The News Review:
- Senate keeps controversial insurance rate system
- Tuberculosis Scare Drug Companies Polluting Waterways and Women’s …
- B of A loses $498 million on home loans and insurance in first quarter
- Wells Fargo buys North Coast Surety Insurance The Business Journal …
Senate keeps controversial insurance rate system
Houston Chronicle
It was a major victory for insurance companies who say the so-called “file-and-use” system encourages competition for the best prices. Democrats have complained it has not lowered rates or increased competition to promised levels. Texans pay the highest homeowner rates in the nation. According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners the most common homeowner policy cost Texans $1409 a year on average compared to a national average of $804. “The insurance industry in Texas historically has gone hog wild” said Sen.
Tuberculosis Scare Drug Companies Polluting Waterways and Women’s …
New York Times
North Carolina’s unemployment rate is one of the highest in the country and about 25 percent of state residents have no health insurance. Women Pay More for Individual Health PoliciesWomen who buy individual health insurance policies are often charged more than men facing what amounts to a 7 percent surcharge because of their gender according to a. Insurance companies say women cost more to insure even though most plans don’t cover maternity services; critics say the practice is discriminatory.
Related from Guanxithebook: Gates Gives China Millions To Combat Drug-Resistant TB
B of A loses $498 million on home loans and insurance in first quarter
Los Angeles Times
1 mortgage lender Countrywide Financial of Calabasas and brokerage powerhouse Merrill Lynch Co. both of which nearly collapsed from exposure to exotic mortgages and the securities carved out of them. B of A said the $498-million first-quarter loss on home loans and insurance was down from a $732-million loss a year earlier. f the bank?s total of 382000 home loans in the quarter $16 billion was in mortgages made to 102000 low- and moderate-income borrowers. More from the announcement: To meet rising refinancing and first mortgage application volume the company is in the process of adding approximately 5000 positions in fulfillment. In addition the company has more than 6400 associates in place to address increasing needs from consumers for assistance with loan modifications. To help homeowners avoid foreclosure Bank of America modified nearly 119000 home loans during the quarter.
Wells Fargo buys North Coast Surety Insurance The Business Journal …
Bizjournals.com
Financial terms weren’t disclosed. Dixon Wright the previous owner now runs surety operations for Wells Fargo Insurance Services in the San Francisco Bay AreaBay. Surety insurance guarantees the performance of one party of an obligation to another. In early March Wells Fargo Insurance Services acquired California-based BridgeStreet Consulting Group an employee-benefits consulting firm that also has offices in Houston and Seattle and it’s made several other acquisitions in recent months. Wells Fargo Insurance Services now linked with Wachovia Insurance Services after Wells Fargo’s (NYSE:WFC) Dec. 31 acquisition of Charlotte-based Wachovia Corp.