Ballot initiative faces opposition from California insurance companies and doctors’ group

The California Medical Association (CMA), a health insurance organizations coalition, the California Hospital Association (CHA), and other groups have announced their intentions to work together to oppose a ballot measure that is meant to create California insurance regulation for rate increase on health plans and policies. According to the CMA president-elect, Paul Phinney, this ballot initiative doesn’t do anything to help control the causes of the cost increases in the healthcare system. He added that “I just think this initiative is the wrong idea.” Ballot measure advocates have said that…

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Survey shows that challenges facing states in building health insurance exchanges

A new survey conducted by the KPMG Government Institute, an analysis organization that focuses on government policy and legislative trends, provides some insight on some of the challenges facing states in their efforts to build a health insurance exchange. The survey draws upon information provided by 80 state officials from throughout the country. These officials offered information on why health insurance exchanges seem to be such a troublesome issue. The common consensus boils down to cost. The survey suggests that insurance exchanges may be too expensive for some states, even…

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Georgia homeowners now have access to Home Value Protection insurance

As of this week, homeowners in Georgia now have access to Home Value Protection, which is the only insurance product available in the United States that will protect homeowners from the potentially financially crippling effect of the falling home prices. This form of insurance coverage provides the owners of a home with protection for the market value of their home so that their equity is covered in the case that housing prices continue to fall – a serious issue within that state since the middle of 2006. This is the…

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Satmetrix benchmark study reveals loyalty leaders in American insurance industry

Net Promoter software company, Satmetrix, which is the customer experience program marketplace leader, has released its 2012 Net Promoter Industry Benchmarks for 22 different industries, including the insurance sector. As a whole, the study was broader than it has been in previous years, involving the participation of over 30,000 American consumers who provided their rating feedback about over 200 brands across the various industries. The benchmarks that it creates are based upon the survey responses from consumers across the United States who rated their various experiences with the top brands…

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Supreme Court to begin litigation on Affordable Care Act this month

This month, the U.S. Supreme Court will begin litigation on the controversial Affordable Care Act. The federal law seeks to radically change the structure of the country’s health care industry and introduces new insurance regulations that are aimed at benefiting consumers. The Act was signed into law in 2010 and has since been a point of contention for political leaders and legislators throughout the U.S. Many states have backed the Affordable Care Act, but others have filed lawsuits against the federal government, accusing the law of being unconstitutional. The Supreme…

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Hiscox report shows that “super losses” are becoming more common in the U.S.

A new report from Hiscox, a specialist health insurance company in the U.S., shows that so called “super losses” are having an impact on the country’s health insurance industry. Super losses is a term that refers to claims that exceed $50 million. The report notes that these costly claims are becoming more common in the health care sector. Because these claims hold such a large price tag, they often find their way to courts. Juries often side with consumers in these cases and in the past two years have awarded…

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Health insurance analysis suggests that insurance may be completely unaffordable by 2031

Two leading medical professionals have published a new analysis of the future of health insurance in the latest issue of Annals of Family Medicine. Richard A. Young and Jennifer E. Devoe have taken a look at the Affordable Care Act and how it will affect the health insurance industry from when it is fully enacted in 2014 to the state of the industry in 2037. The study assumes that the federal health care law is successful in its goal of lowering health insurance premiums. Despite this supposed success, the study…

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