Live Insurance News

Health insurance enrollments remain low among young adults

January 12, 2016January 10, 2016 H. Cutner

The Affordable Care Act needs younger and healthier consumers to sign up to offset costs from older policyholders. As much as the Affordable Care Act has seen a considerable growth in the number of uninsured people who have been signing up for health insurance through the exchange websites, there is one considerable area of struggle that it has been facing in terms of sign-ups: young adults. This problem isn’t a minor one, as the ACA had been relying on healthy people to offset the expenses of the sick. As young…

Health insurance companies in Arkansas owe $7.1 million in rebates

November 30, 2015November 28, 2015 S.Vagus

Insurers are finding it difficult to comply with a provision of the Affordable Care Act Arkansas businesses and consumers are owed a great deal of money from the state’s health insurance companies. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, these companies collected too much in premiums last year and are now required by federal law to reimburse consumers and businesses. Per the Affordable Care Act, insurers are required to spend no less than 80% of the money they collect from premiums on medical care, something that some insurers…

Pennsylvania regulators make changes to health insurance proposals coming from insurers

October 21, 2015October 20, 2015 Marc

Highmark will be overhauling the health insurance plans it offers in the state Highmark Inc., one of the largest providers of health insurance coverage in Pennsylvania, has announced that it will be making changes to the policies it offers in the state. The decision follows action taken by the Pennsylvania Insurance Department to reduce several of the rate increase proposals that came from the insurer this year. Highmark had sought to increase premiums for 2016 coverage, but state regulators have determined that rates did not need to be increased by…

Piecemeal insurance plan is costing Mississippi state employees

October 15, 2015October 13, 2015 Julie Campbell

The method of coverage used for those workers has fragmented contracts that are more expensive. According to a recent report by The Clarion-Ledger in Mississippi, if all state employees were to receive supplemental coverage on their insurance plans, they would likely receive better benefits while paying less for them. At the moment, the contracts for insurance coverage are spread out among over 100 state agencies and school districts. At the moment, the state doesn’t require competitive bidding to occur for insurance plans, nor are proposals for the best price or…

Are teacher insurance benefits expenses making the job cost prohibitive?

June 2, 2015May 30, 2015 H. Cutner

The latest increases for educators in Alabama have people wondering if the position will lose its appeal. Budget struggles in Alabama will likely be sending the out of pocket expenses for teacher insurance benefits upward, yet again, and while it may not have been as dramatic as some had predicted, it is still an added cost and there are worries with regards to the impact that this could have on the profession of the educator. The issue is that teachers will be paying higher insurance rates for their coverage which…