Pennsylvania to answer consumer questions regarding state’s health insurance exchange

As Pennsylvania continues its slow and steady march toward building a health insurance exchange, residents of the state are coming to the Department of Insurance with questions about how the exchange will affect them. The state’s Department of Insurance has been awarded a $1 million grant from the federal government to help keep consumers informed over the matter. With the money, the department has hired additional staff, whose purpose it is to answer the questions consumers have about the exchange and the Affordable Care Act. Pennsylvania has stood in opposition…

Read More

New York regulators to investigate insurer’s rate proposals for accuracy

As complaints regarding insurance rate hikes begin to weigh on regulators in New York, the state’s Financial Services Superintendent, Benjamin Lawsky, has announced a new investigation into the matter. Regulators will be investigating the data submitted by insurance companies to justify their premium increases. The goal is to determine the accuracy of the data that these insurers use. These investigations will work alongside the regular rate review process and insurers will not know when they will be investigated. Lawsky notes that any errors made by insurers in their requests for…

Read More

Samsung Life Insurance to invest in distressed assets from U.S. and Europe

As the economies of Europe and America continue to struggle, Asian insurers are seeing great opportunity for investments. Samsung Life Insurance, the largest insurance group in South Korea, has taken a keen interest in distressed assets that banks in Europe and the U.S. have put up for sale. The company had stepped back from investments when the recession of 2008 made a major impact on the global economy. Now, however, the opportunities seem to great to ignore. Samsung has more than $130 billion in assets and is willing to invest…

Read More

Federal Insurance Office anticipated report on modernizing insurance regulations delayed

The Federal Insurance Office was supposed to submit its much anticipated report on the modernization of insurance regulation to Congress in January, but the agency has missed that deadline. The U.S. Treasury Department, which oversees the Federal Insurance Office, claims that there must be more work done on the report before it can be released. This delay could mean that the report will not be released for week or months; news that insurers were not happy to hear. The report is meant to show Congress how the country’s insurance regulations…

Read More

Willis Group claims captive insurance companies could be key to future of insurance industry resiliency

The global insurance industry is undergoing extreme change. The change is brought on by the rapidly evolving risks that the industry is facing. As risk changes, insurers are feeling pressure to become more adaptive and resilient against emerging threats. The Willis Groups, one of the world’s largest insurance brokers, believes that captive insurance companies could be the key to weathering the storms of the future. Joe Plumeri, CEO of the Willis Group, attending this year’s World Captive Forum in Miami, Florida, highlighted the usefulness of captives to insurers around the…

Read More