HHS upholds medical loss ratio provision, changes some aspects of the overarching law

Despite daunting opposition, the Department of Health and Human Services has remained firm on the medical loss ratio provision of the Affordable Care Act. The medical loss ratio provision requires that insurers pay no less than 80% of premium money on improving medical care. The provision has gained rabid opposition from the nation’s health insurance companies, who have been fighting to have administrative expenses and independent insurance broker fees removed from the mandate. The HHS, however, has issued a final ruling on the matter, claiming that most of the nation’s…

Read More

Fitch Ratings publishes its 2012 outlook report for American insurance brokers

Fitch Ratings has just announced the results of the analysis of their data for revenue and earnings increases for American insurance brokers in 2012, and that they have shown that their figures will likely equal or top those that were reported from January through September 2011. However, they also indicated that the basic nature of competition of the marketplace for property & casualty insurance, and the lukewarm recovery of the global economy will continue to provide a struggle for more significant growth and operating performance. Top-line increases may be able…

Read More

Federal report shows that most insurers can meet the medical loss ratio requirement

The medical loss ratio provision of the Affordable Care Act, which requires insurers to spend at least 80% of the money they collect from premiums on improving medical care, is a source of constant controversy throughout the country. Insurers have claimed that the rule cripples their ability to remain financial solvent in the current economic climate. The Government Accountability Office has released a new report countering the claims from the insurance industry. The report shows that most all insurance companies in the U.S., both large and small, are able to…

Read More

Increase expected for commercial insurance rates

Though consumers have been seeing steady increases in rates for casualty, property, home, and auto insurance, companies have not seen any notable raises in their own insurance costs. Yet. The sensitivity of businesses to increases for insurance rates runs much deeper, and some new competition has brought some of the business for commercial insurance to Canada. Those two factors have allowed the price of those plans and policies to remain relatively steady over the last few years. However, according to RSA Canada’s chief executive, Rowan Saunders, this trend will not…

Read More

China insurance market growing too fast for domestic insurers to handle

China’s insurance market is experience major growing pains, according to a report from Standard & Poor’s, a credit rating agency based in the U.S. The Chinese market is, by all accounts, enormous and the potential for success in second to none. The full breadth of this potential success, however, is open only to Chinese insurers. Native insurers are now facing demand for coverage that they are having trouble meeting. Many companies, including New China Life, one of the largest life insurers in the country, are plagued with capital shortfalls due…

Read More