The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced that health insurance rates in nine states are far too high to be reasonable. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has determined that these rates are excessive under the authority granted to the agency by the Affordable Care Act. The law gives federal and state insurance regulators the authority to review health insurance rate increases of 10% or higher and determine whether they are necessary. The insurance companies in these nine states will be requires to justify their rates or make changes…
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Report shows that more insurers are looking to automate their underwriting process
Strategy Meets Action (SMA), a research and consultancy firm serving the insurance industry, has released a new report concerning underwriting practices in the industry. The report, “Underwriting Automation: Insurer Plans and Trends,” notes that insurance companies are making a move to completely automate their underwriting process. The report draws upon data collected by SMA from 144 insurance professionals throughout the industry. This trend may be a result of insurers being unable to meet underwriting goals due to flaws in their systems. Of those participating in the survey, 21% claimed that…
Read MoreGender gap continues to play an important role in health insurance premiums
According to the latest research issued in a report by the research and advocacy group, the National Women’s Law Center, women continue to pay higher premiums than men for the same health coverage. In 2014, when the new healthcare laws are fully implemented, the discrepancy between what men and women will pay for health insurance will cease, but at the moment, many states continue to see significant gaps between the premiums of men and women without any indication that the insurers intend to shrink them. The report will become available…
Read MoreOhio leads all other U.S. states for metal theft insurance claims
According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, Ohio is the state in which there are the largest number of property insurance claims due to the theft of metals such as copper. This insurance fraud-fighting industry-supported organization revealed that there were 2,398 claims of this nature made by property owners in Ohio, within the three year span from 2009 to 2011. Comparatively, across the country, there were more than 25,000 claims of this type within that same period of time. This represents an increase of 81 percent over the number of…
Read MorePennsylvania Department of Insurance given new rate review authority under enacted law
A new law that will expand the authority of the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance has taken effect this week. The law was introduced last year and won approval from the state’s legislators. Governor Tom Corbett signed the bill, Act 134, into law late last year, with an enactment date of March 21, 2012. The law is nearly identical to similar legislation in California that gave regulators more authority over rate proposals coming from insurance companies. Legislators believe that new authority granted to the Department of Insurance will help protect consumers…
Read MoreNew guidelines concerning federal Insurance Verification law published by federal agencies
The Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services, and the Internal Revenue Service have released new guidelines for the federal “Insurance Verification” law that will be enacted in September of this year. The law, often referred to as “One Nation, One Verification,” aims to make verifying health insurance less problematic. The law exists to augment to Affordable Care Act. The federal health is meant to make attaining insurance coverage easier for Americans, but this ease of access could create administrative nightmares as consumers purchase policies that will allow…
Read MoreHartford Financial Services Group to focus on P&C insurance and group benefits
Hartford Financial Services Group (HIG) has announced that it will be leaving its annuity business in order to concentrate on its property and casualty insurance and group benefits businesses, as well as its mutual funds business. This announcement follows closely behind the advice that had been offered in February by John Paulson, a hedge fund manager, when he encouraged Hartford to spin off its business for property and casualty insurance. Hartford’s response had been that it would look over the plan that had been submitted by Paulson, but cautioned that…
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