Insurance news from Washington state includes Commissioner testifying in support of HB1212

Insurance news Mike Kreidler, Washington Commissioner

Mike Kreidler has announced that he has testified against of the use of credit scores by insurers. The latest insurance news out of Washington is that Mike Kreidler, the state’s commissioner, testified on January 30 as a reflection of his support of a new bill that is a bipartisan initiative to stop insurers from being able to use credit information to calculate homeowners policy premiums. House Bill 1212 separates homeowners coverage from the current Washington law restricting credit history use. The current regulations within the state limit the extent to…

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Aetna faced with fine from Washington regulators

aetna faces insurance fine

Aetna facing $1 million fine for faulty policies Insurance giant Aetna has run afoul of regulators in Washington. Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler has announced that Aetna has been fined $1 million for issuing more than 7,000 policies in the state to residents that faced premiums  that were never approved by state regulators. Regulators suggest that many of these policies did not live up to the state’s legal requirements, thus were never official and introduced significant risk to consumers that held these policies as well as major financial stress. Policies do…

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Washington launches new website bringing more transparency to the insurance industry

The Washington Department of Insurance has launched a new website that allows consumers to review rate proposals from the state’s insurers. The website is the brainchild of Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler, who has been an advocate for transparency in the insurance industry for many years. The Department of Insurance had been awarded with federal grants to build the site a month ago. The site was completed and launched late last week and has already been updated with information on pending proposals. The website was made possible by House Bill 1220,…

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Washington state health insurance exchange receives additional funding

Washington has recently received a federal grant worth $23 million that will help establish a health insurance exchange program in the state. According to the Affordable Care Act, each state must have a fully operational exchange set up by 2014. The government is providing a significant amount of money to help in this effort. Washington is among the few states that have made sufficient progress toward an exchange to warrant additional federal funding. Despite the controversy surrounding healthcare reform, many support the concept of health insurance exchanges. State health officials…

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