The News Review:
- Insurers propose universal centralized healthcare
- AARP’s Stealth Fees Often Sting Seniors With Costlier Insurance
- Over 40 Hospitals Lend Support for Individual Insurance Market Reform
- Research and Markets: Snapshot of Netherlands’ Insurance Industry …
- Insurance agent arrested on suspected elder abuse
- AM Best Affirms Ratings of Universal American Corp. and Most of …
Insurers propose universal centralized healthcare
Los Angeles Times CA
Levey December 4 2008 Reporting from Washington — Sharpening the emerging debate over how to reshape the country’s healthcare system the major group representing insurers unveiled a proposal Wednesday for covering all Americans in a more centralized insurance market. The plan offered by America’s Health Insurance Plans a trade group representing companies that together insure more than 200 million people comes a decade and half after the industry helped kill the last major healthcare reform campaign — pushed early in the Clinton administration.
AARP’s Stealth Fees Often Sting Seniors With Costlier Insurance
Bloomberg
4 (Bloomberg) — Arthur Laupus joined AARP because hethought the nonprofit senior-citizen-advocacy group would makehis retirement years easier. He signed up for an auto insurancepolicy endorsed by AARP believing the advertising that said hewould save money. When Laupus 71 compared his car insurancerate with a dozen other companies he found he was paying twicethe average. Why? One reason he learned was because AARP wastaking a cut out of his premium before sending the money toHartford Financial Services Group the provider of the coverage. Laupus stumbled onto something that many members of theworld?s largest seniors? organization don?t know: The groupformerly called.
Over 40 Hospitals Lend Support for Individual Insurance Market Reform
MarketWatch
3 2008 LANSING Mich. In a letter to state legislators Ken Matzick President and ChiefExecutive Officer of Beaumont Hospitals and several other hospital executiveswrote “The state’s current regulatory structure for individual healthinsurance is in need of significant repair. We are concerned as the individualmarket continues to grow Blue Cross and Blue Shield as the insurer of lastresort will not be able to affordably price health care coverage and will notbe able to financially sustain the mounting losses in this market sectorjeopardizing the future of healthcare coverage for thousands of Michiganresidents who have nowhere else to turn for coverage. It is critical thatmarket reform also provide vital consumer protections for your constituentsand our patients and also help ensure the future viability of healthcarefinance in Michigan. “We’ve seen the effects of erroneous government assumptions in dealingwith sectors of our economy — all you have to do is look at our bankingsector” CFAIR Executive Director John Truscott said.
Research and Markets: Snapshot of Netherlands’ Insurance Industry …
MarketWatch
researchandmarkets. Snapdatas Snapshots Netherlands Insurance 2008 provides 2007 year-end market size data with 2008 estimates 5 years of historical data and five-year forecasts. The Snapshots report gives an instant overview of the Dutch insurance market and covers life and non-life (property and casualty) insurance. It does not include reinsurance. Market value is based on gross premium income. The data is supplied in both graphical and tabular format for ease of interpretation and analysis.
Insurance agent arrested on suspected elder abuse
San Jose Mercury News USA
—An Encino life insurance agent has been arrested for allegedly swindling an elderly millionaire into making him a beneficiary of her estate. Donald Derieg is awaiting arraignment on felony charges of grand theft and elder financial abuse following a state insurance department investigation. He was arrested Tuesday and his arraignment on Wednesday was postponed. The 49-year-old Derieg a former financial adviser with Wachovia Securities allegedly had a romantic relationship with the woman who in her late 80s. Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner says Derieg made medical and financial decisions for the woman and became a trustee and beneficiary of her estate.
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AM Best Affirms Ratings of Universal American Corp. and Most of …
MarketWatch
The outlook for these ratings is negative. (See link below for a detailed list of the companies and ratings. ) The rating affirmations reflect Universal American’s improved statutory operating results and growing regional presence in the senior health insurance market. During 2007 Universal American acquired MemberHealth Inc. a privately-held pharmacy benefits manager and sponsor of CCRx a national Medicare Part D Plan. Over the past few years Universal American has significantly grown its Medicare Advantage private fee for service (PFFS) and prescription part D (PDP) business. With the change in federal Medicare regulations earlier in 2008 which will take effect in a couple of years Universal American has a fairly limited time to build its Medicare Advantage Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) networks.