Featured Insurance News
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Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at InsuranceNewsNet. Not to sound too corny, but we’re thankful you value this site enough to visit. As we take this break, we’ll also be thinking about what’s to ...
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We know that during the hurricane depression Nations, many older Americans continue to dream of retirement to work, which in many cases and 401 (k) s have fallen in value. In fact, most Americans 65 or ...
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Japan’s four largest life insurers plan to buy more local debt on concerns the economic recovery will be weak, helping cap yield gains amid speculation the government will increase record bond sales as ...
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Even if the house was condemned by the building inspector of the city yesterday morning, Roger E. Castell felt quite optimistic about the joke that was hidden in a truck landing on the couch Falcon (boy ...
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Last summer, the research because of fears swirling swine flu, Katherine Walls friend and travel insurance options for their journey to a remote region of Peru. It was found that epidemics Arent walls are ...
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This article was adopted from a version already published. Millions of drivers in Ontario is to hit the double bonus of an increase in double figures, can pay the Toronto-area drivers on average almost ...
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Nippon Life Insurance Co., Japan’s biggest life insurer, said it plans to invest 600 billion yen ($6.6 billion) in the fiscal second half, mainly in yen- denominated bonds as it seeks stable returns. ...
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GMAC Inc., the lender that received two U.S. bailouts, will sell its property-casualty insurance business to American Capital Acquisition Corp. after posting losses in seven of the past eight quarters. ...
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After months of debate over proposals to reform the American system of health care delivery, the health insurance industry is openly flexing its muscle in opposition to reform. America's Health Insurance ...
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The ban on selling payment protection insurance (PPI) at the point of sale has been put on hold after a challenge by two high street banks. Earlier this year, the Competition Commission announced an outright ...
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Advocates and state legislators have it right.A recent report by the National Women's Law Center points out South Dakota's lack of a law banning insurance companies from denying coverage to domestic violence ...
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CongressDaily : "Senate Majority Leader [Harry] Reid plans to file a package of cloture motions next week that would allow a final vote on healthcare legislation before the Senate goes home for Christmas, a leadership aide said today." He plans to offer "simultaneous cloture motions" for the overall bill, for a substitute amendment and for a manager's amendment containing "key compromises." The plan "came to light as senators from both parties wondered why leaders have not scheduled a vote on an amendment to allow reimportation of cheaper prescription ... [Full Story]
12.11.2009 | Health Insurance | Jessen
The proposal to expand Medicare to include people aged 55 and older as part of an alternative to creating the public option may have expanded support for the Senate version of the overhaul bill, the Los Angeles Times reports. "Despite the enthusiasm, the proposal must clear at least one big hurdle: cost. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has not yet analyzed the idea, and its conclusions could be a major factor -- positive or negative -- in determining whether the compromise opens the way for final Senate action on healthcare." The expansion ... [Full Story]
12.11.2009 | Health Insurance | Jessen
Health insurance companies that offer private alternative Medicare plans, called Medicare Advantage, put billions of dollars toward profits and marketing rather than patient care, according to a report released Wednesday by House Democrats. Reuters : "From 2005 to 2008, Medicare Advantage insurers reported $27 billion in expenses unrelated to care, according to the report released by [the House Energy and Commerce Committee], which looked at 34 such insurers. It also pointed to millions spent on executive compensation and company retreats in Hawaii, ... [Full Story]
12.11.2009 | Health Insurance | Jessen
Some of the key players in the health care debate are featured in news articles today.The Fargo Forum reports that Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., is "back in the national spotlight.""Earlier this year, Conrad was a member of the 'Gang of Six' senators to cultivate health care reform legislation. Now, Conrad is among some Democrats who have voiced reluctance and opposition toward a deal struck by Senate leadership Tuesday, which trades a public health insurance option for an expansion in Medicare coverage to include those between 55 and 64 years old. ... [Full Story]
12.11.2009 | Health Insurance | Jessen
The Washington Post: "While confusion reigned on Capitol Hill on Wednesday over the prospects and details of a Senate deal to replace a government-run insurance plan with other measures, it is not too soon to ask what the proposal would mean for regular people."Based on the Senate's recent revisions, the short answer is "that those without employer-provided insurance would have more options for buying coverage, but if they are younger than 55, their money would go to a private insurer, no matter what. Rates would be more competitive than what they ... [Full Story]
12.11.2009 | Health Insurance | Jessen
Groups representing doctors and hospitals are coming out against the inclusion of a Medicare "buy-in" in the Senate health bill, The Washington Post reports. The groups joined Republicans in arguing "that a plan by liberal Democrats to allow uninsured individuals as young as 55 to buy into Medicare would be financially untenable and would jeopardize access to health-care services for millions of Americans."The organizations, including the American Hospital Association, the Federation of American Hospitals and the American Medical Association, ... [Full Story]
12.11.2009 | Health Insurance | Jessen
CNN reports that the Senate's public option "compromise appears to be a far cry from the government-backed public health care option offered in the House bill. The Senate's original health care bill included a public option similar to that of the House version. The biggest difference was that under the Senate plan, states could opt out of the public option. Should the Senate pass a bill with the public option alternative, merging it with the House bill would not be easy, but there's still a long ways to go before lawmakers get to that point."CNN ... [Full Story]
12.11.2009 | Health Insurance | Jessen
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission suggested Thursday that Congress should adjust what it pays hospitals for inpatient care in 2011 to recoup overpayments that have come from changes in documentation and coding used by Medicare, according to a report on Modern Healthcare. At the same time, the commission, known as MedPAC, called for Medicare to increase its payment rates for inpatient and outpatient hospital services at the full rate of inflation, along with establishing a quality incentives program. Currently, the projected increase would ... [Full Story]
12.11.2009 | Health Insurance | Jessen
House and Senate negotiators agreed Tuesday night to a $1.1 trillion spending package that would combine six of the seven remaining fiscal year 2010 spending bills, including the Financial Services (HR 3170) appropriations bill that would end a ban on Washington, D.C.'s use of local tax funds to cover abortion services, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports. The combined measure could be voted on as early as Thursday (Taylor, AP/Houston Chronicle , 12/9). In addition to Financial Services, the package will include the FY 2010 Commerce-Justice-Science ... [Full Story]
12.11.2009 | Insurance News | Jessen
Kaiser Health News staff writer Phil Galewitz writes about the findings of a new report. "Despite the economic downturn that's busting state budgets from Sacramento to Tallahassee, 26 states this year made it easier for low-income children, parents or pregnant women to get health coverage, according to a report released Tuesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation" ... [Full Story]
12.11.2009 | Breaking News | Jessen
The Hill: "The Senate voted against strengthening restrictions for federal funding of abortion Tuesday evening, a development that could imperil Democrats' efforts to pass an underlying healthcare reform bill. Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), who offered the amendment, had indicated that he could support a Republican filibuster of the healthcare reform bill if the abortion language were not added to it." Senators voted 54-45 to table the measure. Six Democrats voted with Nelson to support the amendment, but they - perhaps unlike Nelson - "are not expected ... [Full Story]
12.11.2009 | Insurance News | Jessen
A Bloomberg poll conducted Dec. 3-7 found, on health care, "about half of poll respondents saying they disapprove of the plans in Congress to overhaul the system. Sixty-two percent of Americans say they are mostly pessimistic they would benefit from [a health-care bill Congress may pass.] The youngest Americans are more optimistic, with 47 percent of those under 35 saying they would benefit." In addition, "Americans are almost evenly split -- 46 percent to 45 percent -- in their support for the proposed government-run health-insurance program known ... [Full Story]
12.11.2009 | Breaking News | Jessen
The Senate on Tuesday voted 54-45 to table an amendment to its health reform bill that would prohibit coverage of abortion services in any health plan insuring people who receive federal subsidies, though the action "is unlikely to be the final word on how the issue is dealt with in the health bill," the New York Times reports. The amendment, offered by Sens. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), was virtually identical to an amendment adopted in the House health reform bill (HR 3962) that was introduced by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.). The ... [Full Story]
12.11.2009 | Insurance News | Jessen
