From Insurance Journal
An Oklahoma couple was awarded nearly $13 million in a class-action lawsuit after a jury ruled that State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. intentionally underpaid claims from families whose homes were damaged by tornadoes seven years ago.
Donald and Bridget Watkins were among 71 policyholders who sued the insurance company.
The Watkins' attorney, Jeff Marr, said the May 25 jury award suggests that the entire class of plaintiffs deserves nearly $280 million in punitive damages. He filed a motion requesting trial dates for the remaining class members.
In February 2003, a judge certified the class as all policyholders whose structural damage claims after the tornadoes were adjusted or denied by Bloomington, Ill.-based State Farm while using the opinion of Haag Engineering Co.
The lawsuit alleged in July 2001 that the insurance company "engaged in a wrongful scheme to delay, deny or underpay claims ... by repeatedly and unilaterally engaging the services of Haag Engineering Co. to inspect brick and other structural damage to policyholders' homes.''
State Farm knew that Haag was "predetermined'' to dispute losses claimed by policyholders, the lawsuit argued.
State Farm spokesman Phil Supple said that the company "fairly and properly'' handled the claims of its Oklahoma policyholders. An appeal is planned, he said.
"We are disappointed that we were not allowed to present evidence in this case that would have shown that we helped our policyholders settle their damage claims in a timely manner, by paying what we owed based on the customers' insurance policy,'' Supple said.
Haag spokesman David Margulies that the allegations against the company are unfounded and that the firm "has a long history of providing unbiased information.''
After five weeks of testimony, a jury in Grady County, Okla., awarded the Watkinses $9.9 million in punitive damages and $3 million in actual damages.
The verdict could have ramifications for hundreds of Gulf Coast policyholders who have sued State Farm over claims on homes damaged by Hurricane Katrina, Marr said.
But Supple disagreed, saying tornado damage in Oklahoma in 1999 is a different situation from wind and flood damage caused by a hurricane in 2005.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Alan Bauer, President of Progressive's Direct Group Resigns
Last week Alan Bauer resigned as President of Progressive's Direct Group....
Progressive Corp. reported resignation of President of Direct Group of Insurance Companies, Alan Bauer, effective May 22, 2006.
The company did not give a reason for Bauer's resignation.
I had the pleasure of working with Mr. Bauer for a couple years while at Progressive (2001-2003) before starting my own company, and he is truely a visionary in the field.
Progressive Corp. reported resignation of President of Direct Group of Insurance Companies, Alan Bauer, effective May 22, 2006.
The company did not give a reason for Bauer's resignation.
I had the pleasure of working with Mr. Bauer for a couple years while at Progressive (2001-2003) before starting my own company, and he is truely a visionary in the field.
High-deductible health insurance
The Associated Press/WASHINGTON
By KEVIN FREKING
Associated Press Writer
Health insurance policies that require consumers to pay for all their initial medical expenses are becoming a popular option as Americans try to cut down on their insurance costs.
The number of people purchasing high-deductible plans jumped from about 3 million in January 2005 to as much as 6 million by January 2006, the Government Accountability Office said Tuesday.
Individuals purchasing such policies usually pay lower monthly premiums because they agree to bear a greater share of the cost of their health care. The policies are often coupled with health savings accounts, which allow consumers to set aside money tax free, and they can then use that money to pay for medical expenses not picked up by the insurer or to save it for retirement.
By KEVIN FREKING
Associated Press Writer
Health insurance policies that require consumers to pay for all their initial medical expenses are becoming a popular option as Americans try to cut down on their insurance costs.
The number of people purchasing high-deductible plans jumped from about 3 million in January 2005 to as much as 6 million by January 2006, the Government Accountability Office said Tuesday.
Individuals purchasing such policies usually pay lower monthly premiums because they agree to bear a greater share of the cost of their health care. The policies are often coupled with health savings accounts, which allow consumers to set aside money tax free, and they can then use that money to pay for medical expenses not picked up by the insurer or to save it for retirement.
Legislature approves South Carolina car insurance requirement
(Columbia-AP) May 30, 2006 - Consumers would have to buy more car insurance with legislation heading to Governor Mark Sanford's desk.
The House Tuesday approved increasing the minimum liability coverage that drivers are required to buy to $25,000 for bodily injury for each person injured in a wreck, $50,000 for all people injured and $25,000 to cover property damage.
The existing requirements are $15,000; $30,000 and $10,000.
The change was added by Hartsville Senator Gerald Malloy to a bill that addressed a state Supreme Court decision about what insurance agents are required to do when offering insurance.
The House Tuesday approved increasing the minimum liability coverage that drivers are required to buy to $25,000 for bodily injury for each person injured in a wreck, $50,000 for all people injured and $25,000 to cover property damage.
The existing requirements are $15,000; $30,000 and $10,000.
The change was added by Hartsville Senator Gerald Malloy to a bill that addressed a state Supreme Court decision about what insurance agents are required to do when offering insurance.
Good drivers pay for high-risk drivers
BOSTON -- The feud over overhauling Massachusetts’ auto insurance system that has played out in dueling TV and radio ads for months may move to the State House as soon as this week.
On one side is Fairness for Good Drivers, a group including local and national insurance companies such as Liberty Mutual Insurance of Boston and MetLife, that want less regulation and more competition in Massachusetts’ auto insurance market.
They are behind the commercials declaring "good drivers pay more for auto insurance so bad drivers can pay less." The ads (which are no longer airing) featured Massachusetts drivers declaring the current system -- which is highly regulated and limits variety in pricing between customers -- is "not fair."
On the other side of the auto insurance feud is the Massachusetts Coalition for Affordable Auto Insurance for All, which includes Commerce Insurance Co. of Webster, Arbella Mutual Insurance of Quincy and some independent insurance agents.
The Coalition until recently ran TV and radio commercials with New Jersey drivers warning that auto reforms in their state, similar to changes proposed at the State House, jacked up their rates. The Garden State drivers said their insurance coverage was affected by factors including whether the driver carried a credit card balance or parked on the street.
Fairness wants Massachusetts’ current rate-setting system changed; the Coalition does not.
Gov. Mitt Romney last year proposed doing away with the state’s unique auto insurance setup, where state regulators set the rates insurers charge. The idea is to draw more big national insurance companies that now refuse to do business here and thus lower prices through competition.
Yet the Coalition argues Romney’s bill could translate to higher costs for drivers besides so-called bad drivers, and lead people to drop their insurance coverage and thus increase premiums for other drivers.
The Legislature’s joint Financial Services Committee is under a deadline to act on Romney’s bill by June 15.
Committee House Chairman state Rep. Ronald Mariano, D-Quincy, last week said he is working on a modified version of Romney’s bill, and hopes to release it before the end of May.
Yet it is not clear what kind of reception Mariano’s bill will receive.
Committee Senate Chairman state Sen. Andrea Nuciforo, R-Pittsfield, has voiced concerns about competitive rate setting.
Mariano is not looking to do exactly what the governor proposed or what Fairness wants, though they’re all, generally, looking to open up the auto insurance market in Massachusetts and change the current system for apportioning high-risk drivers.
On one side is Fairness for Good Drivers, a group including local and national insurance companies such as Liberty Mutual Insurance of Boston and MetLife, that want less regulation and more competition in Massachusetts’ auto insurance market.
They are behind the commercials declaring "good drivers pay more for auto insurance so bad drivers can pay less." The ads (which are no longer airing) featured Massachusetts drivers declaring the current system -- which is highly regulated and limits variety in pricing between customers -- is "not fair."
On the other side of the auto insurance feud is the Massachusetts Coalition for Affordable Auto Insurance for All, which includes Commerce Insurance Co. of Webster, Arbella Mutual Insurance of Quincy and some independent insurance agents.
The Coalition until recently ran TV and radio commercials with New Jersey drivers warning that auto reforms in their state, similar to changes proposed at the State House, jacked up their rates. The Garden State drivers said their insurance coverage was affected by factors including whether the driver carried a credit card balance or parked on the street.
Fairness wants Massachusetts’ current rate-setting system changed; the Coalition does not.
Gov. Mitt Romney last year proposed doing away with the state’s unique auto insurance setup, where state regulators set the rates insurers charge. The idea is to draw more big national insurance companies that now refuse to do business here and thus lower prices through competition.
Yet the Coalition argues Romney’s bill could translate to higher costs for drivers besides so-called bad drivers, and lead people to drop their insurance coverage and thus increase premiums for other drivers.
The Legislature’s joint Financial Services Committee is under a deadline to act on Romney’s bill by June 15.
Committee House Chairman state Rep. Ronald Mariano, D-Quincy, last week said he is working on a modified version of Romney’s bill, and hopes to release it before the end of May.
Yet it is not clear what kind of reception Mariano’s bill will receive.
Committee Senate Chairman state Sen. Andrea Nuciforo, R-Pittsfield, has voiced concerns about competitive rate setting.
Mariano is not looking to do exactly what the governor proposed or what Fairness wants, though they’re all, generally, looking to open up the auto insurance market in Massachusetts and change the current system for apportioning high-risk drivers.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Affordable Health Insurance
By Deanna Fené
First Coast News
JACKSONVILLE, FL -- For many families, finding affordable health insurance can seem almost impossible, especially for those who recently lost a job or are self-employed. One local family turned to the internet for help.
When Becky Sosa stopped working for the Duval County school system her family suddenly found themselves without health insurance. Becky says, "It was a bit of a, 'yikes! I don't know what we're going to do.' at first." Her husband, Oscar is self-employed so they had always used her work benefits. Oscar says, "It scared me to death. My biggest fear was something would happen to someone in my family."
The Sosas have three kids who are very active and at first they thought health insurance would cost them $1,400 a month. Oscar says, "It was really hard to find an insurance plan that we could afford that could meet all of our needs."
They turned to the internet for help and a website called eHealth Insurance. The site lists different insurance plans, the costs, and it's available to buy online.
Bob Hurley is the Vice-President of eHealth Insurance. "We are a broker of health insurance. I like to think of us as a clearing house of the leading health insurance companies. The key is we present it to families in an easy to read way."
The Sosas now pay a total of $500 a month for health insurance, with a deductible of $5,000.
Becky says, "It sounds high and it is, but it's cheaper then paying $1,400 a month."
They're frustrated health insurance is so expensive, but relieved they were able to find something they could afford. Oscar says, "That was a good way for us to see what was out there."
Hurley has some advice for those looking for health insurance. He says first, make sure you look at and compare different insurance companies because each one is different and the price is different. Second, buy only what you need. He says if you don't go to the doctor very often then you don't need a plan with a $10 co-payment. And third, if you're between jobs or if you just graduated, consider a short term policy which can be very affordable.
First Coast News
JACKSONVILLE, FL -- For many families, finding affordable health insurance can seem almost impossible, especially for those who recently lost a job or are self-employed. One local family turned to the internet for help.
When Becky Sosa stopped working for the Duval County school system her family suddenly found themselves without health insurance. Becky says, "It was a bit of a, 'yikes! I don't know what we're going to do.' at first." Her husband, Oscar is self-employed so they had always used her work benefits. Oscar says, "It scared me to death. My biggest fear was something would happen to someone in my family."
The Sosas have three kids who are very active and at first they thought health insurance would cost them $1,400 a month. Oscar says, "It was really hard to find an insurance plan that we could afford that could meet all of our needs."
They turned to the internet for help and a website called eHealth Insurance. The site lists different insurance plans, the costs, and it's available to buy online.
Bob Hurley is the Vice-President of eHealth Insurance. "We are a broker of health insurance. I like to think of us as a clearing house of the leading health insurance companies. The key is we present it to families in an easy to read way."
The Sosas now pay a total of $500 a month for health insurance, with a deductible of $5,000.
Becky says, "It sounds high and it is, but it's cheaper then paying $1,400 a month."
They're frustrated health insurance is so expensive, but relieved they were able to find something they could afford. Oscar says, "That was a good way for us to see what was out there."
Hurley has some advice for those looking for health insurance. He says first, make sure you look at and compare different insurance companies because each one is different and the price is different. Second, buy only what you need. He says if you don't go to the doctor very often then you don't need a plan with a $10 co-payment. And third, if you're between jobs or if you just graduated, consider a short term policy which can be very affordable.
Monday, May 29, 2006
South Carolina Auto Insurance Quotes
Press Release
COLUMBIA, S.C., May 26 /PRNewswire/
The South Carolina legislature instituted major regulation reform in the automobile insurance industry in 1997 and again in 1999. Since then, the number of insurers writing policies has doubled and overall rate levels have declined.
As more companies enter a state, auto insurance rates often decline. The newest auto insurance company to open in South Carolina, Unitrin Direct, could save new customers up to 20% on their car insurance rates. "We streamline our marketing efforts and pass the savings on to the consumer," said Scott Carter, Unitrin Direct president. "Savings is one benefit we plan to offer South Carolina drivers, but it's our focus on the customer that sets us apart. 'The right choice is simple' is our message, and we take it seriously. Unitrin Direct goes out of its way to make buying auto insurance simple and affordable."
In addition to pressing the competition on price, the company brings convenient online auto insurance options to South Carolina with its easy-to-use website. "We're constantly finding ways to simplify the process of getting an online auto insurance quote with our innovative website," said Elio Mariani, Unitrin Direct South Carolina product manager. "For example, we're about to test a new promotion for South Carolina residents with our E-signature service. Our customers save time by signing their policy documents online. Because this eliminates mail delays and hard-copy expenses, we're able to offer a sizable discount incentive to qualifying customers who sign electronically. Even customers who prefer to talk directly with a licensed agent can take advantage of signing their documents online; all they need is an e-mail address."
COLUMBIA, S.C., May 26 /PRNewswire/
The South Carolina legislature instituted major regulation reform in the automobile insurance industry in 1997 and again in 1999. Since then, the number of insurers writing policies has doubled and overall rate levels have declined.
As more companies enter a state, auto insurance rates often decline. The newest auto insurance company to open in South Carolina, Unitrin Direct, could save new customers up to 20% on their car insurance rates. "We streamline our marketing efforts and pass the savings on to the consumer," said Scott Carter, Unitrin Direct president. "Savings is one benefit we plan to offer South Carolina drivers, but it's our focus on the customer that sets us apart. 'The right choice is simple' is our message, and we take it seriously. Unitrin Direct goes out of its way to make buying auto insurance simple and affordable."
In addition to pressing the competition on price, the company brings convenient online auto insurance options to South Carolina with its easy-to-use website. "We're constantly finding ways to simplify the process of getting an online auto insurance quote with our innovative website," said Elio Mariani, Unitrin Direct South Carolina product manager. "For example, we're about to test a new promotion for South Carolina residents with our E-signature service. Our customers save time by signing their policy documents online. Because this eliminates mail delays and hard-copy expenses, we're able to offer a sizable discount incentive to qualifying customers who sign electronically. Even customers who prefer to talk directly with a licensed agent can take advantage of signing their documents online; all they need is an e-mail address."
Friday, May 26, 2006
Vermont health insurance law
May 25, 2006 — By Darren M. Allen
MONTPELIER, Vermont (Reuters) - Vermont's governor signed a bill on Thursday that would make the state the second in the nation with near-universal health-care insurance by extending health insurance coverage to as much as 96 percent of its residents by 2010.
The law comes a month after neighboring Massachusetts passed the nation's first near-universal health-care reform plan, which aims to provide insurance to about 95 percent of the state's half-million uninsured residents by 2009.
Both plans reflect state efforts to tackle growing concerns over health care with 46 million Americans uninsured, traditional employer-based coverage shrinking and the cost of insurance premiums steadily rising.
Vermont's legislation, signed by Gov. James Douglas at a ceremony at the state's second-largest hospital, aims to reduce the ranks of uninsured — about 10 percent of the state's 620,000 residents — while also streamlining care given to those with coverage.
A new subsidized health-care plan called Catamount Health will be offered by insurance companies and paid for in part with a hike in the state's cigarette tax and a fee on employers who do not offer health insurance to their workers.
It will provide coverage similar to that offered to state employees, taking nearly 25,000 people off the rolls of the uninsured, backers of the legislation say.
"This is potentially a national model," said Kenneth Thorpe, an Emory University professor and health-care consultant who helped create Vermont's reforms.
Massachusetts' plan has also been touted as a possible national model by requiring all residents to obtain health insurance by July 1, 2007, or face possible tax penalties.
The Massachusetts plan will provide insurance to the lowest-earning residents by offering low- or no-cost plans, with premiums and co-payments paid entirely by the state.
In Vermont, insurers can begin offering the new plan from July 1, 2007, but some benefits will be phased-in sooner.
MONTPELIER, Vermont (Reuters) - Vermont's governor signed a bill on Thursday that would make the state the second in the nation with near-universal health-care insurance by extending health insurance coverage to as much as 96 percent of its residents by 2010.
The law comes a month after neighboring Massachusetts passed the nation's first near-universal health-care reform plan, which aims to provide insurance to about 95 percent of the state's half-million uninsured residents by 2009.
Both plans reflect state efforts to tackle growing concerns over health care with 46 million Americans uninsured, traditional employer-based coverage shrinking and the cost of insurance premiums steadily rising.
Vermont's legislation, signed by Gov. James Douglas at a ceremony at the state's second-largest hospital, aims to reduce the ranks of uninsured — about 10 percent of the state's 620,000 residents — while also streamlining care given to those with coverage.
A new subsidized health-care plan called Catamount Health will be offered by insurance companies and paid for in part with a hike in the state's cigarette tax and a fee on employers who do not offer health insurance to their workers.
It will provide coverage similar to that offered to state employees, taking nearly 25,000 people off the rolls of the uninsured, backers of the legislation say.
"This is potentially a national model," said Kenneth Thorpe, an Emory University professor and health-care consultant who helped create Vermont's reforms.
Massachusetts' plan has also been touted as a possible national model by requiring all residents to obtain health insurance by July 1, 2007, or face possible tax penalties.
The Massachusetts plan will provide insurance to the lowest-earning residents by offering low- or no-cost plans, with premiums and co-payments paid entirely by the state.
In Vermont, insurers can begin offering the new plan from July 1, 2007, but some benefits will be phased-in sooner.
You Need Auto Insurance
by Gary Charlon
Each year, more cars and drivers hit the highways. With so many vehicles on the road, crashes will happen. Automobile insurance can be the difference between a minor inconvenience and a major hassle. But why do you need insurance and just how much should you buy?
Auto insurance protects you by paying for damage or injury you cause others while driving your car, damage to your car or injury to you or your passengers in your car from a crash, plus certain other occurrences, such as theft.
Auto insurance is required by law in all states and provinces. Without insurance, you risk having to pay the full cost of any harm you cause others or of repairing or replacing your car if it is damaged or stolen.
Coverage requirements vary by state/province but usually include the following:
Liability: It pays for damages due to bodily injury and property damage to others for which you are responsible. Bodily injury damages include medical expenses, lost wages and pain and suffering. Property damage includes damaged property and loss of use of property. If you are sued, it also pays your defense and court costs. State laws usually mandate minimum amounts, but higher amounts are available and usually recommended.
Personal injury protection: This is required in some states and is optional in others. It pays you or your passengers for medical treatment resulting from a crash, regardless of who may have been at fault, and is often called no-fault coverage. It may also pay for lost earnings, replacement of services and funeral expenses. State law usually sets minimum amounts.
Medical payments: This coverage is available in non-no-fault states; it pays regardless of who may have been at fault.
It pays for an insured person’s reasonable and necessary medical and funeral expenses for bodily injury from a crash.
Collision: This pays for damage to your car caused by collision.
Comprehensive: This applies if your car is stolen or damaged by causes other than collision, including fire, wind, hail, flood or vandalism.
Uninsured motorist: This pays damages when an insured person is injured in a crash caused by another person who does not have liability insurance or by a person who cannot be identified (usually a hit-and-run driver).
Underinsured motorist: This pays damages when an insured person is injured in a crash caused by another person who does not have enough liability insurance to cover the full amount of the damages.
Other coverages, such as emergency road service and car rental, are also available.
What you pay for auto insurance will vary by company and will depend on several factors, including:
What coverages you select,
The make and model of the car you drive,
Your driving record,
Your age, sex and marital status and
Where you live.
Many people think of auto insurance as a necessary evil, but it can save your financial well-being. Evaluate your needs, do your research and with the help of your insurance agent make the decision that best suits you.
Each year, more cars and drivers hit the highways. With so many vehicles on the road, crashes will happen. Automobile insurance can be the difference between a minor inconvenience and a major hassle. But why do you need insurance and just how much should you buy?
Auto insurance protects you by paying for damage or injury you cause others while driving your car, damage to your car or injury to you or your passengers in your car from a crash, plus certain other occurrences, such as theft.
Auto insurance is required by law in all states and provinces. Without insurance, you risk having to pay the full cost of any harm you cause others or of repairing or replacing your car if it is damaged or stolen.
Coverage requirements vary by state/province but usually include the following:
Liability: It pays for damages due to bodily injury and property damage to others for which you are responsible. Bodily injury damages include medical expenses, lost wages and pain and suffering. Property damage includes damaged property and loss of use of property. If you are sued, it also pays your defense and court costs. State laws usually mandate minimum amounts, but higher amounts are available and usually recommended.
Personal injury protection: This is required in some states and is optional in others. It pays you or your passengers for medical treatment resulting from a crash, regardless of who may have been at fault, and is often called no-fault coverage. It may also pay for lost earnings, replacement of services and funeral expenses. State law usually sets minimum amounts.
Medical payments: This coverage is available in non-no-fault states; it pays regardless of who may have been at fault.
It pays for an insured person’s reasonable and necessary medical and funeral expenses for bodily injury from a crash.
Collision: This pays for damage to your car caused by collision.
Comprehensive: This applies if your car is stolen or damaged by causes other than collision, including fire, wind, hail, flood or vandalism.
Uninsured motorist: This pays damages when an insured person is injured in a crash caused by another person who does not have liability insurance or by a person who cannot be identified (usually a hit-and-run driver).
Underinsured motorist: This pays damages when an insured person is injured in a crash caused by another person who does not have enough liability insurance to cover the full amount of the damages.
Other coverages, such as emergency road service and car rental, are also available.
What you pay for auto insurance will vary by company and will depend on several factors, including:
What coverages you select,
The make and model of the car you drive,
Your driving record,
Your age, sex and marital status and
Where you live.
Many people think of auto insurance as a necessary evil, but it can save your financial well-being. Evaluate your needs, do your research and with the help of your insurance agent make the decision that best suits you.
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Health Insurance Pool examined
By MICHAEL J. MAURER
Record Staff Writer
A state board charged with establishing a single health insurance pool for all Ohio school district employees turned its attention May 17 to a number of existing consortia that provide such health insurance.
Sandra Caldwell, administrative director of the Butler County Health Plan, one of the four largest consortia in Ohio, covering 7,000 employees, said each consortia has developed in its own way.
"When you've seen one, you've seen one," Caldwell said.
In general, she said, consortia are voluntary cooperatives under which school districts have banded together to purchase insurance. Some consortia involve sharing insurance risks, where populations of school districts are combined for purposes of calculating prices and actuarial expectations of expenses for illness, while others are simply administrative agencies that share some costs but maintain independent insurance pools.
In addition to the Butler County plan, the state's four largest include consortia based in Allen and Stark counties and the Southwestern Ohio Educational Purchasing Council.
Board chair Stephen Loebs, a retired professor of health management at The Ohio State University, said a close examination of the existing plans would be essential to the board's mandate under H.B. 66, the state's two-year operating budget bill.
"Consortia are central to discussions we will have later on this year," Loebs said. "We have no idea how successful the consortia are in what they're trying to do and we need to get that information."
In related business during its May 17 meeting, the board discussed a request for proposals under which a consultant will be hired to perform a statewide survey of existing health care options for public school district employees.
Caldwell said there is no centralized information available about existing consortia, but she estimated there are 30 to 35 in operation in Ohio, covering more than 70,000 employees and more than half of Ohio's school districts. The number of covered employees in the plans ranges from as few as 120 to as many as 120,000, she said.
About half of the total number were formed in the 1980s, with the remainder coming later. Several times, Caldwell said, local governments such as townships, have approached the consortia seeking to join them, but in general, such efforts have been rebuffed.
"(Townships and local governments) have come to us and said, 'Can you help us?' But historically, we have felt we were not a homogeneous group with them," she said.
David Manning, an independent consultant whose clients include the Ohio Mid-Eastern Regional Education Service Agency, a purchasing cooperative for 51 school districts, said that while consortia are subject to state audit, there are few requirements for such groups to maintain actuarial cash reserves against expected expenses, as insurance companies are required to do.
"Some of these consortia have very little in the way of reserves," Manning said, noting that the board could not simply compare consortia prices to decide if they are performing satisfactorily.
"Their rates may be low because they have not built reserves, or their rates may also be high because they are trying to catch up," Manning said.
Caldwell said it was also her experience that, although state law requires the consortia to prepare actuarial reports describing their rates, reserves and expected obligations, those reports simply are not used by anyone.
"I used to send it to my treasurers (of the member school districts), but they didn't want it," she said. "In 15 years, in my experience, an auditor has asked to see it once."
As they have in several past meetings since the board was organized earlier this year, board members continued to challenge a basic assumption of the board's creation, namely, that it makes sense to establish a mandatory, single health insurance pool for all school district employees in Ohio.
Board vice-chair Chris Mohr, financial officer for Dublin City Schools, said if the principle of mandatory pooling makes sense for one class of government employee, it makes sense for all.
"Why were we an obvious target?" Mohr said. "If this is a good idea, this is a good idea for everybody."
Record Staff Writer
A state board charged with establishing a single health insurance pool for all Ohio school district employees turned its attention May 17 to a number of existing consortia that provide such health insurance.
Sandra Caldwell, administrative director of the Butler County Health Plan, one of the four largest consortia in Ohio, covering 7,000 employees, said each consortia has developed in its own way.
"When you've seen one, you've seen one," Caldwell said.
In general, she said, consortia are voluntary cooperatives under which school districts have banded together to purchase insurance. Some consortia involve sharing insurance risks, where populations of school districts are combined for purposes of calculating prices and actuarial expectations of expenses for illness, while others are simply administrative agencies that share some costs but maintain independent insurance pools.
In addition to the Butler County plan, the state's four largest include consortia based in Allen and Stark counties and the Southwestern Ohio Educational Purchasing Council.
Board chair Stephen Loebs, a retired professor of health management at The Ohio State University, said a close examination of the existing plans would be essential to the board's mandate under H.B. 66, the state's two-year operating budget bill.
"Consortia are central to discussions we will have later on this year," Loebs said. "We have no idea how successful the consortia are in what they're trying to do and we need to get that information."
In related business during its May 17 meeting, the board discussed a request for proposals under which a consultant will be hired to perform a statewide survey of existing health care options for public school district employees.
Caldwell said there is no centralized information available about existing consortia, but she estimated there are 30 to 35 in operation in Ohio, covering more than 70,000 employees and more than half of Ohio's school districts. The number of covered employees in the plans ranges from as few as 120 to as many as 120,000, she said.
About half of the total number were formed in the 1980s, with the remainder coming later. Several times, Caldwell said, local governments such as townships, have approached the consortia seeking to join them, but in general, such efforts have been rebuffed.
"(Townships and local governments) have come to us and said, 'Can you help us?' But historically, we have felt we were not a homogeneous group with them," she said.
David Manning, an independent consultant whose clients include the Ohio Mid-Eastern Regional Education Service Agency, a purchasing cooperative for 51 school districts, said that while consortia are subject to state audit, there are few requirements for such groups to maintain actuarial cash reserves against expected expenses, as insurance companies are required to do.
"Some of these consortia have very little in the way of reserves," Manning said, noting that the board could not simply compare consortia prices to decide if they are performing satisfactorily.
"Their rates may be low because they have not built reserves, or their rates may also be high because they are trying to catch up," Manning said.
Caldwell said it was also her experience that, although state law requires the consortia to prepare actuarial reports describing their rates, reserves and expected obligations, those reports simply are not used by anyone.
"I used to send it to my treasurers (of the member school districts), but they didn't want it," she said. "In 15 years, in my experience, an auditor has asked to see it once."
As they have in several past meetings since the board was organized earlier this year, board members continued to challenge a basic assumption of the board's creation, namely, that it makes sense to establish a mandatory, single health insurance pool for all school district employees in Ohio.
Board vice-chair Chris Mohr, financial officer for Dublin City Schools, said if the principle of mandatory pooling makes sense for one class of government employee, it makes sense for all.
"Why were we an obvious target?" Mohr said. "If this is a good idea, this is a good idea for everybody."
21st century now available in 3 new states
21st Century Insurance Group is continuing its expansion as a national company, now offering auto insurance in Florida, Georgia and Pennsylvania as of Wednesday.
The Woodland Hills company (NYSE: TW) is a direct-to-consumer provider of auto insurance, much like GEICO and Progressive. Customers buy their policies directly from the company, instead of going through an insurance agent.
As part of its growth strategy, 21st is launching its first-ever national television advertising campaign. The company will be advertising on 27 cable channels, including USA, TNT and FOX News Channel.
With $1.4 billion of revenue in 2005, the company insures over 1.5 million vehicles. In addition to the three new states, the company's services are available in Arizona, California, Illinois, Indiana, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Texas and Washington.
The Woodland Hills company (NYSE: TW) is a direct-to-consumer provider of auto insurance, much like GEICO and Progressive. Customers buy their policies directly from the company, instead of going through an insurance agent.
As part of its growth strategy, 21st is launching its first-ever national television advertising campaign. The company will be advertising on 27 cable channels, including USA, TNT and FOX News Channel.
With $1.4 billion of revenue in 2005, the company insures over 1.5 million vehicles. In addition to the three new states, the company's services are available in Arizona, California, Illinois, Indiana, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Texas and Washington.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Young Adults Lack Health Insurance
By THERESA AGOVINO
AP BUSINESS WRITER
NEW YORK -- Young adults between the ages of 19 and 29 are the largest and fastest growing segment of the U.S. population lacking health insurance, according to a report released Wednesday.
Young adults comprised 40 percent of the 6 million people who joined the ranks of the uninsured from 2000 to 2004, the last year for which data are available, according to Sara Collins, senior program officer at The Commonwealth Fund, which issued the report. Although young adults represent 17 percent of the under-65 population, they account for 30 percent of the uninsured non-elderly population, the study said.
There were 13.7 million young adults without health insurance in 2004, up by 2.5 million since 2000.
Collins said there were numerous reasons young adults lack health insurance. For example, 62 percent of young adults are eligible for their employer's health insurance plan, compared with 73 percent of adults aged 30 to 64. Meanwhile, 73 percent of young adults take their employer-sponsored insurance compared with 82 percent of adults aged 30 to 64.
While the report didn't discuss why young adults opt not to purchase the plans, Collins said other surveys indicated that in most cases the cost was prohibitive.
The report said Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program classify teenagers as adults the day they turn 19 years old. Often, the young adults who had been insured under those programs for the economically disadvantaged don't have an option to stay on government-sponsored programs unless they qualify for Medicaid as an adult.
Also, a 2004 Commonwealth Fund study found that among employers who offer coverage, nearly 60 percent won't insure dependent children over age 18 or 19 if they don't attend college.
Some states have recently passed laws or are considering legislation to increase the age of dependency for young adults for private insurance coverage eligibility status.
Collins said such laws would help lower the number of young adults without health insurance. She said that extending the age eligibility for Medicaid and the State Children's program would reduce the ranks of uninsured young adults.
The Commonwealth Fund is a New York-based private foundation that supports research on health care issues and makes grants to improve health care practice and policy. The study was done by examining three different federal surveys and one of the Commonwealth's own studies on health insurance.
AP BUSINESS WRITER
NEW YORK -- Young adults between the ages of 19 and 29 are the largest and fastest growing segment of the U.S. population lacking health insurance, according to a report released Wednesday.
Young adults comprised 40 percent of the 6 million people who joined the ranks of the uninsured from 2000 to 2004, the last year for which data are available, according to Sara Collins, senior program officer at The Commonwealth Fund, which issued the report. Although young adults represent 17 percent of the under-65 population, they account for 30 percent of the uninsured non-elderly population, the study said.
There were 13.7 million young adults without health insurance in 2004, up by 2.5 million since 2000.
Collins said there were numerous reasons young adults lack health insurance. For example, 62 percent of young adults are eligible for their employer's health insurance plan, compared with 73 percent of adults aged 30 to 64. Meanwhile, 73 percent of young adults take their employer-sponsored insurance compared with 82 percent of adults aged 30 to 64.
While the report didn't discuss why young adults opt not to purchase the plans, Collins said other surveys indicated that in most cases the cost was prohibitive.
The report said Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program classify teenagers as adults the day they turn 19 years old. Often, the young adults who had been insured under those programs for the economically disadvantaged don't have an option to stay on government-sponsored programs unless they qualify for Medicaid as an adult.
Also, a 2004 Commonwealth Fund study found that among employers who offer coverage, nearly 60 percent won't insure dependent children over age 18 or 19 if they don't attend college.
Some states have recently passed laws or are considering legislation to increase the age of dependency for young adults for private insurance coverage eligibility status.
Collins said such laws would help lower the number of young adults without health insurance. She said that extending the age eligibility for Medicaid and the State Children's program would reduce the ranks of uninsured young adults.
The Commonwealth Fund is a New York-based private foundation that supports research on health care issues and makes grants to improve health care practice and policy. The study was done by examining three different federal surveys and one of the Commonwealth's own studies on health insurance.
What does your auto insurance cover?
The number of reported claims for vehicle losses from natural disasters has risen steadily in the past five years.
Last year, there were nearly 1 million claims, according to Property Claim Services.
It's crucial for drivers to know what their insurance covers. ``Too often, people shopping only for the lowest rates don't notice their lack of certain types of coverage until they try to make a claim,'' said Ron Berry, senior vice president at the Council of Better Business Bureaus.
Here are tips:
• Check whether your policy includes comprehensive coverage, emergency roadside assistance or a replacement rental car.
• Know the amount of your deductible and any other additional charges before authorizing work.
• Do business only with a reputable company.
Comprehensive coverage will reimburse you for loss from damage caused by something other than a collision with another car or object. Flooding also is covered.
Last year, there were nearly 1 million claims, according to Property Claim Services.
It's crucial for drivers to know what their insurance covers. ``Too often, people shopping only for the lowest rates don't notice their lack of certain types of coverage until they try to make a claim,'' said Ron Berry, senior vice president at the Council of Better Business Bureaus.
Here are tips:
• Check whether your policy includes comprehensive coverage, emergency roadside assistance or a replacement rental car.
• Know the amount of your deductible and any other additional charges before authorizing work.
• Do business only with a reputable company.
Comprehensive coverage will reimburse you for loss from damage caused by something other than a collision with another car or object. Flooding also is covered.
California auto insurance fraud
A Twentynine Palms, Calif., resident has been charged with three felony counts of insurance fraud. Jacob Leatherberry, 32, is charged with three felony counts of insurance fraud related to a 2005 auto accident and was booked into the Morongo Valley jail with bail set at $25,000.
Leatherberry was arrested on May 10 by a detective from the Twentynine Palms Police Department and arraigned on May 12. Prosecution is being handled by the San Bernardino County District Attorney's office. If found guilty, Leatherberry could face up to five years in prison and be forced to pay a $150,000 fine.
According to California Department of Insurance (CDI) investigators, on Oct. 21, 2005, Leatherberry was involved in an automobile accident in the city of Twentynine Palms. Almost one and a half hours later, he called Progressive Insurance and paid off the balance of his lapsed insurance policy – a requirement he had to fulfill before he could purchase a new policy with Progressive. Then, while Leatherberry was purchasing a new policy with Progressive, he was asked if he was involved in any collisions in the past three years. Leatherberry replied no. He then obtained a new insurance policy that went into effect on the evening of October 21, 2005. One hour later, he called Progressive to report he had been in an auto accident.
Leatherberry later admitted to CDI investigators that he purchased the insurance policy after the collision occurred.
According to Progressive, Leatherberry's truck was a total loss. Investigators estimate that if the claim had been paid, it would have cost the insurance carrier $8,000 to $10,000. Progressive provided valuable assistance during the course of this investigation, CDI said.
Leatherberry was arrested on May 10 by a detective from the Twentynine Palms Police Department and arraigned on May 12. Prosecution is being handled by the San Bernardino County District Attorney's office. If found guilty, Leatherberry could face up to five years in prison and be forced to pay a $150,000 fine.
According to California Department of Insurance (CDI) investigators, on Oct. 21, 2005, Leatherberry was involved in an automobile accident in the city of Twentynine Palms. Almost one and a half hours later, he called Progressive Insurance and paid off the balance of his lapsed insurance policy – a requirement he had to fulfill before he could purchase a new policy with Progressive. Then, while Leatherberry was purchasing a new policy with Progressive, he was asked if he was involved in any collisions in the past three years. Leatherberry replied no. He then obtained a new insurance policy that went into effect on the evening of October 21, 2005. One hour later, he called Progressive to report he had been in an auto accident.
Leatherberry later admitted to CDI investigators that he purchased the insurance policy after the collision occurred.
According to Progressive, Leatherberry's truck was a total loss. Investigators estimate that if the claim had been paid, it would have cost the insurance carrier $8,000 to $10,000. Progressive provided valuable assistance during the course of this investigation, CDI said.
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Higher Gas Prices Could Mean Lower Auto Insurance Rates
CLEVELAND, May 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Insurance.com recently confirmed that consumers who are driving less because of higher gas prices could be saving money on their insurance.
A recent analysis by the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) indicated that drivers could save an average of 5 to 10 percent on their auto insurance rates if they reduced their annual mileage.
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"Many insurance companies look at how much you drive each year," explains Dave Roush, CEO of Insurance.com, "and a small change in your yearly mileage could result in big savings."
Insurance companies consider whether or not a driver is using a car for business or pleasure, and even reducing the number of miles driven to work each week could result in savings. The CFA report uses the example of simply reducing miles driven each week from 200 to 175. This small annual mileage reduction from 10,400 to 9,100 could make a big difference to auto insurance rates. Drivers can cut down on their mileage by car-pooling for work, making fewer trips, or consolidating errands into one trip.
"Insurance companies often use 10,000 miles as a price point in determining auto insurance rates," Roush reported. "If you drive less than 10,000 miles annually, you could see a savings of about 5 percent on your premium."
Less driving means less exposure to situations that could result in an accident. This results in fewer claims, and encourages insurers to lower rates.
J. Robert Hunter, director of insurance for the CFA, suggests that it's a good idea if "consumers who are driving less shop around before renewing their policy."
Roush agrees with Hunter's advice. "It's important to regularly confirm you're getting the best deal from your auto insurance. You might find that you've saved several hundred dollars just by spending a few minutes comparing rates."
A recent analysis by the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) indicated that drivers could save an average of 5 to 10 percent on their auto insurance rates if they reduced their annual mileage.
ADVERTISEMENT
"Many insurance companies look at how much you drive each year," explains Dave Roush, CEO of Insurance.com, "and a small change in your yearly mileage could result in big savings."
Insurance companies consider whether or not a driver is using a car for business or pleasure, and even reducing the number of miles driven to work each week could result in savings. The CFA report uses the example of simply reducing miles driven each week from 200 to 175. This small annual mileage reduction from 10,400 to 9,100 could make a big difference to auto insurance rates. Drivers can cut down on their mileage by car-pooling for work, making fewer trips, or consolidating errands into one trip.
"Insurance companies often use 10,000 miles as a price point in determining auto insurance rates," Roush reported. "If you drive less than 10,000 miles annually, you could see a savings of about 5 percent on your premium."
Less driving means less exposure to situations that could result in an accident. This results in fewer claims, and encourages insurers to lower rates.
J. Robert Hunter, director of insurance for the CFA, suggests that it's a good idea if "consumers who are driving less shop around before renewing their policy."
Roush agrees with Hunter's advice. "It's important to regularly confirm you're getting the best deal from your auto insurance. You might find that you've saved several hundred dollars just by spending a few minutes comparing rates."
Officials comment on insurance rate changes
By Mary Weston/Staff Writer
Elected officials and representatives agree the insurance commissioner's proposed changes for insurance rating would increase auto insurance rates in rural area and decrease rates in big cities.
Television ads aired this week-end warned about higher insurance rates in the Northstate including 19 counties throughout the state if proposed insurance rate changes are adopted.
Mayor Gordon Andoe said although he isn't sure exactly how the proposed rate change would work, it sounds as though drivers in one area would be subsidizing drivers in another area.
"If we live in Butte County, then we should be paying rates based on the risks in Butte County," Andoe said. "We should not be paying higher rates based on the driving rates in L.A."
At issue is the interpretation of Proposition 103, which California voters approved in 1988. The measure requires insurance companies to base rates mainly on the three key factors. Garamendi says many insurers continue to rely too heavily on ZIP codes, gender and other factors, in violation of the law.
In December, the Department of Insurance proposed new regulations for auto insurance rating that Californians to Stop Unfair Rate Increases say would give arbitrary discounts to drivers in the state's biggest cities, instead of basing auto insurance rates on proven costs and risks.
The group is a coalition of elected officials, chambers of commerce, insurance companies and taxpayer groups dedicated to fighting proposed auto insurance regulation that they say will unfairly raise rates for millions of drivers statewide.
Coalition members are asking Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi to stop his department from increasing car insurance rates on drivers in rural areas so they can arbitrarily decrease rates on drivers in congested big cities.
The coalition urges Northstate residents to write the insurance commissioner opposing the rate changes, or go to their website (www.stopunfairrates.org) to comment to the commissioner online or get more information.
Auto insurance rates are currently based on the costs and risks associated with providing insurance to each driver.
The proposed changes would reduce the influence of the ZIP code location in formulas that calculate insurance rates. By reducing the location influence, drivers in more congested areas of the state like Los Angeles and San Francisco where there's more risk of accidents and theft would pay less for auto insurance, according to Megan Cayhill, spokesperson for the coalition.
Conversely, according to this interpretation, rates would increase for drivers in more rural and suburban areas, where there's fewer people on the road and less risk of accident.
"That insurance regulation is just typical of how we get treated in rural areas," said Butte County Dist. 1 Supervisor Bill Connelly. "We supplement their water. Now they want us to supplement their insurance rates."
Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi refutes that interpretation on his website. "If you believe, as I do, that your insurance rates should be based more on how safely you drive than where you live, you might want to learn the real facts about my new regulations," Garamendi states.
"It is simply not true that your rates must rise as a result of the regulations. In fact, as a good driver your rates may well decrease."
Some of the largest carriers, like State Farm, Farmers, Allstate, Safeco, and 21st Century, are sometimes the most expensive, Garamendi claims. He says regulations will help stop insurers from charging good drivers too much money.
But Butte County Dist. 4 Supervisor Curt Josiassen thinks Garamendi's proposal is a ploy to gain votes from more populous areas, by giving them rate decreases at the expense of people in less populated areas. Garamendi is running for Lt. Governor in the June primary.
"We don't have the votes up here, so we're always getting hammered," he said.
Josiassen said the proposal would increase rates in rural areas and decrease rates in metropolitan areas. He views it as something like the Lake Oroville Dam where residents of the Northstate would subsidize residents of the central and Southstate.
"We live here for a reason, and we shouldn't have to do that," Josiassen said.
Josiassen also doesn't buy the claim that the new rate would give good drivers lower rates, as insurance companies already give good driver discounts.
Maureen Kirk, vice mayor of Chico, also urged local residents to challenge the proposed change.
"I just think it's unfair the rates are going to increase by about 14 percent in Butte County because of the way they are going to rate auto insurance," Kirk said. "Why should good drivers here pay more so good drivers down south can pay less?"
An analysis contracted by the insurance department indicates the change could mean large increases for most drivers in the state's rural areas. The analysis concluded most drivers in urban counties such as Orange, Los Angeles and San Francisco would see large decreases in their rates.
Interestingly, the cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland support Garamendi's proposal. The cities' attorneys complain that rates based on ZIP codes discriminate against drivers in poor, urban neighborhoods, according to an article in the North County Times.
State Assemblyman Doug La Malfa wants to block Garamendi's rate changes. On April 2006, a group of Republican lawmakers including LaMalfa introduced Assembly Bill 2840, which would require the state to conduct a study analyzing the impacts of rate changes for all drivers before they can be implemented.
LaMalfa said Proposition 103 allowed the insurance commissioner some leeway to fiddle with the way insurance is rated. Bill 2840 would counteract that.
"This bill will introduce some accountability into the way insurance is rated," La Malfa said. "Garamendi's proposal would be very harmful to rural insurance buyers. All our rural counties would see a rate change of 10 to 40 percent. By taking out the emphasis of geography, it defies the reality that rural drivers have less risk of accidents, car theft and vandalism."
Elected officials and representatives agree the insurance commissioner's proposed changes for insurance rating would increase auto insurance rates in rural area and decrease rates in big cities.
Television ads aired this week-end warned about higher insurance rates in the Northstate including 19 counties throughout the state if proposed insurance rate changes are adopted.
Mayor Gordon Andoe said although he isn't sure exactly how the proposed rate change would work, it sounds as though drivers in one area would be subsidizing drivers in another area.
"If we live in Butte County, then we should be paying rates based on the risks in Butte County," Andoe said. "We should not be paying higher rates based on the driving rates in L.A."
At issue is the interpretation of Proposition 103, which California voters approved in 1988. The measure requires insurance companies to base rates mainly on the three key factors. Garamendi says many insurers continue to rely too heavily on ZIP codes, gender and other factors, in violation of the law.
In December, the Department of Insurance proposed new regulations for auto insurance rating that Californians to Stop Unfair Rate Increases say would give arbitrary discounts to drivers in the state's biggest cities, instead of basing auto insurance rates on proven costs and risks.
The group is a coalition of elected officials, chambers of commerce, insurance companies and taxpayer groups dedicated to fighting proposed auto insurance regulation that they say will unfairly raise rates for millions of drivers statewide.
Coalition members are asking Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi to stop his department from increasing car insurance rates on drivers in rural areas so they can arbitrarily decrease rates on drivers in congested big cities.
The coalition urges Northstate residents to write the insurance commissioner opposing the rate changes, or go to their website (www.stopunfairrates.org) to comment to the commissioner online or get more information.
Auto insurance rates are currently based on the costs and risks associated with providing insurance to each driver.
The proposed changes would reduce the influence of the ZIP code location in formulas that calculate insurance rates. By reducing the location influence, drivers in more congested areas of the state like Los Angeles and San Francisco where there's more risk of accidents and theft would pay less for auto insurance, according to Megan Cayhill, spokesperson for the coalition.
Conversely, according to this interpretation, rates would increase for drivers in more rural and suburban areas, where there's fewer people on the road and less risk of accident.
"That insurance regulation is just typical of how we get treated in rural areas," said Butte County Dist. 1 Supervisor Bill Connelly. "We supplement their water. Now they want us to supplement their insurance rates."
Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi refutes that interpretation on his website. "If you believe, as I do, that your insurance rates should be based more on how safely you drive than where you live, you might want to learn the real facts about my new regulations," Garamendi states.
"It is simply not true that your rates must rise as a result of the regulations. In fact, as a good driver your rates may well decrease."
Some of the largest carriers, like State Farm, Farmers, Allstate, Safeco, and 21st Century, are sometimes the most expensive, Garamendi claims. He says regulations will help stop insurers from charging good drivers too much money.
But Butte County Dist. 4 Supervisor Curt Josiassen thinks Garamendi's proposal is a ploy to gain votes from more populous areas, by giving them rate decreases at the expense of people in less populated areas. Garamendi is running for Lt. Governor in the June primary.
"We don't have the votes up here, so we're always getting hammered," he said.
Josiassen said the proposal would increase rates in rural areas and decrease rates in metropolitan areas. He views it as something like the Lake Oroville Dam where residents of the Northstate would subsidize residents of the central and Southstate.
"We live here for a reason, and we shouldn't have to do that," Josiassen said.
Josiassen also doesn't buy the claim that the new rate would give good drivers lower rates, as insurance companies already give good driver discounts.
Maureen Kirk, vice mayor of Chico, also urged local residents to challenge the proposed change.
"I just think it's unfair the rates are going to increase by about 14 percent in Butte County because of the way they are going to rate auto insurance," Kirk said. "Why should good drivers here pay more so good drivers down south can pay less?"
An analysis contracted by the insurance department indicates the change could mean large increases for most drivers in the state's rural areas. The analysis concluded most drivers in urban counties such as Orange, Los Angeles and San Francisco would see large decreases in their rates.
Interestingly, the cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland support Garamendi's proposal. The cities' attorneys complain that rates based on ZIP codes discriminate against drivers in poor, urban neighborhoods, according to an article in the North County Times.
State Assemblyman Doug La Malfa wants to block Garamendi's rate changes. On April 2006, a group of Republican lawmakers including LaMalfa introduced Assembly Bill 2840, which would require the state to conduct a study analyzing the impacts of rate changes for all drivers before they can be implemented.
LaMalfa said Proposition 103 allowed the insurance commissioner some leeway to fiddle with the way insurance is rated. Bill 2840 would counteract that.
"This bill will introduce some accountability into the way insurance is rated," La Malfa said. "Garamendi's proposal would be very harmful to rural insurance buyers. All our rural counties would see a rate change of 10 to 40 percent. By taking out the emphasis of geography, it defies the reality that rural drivers have less risk of accidents, car theft and vandalism."
Monday, May 22, 2006
The Health Insurance Crunch
By Karen E. Klein
There are 18 million microbusinesses (companies with 10 or fewer employees) in the U.S., employing more than 12 million people and generating $309 billion in annual payroll. The numbers are impressive. But it's discouraging to learn that 51% of these companies do not offer any form of health insurance, either for employees or owners.
"It's just too expensive," says Kristie Darien, legislative director for the National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE), www.nase.org, a nonprofit professional organization with a membership of 250,000. The NASE released a survey last year that showed many microbusiness owners who do provide medical coverage for themselves and their employees are struggling mightily with costs that tend to increase annually, even twice a year.
The rising costs are contributing to the general decline of employer-based insurance in the U.S. since 2000. According to a report issued last year by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, 27 million American workers are uninsured. Of them, 77% hold full-time jobs, and 49% are self-employed or work for small businesses.
People running these businesses are forced to find creative options for health care, Darien says. That results in a tattered patchwork of coverage across the U.S. Prominent agriculture states like Texas, Florida, and California tend to have the highest rates of uninsured workers. The states with the lowest number, according to the Kaiser report, are Minnesota, Vermont, Hawaii, and Wisconsin.
LAWMAKING. Darien says that NASE members have taken various approaches to finding health care for themselves and their employees. "Some choose to set up health savings accounts. Others purchase expensive private insurance through groups like the AARP," she says. Others simply go without and keep their fingers crossed, hoping to hang onto good health until their companies get larger or legislation eases the burden on them.
The health-insurance crunch stifles would-be entrepreneurial ventures and stymies the growth of many microbusinesses, whose owners may decide against hiring employees altogether. Those who do hire find themselves at a huge disadvantage when trying to attract quality workers.
Other problems arise: "Many of our business owners cannot bring their spouses into their rapidly growing companies because they rely on the health insurance provided by the spouse's corporate job," Darien notes.
There is some movement on the health-insurance front legislatively. Massachusetts recently passed a law aimed at covering that state's uninsured population (see BW Online, 4/4/06, "In Massachusetts, Health Care for All?"). The Kaiser Commission has a downloadable fact sheet on that effort. And the Self-Employed Health Care Affordability Act of 2006, H.R. 4961, has recently been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.
WEB GUIDE. Darien says the NASE is still reviewing the Massachusetts law and has taken no position on pending legislation. "We know that the whole idea of employers providing health coverage has to change," she says. "That inherently puts smaller businesses at a big disadvantage in terms of their scale alone. There has to be an adjustment."
Meanwhile, to provide practical help to the microbusiness community while the policy debate continues, the NASE has recently launched an initiative that includes an educational Web site focused on helping microbusiness owners understand their options. "The initiative is designed to help business owners navigate the issue while Congress works to come up with a permanent solution," Darien says.
The site, microbusinesshealth.com, includes a free, downloadable guide to health care with plain, easy-to-follow information tailored specifically to microbusiness owners. Says Darien: "We are constantly getting a multitude of calls, questions, and concerns from members and nonmembers. They don't know why costs are rising or how they can deal with it. This is our attempt to emphasize options for entrepreneurs, so they can meet their health-care needs in the most cost-effective, comprehensive ways possible."
There are 18 million microbusinesses (companies with 10 or fewer employees) in the U.S., employing more than 12 million people and generating $309 billion in annual payroll. The numbers are impressive. But it's discouraging to learn that 51% of these companies do not offer any form of health insurance, either for employees or owners.
"It's just too expensive," says Kristie Darien, legislative director for the National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE), www.nase.org, a nonprofit professional organization with a membership of 250,000. The NASE released a survey last year that showed many microbusiness owners who do provide medical coverage for themselves and their employees are struggling mightily with costs that tend to increase annually, even twice a year.
The rising costs are contributing to the general decline of employer-based insurance in the U.S. since 2000. According to a report issued last year by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, 27 million American workers are uninsured. Of them, 77% hold full-time jobs, and 49% are self-employed or work for small businesses.
People running these businesses are forced to find creative options for health care, Darien says. That results in a tattered patchwork of coverage across the U.S. Prominent agriculture states like Texas, Florida, and California tend to have the highest rates of uninsured workers. The states with the lowest number, according to the Kaiser report, are Minnesota, Vermont, Hawaii, and Wisconsin.
LAWMAKING. Darien says that NASE members have taken various approaches to finding health care for themselves and their employees. "Some choose to set up health savings accounts. Others purchase expensive private insurance through groups like the AARP," she says. Others simply go without and keep their fingers crossed, hoping to hang onto good health until their companies get larger or legislation eases the burden on them.
The health-insurance crunch stifles would-be entrepreneurial ventures and stymies the growth of many microbusinesses, whose owners may decide against hiring employees altogether. Those who do hire find themselves at a huge disadvantage when trying to attract quality workers.
Other problems arise: "Many of our business owners cannot bring their spouses into their rapidly growing companies because they rely on the health insurance provided by the spouse's corporate job," Darien notes.
There is some movement on the health-insurance front legislatively. Massachusetts recently passed a law aimed at covering that state's uninsured population (see BW Online, 4/4/06, "In Massachusetts, Health Care for All?"). The Kaiser Commission has a downloadable fact sheet on that effort. And the Self-Employed Health Care Affordability Act of 2006, H.R. 4961, has recently been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.
WEB GUIDE. Darien says the NASE is still reviewing the Massachusetts law and has taken no position on pending legislation. "We know that the whole idea of employers providing health coverage has to change," she says. "That inherently puts smaller businesses at a big disadvantage in terms of their scale alone. There has to be an adjustment."
Meanwhile, to provide practical help to the microbusiness community while the policy debate continues, the NASE has recently launched an initiative that includes an educational Web site focused on helping microbusiness owners understand their options. "The initiative is designed to help business owners navigate the issue while Congress works to come up with a permanent solution," Darien says.
The site, microbusinesshealth.com, includes a free, downloadable guide to health care with plain, easy-to-follow information tailored specifically to microbusiness owners. Says Darien: "We are constantly getting a multitude of calls, questions, and concerns from members and nonmembers. They don't know why costs are rising or how they can deal with it. This is our attempt to emphasize options for entrepreneurs, so they can meet their health-care needs in the most cost-effective, comprehensive ways possible."
Auto Insurance discount for Seniors
Senior citizens may get a discount on their auto insurance thanks to an eight-hour driving refresher course now being offered at Intermountain Healthcare's three Utah County hospitals.
AARP and Intermountain Healthcare recently joined forces to offer citizens aged 50 and older two four-hour classes which could result in discounted auto insurance upon completion. The classes are designed to bring older drivers up to speed on new traffic laws, rules of the road and defensive driving techniques. No test is required to graduate and everyone who enters the course leaves with a certificate.
Most insurance plans will honor the certificate with up to a 10 percent discount. Cost for the course is $10.
AARP and Intermountain Healthcare recently joined forces to offer citizens aged 50 and older two four-hour classes which could result in discounted auto insurance upon completion. The classes are designed to bring older drivers up to speed on new traffic laws, rules of the road and defensive driving techniques. No test is required to graduate and everyone who enters the course leaves with a certificate.
Most insurance plans will honor the certificate with up to a 10 percent discount. Cost for the course is $10.
Friday, May 19, 2006
Health Insurance Premium Growth
Health insurance premiums are growing at a reduced rate, despite increased utilization and higher costs, while health insurance plans' efforts are easing drug cost increases, a new report released today finds.
Prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) on behalf of America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), "The Factors Fueling Rising Healthcare Costs 2006" examines the causes of rising health care costs and analyzes how health insurance premium dollars are being spent.
The study found that premiums increased 8.8 percent between 2004 and 2005, which is 36 percent lower than the 13.7 percent increase a similar report found in 2002.
Higher utilization of services accounted for 43% of the increase, fueled by factors such as increased consumer demand, new and more intensive medical treatments and defensive medicine, as well as aging and unhealthy lifestyles. Price increases in excess of inflation accounted for 30% of the increase and were impacted by movement among purchasers to broader-access health plans, provider consolidation, increased costs of labor and higher priced technologies.
The report found that 86 cents out of every premium dollar go directly towards paying for medical services. Embedded within the 86 cents are the costs of medical liability and defensive medicine, which are estimated to be ten cents of the premium dollar. The report also breaks down the extent to which each major utilization service is being affected by medical liability and defensive medicine.
Of the remaining premium dollar, five cents go to consumer services such as prevention, disease management, care coordination, investments in health information technologies and health support; provider support; and marketing. Six cents go to costs associated with government payments, regulation and claims processing and other administration. Health insurance plan profits comprise three cents of the premium dollar.
The report found that physician spending accounts for 24 cents of the premium dollar and that it increased by 7.8 percent in 2005. Hospital inpatient spending amounts to 18 cents of the premium dollar and grew at a rate of 7.5 percent.
Twenty-two cents of the premium dollar go to outpatient spending, which grew at the rate of 13.6 percent. The report noted that "This rapid and steady growth in outpatient diagnostic testing is in part driven by the practice of defensive medicine."
The study found that prescription drugs account for 16 cents of the premium dollar and that drug spending increased 8.6 percent, compared to the double-digit jumps of recent years. The report credited health insurance plans' prescription benefit tools and techniques with helping to slow drug spending.
The report also found that "Premium increases very closely follow healthcare spending increases over time. Over the most recent ten-year period (1993-2003) for which data are available, premiums grew at an annual rate of 7.3 percent, while the cost of healthcare services grew at an annual rate of 7.2 percent."
While noting systemic challenges that put upward pressure on costs, the study found promise in emerging programs. "Current health plan trends to promote provider pay-for-performance, transparency, consumer engagement, and healthy lifestyles have the potential to mitigate future cost increases and address some root cost drivers. Still other efforts to appropriately assess the emergence of new technologies and public reporting of quality measures across all members of the healthcare community would improve accountability throughout the healthcare system," the report concluded.
"This new report demonstrates that health insurance plans' new tools are helping to make medicines more affordable for consumers and are playing a role in holding down health care premiums. Our members are also working with physicians, consumers and purchasers to build consensus around how to measure quality, which will help move us to an evidence-based system," said Karen Ignagni, AHIP President and CEO. "The medical malpractice system continues to hold back the transition to safer and more effective care, while saddling consumers and purchasers with needless costs. The report also shines a spotlight on the need to pair our country's research capability with a commitment to evaluating the safety, efficacy and cost-effectiveness of new technologies so that doctors and patients can know whether new treatments work better than existing therapies," Ignagni said.
Prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) on behalf of America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), "The Factors Fueling Rising Healthcare Costs 2006" examines the causes of rising health care costs and analyzes how health insurance premium dollars are being spent.
The study found that premiums increased 8.8 percent between 2004 and 2005, which is 36 percent lower than the 13.7 percent increase a similar report found in 2002.
Higher utilization of services accounted for 43% of the increase, fueled by factors such as increased consumer demand, new and more intensive medical treatments and defensive medicine, as well as aging and unhealthy lifestyles. Price increases in excess of inflation accounted for 30% of the increase and were impacted by movement among purchasers to broader-access health plans, provider consolidation, increased costs of labor and higher priced technologies.
The report found that 86 cents out of every premium dollar go directly towards paying for medical services. Embedded within the 86 cents are the costs of medical liability and defensive medicine, which are estimated to be ten cents of the premium dollar. The report also breaks down the extent to which each major utilization service is being affected by medical liability and defensive medicine.
Of the remaining premium dollar, five cents go to consumer services such as prevention, disease management, care coordination, investments in health information technologies and health support; provider support; and marketing. Six cents go to costs associated with government payments, regulation and claims processing and other administration. Health insurance plan profits comprise three cents of the premium dollar.
The report found that physician spending accounts for 24 cents of the premium dollar and that it increased by 7.8 percent in 2005. Hospital inpatient spending amounts to 18 cents of the premium dollar and grew at a rate of 7.5 percent.
Twenty-two cents of the premium dollar go to outpatient spending, which grew at the rate of 13.6 percent. The report noted that "This rapid and steady growth in outpatient diagnostic testing is in part driven by the practice of defensive medicine."
The study found that prescription drugs account for 16 cents of the premium dollar and that drug spending increased 8.6 percent, compared to the double-digit jumps of recent years. The report credited health insurance plans' prescription benefit tools and techniques with helping to slow drug spending.
The report also found that "Premium increases very closely follow healthcare spending increases over time. Over the most recent ten-year period (1993-2003) for which data are available, premiums grew at an annual rate of 7.3 percent, while the cost of healthcare services grew at an annual rate of 7.2 percent."
While noting systemic challenges that put upward pressure on costs, the study found promise in emerging programs. "Current health plan trends to promote provider pay-for-performance, transparency, consumer engagement, and healthy lifestyles have the potential to mitigate future cost increases and address some root cost drivers. Still other efforts to appropriately assess the emergence of new technologies and public reporting of quality measures across all members of the healthcare community would improve accountability throughout the healthcare system," the report concluded.
"This new report demonstrates that health insurance plans' new tools are helping to make medicines more affordable for consumers and are playing a role in holding down health care premiums. Our members are also working with physicians, consumers and purchasers to build consensus around how to measure quality, which will help move us to an evidence-based system," said Karen Ignagni, AHIP President and CEO. "The medical malpractice system continues to hold back the transition to safer and more effective care, while saddling consumers and purchasers with needless costs. The report also shines a spotlight on the need to pair our country's research capability with a commitment to evaluating the safety, efficacy and cost-effectiveness of new technologies so that doctors and patients can know whether new treatments work better than existing therapies," Ignagni said.
No Fault Auto Insurance
The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies has urged Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to veto a bill that would extend the sunset provision of Florida's current no-fault auto insurance law to Jan. 1, 2009.
NAMIC Senior State Affairs Manager David Reddick wrote Bush on Tuesday, "that extending the law's sunset provision to Jan. 1, 2009 will do nothing to help reduce rates for Florida drivers."
"A March 2006 report prepared by the Insurance Research Council found that PIP claims costs in Florida increased at double-digit rates in the past three years, far outpacing the rate of inflation. These increases are likely to continue if the PIP law is re-enacted through 2009.
"NAMIC also believes the provisions in the current law allow for more than enough time for Florida drivers to adjust to the tort system after having been subjected to the PIP law for the past 35 years.
"For these reasons, NAMIC asks you to please veto Senate Bill 2114 and bring rate relief to Florida drivers," Reddick concluded.
NAMIC Senior State Affairs Manager David Reddick wrote Bush on Tuesday, "that extending the law's sunset provision to Jan. 1, 2009 will do nothing to help reduce rates for Florida drivers."
"A March 2006 report prepared by the Insurance Research Council found that PIP claims costs in Florida increased at double-digit rates in the past three years, far outpacing the rate of inflation. These increases are likely to continue if the PIP law is re-enacted through 2009.
"NAMIC also believes the provisions in the current law allow for more than enough time for Florida drivers to adjust to the tort system after having been subjected to the PIP law for the past 35 years.
"For these reasons, NAMIC asks you to please veto Senate Bill 2114 and bring rate relief to Florida drivers," Reddick concluded.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Health Insurance Chiefs, Unloved, Not Overpaid:
May 18 (Bloomberg) -- Here's a challenge: Name two industries more reviled in the public eye these days than oil producers and health insurers.
Their profits are obscene, they wield their market power with disdain and arrogance, their executives are smug and unjustly rewarded.
There's just one problem with this picture. By my reckoning the health insurance chiefs aren't overpaid.
Here, in descending order by total pay, are the chief executive officers of the four major U.S. health insurers:
Total
Pay
Company CEO (millions)
UnitedHealth Group William McGuire $37.7
Aetna Inc. John Rowe * $19.6
WellPoint Inc. Larry Glasscock $18.3
Humana Inc. Michael McCallister $5.4
MEDIAN $19.0
Former CEO *
(Total pay is the sum of: base salary; annual bonus; my estimate for the present value of stock options granted in 2005 and measured using the Black-Scholes model; the value at grant of free share awards made in 2005; payouts in 2005 under other long- term incentive compensation plans; and miscellaneous compensation. Pay data were furnished by Equilar Inc., an independent provider of executive compensation information.)
So is McGuire overpaid? Is McCallister underpaid?
For an answer, I turned to my study of the total pay in 2005 of 492 CEOs in companies with market caps of $3 billion or more. I found that there were three factors that were statistically significant in determining why one CEO makes more than another. They were: the net sales of the company; its total return in its 2005 fiscal year; and the degree of risk in the pay package, measured by the ratio of stock-option grants (the most risky form of pay) to total pay.
After calibrating for these factors, here's how the four health insurance CEOs fared versus their peers in other industries:
Above/
Below
Competitive
Company CEO pay
UnitedHealth Group William McGuire 44%
Aetna Inc. John Rowe * 3%
WellPoint Inc. Larry Glasscock -20%
Humana Inc. Michael McCallister -68%
MEDIAN -9%
Former CEO *
This table tells me there is no evidence of overpayment, except for McGuire. And even a 44 percent positive deviation is not wildly significant, considering that I found 44 CEOs being paid more than 100 percent above their competitive levels.
On top of that, UnitedHealth Group Inc. just announced that McGuire would no longer be receiving any new equity grants, which I take to mean both stock-option grants and awards of free shares. The company didn't say whether McGuire would receive a full or partial makeup in the form of tons of extra cash.
Although there is no evidence of overpayment in 2005, there are sins in the past, which are now exposed in a most vivid manner. That lies in the stock-option gains that the four CEOs took out in 2005, as well as the change in their yearend paper profits on unexercised options between 2004 and 2005.
Here are the stats:
Option Gains
Plus Change
in Option
Profits
Company CEO (millions)
UnitedHealth Group William McGuire $634
Aetna Inc. John Rowe * $128
Humana Inc. Michael McCallister $38
Wellpoint Inc. Larry Glasscock $33
MEDIAN $83
These awesome numbers -- even for McCallister, who based on an earlier table would seem in need of a benefit concert -- are the fruits of two factors. First, shareholder returns in 2005 were excellent, with the median total return of the four companies checking in at 46 percent, more than nine times greater than the 4.9 percent return on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index.
But second and just as important -- or maybe more important -- are the massive grants made in past years. The biggest beneficiary of this largess is McGuire, who had by far the largest combination of option gains and change in paper profits. He also delivered the second-lowest total return in 2005 of the four companies -- 41 percent.
So there's been excess in the past, though there doesn't appear to be any significant compensation blubber today. That's good news not only for the shareholders of the four health insurers, but for their policyholders as well.
To contact the writer of this column:
Graef Crystal in Las Vegas at at graefc@bloomberg.net.
Their profits are obscene, they wield their market power with disdain and arrogance, their executives are smug and unjustly rewarded.
There's just one problem with this picture. By my reckoning the health insurance chiefs aren't overpaid.
Here, in descending order by total pay, are the chief executive officers of the four major U.S. health insurers:
Total
Pay
Company CEO (millions)
UnitedHealth Group William McGuire $37.7
Aetna Inc. John Rowe * $19.6
WellPoint Inc. Larry Glasscock $18.3
Humana Inc. Michael McCallister $5.4
MEDIAN $19.0
Former CEO *
(Total pay is the sum of: base salary; annual bonus; my estimate for the present value of stock options granted in 2005 and measured using the Black-Scholes model; the value at grant of free share awards made in 2005; payouts in 2005 under other long- term incentive compensation plans; and miscellaneous compensation. Pay data were furnished by Equilar Inc., an independent provider of executive compensation information.)
So is McGuire overpaid? Is McCallister underpaid?
For an answer, I turned to my study of the total pay in 2005 of 492 CEOs in companies with market caps of $3 billion or more. I found that there were three factors that were statistically significant in determining why one CEO makes more than another. They were: the net sales of the company; its total return in its 2005 fiscal year; and the degree of risk in the pay package, measured by the ratio of stock-option grants (the most risky form of pay) to total pay.
After calibrating for these factors, here's how the four health insurance CEOs fared versus their peers in other industries:
Above/
Below
Competitive
Company CEO pay
UnitedHealth Group William McGuire 44%
Aetna Inc. John Rowe * 3%
WellPoint Inc. Larry Glasscock -20%
Humana Inc. Michael McCallister -68%
MEDIAN -9%
Former CEO *
This table tells me there is no evidence of overpayment, except for McGuire. And even a 44 percent positive deviation is not wildly significant, considering that I found 44 CEOs being paid more than 100 percent above their competitive levels.
On top of that, UnitedHealth Group Inc. just announced that McGuire would no longer be receiving any new equity grants, which I take to mean both stock-option grants and awards of free shares. The company didn't say whether McGuire would receive a full or partial makeup in the form of tons of extra cash.
Although there is no evidence of overpayment in 2005, there are sins in the past, which are now exposed in a most vivid manner. That lies in the stock-option gains that the four CEOs took out in 2005, as well as the change in their yearend paper profits on unexercised options between 2004 and 2005.
Here are the stats:
Option Gains
Plus Change
in Option
Profits
Company CEO (millions)
UnitedHealth Group William McGuire $634
Aetna Inc. John Rowe * $128
Humana Inc. Michael McCallister $38
Wellpoint Inc. Larry Glasscock $33
MEDIAN $83
These awesome numbers -- even for McCallister, who based on an earlier table would seem in need of a benefit concert -- are the fruits of two factors. First, shareholder returns in 2005 were excellent, with the median total return of the four companies checking in at 46 percent, more than nine times greater than the 4.9 percent return on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index.
But second and just as important -- or maybe more important -- are the massive grants made in past years. The biggest beneficiary of this largess is McGuire, who had by far the largest combination of option gains and change in paper profits. He also delivered the second-lowest total return in 2005 of the four companies -- 41 percent.
So there's been excess in the past, though there doesn't appear to be any significant compensation blubber today. That's good news not only for the shareholders of the four health insurers, but for their policyholders as well.
To contact the writer of this column:
Graef Crystal in Las Vegas at at graefc@bloomberg.net.
21st Century Auto Insurance Advertising Campaign
(TW | charts | news | PowerRating) announced that it now serves auto insurance customers in Florida, Georgia and Pennsylvania, the latest wave of the company's national expansion in the personal auto insurance market. The three East Coast states represent 15% of the total U.S. personal auto premium, giving 21st a footprint in nearly half of the U.S. market. To reach this growing group of empowered auto insurance consumers, 21st has also launched its first-ever national television advertising campaign with ad buys on 27 national cable networks including USA, TNT and FOX News Channel. The campaign highlights 21st Century Insurance's understanding of modern consumers during all phases of their lives.
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Health insurance doesn't faze experts
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
By Joe Fahy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
When she needed advice about Medicare's prescription drug program, Anna Gariti turned to Apprise, a state program that provides beneficiaries with free counseling about health insurance.
Ms. Gariti, of Crescent, met with the program's Allegheny County coordinator, Bob Kubit, who spent two hours helping her understand her options.
Apprise and other community groups have worked for months to educate Medicare recipients about the program, known as Part D, before the initial enrollment period ended Monday.
For people such as Mr. Kubit, that has meant long hours of explaining the intricacies of the complex program to Medicare recipients, many of them worried or confused.
"There have been some days when I didn't get off the phone," said Mr. Kubit, who also spoke at scores of community meetings to explain the basics of the program.
In general, Medicare recipients have not had to consider enrolling in private plans offering Part D if they already have coverage at least as good from a former employer, for example, or from the state's drug assistance programs, PACE and PACENET.
Still others were automatically enrolled if they were in Medicare HMOs or state Medicaid programs, though they could choose a different plan.
Many others, however, had to sign up by Monday or face a penalty consisting of higher monthly premiums if they ever decide to enroll.
That prospect prompted many people to sign up in recent weeks, Mr. Kubit said, though some seemed to regard May 15 with the same lack of enthusiasm often reserved for the tax deadline in April.
Without doubt, many people are saving money through their Part D plans, he said, yet many feel the benefit could be improved.
Some are dissatisfied, he said, with a coverage gap known as a doughnut hole and the fact that covered drugs and other details vary from plan to plan, a departure from the standardized medical benefits provided through the traditional Medicare program.
Literally dozens of plans are available in Allegheny County alone. Enrollment in the plans began in November and coverage started Jan. 1.
As interest in Part D grew, many insurers, government agencies and community groups added staff to handle questions and help consumers enroll. Mr. Kubit said his program, operated by the Lutheran Service Society, expanded its staff of trained volunteers from about 20 to more than 30.
Ms. Gariti, 57, said making a decision on coverage was not easy. "When you call the different insurance companies, of course they want to sell their product," she said.
She investigated Part D plans for herself and her son Michael, 24. Both qualify for Medicare because of disabilities.
Ms. Gariti, who suffers from depression, a thyroid problem and other health conditions, said she was interested in Part D because she was paying hundreds of dollars a month for coverage through a private plan.
Her son, who had a head injury a decade ago that left him in a coma for weeks, has weakness on his left side, migraine and other health problems. He had received his medicine through an assistance program for people with low incomes.
But drug manufacturers said he would no longer be able to get some drugs through the program because he was eligible for Part D, Ms. Gariti said. He was automatically enrolled in a Part D plan by his Medicare HMO, but that plan did not cover all of his prescriptions.
She soon settled on a different Part D plan for each of them, but wasn't comfortable with her choice.
"All decisions I have to make on my own are difficult for me," she said, noting that her husband, John, died in November 2001. "We always worked together on everything."
She turned to Apprise and said Mr. Kubit was knowledgeable and explained Part D in terms she could understand.
A longtime Lawrenceville resident, Mr. Kubit, 54, developed an expertise in health plans through a roundabout route.
After receiving bachelor's and master's degrees from Duquesne University, he intended to become a teacher or school librarian. Instead, he got involved in local politics.
He held county and state jobs before going to work as an assistant for Tom Flaherty when he served on the City Council and, later, as city Controller. Mr. Kubit then was a district justice in Lawrenceville for six years, but lost a re-election bid in 1993.
Out of a job, he began working for a temporary service, which sent him to HealthAmerica, which was developing an HMO in the Pittsburgh area. Soon, HealthAmerica hired him as a customer service representative.
He held similar positions with two other health plans, a pharmacy benefits manager and a durable medical equipment company before coming to Apprise in 2003.
Mr. Kubit said his background with the plans and in teaching prepared him well for the job. "I feel I fit here like a glove."
To contact Apprise in Allegheny County, call 412-734-9330. For information on other Apprise programs in Pennsylvania, call 1-800-783-7067.
By Joe Fahy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
When she needed advice about Medicare's prescription drug program, Anna Gariti turned to Apprise, a state program that provides beneficiaries with free counseling about health insurance.
Ms. Gariti, of Crescent, met with the program's Allegheny County coordinator, Bob Kubit, who spent two hours helping her understand her options.
Apprise and other community groups have worked for months to educate Medicare recipients about the program, known as Part D, before the initial enrollment period ended Monday.
For people such as Mr. Kubit, that has meant long hours of explaining the intricacies of the complex program to Medicare recipients, many of them worried or confused.
"There have been some days when I didn't get off the phone," said Mr. Kubit, who also spoke at scores of community meetings to explain the basics of the program.
In general, Medicare recipients have not had to consider enrolling in private plans offering Part D if they already have coverage at least as good from a former employer, for example, or from the state's drug assistance programs, PACE and PACENET.
Still others were automatically enrolled if they were in Medicare HMOs or state Medicaid programs, though they could choose a different plan.
Many others, however, had to sign up by Monday or face a penalty consisting of higher monthly premiums if they ever decide to enroll.
That prospect prompted many people to sign up in recent weeks, Mr. Kubit said, though some seemed to regard May 15 with the same lack of enthusiasm often reserved for the tax deadline in April.
Without doubt, many people are saving money through their Part D plans, he said, yet many feel the benefit could be improved.
Some are dissatisfied, he said, with a coverage gap known as a doughnut hole and the fact that covered drugs and other details vary from plan to plan, a departure from the standardized medical benefits provided through the traditional Medicare program.
Literally dozens of plans are available in Allegheny County alone. Enrollment in the plans began in November and coverage started Jan. 1.
As interest in Part D grew, many insurers, government agencies and community groups added staff to handle questions and help consumers enroll. Mr. Kubit said his program, operated by the Lutheran Service Society, expanded its staff of trained volunteers from about 20 to more than 30.
Ms. Gariti, 57, said making a decision on coverage was not easy. "When you call the different insurance companies, of course they want to sell their product," she said.
She investigated Part D plans for herself and her son Michael, 24. Both qualify for Medicare because of disabilities.
Ms. Gariti, who suffers from depression, a thyroid problem and other health conditions, said she was interested in Part D because she was paying hundreds of dollars a month for coverage through a private plan.
Her son, who had a head injury a decade ago that left him in a coma for weeks, has weakness on his left side, migraine and other health problems. He had received his medicine through an assistance program for people with low incomes.
But drug manufacturers said he would no longer be able to get some drugs through the program because he was eligible for Part D, Ms. Gariti said. He was automatically enrolled in a Part D plan by his Medicare HMO, but that plan did not cover all of his prescriptions.
She soon settled on a different Part D plan for each of them, but wasn't comfortable with her choice.
"All decisions I have to make on my own are difficult for me," she said, noting that her husband, John, died in November 2001. "We always worked together on everything."
She turned to Apprise and said Mr. Kubit was knowledgeable and explained Part D in terms she could understand.
A longtime Lawrenceville resident, Mr. Kubit, 54, developed an expertise in health plans through a roundabout route.
After receiving bachelor's and master's degrees from Duquesne University, he intended to become a teacher or school librarian. Instead, he got involved in local politics.
He held county and state jobs before going to work as an assistant for Tom Flaherty when he served on the City Council and, later, as city Controller. Mr. Kubit then was a district justice in Lawrenceville for six years, but lost a re-election bid in 1993.
Out of a job, he began working for a temporary service, which sent him to HealthAmerica, which was developing an HMO in the Pittsburgh area. Soon, HealthAmerica hired him as a customer service representative.
He held similar positions with two other health plans, a pharmacy benefits manager and a durable medical equipment company before coming to Apprise in 2003.
Mr. Kubit said his background with the plans and in teaching prepared him well for the job. "I feel I fit here like a glove."
To contact Apprise in Allegheny County, call 412-734-9330. For information on other Apprise programs in Pennsylvania, call 1-800-783-7067.
Health Insurance in Massachusetts
Two-thirds of CEOs say they approve of the recently approved Massachusetts law requiring employers to provide health coverage to their workers, according to the Globe 100 CEO survey, the Boston Globe reports. The 115 CEOs responding to the survey generally said the health insurance plan "makes financial sense, ... though they are concerned it could put a strain on the state's budget or be devastating to small business owners," the Globe reports. According to the Globe, the CEOs' "reasoning boils down to this: We provide coverage, and it's unfair that other employers don't." Jan Miller, CEO of Boston-based Wainwright Bank & Trust, said, "[T]he reality is we're all paying for their care anyway, and often that's at the most expensive place, which is the emergency room. If that can be replaced with better, more efficient care, I'm in favor of that" (Blanton, Boston Globe, 5/16).
Auto Insurance Fraud Target Of Senate Bill
ALBANY-New legislation designed to combat auto insurance fraud which costs New Yorkers more than one billion dollars a year plus legislation that would impose criminal penalties for staging auto accidents has been passed by the New York State Senate and sent to the Assembly.
"Auto insurance fraud is more prevalent in New York State than anywhere in the nation and it's costing every driver in New York State more money," Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno said. "It's estimated that as many as one-third of all auto insurance claims contain some element of fraud, which is a major reason why auto rates in New York are among the highest in the country. This legislation will help to reduce premiums by making it tougher to commit fraud and increasing penalties for people who commit fraud."
To ease insurance fraud prosecutions and ensure punishment better fits the crimes, the Senate passed legislation that would cut in half the value of property obtained through a fraudulent insurance act in order to be convicted of insurance fraud.
In addition, the legislation would:
--Crack down on repeat offenders by establishing three levels of the crime of aggravated insurance fraud for people who commit fraud more than once in a five year period;
--Allow prosecutors to aggregate the value of separate incidents of fraud and base the charge on the total value of the incidents; and
--Allow district attorneys to prosecute organized auto fraud rings under the State Organized Crime Control Act, which carries tough criminal penalties.
The Senate also passed legislation that would make the use of "runners" illegal in New York.
A "runner" is a person who receives money for obtaining clients or patients to participate in insurance fraud. Runners are commonly used in the New York City metropolitan area to steer accident victims towards unnecessary medical treatments. Insurance companies have to pay the fraudulent claims and must make up the cost through higher auto insurance premiums.
The legislation makes it a class E felony to act as a runner or hire another person to act as a runner.
Medical mills submit fraudulent medical claims for unnecessary tests for phony accident victims. Under the state's no-fault insurance law, accident victims can build up $50,000 worth of medical bills that must be paid by insurance companies. Sometimes clinics steal identities and policy numbers to commit fraud, even using information of people who are deceased.
The Senate also passed a bill that would establish a new felony-level crime of staging a motor vehicle accident. The bill is called "Alice's Law," after Alice Ross, a 71 year old grandmother, who was killed as the result of a staged auto accident in Queens in 2003. 5-16-06
"Auto insurance fraud is more prevalent in New York State than anywhere in the nation and it's costing every driver in New York State more money," Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno said. "It's estimated that as many as one-third of all auto insurance claims contain some element of fraud, which is a major reason why auto rates in New York are among the highest in the country. This legislation will help to reduce premiums by making it tougher to commit fraud and increasing penalties for people who commit fraud."
To ease insurance fraud prosecutions and ensure punishment better fits the crimes, the Senate passed legislation that would cut in half the value of property obtained through a fraudulent insurance act in order to be convicted of insurance fraud.
In addition, the legislation would:
--Crack down on repeat offenders by establishing three levels of the crime of aggravated insurance fraud for people who commit fraud more than once in a five year period;
--Allow prosecutors to aggregate the value of separate incidents of fraud and base the charge on the total value of the incidents; and
--Allow district attorneys to prosecute organized auto fraud rings under the State Organized Crime Control Act, which carries tough criminal penalties.
The Senate also passed legislation that would make the use of "runners" illegal in New York.
A "runner" is a person who receives money for obtaining clients or patients to participate in insurance fraud. Runners are commonly used in the New York City metropolitan area to steer accident victims towards unnecessary medical treatments. Insurance companies have to pay the fraudulent claims and must make up the cost through higher auto insurance premiums.
The legislation makes it a class E felony to act as a runner or hire another person to act as a runner.
Medical mills submit fraudulent medical claims for unnecessary tests for phony accident victims. Under the state's no-fault insurance law, accident victims can build up $50,000 worth of medical bills that must be paid by insurance companies. Sometimes clinics steal identities and policy numbers to commit fraud, even using information of people who are deceased.
The Senate also passed a bill that would establish a new felony-level crime of staging a motor vehicle accident. The bill is called "Alice's Law," after Alice Ross, a 71 year old grandmother, who was killed as the result of a staged auto accident in Queens in 2003. 5-16-06
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Auto Insurance Quote Variations
Wayne Havrelly
KIRO 7 Consumer Investigator
We put local insurance companies and agents to a test, getting quote after quote.
What we found may have you shopping for new insurance right away.
"It is a huge difference," said Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler. "(It's a) huge variation, a lot more than I anticipated."
Even our state's insurance commissioner was surprised by what we discovered about car insurance.
KIRO 7 Consumer Investigators put together a comprehensive study with the help of 29-year-old Eric Olsen.
Eric drives a '97 Jeep and has a spotless driving record. He got quotes from the five largest insurance companies in the state.
Quotes are all over the map. A Farmers agent wants $1,219 for a six-month policy while Pemco charges $570 -- less than half Farmers' price.
That's in Seattle. If you move to Issaquah, Pemco will only charge you only $380.
And we found more puzzling information: You can get wildly different quotes from the same company depending on what agent you talk to.
One Farmers agent gave Eric a quote of $763. Another Farmers agent quoted him $949 -- same driver, same address, same insurance companies, different quotes.
Eric called back to ask why the prices were so different.
"The agent that had given me the lower rate also factored in the fact I would be buying renters insurance in addition to my car insurance and you get a discount on your insurance when you buy both of those," he said.
However, the agent didn't mention any of that when Eric called for the quote.
"My guess is the insurance company, if they knew their agents were giving those kind of variations in quotes, would want to talk about doing some remedial training so everyone operated with the same set of rules," Kreidler said.
Something else in our survey really caught our eye. One Pemco agent wouldn't give Eric any quote at all.
While he has a spotless driving record, someone he lived with three years ago did not. Insurance companies have developed special technology to analyze nearly everything about your past.
You might call it guilt by association -- and it's all legal.
"You know, I have some real problems with that kind of use of information technology," Kreidler said. "I've gone to the legislature and asked for changes in law in order to try and bring out some limits. I want to go back and ask for more because quite frankly the insurance companies are asking for things that are private information, they don't relate to whether you are going to file a claim."
Some insurance companies only accept clients who are low risk. They tend to have the lowest rates. The companies that take bigger risks have more clients and usually higher rates.
One thing is for sure: it really pays to shop around for rates. Not only does it pay to get quotes from different insurance companies, sometimes it can pay to check different agents within the same company.
KIRO 7 Consumer Investigator
We put local insurance companies and agents to a test, getting quote after quote.
What we found may have you shopping for new insurance right away.
"It is a huge difference," said Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler. "(It's a) huge variation, a lot more than I anticipated."
Even our state's insurance commissioner was surprised by what we discovered about car insurance.
KIRO 7 Consumer Investigators put together a comprehensive study with the help of 29-year-old Eric Olsen.
Eric drives a '97 Jeep and has a spotless driving record. He got quotes from the five largest insurance companies in the state.
Quotes are all over the map. A Farmers agent wants $1,219 for a six-month policy while Pemco charges $570 -- less than half Farmers' price.
That's in Seattle. If you move to Issaquah, Pemco will only charge you only $380.
And we found more puzzling information: You can get wildly different quotes from the same company depending on what agent you talk to.
One Farmers agent gave Eric a quote of $763. Another Farmers agent quoted him $949 -- same driver, same address, same insurance companies, different quotes.
Eric called back to ask why the prices were so different.
"The agent that had given me the lower rate also factored in the fact I would be buying renters insurance in addition to my car insurance and you get a discount on your insurance when you buy both of those," he said.
However, the agent didn't mention any of that when Eric called for the quote.
"My guess is the insurance company, if they knew their agents were giving those kind of variations in quotes, would want to talk about doing some remedial training so everyone operated with the same set of rules," Kreidler said.
Something else in our survey really caught our eye. One Pemco agent wouldn't give Eric any quote at all.
While he has a spotless driving record, someone he lived with three years ago did not. Insurance companies have developed special technology to analyze nearly everything about your past.
You might call it guilt by association -- and it's all legal.
"You know, I have some real problems with that kind of use of information technology," Kreidler said. "I've gone to the legislature and asked for changes in law in order to try and bring out some limits. I want to go back and ask for more because quite frankly the insurance companies are asking for things that are private information, they don't relate to whether you are going to file a claim."
Some insurance companies only accept clients who are low risk. They tend to have the lowest rates. The companies that take bigger risks have more clients and usually higher rates.
One thing is for sure: it really pays to shop around for rates. Not only does it pay to get quotes from different insurance companies, sometimes it can pay to check different agents within the same company.
Health Insurance in rural states
By Amy Norton
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Americans who live in rural states or work for small businesses get less bang for their buck when it comes to health insurance, new research shows.
In a first state-by-state look at the "generosity" of employer-based health insurance, researchers found that people in largely rural states often paid more for the benefits they got than their urban-area counterparts did.
The researchers gauged insurance plans' generosity by calculating their actuarial value - the percentage of an employee's medical expenses that the plan covers.
When average premiums were adjusted for actuarial value, people in states such as Maine, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming got the least value for their money, according to findings published in the journal Health Affairs.
In contrast, residents of states with large urban populations, including California, New York, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, tended to get more service for their dollar.
Similarly, the study found, people employed by the smallest businesses paid an average of 18 percent more than workers at large corporations, when their insurance premiums were adjusted for generosity.
This latter finding may not be surprising, as large employers have much greater leverage to negotiate with insurers.
But the findings "put actual numbers on the conventional wisdom" that small-business employees end up with less generous health insurance, said lead study author Jon Gabel, vice president of the Center for Studying Health System Change, a non-partisan policy research organization in Washington, D.C.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Americans who live in rural states or work for small businesses get less bang for their buck when it comes to health insurance, new research shows.
In a first state-by-state look at the "generosity" of employer-based health insurance, researchers found that people in largely rural states often paid more for the benefits they got than their urban-area counterparts did.
The researchers gauged insurance plans' generosity by calculating their actuarial value - the percentage of an employee's medical expenses that the plan covers.
When average premiums were adjusted for actuarial value, people in states such as Maine, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming got the least value for their money, according to findings published in the journal Health Affairs.
In contrast, residents of states with large urban populations, including California, New York, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, tended to get more service for their dollar.
Similarly, the study found, people employed by the smallest businesses paid an average of 18 percent more than workers at large corporations, when their insurance premiums were adjusted for generosity.
This latter finding may not be surprising, as large employers have much greater leverage to negotiate with insurers.
But the findings "put actual numbers on the conventional wisdom" that small-business employees end up with less generous health insurance, said lead study author Jon Gabel, vice president of the Center for Studying Health System Change, a non-partisan policy research organization in Washington, D.C.
Monday, May 15, 2006
Hawaii Health Insurance
By Kristen Consillio
Pacific Business News (Honolulu)
Updated: 8:00 p.m. ET May 14, 2006
Hawaii is about to become one of only four states that does not regulate health insurance rates.
The decision by legislators not to pass a bill that would have continued rate regulation means that starting July 1, Hawaii insurance companies can set their premiums for medical coverage without challenge.
House and Senate leaders are pointing fingers at one another, with both sides claiming they favored continuing the law that began in January 2003.
The Senate wanted to lift the June 30 "sunset" date for the law and continue giving the state insurance commissioner broad power to deny proposed rates if they couldn't be justified.
House leaders favored an amended bill with new language that some senators, and state Insurance Commissioner J.P. Schmidt, believed weakened his oversight.
Senate leaders ultimately relented and passed the amended bill just days before the session ended last Thursday.
But in the haste to move the bill, senators forgot to change the bill's effective date from 2020. A future date is sometimes written into legislation to ensure continued discussion on areas of disagreement, with the intent being to change the date to the correct year once conflicts are resolved.
Rep. Robert Herkes, D-Puna-N. Kona, chairman of the House Consumer Protection and Commerce Committee, said the defective date doomed the bill.
"I've never been a fan of regulation, but I didn't do this deliberately," Herkes said. "If the Senate adopted it with the right date it would be law."
House Speaker Calvin Say, D-St. Louis Heights-Wilhelmina Rise, did not return calls this week from PBN.
Sen. Ron Menor, D-Mililani-Waipahu, chairman of the Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection and Housing Committee, who championed the law in the 2002 session, said House leaders refused to meet to correct the date.
Herkes said correcting the bill would have meant extending the legislative session. He said the insurance business is competitive without regulation.
"In July, the free enterprise starts to work. The insurance companies would be stupid to do anything bizarre up or down," he said.
Chris Pablo, spokesman for Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, said Hawaii's health insurance premiums were among the lowest in the nation before rate regulation and likely will continue that way.
Kaiser's average rate increase was 4.4 percent from 1999 to 2002, before rate regulation. The average was 8.9 percent during regulation.
"The market is the mechanism that really influences pricing," Pablo said. "Our premiums are fair and reflect the cost of providing care."
The state's largest health insurer, the Hawaii Medical Service Association, raised rates an average of 7.4 percent in the four years before regulation. After regulation, the average was 6.6 percent.
Today, 47 states have some form of health insurance rate regulation. Hawaii's insurance division will continue to regulate all other types of insurance.
"It has definitely got the potential to hurt small businesses," said Tim Lyons, executive vice president of the Hawaii Business League, which typically doesn't support regulation. "They've got the opportunity now to sort of misbehave."
For his part, Schmidt wrote numerous newspaper opinion pieces, went on morning TV shows and gave countless speeches at association meetings urging continuation of the law.
"I was telling everybody that the House didn't seem to think this was important and, in fact, seemed intent on killing it," he said.
Schmidt said HMSA influenced the shape of the legislation in the House. Herkes has been criticized by some lobbyists and advocates for government transparency for having an intern who is an employee of HMSA working in his office.
"Companies like HMSA have people in the Legislature in key positions who are sympathetic to HMSA's cause," said former Gov. Ben Cayetano, a Democrat who signed rate regulation into law in 2002. "The nature of people in office today, sometimes their focus is very narrow. They forget about the public."
Cliff Cisco, HMSA spokesman, said the insurer had no particular influence in the discussion of rate regulation.
"The end result of how the legislation did not pass was not anything that we had directly to do with," Cisco said. "We do exactly the same thing that anyone else would do in working with the Legislature."
The state insurance division will continue to review health insurers' finances and investigate complaints.
Pacific Business News (Honolulu)
Updated: 8:00 p.m. ET May 14, 2006
Hawaii is about to become one of only four states that does not regulate health insurance rates.
The decision by legislators not to pass a bill that would have continued rate regulation means that starting July 1, Hawaii insurance companies can set their premiums for medical coverage without challenge.
House and Senate leaders are pointing fingers at one another, with both sides claiming they favored continuing the law that began in January 2003.
The Senate wanted to lift the June 30 "sunset" date for the law and continue giving the state insurance commissioner broad power to deny proposed rates if they couldn't be justified.
House leaders favored an amended bill with new language that some senators, and state Insurance Commissioner J.P. Schmidt, believed weakened his oversight.
Senate leaders ultimately relented and passed the amended bill just days before the session ended last Thursday.
But in the haste to move the bill, senators forgot to change the bill's effective date from 2020. A future date is sometimes written into legislation to ensure continued discussion on areas of disagreement, with the intent being to change the date to the correct year once conflicts are resolved.
Rep. Robert Herkes, D-Puna-N. Kona, chairman of the House Consumer Protection and Commerce Committee, said the defective date doomed the bill.
"I've never been a fan of regulation, but I didn't do this deliberately," Herkes said. "If the Senate adopted it with the right date it would be law."
House Speaker Calvin Say, D-St. Louis Heights-Wilhelmina Rise, did not return calls this week from PBN.
Sen. Ron Menor, D-Mililani-Waipahu, chairman of the Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection and Housing Committee, who championed the law in the 2002 session, said House leaders refused to meet to correct the date.
Herkes said correcting the bill would have meant extending the legislative session. He said the insurance business is competitive without regulation.
"In July, the free enterprise starts to work. The insurance companies would be stupid to do anything bizarre up or down," he said.
Chris Pablo, spokesman for Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, said Hawaii's health insurance premiums were among the lowest in the nation before rate regulation and likely will continue that way.
Kaiser's average rate increase was 4.4 percent from 1999 to 2002, before rate regulation. The average was 8.9 percent during regulation.
"The market is the mechanism that really influences pricing," Pablo said. "Our premiums are fair and reflect the cost of providing care."
The state's largest health insurer, the Hawaii Medical Service Association, raised rates an average of 7.4 percent in the four years before regulation. After regulation, the average was 6.6 percent.
Today, 47 states have some form of health insurance rate regulation. Hawaii's insurance division will continue to regulate all other types of insurance.
"It has definitely got the potential to hurt small businesses," said Tim Lyons, executive vice president of the Hawaii Business League, which typically doesn't support regulation. "They've got the opportunity now to sort of misbehave."
For his part, Schmidt wrote numerous newspaper opinion pieces, went on morning TV shows and gave countless speeches at association meetings urging continuation of the law.
"I was telling everybody that the House didn't seem to think this was important and, in fact, seemed intent on killing it," he said.
Schmidt said HMSA influenced the shape of the legislation in the House. Herkes has been criticized by some lobbyists and advocates for government transparency for having an intern who is an employee of HMSA working in his office.
"Companies like HMSA have people in the Legislature in key positions who are sympathetic to HMSA's cause," said former Gov. Ben Cayetano, a Democrat who signed rate regulation into law in 2002. "The nature of people in office today, sometimes their focus is very narrow. They forget about the public."
Cliff Cisco, HMSA spokesman, said the insurer had no particular influence in the discussion of rate regulation.
"The end result of how the legislation did not pass was not anything that we had directly to do with," Cisco said. "We do exactly the same thing that anyone else would do in working with the Legislature."
The state insurance division will continue to review health insurers' finances and investigate complaints.
Whacking auto insurance bills
By Suze Orman
Given that the price of a gallon of gas has risen about 80% over the past five years -- including a 30% jump in the past year -- filling up these days requires emptying out your wallet.
And with the price of oil stuck near $70 a gallon, it's not likely that we are going to see any substantial relief at the pump in the near future.
But I know a sure-fire way you can offset your gas costs: focus on reducing your car insurance costs. While you can't control the price of gas, there are plenty of moves you can make to lower your car insurance premium; for many of you I am confident we can shave a few hundred dollars off your auto insurance rates.
The strategies below cover what you can do now with the cars that you already have. Of course, one of the best moves you can make down the line is to think about fuel efficiency when you make your next car purchase.
And when you're in buying mode, check out the cost to insure the cars you are considering to buy; the make and model you choose has a huge impact on your car insurance costs.
But I want to help you right now with the cars that are already in your garage:
Boost your deductible: If you switch from a $250 deductible to $1,000 you could slash your premium cost by 15% to 30% or more. With the average auto insurance premium hovering around $1,000 that could save you a couple of hundred dollars a year.
GET LESS MILEAGE OUT OF YOUR POLICY: Many insurers will reduce your premium cost by 5% to 10% or more if you don't drive your car that much. The rules vary at each insurer, but putting less than 10,000 or 12,000 miles on your car a year could qualify you for the discount.
If the recent surge in gas prices has encouraged you to use public transportation, do the math on how that is going to affect your annual driving mileage.
If you can get your mileage way down, then give your insurer a call and get your insurance rates cut.
If you and your partner have two cars, but really need only one for the long-distance commute, insure one car for higher mileage, but commit to keeping the other car's mileage low enough to qualify for the discount. That could mean an extra $50 or $100 in your pocket.
You should also check with your insurer if you have recently retired or decided to start your own home-based business.
Switching your driving profile from "commuting" to "pleasure" will result in a lower premium. The same is true if you once used your car for business, but now use it for commuting or pleasure: Remove the "business" designation and you could get a nice premium cut.
Home in on a Discount: It definitely pays to bunch your auto insurance and home insurance with the same company. You can qualify for a discount of up to 30% on the combined premiums by using just one company.
COUPLE-UP ON YOUR POLICY: If you and your spouse combine your auto policies you could see your total insurance costs drop by 30%. If you and your partner aren't married, you will need to have both names on each car's registration to be able to qualify for this discount.
GET DEFENSIVE: Ask your auto insurer if taking a defensive-driving course will reduce your insurance premium. And hey, it's a great safety move even if there's no premium break.
Retiree-advocacy group AARP offers a driver safety program, regardless of your age or whether you are an AARP member. It costs just $10 for an eight-hour course. You can learn more at www.aarp.org/drive.
PUT YOUR DEGREE TO WORK: Many insurers offer discounts for advanced degrees and for specific professions. Make sure you check with your insurer if your education or job can drive a better deal on your insurance.
ANTITHEFT DEVICES: If you have an alarm system or a vehicle tracking system, you can get a discount as high as 45%
GROUP BENEFITS: Being a member of certain professional groups -- say a teachers association -- could also qualify you for a discount. And while you are at it, check in with any group you are affiliated with, such as your college. Quite often, it sponsors a plan that can get you a lower rate.
SLOW DOWN: A clean driving record can qualify you for a "good driver" discount of 20% or so. This means you can't have more than one minor blemish on your driving record, such as a speeding ticket or noninjury accident, in 3 years.
Believe it or not, a version of your credit score plays a role in setting your auto insurance premium in many states. Yep, it turns out that if you are a good credit risk, insurance companies figure you're a better insurance risk, too.
MAKE THE GRADE: Good grades translate into lower premiums.
If your child is a full-time student in high school or college and maintains at least a 3.0 grade-point average, the cost of adding him or her to your policy could be cut as much as 25%. The requirements and discounts vary by state and by insurance company, so contact your insurance agent to learn more about what discount is available.
Given that the price of a gallon of gas has risen about 80% over the past five years -- including a 30% jump in the past year -- filling up these days requires emptying out your wallet.
And with the price of oil stuck near $70 a gallon, it's not likely that we are going to see any substantial relief at the pump in the near future.
But I know a sure-fire way you can offset your gas costs: focus on reducing your car insurance costs. While you can't control the price of gas, there are plenty of moves you can make to lower your car insurance premium; for many of you I am confident we can shave a few hundred dollars off your auto insurance rates.
The strategies below cover what you can do now with the cars that you already have. Of course, one of the best moves you can make down the line is to think about fuel efficiency when you make your next car purchase.
And when you're in buying mode, check out the cost to insure the cars you are considering to buy; the make and model you choose has a huge impact on your car insurance costs.
But I want to help you right now with the cars that are already in your garage:
Boost your deductible: If you switch from a $250 deductible to $1,000 you could slash your premium cost by 15% to 30% or more. With the average auto insurance premium hovering around $1,000 that could save you a couple of hundred dollars a year.
GET LESS MILEAGE OUT OF YOUR POLICY: Many insurers will reduce your premium cost by 5% to 10% or more if you don't drive your car that much. The rules vary at each insurer, but putting less than 10,000 or 12,000 miles on your car a year could qualify you for the discount.
If the recent surge in gas prices has encouraged you to use public transportation, do the math on how that is going to affect your annual driving mileage.
If you can get your mileage way down, then give your insurer a call and get your insurance rates cut.
If you and your partner have two cars, but really need only one for the long-distance commute, insure one car for higher mileage, but commit to keeping the other car's mileage low enough to qualify for the discount. That could mean an extra $50 or $100 in your pocket.
You should also check with your insurer if you have recently retired or decided to start your own home-based business.
Switching your driving profile from "commuting" to "pleasure" will result in a lower premium. The same is true if you once used your car for business, but now use it for commuting or pleasure: Remove the "business" designation and you could get a nice premium cut.
Home in on a Discount: It definitely pays to bunch your auto insurance and home insurance with the same company. You can qualify for a discount of up to 30% on the combined premiums by using just one company.
COUPLE-UP ON YOUR POLICY: If you and your spouse combine your auto policies you could see your total insurance costs drop by 30%. If you and your partner aren't married, you will need to have both names on each car's registration to be able to qualify for this discount.
GET DEFENSIVE: Ask your auto insurer if taking a defensive-driving course will reduce your insurance premium. And hey, it's a great safety move even if there's no premium break.
Retiree-advocacy group AARP offers a driver safety program, regardless of your age or whether you are an AARP member. It costs just $10 for an eight-hour course. You can learn more at www.aarp.org/drive.
PUT YOUR DEGREE TO WORK: Many insurers offer discounts for advanced degrees and for specific professions. Make sure you check with your insurer if your education or job can drive a better deal on your insurance.
ANTITHEFT DEVICES: If you have an alarm system or a vehicle tracking system, you can get a discount as high as 45%
GROUP BENEFITS: Being a member of certain professional groups -- say a teachers association -- could also qualify you for a discount. And while you are at it, check in with any group you are affiliated with, such as your college. Quite often, it sponsors a plan that can get you a lower rate.
SLOW DOWN: A clean driving record can qualify you for a "good driver" discount of 20% or so. This means you can't have more than one minor blemish on your driving record, such as a speeding ticket or noninjury accident, in 3 years.
Believe it or not, a version of your credit score plays a role in setting your auto insurance premium in many states. Yep, it turns out that if you are a good credit risk, insurance companies figure you're a better insurance risk, too.
MAKE THE GRADE: Good grades translate into lower premiums.
If your child is a full-time student in high school or college and maintains at least a 3.0 grade-point average, the cost of adding him or her to your policy could be cut as much as 25%. The requirements and discounts vary by state and by insurance company, so contact your insurance agent to learn more about what discount is available.
Friday, May 12, 2006
Small-business health insurance bill voted down
By Kristen Gerencher, MarketWatch
Last Update: 8:43 PM ET May 11, 2006
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - A divisive bill that would have allowed health insurers to preempt state-mandated benefits in order to extend coverage to small businesses was defeated by the U.S. Senate late Thursday.
The Senate voted 55-43 to stop considering the Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act of 2006, or S. 1955, which was introduced last year by Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., and co-sponsored by Ben Nelson, D-Neb., and Conrad Burns, R-Mont.
The bill needed 60 votes to go on to a debate that would have led to a vote on final passage, said Zach Goldberg of the American Diabetes Association.
The bill, which critics considered a major reform effort, would have allow private insurers to bypass state regulations requiring coverage of things such as preventive cancer screenings, mental health care, diabetes supplies and routine women's health care.
It pit advocacy groups such as the American Diabetes Association and AARP against powerful small-business lobbies such as the National Association of Realtors and the National Federation of Independent Business. See full story.
"The Senate's failure to allow an up-or-down vote on this important health care legislation is an insult to America's small businesses," U.S. Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Tom Donohue said in a prepared statement. "The Senate has decided that small businesses do not deserve the same access to health care, advantages of economies of scale, and administrative efficiencies as larger businesses and unions."
"Senators who have blocked this legislation have done so at their own peril," he added.
Advocacy groups struck a different chord.
"Today, millions of Americans with diabetes dodged a bullet. Because of the vote in the U.S. Senate, state health coverage for diabetes has been protected," said Hunter Limbaugh, chair of the American Diabetes Association's advocacy committee.
"This bill was fundamentally flawed, as it would have jeopardized the health care coverage that millions of Americans with diabetes rely upon daily to manage their disease and prevent its serious and costly complications."
AARP was concerned the bill would have provided a disincentive for employers to hire and retain older, sicker workers.
"AARP commends Senators Mike Enzi and Ben Nelson for searching for ways to help small businesses afford important health care coverage for their employees," Chief Executive Bill Novelli said in a prepared statement. "But while we look for ways to address the problem of affordable health care, we should not help one group of people at the expense of others. "
"AARP opposed [the bill] because it put older workers at risk, pre-empted important state regulations and would have eliminated state-mandated coverage for important benefits like cancer screenings," Novelli said.
Kristen Gerencher is a reporter for MarketWatch in San Francisco.
Last Update: 8:43 PM ET May 11, 2006
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - A divisive bill that would have allowed health insurers to preempt state-mandated benefits in order to extend coverage to small businesses was defeated by the U.S. Senate late Thursday.
The Senate voted 55-43 to stop considering the Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act of 2006, or S. 1955, which was introduced last year by Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., and co-sponsored by Ben Nelson, D-Neb., and Conrad Burns, R-Mont.
The bill needed 60 votes to go on to a debate that would have led to a vote on final passage, said Zach Goldberg of the American Diabetes Association.
The bill, which critics considered a major reform effort, would have allow private insurers to bypass state regulations requiring coverage of things such as preventive cancer screenings, mental health care, diabetes supplies and routine women's health care.
It pit advocacy groups such as the American Diabetes Association and AARP against powerful small-business lobbies such as the National Association of Realtors and the National Federation of Independent Business. See full story.
"The Senate's failure to allow an up-or-down vote on this important health care legislation is an insult to America's small businesses," U.S. Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Tom Donohue said in a prepared statement. "The Senate has decided that small businesses do not deserve the same access to health care, advantages of economies of scale, and administrative efficiencies as larger businesses and unions."
"Senators who have blocked this legislation have done so at their own peril," he added.
Advocacy groups struck a different chord.
"Today, millions of Americans with diabetes dodged a bullet. Because of the vote in the U.S. Senate, state health coverage for diabetes has been protected," said Hunter Limbaugh, chair of the American Diabetes Association's advocacy committee.
"This bill was fundamentally flawed, as it would have jeopardized the health care coverage that millions of Americans with diabetes rely upon daily to manage their disease and prevent its serious and costly complications."
AARP was concerned the bill would have provided a disincentive for employers to hire and retain older, sicker workers.
"AARP commends Senators Mike Enzi and Ben Nelson for searching for ways to help small businesses afford important health care coverage for their employees," Chief Executive Bill Novelli said in a prepared statement. "But while we look for ways to address the problem of affordable health care, we should not help one group of people at the expense of others. "
"AARP opposed [the bill] because it put older workers at risk, pre-empted important state regulations and would have eliminated state-mandated coverage for important benefits like cancer screenings," Novelli said.
Kristen Gerencher is a reporter for MarketWatch in San Francisco.
Texas Auto Insurance 101 Video Now Available Online
May 11, 2006
The easiest way to learn about auto insurance in Texas is now just a click away, according to the Insurance Council of Texas. An 18-minute video produced by ICT entitled, Auto Insurance 101, has been video streamed and can be viewed by clicking on ICT's Web site at www.insurancecouncil.org/consumertips.asp.
The video features a University of Texas at Austin actress and a real Texas Department of Public Safety trooper who discuss what auto insurance is all about. The setting starts off on an urban street, proceeds to a classroom and then ends back on the roadway.
"We produced the video with teenagers in mind, but people of all ages could benefit from viewing it," said Mark Hanna, the video's producer and a spokesman for the Insurance Council of Texas. "We hope by having it available on our Web site that both young and older drivers can finally get an education on auto insurance in Texas."
The video was distributed to every high school in Texas through the Regional Education Service Network and also to Texas driver's training and driver's education courses. It has also been made available to insurance agents throughout the state.
Auto Insurance 101 is divided into three segments allowing viewers to pause during the video and discuss what they've learned. The video describes what insurance is mandatory in Texas and what a typical auto insurance policy offers. The video also covers what to do if you have an accident and where to turn for information or filing a complaint.
"This is one of the few videos that give drivers a basic understanding of an auto insurance policy," Hanna said. "Very few people have ever received any classroom instruction on auto insurance. Here's their chance."
Source: Insurance Council of Texas
The easiest way to learn about auto insurance in Texas is now just a click away, according to the Insurance Council of Texas. An 18-minute video produced by ICT entitled, Auto Insurance 101, has been video streamed and can be viewed by clicking on ICT's Web site at www.insurancecouncil.org/consumertips.asp.
The video features a University of Texas at Austin actress and a real Texas Department of Public Safety trooper who discuss what auto insurance is all about. The setting starts off on an urban street, proceeds to a classroom and then ends back on the roadway.
"We produced the video with teenagers in mind, but people of all ages could benefit from viewing it," said Mark Hanna, the video's producer and a spokesman for the Insurance Council of Texas. "We hope by having it available on our Web site that both young and older drivers can finally get an education on auto insurance in Texas."
The video was distributed to every high school in Texas through the Regional Education Service Network and also to Texas driver's training and driver's education courses. It has also been made available to insurance agents throughout the state.
Auto Insurance 101 is divided into three segments allowing viewers to pause during the video and discuss what they've learned. The video describes what insurance is mandatory in Texas and what a typical auto insurance policy offers. The video also covers what to do if you have an accident and where to turn for information or filing a complaint.
"This is one of the few videos that give drivers a basic understanding of an auto insurance policy," Hanna said. "Very few people have ever received any classroom instruction on auto insurance. Here's their chance."
Source: Insurance Council of Texas
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Health Insurance for every child in America
By Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.)
American families put kids first every day. They work hard to give their children opportunities they never had. It’s called the American dream.
But in Washington, D.C., today, our government is making that dream almost unattainable, as 11 million children in America go without health insurance.
Two years ago, during the presidential campaign of 2004, I had the privilege of crisscrossing this nation and meeting great families every day. Their stories of struggle and sacrifice so inspired me that on the first day of the congressional session in January 2005 I introduced my Kids First plan to provide health insurance for every child in America.
Since that time, more than 800,000 people have signed up to be citizen co-sponsors and nearly 25 national healthcare, children’s and labor organizations — representing more than 20 million Americans — have joined as endorsers and promoters of Kids First. In one week alone, more than 20,000 people picked up the phone and called my offices to share their personal pleas on why we desperately need this plan.
It’s no wonder people are so upset about Washington’s indifference. One-third of kids with asthma nationwide suffer without the medication they need. In the wealthiest nation on the face of the earth, that is nothing short of a disgrace.
Insuring every child won’t require big tax hikes or new bureaucracy. We can provide health insurance coverage for every kid in America if we simply roll back the president’s tax cut for individuals making over $300,000 a year.
Another way to look at it is that we could insure every child in America for the next 10 years for half of what it has cost us to occupy Iraq over the past three years.
The benefits of providing healthcare for our children would be numerous. We could reduce avoidable hospitalizations by 22 percent. Children enrolled in public insurance programs rate 68 percent better in measures of school performance than those without coverage. And the long-term cost savings in healthcare, education, job training and reduced stress on our families are incalculable.
While Washington dithers, states are starting to tackle this issue on their own. Thankfully, we have a good start on solving this crisis in my home state of Massachusetts, where Democrats and Republicans have worked together to provide comprehensive health reform.
Many states, however, simply don’t have the money to help their citizens.
The government can’t raise people’s kids; nor should it. But we must share a collective national responsibility for children’s healthcare by building a strong partnership with the states, which run the state healthcare systems, and with parents, who are responsible for raising healthy kids.
Instead of dumping the problem on cash-strapped states, my proposal offers states a new bargain: the national government will give states immediate financial relief in exchange for a commitment not only to cover all kids but to make sure they get the coverage for which they’re eligible. This will cut the red tape that results in the huge gap between the kids who are eligible and those who actually get covered.
Under my plan, states will save over $6 billion per year.
Parents deserve a new bargain, too. We should help them buy employer-sponsored coverage where available. And we will allow parents who don’t normally qualify for public programs to buy coverage for their children at cost. Parents’ side of the bargain is to take advantage of these opportunities to get their kids covered or forfeit the child tax credit on their federal tax returns.
We spent much of 2005 building our coalition of support. Now is the time to put our citizen soldiers into action. We will push for accountability on Kids First in this election year — a vote on the Senate floor that will separate those who talk about family values and those who really value families.
When it comes to getting kids healthcare coverage, it’s a promise we can afford to keep — and one we cannot afford to break. Every child deserves a healthy start in life.
American families put kids first every day. They work hard to give their children opportunities they never had. It’s called the American dream.
But in Washington, D.C., today, our government is making that dream almost unattainable, as 11 million children in America go without health insurance.
Two years ago, during the presidential campaign of 2004, I had the privilege of crisscrossing this nation and meeting great families every day. Their stories of struggle and sacrifice so inspired me that on the first day of the congressional session in January 2005 I introduced my Kids First plan to provide health insurance for every child in America.
Since that time, more than 800,000 people have signed up to be citizen co-sponsors and nearly 25 national healthcare, children’s and labor organizations — representing more than 20 million Americans — have joined as endorsers and promoters of Kids First. In one week alone, more than 20,000 people picked up the phone and called my offices to share their personal pleas on why we desperately need this plan.
It’s no wonder people are so upset about Washington’s indifference. One-third of kids with asthma nationwide suffer without the medication they need. In the wealthiest nation on the face of the earth, that is nothing short of a disgrace.
Insuring every child won’t require big tax hikes or new bureaucracy. We can provide health insurance coverage for every kid in America if we simply roll back the president’s tax cut for individuals making over $300,000 a year.
Another way to look at it is that we could insure every child in America for the next 10 years for half of what it has cost us to occupy Iraq over the past three years.
The benefits of providing healthcare for our children would be numerous. We could reduce avoidable hospitalizations by 22 percent. Children enrolled in public insurance programs rate 68 percent better in measures of school performance than those without coverage. And the long-term cost savings in healthcare, education, job training and reduced stress on our families are incalculable.
While Washington dithers, states are starting to tackle this issue on their own. Thankfully, we have a good start on solving this crisis in my home state of Massachusetts, where Democrats and Republicans have worked together to provide comprehensive health reform.
Many states, however, simply don’t have the money to help their citizens.
The government can’t raise people’s kids; nor should it. But we must share a collective national responsibility for children’s healthcare by building a strong partnership with the states, which run the state healthcare systems, and with parents, who are responsible for raising healthy kids.
Instead of dumping the problem on cash-strapped states, my proposal offers states a new bargain: the national government will give states immediate financial relief in exchange for a commitment not only to cover all kids but to make sure they get the coverage for which they’re eligible. This will cut the red tape that results in the huge gap between the kids who are eligible and those who actually get covered.
Under my plan, states will save over $6 billion per year.
Parents deserve a new bargain, too. We should help them buy employer-sponsored coverage where available. And we will allow parents who don’t normally qualify for public programs to buy coverage for their children at cost. Parents’ side of the bargain is to take advantage of these opportunities to get their kids covered or forfeit the child tax credit on their federal tax returns.
We spent much of 2005 building our coalition of support. Now is the time to put our citizen soldiers into action. We will push for accountability on Kids First in this election year — a vote on the Senate floor that will separate those who talk about family values and those who really value families.
When it comes to getting kids healthcare coverage, it’s a promise we can afford to keep — and one we cannot afford to break. Every child deserves a healthy start in life.
Colorado General Assembly Preserves Insurance Marketplace
May 10, 2006
The Colorado General Assembly adjourned its concluding a session, which the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) said was marked by the defeat of a wide variety of legislation that would have forced consumers to pay higher insurance premiums and been detrimental to the insurance marketplace.
"As we expected, this was a very contentious session," said Kelly Campbell, regional manager for PCI. "However, we achieved our top priority which was to preserve the current tort-based automobile insurance system. The property casualty insurance industry worked with lawmakers to successfully thwart legislation that sought to roll back consumer savings and roll on mandated coverages. We were also able to beat back legislation that has been considered during past sessions such as a proposal (SB 109) to prohibit the use of credit-based insurance scoring and an effort (HB 1097) to reverse workers compensation reforms by allowing injured employees to choose their own medical provider. Given the harmful legislation that the industry faced, we are pleased with the outcome of the session."
This year, none of the problematic interim auto insurance committee bills passed, PCI said. Defeated were bills to require consumers to purchase medical payments coverage (HB 1036), to convert auto liability coverage into a form of no-fault auto insurance (HB1044) and to require purchase of "emergency medical payments coverage" (SB 19).
The General Assembly also defeated legislation (HB 1043) to create an insurance consumer board as well as an attempt (HCR 1011) to refer to the voters on the November ballot the issue of whether the state should have an elected insurance commissioner. A bill, HB 1203, which would have given the Public Utilities Commission the power to review insurer rate filings was also defeated.
A bill pushed by the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate that initially would have required insurers to reveal sensitive claim reserve information and to base rates exclusively on Colorado experience was substantially amended and made much more palatable for insurers. Through HB 1006, insurers were relieved of the requirement to mail a copy of the entire statute to persons making auto collision claims.
On the other hand, a primary seat belt proposal (HB 1125) that was supported by a broad coalition of safety and insurer groups was defeated.
The Colorado General Assembly adjourned its concluding a session, which the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) said was marked by the defeat of a wide variety of legislation that would have forced consumers to pay higher insurance premiums and been detrimental to the insurance marketplace.
"As we expected, this was a very contentious session," said Kelly Campbell, regional manager for PCI. "However, we achieved our top priority which was to preserve the current tort-based automobile insurance system. The property casualty insurance industry worked with lawmakers to successfully thwart legislation that sought to roll back consumer savings and roll on mandated coverages. We were also able to beat back legislation that has been considered during past sessions such as a proposal (SB 109) to prohibit the use of credit-based insurance scoring and an effort (HB 1097) to reverse workers compensation reforms by allowing injured employees to choose their own medical provider. Given the harmful legislation that the industry faced, we are pleased with the outcome of the session."
This year, none of the problematic interim auto insurance committee bills passed, PCI said. Defeated were bills to require consumers to purchase medical payments coverage (HB 1036), to convert auto liability coverage into a form of no-fault auto insurance (HB1044) and to require purchase of "emergency medical payments coverage" (SB 19).
The General Assembly also defeated legislation (HB 1043) to create an insurance consumer board as well as an attempt (HCR 1011) to refer to the voters on the November ballot the issue of whether the state should have an elected insurance commissioner. A bill, HB 1203, which would have given the Public Utilities Commission the power to review insurer rate filings was also defeated.
A bill pushed by the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate that initially would have required insurers to reveal sensitive claim reserve information and to base rates exclusively on Colorado experience was substantially amended and made much more palatable for insurers. Through HB 1006, insurers were relieved of the requirement to mail a copy of the entire statute to persons making auto collision claims.
On the other hand, a primary seat belt proposal (HB 1125) that was supported by a broad coalition of safety and insurer groups was defeated.
Individuals and Families Pay Significantly Less for HSA-Eligible Health Insurance Plans in 2005
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., May 10 /PRNewswire/
Individuals paid 17 percent less for HSA-eligible health insurance plans purchased through eHealthInsurance in 2005 than consumers who bought similar plans in 2004. On average, individual consumers paid $114 in 2005 versus $138 in 2004. This is significant when compared to the near double-digit increases in health insurance premiums reported by other organizations over the past several years.(1) This and other data on HSA adoption in 2005 was released today in a semi-annual report by eHealthInsurance, the nation's leading online source of health insurance for individuals, families and small businesses.
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The improved affordability of HSA-eligible plans may be the key factor leading uninsured Americans to HSAs. Forty-one percent of purchasers of HSA-eligible plans in the study reported being previously uninsured. The age groups that had the highest percentage of uninsured before purchasing an HSA-eligible plan are children and young adults up to age 29.
"Since their introduction in 2004, HSAs have been one of the fastest growing products in the consumer directed health care category, giving Americans more affordable health insurance plans and greater control of their health care dollars," says Gary Lauer, CEO of eHealthInsurance. "Our data verifies that HSAs are attractive to individuals and families who did not previously have health insurance. It is our goal to continue to provide transparency and choice in a highly complex environment so consumers can make the best health insurance decision for themselves and their families."
Lower insurance premiums coupled with a tax-favored savings account allow consumers to save money purchasing an HSA-eligible plan over a non-HSA- eligible plan. The opportunity to save on both insurance as well as taxes has proven to be attractive to moderate income Americans with 45 percent of HSA purchasers through eHealthInsurance earning $50,000 or less annually.
As reported last June for the first half of 2005, HSA-eligible plans continue to include comprehensive benefits such as prescription drug coverage, hospitalization and doctor visits. The updated report released today includes information on the benefits offered in plans purchased in 2005.
Individuals paid 17 percent less for HSA-eligible health insurance plans purchased through eHealthInsurance in 2005 than consumers who bought similar plans in 2004. On average, individual consumers paid $114 in 2005 versus $138 in 2004. This is significant when compared to the near double-digit increases in health insurance premiums reported by other organizations over the past several years.(1) This and other data on HSA adoption in 2005 was released today in a semi-annual report by eHealthInsurance, the nation's leading online source of health insurance for individuals, families and small businesses.
ADVERTISEMENT
The improved affordability of HSA-eligible plans may be the key factor leading uninsured Americans to HSAs. Forty-one percent of purchasers of HSA-eligible plans in the study reported being previously uninsured. The age groups that had the highest percentage of uninsured before purchasing an HSA-eligible plan are children and young adults up to age 29.
"Since their introduction in 2004, HSAs have been one of the fastest growing products in the consumer directed health care category, giving Americans more affordable health insurance plans and greater control of their health care dollars," says Gary Lauer, CEO of eHealthInsurance. "Our data verifies that HSAs are attractive to individuals and families who did not previously have health insurance. It is our goal to continue to provide transparency and choice in a highly complex environment so consumers can make the best health insurance decision for themselves and their families."
Lower insurance premiums coupled with a tax-favored savings account allow consumers to save money purchasing an HSA-eligible plan over a non-HSA- eligible plan. The opportunity to save on both insurance as well as taxes has proven to be attractive to moderate income Americans with 45 percent of HSA purchasers through eHealthInsurance earning $50,000 or less annually.
As reported last June for the first half of 2005, HSA-eligible plans continue to include comprehensive benefits such as prescription drug coverage, hospitalization and doctor visits. The updated report released today includes information on the benefits offered in plans purchased in 2005.
Tuesday, May 9, 2006
self-employed Health insurance
When you're a one-man show in the business world, finding quality yet affordable health insurance can be a real challenge.
Roycroft master artisan Thomas Pafk knows that all too well. For nearly two decades, he has enjoyed an enviable reputation for creating fine furniture. Not nearly as enjoyable, however, is the feeling that he's between a rock and a hard place when it comes to finding and financing a health plan.
"Oh god, it's a nightmare. It's the worst thing," says the owner of Thomas Pafk Design, whose studio/shop is located in East Aurora. "I have had all different types of insurance. I've done it all, and it costs a fortune. They make it so hard for small businesses to get any kind of insurance at all. It's ridiculous."
Affordability is a big issue for self-proprietors, independent contractors and other small-business owners. They find themselves playing a numbers game when it comes to health-care costs, and it's a game that's no fun.
"If you're a one-man band, it costs an arm and a leg," says one local observer.
"It's like buying a Lexus without getting the Lexus," says Tom Kolveck of Buffalo Carpentry, referring to high monthly premiums he has paid in past years.
"It's definitely the biggest expense I have," adds Scott Marfurt, owner of Scott the Painter, a Williamsville-based business.
A big nut
Most people rely on employer-sponsored benefits, but when you're the employer, the burden's on you to figure out a plan for you and your family.
"The cost is real. It's a big nut," says Kolveck, a longtime carpenter/restoration specialist whose family currently receives benefits through his wife's job as a medical professional. "It's an expense, and it's hard to pass that expense on to your customers."
Business owners seek relief wherever they can get it. That means shopping around and sometimes switching plans for a better deal. Some choose to join trade associations or chambers of commerce, which can offer members lower premiums due to group purchasing. Others check out what's available through state-sponsored programs such as Healthy NY, described on the Web as a safety net for the working uninsured, sole proprietors and businesses with 50 employees or less.
Some small-business owners, however, see health insurance as so cost-prohibitive that they find themselves going for stretches of time without coverage. Indeed, industry studies show a growing number of uninsured workers in the small-business community.
One local building contractor relates the story of a friend who, lacking insurance, eventually had to take out a bank loan to pay off hospital bills after the birth of his first child. The contractor himself paid pricey premiums out-of-pocket for more than a year after his employer folded and he decided to form his own company.
"I know several sole proprietors who just don't have health insurance. There were even times when I went without it for a year or two. (But) you have to have it," says Pafk, who's now married and has a child. "Many self-employed people have a spouse who works and gets health insurance, but there are others out there who just don't have it. They don't know where to turn."
Roycroft master artisan Thomas Pafk knows that all too well. For nearly two decades, he has enjoyed an enviable reputation for creating fine furniture. Not nearly as enjoyable, however, is the feeling that he's between a rock and a hard place when it comes to finding and financing a health plan.
"Oh god, it's a nightmare. It's the worst thing," says the owner of Thomas Pafk Design, whose studio/shop is located in East Aurora. "I have had all different types of insurance. I've done it all, and it costs a fortune. They make it so hard for small businesses to get any kind of insurance at all. It's ridiculous."
Affordability is a big issue for self-proprietors, independent contractors and other small-business owners. They find themselves playing a numbers game when it comes to health-care costs, and it's a game that's no fun.
"If you're a one-man band, it costs an arm and a leg," says one local observer.
"It's like buying a Lexus without getting the Lexus," says Tom Kolveck of Buffalo Carpentry, referring to high monthly premiums he has paid in past years.
"It's definitely the biggest expense I have," adds Scott Marfurt, owner of Scott the Painter, a Williamsville-based business.
A big nut
Most people rely on employer-sponsored benefits, but when you're the employer, the burden's on you to figure out a plan for you and your family.
"The cost is real. It's a big nut," says Kolveck, a longtime carpenter/restoration specialist whose family currently receives benefits through his wife's job as a medical professional. "It's an expense, and it's hard to pass that expense on to your customers."
Business owners seek relief wherever they can get it. That means shopping around and sometimes switching plans for a better deal. Some choose to join trade associations or chambers of commerce, which can offer members lower premiums due to group purchasing. Others check out what's available through state-sponsored programs such as Healthy NY, described on the Web as a safety net for the working uninsured, sole proprietors and businesses with 50 employees or less.
Some small-business owners, however, see health insurance as so cost-prohibitive that they find themselves going for stretches of time without coverage. Indeed, industry studies show a growing number of uninsured workers in the small-business community.
One local building contractor relates the story of a friend who, lacking insurance, eventually had to take out a bank loan to pay off hospital bills after the birth of his first child. The contractor himself paid pricey premiums out-of-pocket for more than a year after his employer folded and he decided to form his own company.
"I know several sole proprietors who just don't have health insurance. There were even times when I went without it for a year or two. (But) you have to have it," says Pafk, who's now married and has a child. "Many self-employed people have a spouse who works and gets health insurance, but there are others out there who just don't have it. They don't know where to turn."
auto insurance reg shakedown
STEVE LAWRENCE
Associated Press
SACRAMENTO - State Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi accused a group of insurance companies Monday of trying to blackmail him by threatening to run a $2 million ad campaign against his pending auto insurance regulations in the midst of his campaign for lieutenant governor.
Garamendi said a woman who represented either the insurance industry or an insurance company contacted him through an intermediary and offered to drop the ads if Garamendi abandoned the regulations, which would limit use of ZIP codes in setting auto insurance pricing.
"There was a threat made to me to back off or else," he said in an interview. "A $2 million negative campaign would be released against me. That is blackmail. That is extortion, and may be very well an attempt to bribe me."
He said he rejected the offer and planned to file a formal request Tuesday asking the FBI, the U.S. attorney's office and the state attorney general to investigate his allegations.
A group called Californians to Stop Unfair Rate Increases announced Monday that five insurance companies - Farmers, 21st Century, State Farm, Safeco and Allstate - were putting up funding for the ad campaign.
But a spokesman for the industry-funded group, Rick Claussen, denied that there had been any attempt to blackmail Garamendi.
"It's unfortunate that Commissioner Garamendi is distracting from the real issues of this effort - which is to educate Californians about impending, unfair auto insurance rate increases - by making baseless and inflammatory accusations that are completely untrue," Claussen said in a statement.
Claussen's group released the text of a planned mailer and script from a television advertisement. Spokeswoman Kathy Fairbanks said they highlight the issue while avoiding politics or personal attacks on Garamendi.
However, the mailer mentions Garamendi by name several times and the television ad asks viewers to "tell Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi to drop this unfair plan now."
The television ads will begin running next week in 17 largely rural counties, Fairbanks said. The fliers will go out shortly after that.
Opponents contend the regulations will mean higher auto insurance rates for drivers in rural and suburban areas with relatively few accidents and auto thefts and rate cuts for drivers in major urban areas.
Garamendi disputes that argument. He said the proposed rules will carry out voters' intent when they approved Proposition 103, a 1988 measure that slashed auto insurance rates and mandated changes in how rates are calculated.
"It brings fairness to the pricing of auto insurance by reducing the impact of ZIP codes and increasing the impact of the good or bad driver," he said. "It's not good news for reckless drivers."
The proposed regulations would allow auto insurers to use ZIP codes in setting their rates, "but they cannot be more important than the three mandatory factors: driving experience, miles driving and driving record," Garamendi added.
He said the insurers oppose the regulations because "they are unwilling to change and adapt to the laws. They have for decades used ZIP codes as predominant in pricing auto insurance ... and they don't want to change their marketing practices and their computer systems."
Garamendi said the offer to drop the ad campaign came through Darry Sragow, a Los Angeles attorney and former political consultant who ran Garamendi's unsuccessful campaign for governor in 1994 and advised him on his campaign for commissioner in 2002.
Sragow said he was contacted by "someone who works for one of the large insurance companies" in mid-April. He was asked to tell Garamendi that a coalition would put together the ad campaign unless he put off consideration of the regulations until his successor takes office next year.
Garamendi is running in the June 6 primary election against state Sens. Liz Figueroa, D-Sunol, and Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor.
Sragow wouldn't say who contacted him other than to say it was "somebody I have known professionally."
He said Garamendi told him "hell no, no way, it's a nonstarter," and he passed on that response to the person who contacted him.
In a statement posted to the Department of Insurance Web site, Garamendi said State Farm's regional vice president, Greg Jones, told Garamendi's chief deputy that he was aware of Sragow's call on April 25, the day after it was made.
A State Farm spokeswoman said the company and Jones were referring calls to Fairbanks, who denied there had been an attempt to blackmail the commissioner.
Garamendi said he waited until Monday to make his blackmail claim because he didn't know until last Friday that a campaign group had been set up pay for the ads.
Tom Dresslar, a spokesman for the state attorney general's office, said once Garamendi files his complaint "we will undertake a serious, thorough review to determine whether any laws have been violated."
Cathy Viray, an FBI spokeswoman in Los Angeles, said she hadn't seen Garamendi's complaint and couldn't comment.
The Department of Insurance is accepting public comments on the proposed regulations until May 17. It will submit the regulations next month to the Office of Administrative Law, which will rule on whether they carry out the intent of the law.
Associated Press
SACRAMENTO - State Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi accused a group of insurance companies Monday of trying to blackmail him by threatening to run a $2 million ad campaign against his pending auto insurance regulations in the midst of his campaign for lieutenant governor.
Garamendi said a woman who represented either the insurance industry or an insurance company contacted him through an intermediary and offered to drop the ads if Garamendi abandoned the regulations, which would limit use of ZIP codes in setting auto insurance pricing.
"There was a threat made to me to back off or else," he said in an interview. "A $2 million negative campaign would be released against me. That is blackmail. That is extortion, and may be very well an attempt to bribe me."
He said he rejected the offer and planned to file a formal request Tuesday asking the FBI, the U.S. attorney's office and the state attorney general to investigate his allegations.
A group called Californians to Stop Unfair Rate Increases announced Monday that five insurance companies - Farmers, 21st Century, State Farm, Safeco and Allstate - were putting up funding for the ad campaign.
But a spokesman for the industry-funded group, Rick Claussen, denied that there had been any attempt to blackmail Garamendi.
"It's unfortunate that Commissioner Garamendi is distracting from the real issues of this effort - which is to educate Californians about impending, unfair auto insurance rate increases - by making baseless and inflammatory accusations that are completely untrue," Claussen said in a statement.
Claussen's group released the text of a planned mailer and script from a television advertisement. Spokeswoman Kathy Fairbanks said they highlight the issue while avoiding politics or personal attacks on Garamendi.
However, the mailer mentions Garamendi by name several times and the television ad asks viewers to "tell Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi to drop this unfair plan now."
The television ads will begin running next week in 17 largely rural counties, Fairbanks said. The fliers will go out shortly after that.
Opponents contend the regulations will mean higher auto insurance rates for drivers in rural and suburban areas with relatively few accidents and auto thefts and rate cuts for drivers in major urban areas.
Garamendi disputes that argument. He said the proposed rules will carry out voters' intent when they approved Proposition 103, a 1988 measure that slashed auto insurance rates and mandated changes in how rates are calculated.
"It brings fairness to the pricing of auto insurance by reducing the impact of ZIP codes and increasing the impact of the good or bad driver," he said. "It's not good news for reckless drivers."
The proposed regulations would allow auto insurers to use ZIP codes in setting their rates, "but they cannot be more important than the three mandatory factors: driving experience, miles driving and driving record," Garamendi added.
He said the insurers oppose the regulations because "they are unwilling to change and adapt to the laws. They have for decades used ZIP codes as predominant in pricing auto insurance ... and they don't want to change their marketing practices and their computer systems."
Garamendi said the offer to drop the ad campaign came through Darry Sragow, a Los Angeles attorney and former political consultant who ran Garamendi's unsuccessful campaign for governor in 1994 and advised him on his campaign for commissioner in 2002.
Sragow said he was contacted by "someone who works for one of the large insurance companies" in mid-April. He was asked to tell Garamendi that a coalition would put together the ad campaign unless he put off consideration of the regulations until his successor takes office next year.
Garamendi is running in the June 6 primary election against state Sens. Liz Figueroa, D-Sunol, and Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor.
Sragow wouldn't say who contacted him other than to say it was "somebody I have known professionally."
He said Garamendi told him "hell no, no way, it's a nonstarter," and he passed on that response to the person who contacted him.
In a statement posted to the Department of Insurance Web site, Garamendi said State Farm's regional vice president, Greg Jones, told Garamendi's chief deputy that he was aware of Sragow's call on April 25, the day after it was made.
A State Farm spokeswoman said the company and Jones were referring calls to Fairbanks, who denied there had been an attempt to blackmail the commissioner.
Garamendi said he waited until Monday to make his blackmail claim because he didn't know until last Friday that a campaign group had been set up pay for the ads.
Tom Dresslar, a spokesman for the state attorney general's office, said once Garamendi files his complaint "we will undertake a serious, thorough review to determine whether any laws have been violated."
Cathy Viray, an FBI spokeswoman in Los Angeles, said she hadn't seen Garamendi's complaint and couldn't comment.
The Department of Insurance is accepting public comments on the proposed regulations until May 17. It will submit the regulations next month to the Office of Administrative Law, which will rule on whether they carry out the intent of the law.
Monday, May 8, 2006
North Carolina Auto Insurance Rates
Press Release
A decision by the N.C. Department of Insurance to lower auto insurance rates by 2.9% is estimated to save residents $350 million beginning November 15, 2006. Charlotte’s largest locally owned car Insurance Agency, Charlotte Insurance, formally Insur-A-Car, brings these and other savings directly to the N.C. customer.
(PRWEB) May 8, 2006 -— A recent decision by the North Carolina Department of Insurance will save N.C. drivers $350 million in premium payments with its lowering of auto insurance rates in North Carolina by 2.9%. Charlotte Insurance enables customers to capitalize on this decision by finding the best insurance value according to the customer’s specific needs. The decided rate decrease is to take effect November 15, 2006.
While the Department of Insurance’s mandate is forcing all auto insurance companies to further consider the customer, Charlotte Insurance has been focusing on their customers since their beginnings as Insur-A-Car. This is why they have been the largest locally owned Charlotte auto insurance provider since 1992. They have recently been renamed Charlotte Insurance to better portray the fact that they are now a full-service North Carolina Insurance Agency, with everything from Charlotte motorcycle insurance to car, home, boat, business, life, and disability coverage.
Despite their growth, the emphasis on its local consumers remains. As Concord born and Charlotte raised President Marty Karriker points out, “We want proud Charlotteans and North Carolinians to feel they have the stability of a large company taking care of their insurance needs while still getting that personal small town service feel. We think of ourselves as a town staple that people can count on for many years to come!”
Sean Hertel, Vice President of Charlotte Insurance, echoes the commitment to consumers searching for North Carolina insurance for their homes, businesses, autos, and others, “We work for the customers, not the companies.”
Charlotte Insurance uses a variety of techniques to bring an optimal experience to the average shopper for Charlotte motorcycle insurance and the like. First of all, they have many consumer-friendly resources and guides available on their website pertaining to each type of insurance they sell, from Charlotte auto insurance to N.C. boat insurance. Each insurance type has a guide to understanding the basics, commonly asked questions, and tips on how to save. CharlotteInsurance.com also has insurance and finance calculators and an insurance glossary available for the user.
There is a live, online chat feature for quotes, questions or customer service. You may also speak directly with a personal agent at 704.285.SAVE. When you are connected to an agent, he or she will provide you with rate comparisons that are readily and sometimes exclusively available to Charlotte Insurance because of their prominent positions with major insurance companies.
When looking to save on Charlotte motorcycle insurance or to cash in on the N.C. Department of Insurance’s rate decision for North Carolina and Charlotte auto insurance, visit CharlotteInsurance.com.
A decision by the N.C. Department of Insurance to lower auto insurance rates by 2.9% is estimated to save residents $350 million beginning November 15, 2006. Charlotte’s largest locally owned car Insurance Agency, Charlotte Insurance, formally Insur-A-Car, brings these and other savings directly to the N.C. customer.
(PRWEB) May 8, 2006 -— A recent decision by the North Carolina Department of Insurance will save N.C. drivers $350 million in premium payments with its lowering of auto insurance rates in North Carolina by 2.9%. Charlotte Insurance enables customers to capitalize on this decision by finding the best insurance value according to the customer’s specific needs. The decided rate decrease is to take effect November 15, 2006.
While the Department of Insurance’s mandate is forcing all auto insurance companies to further consider the customer, Charlotte Insurance has been focusing on their customers since their beginnings as Insur-A-Car. This is why they have been the largest locally owned Charlotte auto insurance provider since 1992. They have recently been renamed Charlotte Insurance to better portray the fact that they are now a full-service North Carolina Insurance Agency, with everything from Charlotte motorcycle insurance to car, home, boat, business, life, and disability coverage.
Despite their growth, the emphasis on its local consumers remains. As Concord born and Charlotte raised President Marty Karriker points out, “We want proud Charlotteans and North Carolinians to feel they have the stability of a large company taking care of their insurance needs while still getting that personal small town service feel. We think of ourselves as a town staple that people can count on for many years to come!”
Sean Hertel, Vice President of Charlotte Insurance, echoes the commitment to consumers searching for North Carolina insurance for their homes, businesses, autos, and others, “We work for the customers, not the companies.”
Charlotte Insurance uses a variety of techniques to bring an optimal experience to the average shopper for Charlotte motorcycle insurance and the like. First of all, they have many consumer-friendly resources and guides available on their website pertaining to each type of insurance they sell, from Charlotte auto insurance to N.C. boat insurance. Each insurance type has a guide to understanding the basics, commonly asked questions, and tips on how to save. CharlotteInsurance.com also has insurance and finance calculators and an insurance glossary available for the user.
There is a live, online chat feature for quotes, questions or customer service. You may also speak directly with a personal agent at 704.285.SAVE. When you are connected to an agent, he or she will provide you with rate comparisons that are readily and sometimes exclusively available to Charlotte Insurance because of their prominent positions with major insurance companies.
When looking to save on Charlotte motorcycle insurance or to cash in on the N.C. Department of Insurance’s rate decision for North Carolina and Charlotte auto insurance, visit CharlotteInsurance.com.
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