Many Working to Save Massachusetts Auto Insurance Appeal Board

Massachusetts' Insurance Commissioner wants to eliminate the state's independent auto insurance appeal board, citing cost and a move towards a more competitive insurance market. This proposal doesn't sit well with many consumers, legislators, and even insurers, according to an article in The Republican. If the board is eliminated, policyholders will instead have to appeal their claims to the insurance companies themselves; consumer groups fear that is unfair and will create bias towards finding the motorist at fault in order to avoid paying accident claims.

However, the insurance commissioner claims that the change will actually benefit consumers, because they will no longer have to pay a fee to appeal and will have state oversight of insurance companies; not to mention the opportunity to shop around for auto insurance quotes from multiple insurers.

On average, the board of appeal has found in favor of the consumer about half of the time, saving drivers thousands of dollars in premium surcharges. The surcharges can appear on their records for up to 6 years!

A bill is currently pending in the state legislature to save the appeal board. As of now it will remain open for several months to deal with its backlog, but no new appeals may be filed after April 1st.

Lost Your Health Insurance? Tips to Deal With It

The Columbus Dispatch has some tips for people who have been laid off and are currently uninsured. These suggestions can save you money on your health care:

• If your health insurance hasn't yet ran out, get any necessary tests done before it does.
• Ask your doctor to prescribe drugs with a generic equavilent, and request them from your pharmacist. Some stores sell some generics for just $4!
• Buy a prescription drug card that gives you discounts on medications.
• Get coverage through a high-deductible health insurance plan, which will protect you in a catastrophe with lower premiums than typical health insurance.
• Find out if the pharmaceutical company/ies that makes your medication(s) has a free drug program, such as PPaRX, for lower income individuals.
• Negotiate with your doctors for lower rates and/or an affordable payment plan for services. Many doctors are surprisingly open to that.
• See if your doctors can give you some free samples of prescription medication, given to them by the drug companies.

Remember to check out health insurance rates in order to become reinsured as soon as possible. Some plans could be more affordable than you think.

16% Of Drivers Will Be Uninsured in 2009, Predicts Insurance Research Council

In Newsday, Tom Incantalupo reported that the Insurance Research Council, and industry group, is predicting an increase in uninsured drivers for 2010. Their projection is that 16.1% of all drivers in the United States will be driving around without auto insurance, an increase from 13.8% in 2007.

The IRC blames this state of events on the economy, because consumers are trying to cut back on expenses. With the unemployment rate rising at a similar clip, it’s somewhat understandable that keeping up with your auto insurance premiums may fall to the wayside. Still, it’s a bad idea to let your policy lapse. For one, when you eventually buy insurance again, your premiums could see a sharp increase. Not only do uninsured drivers risk fines and other legal punishment in most states; they also cause the rates of insured drivers to go up when they’re involved in a crash, Tom says.

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.