusetts insurance agents rally against use of socioeconomic factors to price insurance coverage
Massachusetts insurance agents have come together to oppose the use of credit score and other socioeconomic factors when determine the cost of auto insurance. The Massachusetts Association of Insurance Agents (MAIA) will be campaigning to bring the matter before Congress, where the group hopes legislators will ban what they call a “discriminatory practice.” More than 1,400 agencies representing MAIA are currently mobilized to gather signatures from registered voters for a petition that will bear their concerns to lawmakers. The campaign has won the support of Attorney General Martha Coakley, who…
Read MoreSafety-net healthcare used regardless of reform in Massachusetts
A recent study has shown that the new healthcare reforms in Massachusetts have failed to decrease the pressure on providers for those in the lowest income brackets. Between the years of 2005 and 2009, the number of visits to community health centers rose by 31 percent, and public and charity hospitals also experienced a notable increase in their number of patients. Leader of the study, Leighton Ku, who is the head of the George Washington University Center for Health Policy Research, said that there are a number of things that…
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