Changes to Illinois health insurance up for vote

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn is expected to make a decision on a bill arriving at his desk today. The State’s House of Representatives passed legislation— by a sweeping majority of 98-15 – that would keep the state’s health insurance contracts intact for the next two years. This conflicts with Quinn’s move to change the state’s health insurance carrier,  a measure that would have left more than 100,000 government workers in need of new coverage. The bill will also reopen the health insurance procurement process and allow the state’s insurers to…

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Pro business Texas insurance bill passes

The Senate of Texas has passed a new insurance bill that has been the subject of a great amount of controversy. The bill will extend the life of the Texas Department of Insurance and will impose stricter guidelines on the agency itself. Previous to the bill’s passage, a number of amendments were proposed to make the legislation more consumer friendly. Each amendment was rejected, however, as they were deemed unfruitful to the state’s insurance industry. The state’s Democrats were behind the amendments to the bill. They argue that their propositions…

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The National Flood Insurance Program at a crossroads

As the waters of the Mississippi River swell beyond their banks, expectations on the overall cost of damages are nearing $2 billion, according to insurance officials. The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), the archaic insurance initiative installed by Congress in 1968, is likely to bear the majority of the financial burden. However, the program is already well into the red and the nation can ill afford to support the programs continued spiral into debt. The fate of the program now lies in the hands of the U.S. Congress. On Thursday,…

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Financial News: Insurance industry becomes more attractive

The global economy is showing promising signs of recovery, but the recession took a heavy toll on nearly everyone. State governments, in particular, suffered in the wake of the economic calamity. In light of this, some are taking steps to remake themselves to be more attractive to businesses, specifically insurers. Vermont is the latest to join these ranks, joining Utah, South Carolina, Delaware and Hawaii, each making changes to their regulatory policies to bring in big insurers. Many insurance companies partake in a number of business transactions that they would…

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The numbers come rolling in for recent tornado outbreak

As the drama in the storm ravaged regions of the Southeast U.S. continues to unfold, AIR Worldwide, a leading catastrophe modeling firm, sheds light on exactly how much the disaster will cost in a new report release today. The firm estimates that insured losses in both the Southern and Southeastern U.S. could total $5.5 billion. The estimate is for the period between April 22nd and 28th, when the storms were at their peak. Representatives from AIR say they will continue to monitor the region to keep their estimates as accurate…

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