The Self-Insurance Institute of America (SIIA) is challenging a new law in Michigan that would impose a 1% tax on paid health insurance claims beginning January, 2012. According to the law, the money collected from the tax will go to the state’s Medicaid program. The program would use part of the money to help cover the cost of claims and administrative fees stemming from participating insurance companies. The tax would generate $400 million in annual revenue for the state, but the Self-Insurance Institute claims that it violates federal law. According…
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Majority of New York State Small Businesses Embrace Health Insurance
NEW YORK, December 5, 2011 – A vast majority of New York State’s small business owners are giving two thumbs up to health insurance exchanges as a viable way to provide health insurance to their employees, according to a statewide survey commissioned by HealthPass New York, a NYC-based commercial health insurance exchange. The survey also found that exchanges have the potential to change the health care marketplace in New York at a time when many small business owners are struggling to keep afloat. HealthPass New York commissioned Hudson TG to…
Read MoreNew York to look into the benefits of a health insurance exchange
New York legislators are moving ahead with plans to lay the foundation of a health insurance exchange. Though the state Legislature has not yet passed any legislation making an exchange possible, lawmakers and insurance regulators are looking to prepare the state for what they believe is an inevitable system. New York has until 2014 to build an exchange system or risk having the federal government rake over the program. To date, New York has received more than $38 million in federal grants to work on implementing an exchange. In June,…
Read MoreHealth insurance rates to rise by an average of 8% in New York
Data from the New York Department of Financial Services, which succeeds the state’s Insurance Department, shows that New Yorkers can expect to pay at least an average of 8% more on health insurance next year. In other, more populated areas of the state, such as New York City, the rates could get double-digit increases. Regulators have approved rate proposals from several insurance companies. The rate increases will affect more than 2 million policyholders throughout the state. Regulators approved the sleuth of rate increases in the hopes that the move would…
Read MoreNew autism insurance law enacted in New York brings coverage to families in need
Insurers in New York must now offer coverage for autism thanks to a new law signed by Governor Cuomo. The old law required insurers to offer only limited coverage for certain forms of autism, but the new law expands that requirement. Governor Cuomo says that the law will help families managing autism to find insurance that is right for their circumstance. New York is the 29th state to adopt such a law, which has been backed by several advocacy groups in the state. Autism treatment can often cost families more…
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