| Bredesen Formally Launches CoverKids Program
Gov. Phil Bredesen on Monday traveled to a suburban YMCA in Nashville, the Bellevue Family YMCA and J.L. Turner Lifelong Learning Center, to officially launch CoverKids, which provides comprehensive health coverage to uninsured children who do not qualify for TennCare. BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee will administer CoverKids.
"Over 100,000 Tennessee children go without any health insurance every year. Starting today they are covered," Bredesen said. "CoverKids provides access to complete health care coverage for these children so they have the opportunity for a healthy start in life."
He said CoverKids offers comprehensive health insurance coverage for children 18 years-old and younger, similar to the benefits offered to dependents of state employees. Emphasis is placed on preventive care and services most needed by children, including vaccinations, well-child visits, healthy babies program, and developmental screenings.
AM Best Launches New Online Consumer Insurance Information Center
OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 5, 2007--A.M. Best Co. has launched Best's Consumer Insurance Information Center, an online resource designed to inform consumers about the various insurance options available to them, and to demonstrate the importance of an insurer's Best's Financial Strength Rating in determining how likely the company is to fulfill its financial obligations to policyholders. Overview information on life insurance and annuities, health and accident insurance, and auto, home and personal property insurance is currently available in this Center. Visitors can also expect to find answers to basic questions that may arise when deciding on the line of coverage that would best suit their needs, such as: "What does it protect against?" "Who needs it?" and "When should I buy it?"
This Center features a convenient tool that lets users search for an insurer and view its Best's Rating, basic contact information and its top five lines and states of business (by direct premiums written).
Travel Tips: Be Sure You Are Insured When Renting An Automobile
(NC)-Canadians renting an automobile may experience confusion about the insurance coverage. Before you leave home, says the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO), it is important to familiarize yourself with some of the alternatives to the insurance offered by the rental company. Here are the main choices: Your Current Auto Insurance Policy: Most Ontario automobile insurance companies offer an option for additional coverage on automobiles not owned by the policy holder. If your policy includes the OPCF 27 (the Rental Vehicle Insurance Endorsement) you are likely covered for rentals in Canada and the United States. OPCF 27 does not insure your rental overseas so other coverage will need to be purchased. There are other terms too, so be sure to get all the details from your broker, agent or company representative.
Electronic verification urged
Immediate, computerized, roadside verification of mandatory auto insurance is set for another round of debate in Montgomery. A small group of influential Alabama agents has been advocating such a measure for the past two years. Some of them served last year on a joint legislative committee that's developing a policy paper on the matter. A group of independent agents, typically small businessmen who sell insurance coverage from a variety of underwriters, met last week with Gov. Bob Riley's executive staff to recommend electronic verification. "The current system is a sloppy one," said Birmingham agent Joe Fuller, who met with the governor's staff. "If the right people get behind it, electronic verification could happen real quick." Electronic verification would computerize and centralize the record-keeping of car registrations, license tags and insurance policy numbers.
Private health care failing us
Although today is Easter, I'm off to work at my job as a licensed health care provider for the state of California. Hospitals and long-term care health facilities never close. Cops, firefighters, doctors and nurses fill positions to maintain operations 24/7, 365 days of the year.As the population has increased, Temecula officials have invested in additional emergency service personnel, equipment and technology to provide the best protection for city residents. All those remarkable efforts toward public safety come to an abrupt halt where public service meets privatized health care. One reason I chose a career in civil service some 30 years ago was a benefits package that includes health insurance. I'm very fortunate to be able to see my doctor for checkups and have prescriptions filled for a nominal co-payment, but when it comes to care in a local emergency room, I'm playing the waiting game along with everybody else.
Hertz Enters Into Partnership With the New Jersey Alliance of ...
PARK RIDGE, NJ -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 04/02/07 -- The Hertz Corporation has partnered with the Alliance of Automotive Service Providers of New Jersey, an organization of 500 New Jersey-based collision and mechanical repair shops, to provide car rental services, including free pick up and return service, and an expanded benefit program to the Alliance's network of service repair shops. Scott Gaines, New York Region Vice President for Hertz, commented, "Hertz has an ever-growing presence in the off-airport marketplace and has been successfully fulfilling our customers' insurance replacement needs for more than 5 years. Servicing the needs of the automotive repair industry, the Alliance of Automotive Service Providers of New Jersey is a natural partner for Hertz, allowing us to do what we do best for its members, fulfilling each customer's replacement rental needs." Hertz, the world's largest general use car rental brand, and its off-airport entity, Hertz Local Edition, offer clean, low mileage late model vehicles to help get customers on the road quickly and hassle free.
Ping An Property enters Tibet
Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region is becoming an increasingly important market for property and casualty insurance companies. Ping An Property & Casualty Insurance Company of China (Ping An Property) opened its branch in Tibet yesterday, a move to spread its wings across the country. Approved by the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, the company, the property and casualty insurance arm of the Ping An Insurance (Group) Co, set up the new branch with nearly 30 staff in management and sales, bringing the number of its branches to 40 in the country. "The Tibetan branch is the last provincial-level subsidiary Ping An Property set up in China. Its establishment demonstrates that Ping An Property has completed its network expansion across the country and will help improve the company's service qualties," said the company's general manager Wu Peng.
High-Deductible Health Plans Cost More for Women, Study Finds
Women are more likely to pay more than men for health care when enrolled in high-deductible health plans -- which have low premiums and in some cases include health savings accounts and health reimbursement arrangements, according to a study published in the April issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports. For the study, Harvard Medical School researchers led by Steffie Woolhandler examined data from the 2003 federal Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, which included responses from almost 33,000 U.S. residents. Based on 2006 dollars, the study found that the median cost for men younger than age 45 enrolled in high-deductible health plans was less than $500, compared with more than $1,200 for women. The study also found that one-third of men younger than age 45 with health insurance had more than $1,050 in annual medical costs, compared with 55% of women.
MMA Meddling Leaves 35 000 Without Health Insurance
Bureaucratic wrangling and obstruction by the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) and the Finance Ministry, both headed by Gasim Ibrahim, have left the governments army of nearly 35 000 civil servants without any health insurance. The International Medical Group (IMG), which signed an agreement with the government in June last year to provide its employees with health cover, ceased paying out on claims on Friday, after the MMA rejected its application for a general insurance licence. That leaves all Maldivian civil servants with no provision by their employer, the government, to help them in the event of health problems. They will have to fall back on the welfare system. Previously the government provided a stipend of Rf. 250 every three months as a health allowance. Many workers did not even realise this was a medical allowance, and almost none put the money aside in case of emergency.
Independence Holding Company Announces Acquisition of Actuarial ...
STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 2, 2007--Independence Holding Company (NYSE: IHC) today announced that it has closed on the previously announced acquisition of Actuarial Management Corporation ("AMC"). AMC is a leading, full-service actuarial firm headquartered in Concord, CA that focuses on fully insured health coverage for small groups, individuals and families, short-term medical and employer medical stop-loss. AMC is responsible for all actuarial aspects of IHC's entire book of fully insured health business, but will remain an independent business unit providing services and resources to clients outside the IHC Group of Companies. AMC's team of 19 professionals has extensive experience providing clients in the health insurance industry with development and management services, underwriting and benefit design review, data reporting, compliance support and strategic and tactical management services.
The “Year of Health Care” – Reforms should serve consumers, not ...
Until this year, Governor Schwarzenegger was a consistent foe of pro-patient health care reforms - vetoing SB 840 (Kuehl), which would have set up a framework for universal health care and campaigning against Proposition 72, which would have mandated employment based coverage for large employers. Now the Governor says he wants to address the health care crisis. Along with Senator Don Perata, Assemblyman Fabian Nunez and other lawmakers, he recently outlined his ideas for expanding health coverage. The renewed spotlight on health care reform is a welcomed development for consumers. The Consumer Federation of California (CFC) will work to make sure that any reform plan serves the interests of the public, not the insurance industry's bottom line. As health insurance premiums continue to increase beyond the consumers' ability to afford them, an astonishing 25% of every health care dollar spent is eaten up by insurance industry bureaucratic waste, excessive salaries, and outlandish profits.
Premera Blue Cross Ranked Highest in Member Satisfaction among ...
Networks, and Information and Communication as the Most Significant Factors in Driving Member Satisfaction Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers MOUNTLAKE TERRACE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 30, 2007--In its inaugural study of health plan consumers, J.D. Power and Associates has ranked Premera Blue Cross highest in member satisfaction in the U.S. Western census region. The 2007 National Health Insurance Plan Satisfaction Study is designed to measure the member's experience with their health insurance plan by evaluating core factors, key attributes, and other issues that are important to members' overall experience with their plans. The factors examined in 2007 were: coverage and benefits, choice of doctors, hospitals, and pharmacies, information and communication, approval process, insurance statements, customer service, and claims processing.
Wells Fargo Insurance Services Opens New Office in Milwaukee
Wells Fargo Insurance Services announced today the opening of its first office in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The new Wells Fargo Insurance Services office is located at 100 E. Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, and offers both commercial and employee benefits insurance programs and services. David Pautz has been appointed Senior Vice President and Director of Insurance Services for the Milwaukee and Michigan offices. Joining Pautz at the new Wells Fargo Insurance Services office in Milwaukee is Mark E. Lambrecht, CPCU, Vice President/Director and Business Development Officer; David Wierkiewicz, Vice President and Director of Health and Benefits; Kevin Miller, Vice President and Relationship Manager; and Brigitte E. Binder, Vice President, Administration and Relationship Manager. Pautz is responsible for overseeing and managing the team of insurance specialists in Milwaukee and Michigan.
It took a disaster to see quality, compassion of professionals ...
We recently lost a good portion of our home in a house fire. There are those we would like to thank and a few valuable suggestions to the community. Most important, check your policies to ensure you have enough insurance on your dwelling and contents. And we can't stress this enough: Take pictures or videos of everything in your home; open drawers and closets also. Burn it onto a CD and store in a fireproof box. Learn to appreciate and donate to the wonderful services we have. The Plain Township and Jackson Township departments and Red Cross were there immediately. These folks are heroes in their own right. When we observed the danger that these firefighters subject themselves to, we most certainly had a new respect for them, and thank them for their quick response on one of the coldest days this winter.
Insurance Industry Struggling to Meet Heightened Data Management ...
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Insurance and Actuarial Advisory Services (IAAS) practice of Ernst & Young LLP today announced highlights from its third Actuarial TransformationTM Roundtable, a forum in which senior insurance executives discuss key issues, challenges and best practices. The roundtable uncovered growing concerns around the governance and management of the increasing amount of data the industry is required to maintain, particularly in light of enhanced financial reporting requirements. A survey of participants revealed 88% of attendees agree that, "data management issues currently impact the ability to provide reliable, valid financial data." At the same time, more than half (56%) say they do not have a dedicated data governance team in place and 67% do not have a formal data management program.
Support for insurance bill
The Insurance Federation of North Carolina supports Sen. Tony Rand's proposal for a fair hearing process for disputed rate filings, where an impartial judge hears arguments from the Department of Insurance and the N.C. Rate Bureau (which represents insurers on rate matters).It is important to note that the legislation does not change requirements that rates not be "inadequate, excessive nor unfairly discriminatory." And the Department of Insurance would still have full authority to negotiate rate settlements and to review the financial affairs and market conduct of insurers.If the current system were indeed working, the number of motorists in the N.C. Reinsurance Facility (the high-risk pool for those for whom the current rate is not sufficient to cover the risk) would be low.According to the 2006-2007 Automobile Insurance Plans Service Office Fact Book, the N.C.
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