Live Insurance News

Health insurance exchange in Utah to be partnered with federal government

February 8, 2013April 30, 2013

The state governor has announced that a new offer has been made to Kathleen Sebelius. Governor Gary Herbert of Utah has just announced that he has updated the offer from his state to Kathleen Sebelius, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, saying that half of the health care exchange will be run by the state, and the other half will be run by the federal government. For months, the federal government has been trying to get states to operate their own marketplaces. These health insurance exchanges will provide small…

Health care reforms continue to be challenged in Oklahoma lawsuit

January 28, 2013April 30, 2013

The state is refusing the federal government’s request for a judge to dismiss the suit. Oklahoma has announced its opposition to the request that was made by the federal government to allow a judge to dismiss the lawsuit filed by the state in order to challenge the legislation imposed by the health care reforms of 2010. The state is claiming that the federal overhaul disregards Oklahoma’s own laws and breaks them. According to the lawsuit which will go before a U.S. District Court in Muskogee, Oklahoma, the federal health care…

Health insurance companies could start treating patients like drivers

January 26, 2013April 30, 2013

Some American insurers intend to treat medical coverage similarly to auto policies. There have been many new developments in the health insurance sector over the last few months as companies prepare to manage the influx of new policyholders and to comply with the laws and regulations that have been put in place as a result of the federal healthcare overhaul. As a part of this change, some insurers have been changing their strategies to reflect vehicle coverage. Vehicle policies reward drivers who display good behaviors which would decrease their risk…

Health insurance avoided by Wendy’s franchisee by cutting worker hours

January 10, 2013January 10, 2013 Julie Campbell

Full time employees have been dropped back to part time hours so that the franchise won’t have to cover them. It has been revealed that an Omaha, Nebraska owner of a Wendy’s franchise has the intention of slashing the hours of 300 full time employees in order to make them part time workers so that the company can avoid having to provide them with health insurance as required by the Affordable Care Act. The franchise is not required to have to provide part timers with medical benefits, which explains the…

Health insurance decisions will need to be made by businesses

January 3, 2013January 3, 2013 H. Cutner

There is now less than a year for companies to decide on the employee benefit options they wish to provide. With New Year’s Day behind us, there is now less than one year before the heart of the healthcare reforms go into effect, causing companies to need to take a serious look at the health insurance benefits that they intend to offer once January 1, 2014 comes around. The overhaul to the system and the coverage laws will reshape the way American employers offer benefits. After the healthcare reforms go…

Health insurance exchange approval for states

January 2, 2013January 2, 2013 H. Cutner

At the same time that the federal government had a fiscal cliff deadline, it also owed the states its decisions. The start of 2013 brought not only a great deal of attention to the decisions that would be made by the federal government regarding the fiscal cliff, but it also represented the time that the approvals would be given (or denied) to states regarding their plans for health insurance exchanges. The Secretary of Health and Human Services announced whether the proposals made by the states were approved. There are 24…

Health insurance exchanges in 6 states receive federal approval

December 13, 2012 H. Cutner

Obama has given the nod to the marketplaces that have been proposed by states. The federal government has provided its conditional approval to the health insurance exchanges that have been proposed by six states that are moving forward on their versions of the healthcare reforms. Each of the states that have received this approval are led by Democratic governors. These states are made up of Massachusetts, Washington, Connecticut, Colorado, Oregon, and Maryland. Equally, the federal government failed to give its approval to other states that had proposed a partial Medicaid…