EL PASO, Texas - Frye Regional Medical Center officials said Thursday the hospital will cancel its contracts with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina. The Hickory hospital's contract to serve members of the Blue Choice point-of-service plan ended Wednesday, Blue Cross officials said. The hospital will cancel service on other plans effective Nov. 30, said Frye Vice President AnnMarie Merta. Blue Cross has about 50,000 members in Catawba County, said spokesman Mark Stinneford.
Wednesday, September 8, 2004
Consumers with health insurance are willing to help cover costs for uninsured people
The subject of universal healthcare is always a hot topic but never more so than in an election year. A recent study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine may have the answer to the question - Will those who currently have health insurance be willing to sacrifice in order to insure the millions of people who do not? The findings suggest that the answer may in fact be yes.
To explore whether the insured would help cover the uninsured, researchers asked 322 insured people to play a board game with a focus on health and insurance. Called CHAT, for Choosing Healthplans All Together, the game gives players a limited number of pegs to allocate to many categories of insurance coverage, including funding to cover the uninsured. Randomly drawn cards representing health problems and crises show players how the plan they designed would work in the case of an illness or injury to themselves or others.
The study demonstrated that when groups of citizens deliberate on this issue, even those with insurance recognize and are willing to accept tradeoffs between having more generous benefits and having coverage for all. During deliberations, individuals voiced sophisticated, cogent arguments for and against giving up some of their benefits to include the uninsured. For example, corresponding author and CHAT co-inventor Susan Dorr Goold notes "For many, choosing this coverage was viewed as insuring themselves against becoming uninsured."
Dr. Goold and the coauthors of this study received the 2002 Mark S. Ehrenreich Prize for Research in Healthcare Ethics for the work reported in this paper.
To explore whether the insured would help cover the uninsured, researchers asked 322 insured people to play a board game with a focus on health and insurance. Called CHAT, for Choosing Healthplans All Together, the game gives players a limited number of pegs to allocate to many categories of insurance coverage, including funding to cover the uninsured. Randomly drawn cards representing health problems and crises show players how the plan they designed would work in the case of an illness or injury to themselves or others.
The study demonstrated that when groups of citizens deliberate on this issue, even those with insurance recognize and are willing to accept tradeoffs between having more generous benefits and having coverage for all. During deliberations, individuals voiced sophisticated, cogent arguments for and against giving up some of their benefits to include the uninsured. For example, corresponding author and CHAT co-inventor Susan Dorr Goold notes "For many, choosing this coverage was viewed as insuring themselves against becoming uninsured."
Dr. Goold and the coauthors of this study received the 2002 Mark S. Ehrenreich Prize for Research in Healthcare Ethics for the work reported in this paper.
State Farm to Lower California Auto Insurance rates
ROHNERT PARK, Calif., Aug. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- State Farm will lower auto rates for its California auto insurance customers an average of 7.6 percent effective October 1.
The California Department of Insurance-approved rate reduction will save the company's 3 million policyholders more than $215 million in auto insurance premiums. The greatest savings will be realized by policyholders who have been with State Farm for more than 6 years and who also have certain other types of State Farm insurance in addition to their auto coverage.
The new rates apply equally across the state.
According to State Farm, the ability to lower rates was due to a number of factors including auto accident and insurance claim trends. In addition, State Farm officials point to internal company efforts at managing costs as a major benefit contributing to the opportunity of lowering rates.
The California Department of Insurance-approved rate reduction will save the company's 3 million policyholders more than $215 million in auto insurance premiums. The greatest savings will be realized by policyholders who have been with State Farm for more than 6 years and who also have certain other types of State Farm insurance in addition to their auto coverage.
The new rates apply equally across the state.
According to State Farm, the ability to lower rates was due to a number of factors including auto accident and insurance claim trends. In addition, State Farm officials point to internal company efforts at managing costs as a major benefit contributing to the opportunity of lowering rates.
XpressInsurer.com Allows Their Customers to Obtain 20 Auto Insurance Quotes Without Calling 20 Different Agents
Concord, NC (PRWEB) September 7, 2004 – XpressInsurer.com, a North Carolina based company, has solved an age old problem for customers by allowing them to obtain 20 auto insurance quotes without calling 20 different agents. They have eliminated the headache for their customers by allowing them to get multiple auto insurance quotes at one time and purchase a policy at the same place. XpressInsurer.com gives their customers two ways to obtain auto insurance quotes. Customers can call or they can fill out a quick quoting form online and submit it to XpressInsurer.com for processing. Unlike their competition, XpressInsurer.com does not give instant online insurance quotes for the simple reason that they shop 20 companies. This gives the customer 16 more auto insurance quotes than the average online auto insurance broker gives to their customers.
Thursday, September 2, 2004
Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Awards $125,000 in Grants to Area Schools to Fight Childhood Obesity
PITTSBURGH, Aug. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- For the second consecutive year, Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield has awarded $125,000 in grants to 9 area schools to help fight childhood obesity. The "Highmark Challenge for Healthier Schools" funds school programs that address better nutritional choices and physical activity among children.
The grants were awarded to schools spread out over seven counties. Four elementary schools, three middle schools and two high schools will receive grant money to implement their winning programs during the 2004-05 or 2005-06 academic school years.
"The schools chosen as this year's challenge winners showed creativity and a clear method to measure results from their programs," said Aaron Walton, Highmark's senior vice president of Corporate Affairs. "As a region, it's important we all take responsibility for the obesity epidemic among our children. The challenge is a great way to engage schools in becoming a part of the solution."
Obesity and inactivity have reached epidemic proportions among today's youth. Children today are at greater risk for the health consequences of being overweight than any generation before them. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 15 percent or about 9 million children ages 6 to 19, are considered obese in the United States.
The grants were awarded to schools spread out over seven counties. Four elementary schools, three middle schools and two high schools will receive grant money to implement their winning programs during the 2004-05 or 2005-06 academic school years.
"The schools chosen as this year's challenge winners showed creativity and a clear method to measure results from their programs," said Aaron Walton, Highmark's senior vice president of Corporate Affairs. "As a region, it's important we all take responsibility for the obesity epidemic among our children. The challenge is a great way to engage schools in becoming a part of the solution."
Obesity and inactivity have reached epidemic proportions among today's youth. Children today are at greater risk for the health consequences of being overweight than any generation before them. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 15 percent or about 9 million children ages 6 to 19, are considered obese in the United States.
The 2004 Property/Casualty and Life/Health editions of Best's Aggregates & Averages - United States & Canada are now available
OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 2, 2004--The 2004 Property/Casualty (Car Insurance, Home Owners Insurance etc. )and Life/Health editions (Health Insurance, Life Insurance) etc. of Best's Aggregates & Averages - United States & Canada are now available. These printed references include data drawn from Best's Statement File and are particularly useful for benchmarking a company's performance against the rest of the insurance industry or a group of its peers. The books can also be used for studying industry-wide trends in balance-sheets, expenses, investments and more.
This year's P/C edition includes Schedule P Industry By Line data and both P/C and L/H include the Complete Total Industry QAR.
Additional exhibits in the P/C edition include:
-- Balance Sheet/Summary of Operations
-- By Line Underwriting Exhibit (By Group and Company)
-- Underwriting Expenses Incurred (By Group and Company)
Additional exhibits in the L/H edition include:
-- Analysis of Operations By Line
-- Reserves By Line
-- Company Rankings
-- Group Table
This year's P/C edition includes Schedule P Industry By Line data and both P/C and L/H include the Complete Total Industry QAR.
Additional exhibits in the P/C edition include:
-- Balance Sheet/Summary of Operations
-- By Line Underwriting Exhibit (By Group and Company)
-- Underwriting Expenses Incurred (By Group and Company)
Additional exhibits in the L/H edition include:
-- Analysis of Operations By Line
-- Reserves By Line
-- Company Rankings
-- Group Table
S&P gives GEICO AAA
New York, NY, Sep. 2 (UPI)
Standard & Poor's Thursday affirmed its AAA credit rating on GEICO Corp. of New York.
The rating agency also affirmed the AAA credit and financial strength ratings on Government Employees Insurance Co., GEICO Indemnity Co., GEICO Casualty Co. and GEICO General Insurance Co. The outlook on all these companies, collectively referred to as GEICO, is stable.
GEICO is a leading provider of personal auto insurance on a direct basis in the United States. The ratings on GEICO are based on its core status to ultimate parent company Berkshire Hathaway Inc., S&P said.
Standard & Poor's Thursday affirmed its AAA credit rating on GEICO Corp. of New York.
The rating agency also affirmed the AAA credit and financial strength ratings on Government Employees Insurance Co., GEICO Indemnity Co., GEICO Casualty Co. and GEICO General Insurance Co. The outlook on all these companies, collectively referred to as GEICO, is stable.
GEICO is a leading provider of personal auto insurance on a direct basis in the United States. The ratings on GEICO are based on its core status to ultimate parent company Berkshire Hathaway Inc., S&P said.
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