Tag: Alaska

Health insurance rates set to rise in Alaska

S.Vagus
health insurance deadline enrollment

Policies sold through Alaskan health insurance exchange will become more expensive next year Premiums for policies sold through the Alaskan health insurance exchange are expected to rise in 2015. The exchange has served as a place for Alaskan residents to find the insurance coverage they need at an affordable rate. Next year, however, the affordability of some insurance policies is likely to decrease as insurers raise rates on the coverage that they provide. Two of Alaska’s largest insurance provides have announced plans to raise premiums beginning next year. Insurers seek…

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Study highlights cost of health insurance for state employees

S.Vagus
Health Insurance time decision

States are spending $31 billion a year on covering their workers A new study from Pew Charitable Trusts shows that states have paid some $31 billion to ensure that their workers have health insurance coverage. The study is meant to offer some insight into the largest source of a state’s health care spending. Medicaid spending pales in comparison to the amount of money spent on keeping state workers covered through insurance plans. The amount of money being spent by states varies and is largely based on the insurance plans that…

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Health insurance competition low in South Carolina

S.Vagus
South Carolina Health Insurance

South Carolina health insurance market lacks competition A new report from the American Medical Association suggests that South Carolina may have one of the least competitive health insurance marketplaces in the U.S. The state falls behind Alabama, Hawaii, Michigan, Delaware, and Alaska in terms of a lack of competition in its insurance market. Despite the existence of the state’s health insurance exchange, competition among insurers remains low, limiting the options that state residents have regarding the coverage they have access to. Blue Cross Blue Shield boasts of majority of the…

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Alaska lawmakers pass autism health insurance bill for children

Nordstrom
Health Autism Insurance

Health insurance news update for Alaska The Alaska Legislature has passed a new bill that aims to expand the health insurance coverage for children to include treatment for autism. The bill, SB 74, was passed in the House on Sunday with a vote of 36-6. The legislation is designed to provide children who suffer from autism insurance coverage for treatments regarding their specific case. These treatments can include a wide range of speech and physical therapies. Alaska is not the first state to begin adopting such a law – 34…

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Prudhoe Bay oil spill civil fines hit BP’s stock

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reveals that BP has been charged 25 million dollars in civil fines for the oil spill that occurred in Alaska’s main oil producing region of Prudhoe Bay in 2006. All total, BP will pay 85million dollars in penalties and civil fines. In 2006 a BP oil pipe leaked over five thousand barrels worth of crude oil on Alaska’s North Slope. Investigations show the leak was the result of a hole that had corroded in the pipeline. Five months later another leak occurred in the same…

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