The News Review:
- C woman gets 8 years for massive insurance scam
- bama to focus on insurance companies this week
- Fireman’s Fund to sell ‘hybrid upgrade’ insurance
- The Truth About Health Insurance
- NYS recovers insurance money
- The Whole Foods Alternative to bamaCare
C woman gets 8 years for massive insurance scam
San Jose Mercury News
—An range County woman has been sentenced to eight years in prison for her role in a $154-million medical insurance scam involving patients who had unnecessary surgeries. lga Toscano was sentenced Tuesday in Santa Ana. She pleaded guilty to 98 felony counts including insurance fraud. Prosecutors say the 41-year-old Irvine woman was a “capper” who recruited patients to have unnecessary surgeries at an range County outpatient center. In return the patients received money or discounted cosmetic surgery.
bama to focus on insurance companies this week
USA Today
Today in Portsmouth N. bama will criticize the practice of refusing coverage on account of pre-existing conditions. “This has to stop as part of health care reform” press secretary Robert Gibbs said on CBS This Morning.
Fireman’s Fund to sell ‘hybrid upgrade’ insurance
Bizjournals.com
_992107D3B20344F8945337CEEC6249FA. will widen sales of hybrid upgrade auto insurance as part of its Prestige Auto Premier policy. Created to encourage car owners to “go green” the new hybrid auto upgrade will allow owners to upgrade to a hybrid model during the first three model-years in the event of a total loss. According to Novato-based Fireman’s Fund this option should be “an attractive choice for those car owners who want to protect the value of their assets reduce their energy costs and protect the environment. ”The company wouldn't estimate when the policy will be available in California. A Johnson Controls survey conducted by Harris Interactive reported that 90 percent of American adults are open to choosing a hybrid if they were buying a new vehicle.
Related from Champcarnews: US Hybrid-Auto Insurance Leader Says Being Green Pays
The Truth About Health Insurance
Wall Street Journal
” The point is to make its proposals seem less radical than they are while portraying private insurers as villains for supposedly denying coverage to the sick. Sounds like a good time to explain a few facts about the modern insurance market. Start with the reality that nine out of 10 people under 65 are covered by their employers most of which cover all employees and charge everyone the same rate. President bama’s horror stories are about the individual insurance market where some 15 million people buy coverage outside of the workplace.
NYS recovers insurance money
Hudson Valley Press
Paterson announced that $13. 6 million was recovered from insurance companies between April 1st and June 30 2009 for almost 3000 consumers and health care providers who filed complaints with the New York State Insurance Department. This is up from $8. 5 million recovered in the first quarter of 2009 for a total of $22 million for the first half of the year. “With so many affected by the economic downturn we will continue to work to make sure New Yorkers get full value for their insurance dollars” said Governor Paterson. “Insurance is a promise to protect us at our most vulnerable and New Yorkers can rely on us to protect them if insurance companies do not keep their promises.
The Whole Foods Alternative to bamaCare
Wall Street Journal
Instead we should be trying to achieve reforms by moving in the opposite direction—toward less government control and more individual empowerment. Here are eight reforms that would greatly lower the cost of health care for everyone:• Remove the legal obstacles that slow the creation of high-deductible health insurance plans and health savings accounts (HSAs). The combination of high-deductible health insurance and HSAs is one solution that could solve many of our health-care problems. For example Whole Foods Market pays 100% of the premiums for all our team members who work 30 hours or more per week (about 89% of all team members) for our high-deductible health-insurance plan. We also provide up to $1800 per year in additional health-care dollars through deposits into employees’ Personal Wellness Accounts to spend as they choose on their own health and wellness. Money not spent in one year rolls over to the next and grows over time. ur team members therefore spend their own health-care dollars until the annual deductible is covered (about $2500) and the insurance plan kicks in.