Life Insurance Companies Can Refuse To Write Policies For HIV-Positive

In the Spokesman-Review, there was a recent article by Kevin Graman confirming that life insurance companies are allowed to deny coverage to people who have HIV. Insurance regulators in Washington state ruled that Farmer's denial of coverage was not discriminatory. In 2006, a HIV-positive individual was denied coverage from a subsidiary of Farmer's Group, Farmer's New World Life. He then filed a discrimination lawsuit against them with the Insurance Commission. While insurers are legally permitted to deny someone coverage if they are considered too risky to insure according to sound actuarial data, human rights activists believe that Farmers routinely declines to write policies for this group because of outdated statistics.

Kevin writes that ever since anti-retrovirals have dramatically increased the life expectancy of the HIV-positive, it is considered by many to be a risk that could be insured. A Swiss study found that patients with HIV but without hepatitis C have short-term mortality rates similar to successfully treated cancer patients. Cancer patients whom have completed treatment are able to buy life insurance policies.

Obama Plans to Approve Children’s Health Insurance Funding Increase

President Barack Obama is doing an awful lot in his first 100 days: he is soon expected to sign into law a bill presented by the U.S. House soon after he takes office that will increase spending on government funded children's health insurance plans. The SCHIP bill was ratified by Democrats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, but was vetoed by former President George W. Bush last year.

The bill would essentially add 4 million children to the existing roll of 7 million who are already receiving government subsidized health insurance. The bill proposes that increased taxes on tobacco will cover the $32 billion it will cost to expand the health coverage. Some Republicans believe this is an unfair burden on smokers.

Under the proposed bill, states are now given the option of eliminating the 5 year waiting period on providing government funded health insurance coverage to legal immigrants as well as pregnant immigrants.

Mercury Insurance Buys CA's Auto Insurance Specialists

According to the Insurance Journal, Mercury General has added insurance firm Auto Insurance Specialists to its portfolio. This gives Mercury a large presence in the California auto insurance market through the Auto Insurance Specialists, Aon Recreation Insurance, and PoliSeek brand names. In 2007, AIS wrote about $400 million worth of direct premiums.

The deal was brokered by Aon Corp. Mercury paid $120 million in cash immediately, with the possibility of an additional $34.7 million over the next two years. This deal will further expand the reach of Mercury's auto insurance subsidiaries.

Healthy Indiana Plan Nearing Capacity for Childless Adults

One year after the state launched a state-subsidized health care program for the uninsured, many people are in danger of losing access to Indiana health insurance due to an enrollment cap. 

Shari Rudaskvy from the Indianapolis Star says that the Healthy Indiana plan is close to reaching the cap of 34,000 on adults without children that are allowed to enroll. Currently, about half all 42,000 enrollees fall in that category.

Higher unemployment rates will probably lead to even more people applying for the plan, causing it to reach capacity even sooner. Those adults who have access to health insurance from their job (even if it's prohibitively expensive) or who need access to vision or dental care (HIP doesn't cover either) might find that it makes more sense to get health insurance quotes for another plan that could help them. The same goes for people who are underinsured.

UnitedHealth to Guarantee Your Right to Health Insurance

This is pretty strange: Golden Rule, a part of UnitedHealth, is now selling an insurance plan that ensures your future access to health insurance. The Continuity plan guarantees the right to health insurance in case you get laid off or your employer no longer sponsors health insurance coverage. The monthly fee is a percentage of the current health insurance premium. I guess this could be a good idea for someone with pre-existing conditions that might prevent them from buying health insurance on the open market, but is this really that much of a savings on individual health insurance rates over COBRA?

UnitedHealth's Continuity is now available in 25 states, and plans are that it will soon expand to 40.

How to Handle Life Insurance During the Bailouts

Many consumers are worrying about their life insurance policies in the wake of the AIG bailout. Insurance Bureau has some tips:

Q: What do I do with my term life insurance?
A: If you need more term life insurance, buy the additional insurance with a more stable provider as a backup.

Q: What if the value of the cash portion of my universal life insurance or whole life insurance policy has lost value?
A: In that case, financial experts recommend that you either remain with your current life insurance carrier, or look for penalty-free plans to convert universal or whole life insurance policies into term policies.

Q: Why do insurance prices fluctuate so much?
A: While it's very nerve-wracking to see insurance prices swing up and down, it's a factor of insurance company profits and losses from the last year, as well as modifications of their underwriting criteria.

Q: How can I save money on my insurance?
A: The best way to save money on any type of insurance is to compare different providers' insurance quotes on a regular basis. It's easy to do this on the Internet.

A proposal unveiled Wednesday by the health insurance industry would provide universal health coverage and hack away at medical costs through an outside group, and it has seen initial praise from an unlikely source.

The proposal, offered by the America's Health Insurance Plans, or AHIP, trade group, comes on the heels of a universal health care proposal offered by Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., as well as pledges by Sen. Ted Kennedy, D- Mass., to move quickly on the issue in 2009.

The keystone of the AHIP proposal is a goal to reduce growth in health care expenses throughout the U.S. market by 30% - a target Ignagni said would reduce health care costs by more than $500 billion from 2010 to 2014.

AHIP's plan won a positive remarks from Kennedy, who figures to play a large role in the debate next year as chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
"There's a spirit of optimism about our work to ensure quality, affordable health care for all Americans - and today's announcement adds to that optimism," Kennedy said in a statement. "The insurance industry has advanced serious proposals that deserve serious analysis and consideration."

The proposal represents an opening salvo for insurers, who have by and large agreed that universal coverage is necessary, in the health reform debate. Importantly, their proposal builds on the employer-based health coverage system - an approach favored by President-elect Barack Obama and Sen. Baucus.

"We're trying to have early input into what I'm sure will be a process of many elements and compromises," AHIP President Karen Ignagni said Wednesday.
Large insurers in the AHIP trade group include Aetna Inc. (AET), Humana Inc. ( HUM), Wellpoint Inc. (WLP) and Cigna Corp. (CI) and UnitedHealth Group.

The AHIP proposal suggests that Congress set a five-year cost goal and that a "public-private advisory group" would do the work of finding ways to cut spending.

Not surprisingly, the plan doesn't supplant the role of private insurers by including single-payer elements. For those earning less than 400% of the federal poverty level, the plan would offer "refundable, advanceable tax credits" to buy private insurance.

Ignagni said Wednesday that, unlike Baucus' proposal, the insurers' proposal wouldn't require that individuals buy insurance. She cited "the economic disruption in the country and hearing very specifically not only from large businesses but small businesses" as the primary reason for not including such a mandate.

"We didn't think that now was the time to recommend an employer mandate," Ignagni said.
Other elements of the AHIP plan would create an "essential benefits plan" for individuals and small business to purchase high-deductible insurance for wellness and prevention as well as acute care, as well as expansion of the state children's health insurance program, or SCHIP, and a streamlining of Medicaid, the federal government's health-coverage program for people below the federal poverty level.

By Patrick Yoest, Dow Jones Newswires