Insurance Space

A bill that would require health plans to submit their rate increases to government regulators before they take effect is gaining momentum in Congress.

The Health Insurance Rate Authority Act of 2010 was introduced this week by Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., and Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., to give Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius “the authority to deny or modify premium and rate increases found to be unreasonable.”

It’s the latest salvo in a push by Democrats in Congress and the Obama administration to make insurance companies justify their rate increases. The act could become its own law or woven into health care reform bills President Barack Obama is hoping to see passed later this month.

To hear President Obama tell it, insurance companies are forcing up the cost of everyone’s health coverage. The solution: Whatever health care reform plan that actually makes it out of Congress.

The concepts in the House and Senate versions seem clear, but the final details aren’t. President Obama, however, says the bills’ concepts for regulating the insurance companies will make coverage more affordable.

Reality will likely be another story. For one thing, the final details must be passed by both houses of Congress, where many members have taken large campaign contributions from the very insurance companies that they supposedly will regulate.

The pace of mergers and acquisitions is gaining speed in 2010 thanks to American International Group Inc.

MetLife Inc.’s $15.5 billion deal Monday to buy AIG’s American Life Insurance Co., or Alico, brought the total value of dealmaking globally this year to $500.3 billion. That was up 21 percent from the year-ago period, according to data collected by deal-tracking firm Dealogic.

The transaction is the fifth-largest deal globally so far this year, and the second-largest U.S. transaction announced in 2010.

AIG’s sale of Asia-based life insurer, AIA Group, to Britain’s Prudential PLC last week for $35.5 billion tops the global 2010 list.

The White House is continuing its pushback against health insurance rate hikes, asking insurers to put their rate increase requests online, as well as the actuarial data that supports the rate hikes.

“The current situation is simply unsustainable,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said today after meeting at the White House with the CEOs of five major insurance companies and leaders from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).

Sebelius said she was prompted to call for the meeting “in part by rate increases announced around country and the input that I’ve had from people across America who are really frightened that they’re being priced out of the market, don’t know what’s coming next, want some information on what’s happening.”

Regulators and industry officials trying to revive the New York Insurance Exchange may seek a lower federal corporate tax to enhance its appeal, Insurance Superintendent James J. Wrynn said Thursday.

Speaking at a membership meeting of the Assn. of Insurance & Reinsurance Run-Off Cos. in Manhattan, Mr. Wrynn said he does not want the proposed exchange to be tax-driven.

“I want it to provide a real benefit to the industry from a business point of view,” Mr. Wrynn said. “With that said, (competitive tax treatment) is something we’re definitely exploring.”

After a two-day lapse, the U.S. Senate has renewed the nation’s flood-insurance program for another 30 days.
The action Tuesday night came after a lone Republican senator ended a protest that had blocked a $10 billion stopgap spending bill that includes the insurance extension and other measures.

The National Flood Insurance Program had expired Sunday night after Congress failed to pass a temporary extension, and that action raised uncertainty locally and elsewhere among people who need the insurance coverage to buy new homes.

The scope of a congressional investigation into health insurance rate hikes in California expanded Tuesday as lawmakers summoned the chief executives of four of the nation’s largest for-profit health insurers to testify about medical claims denied for individuals with pre-existing conditions.

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce and its investigations subcommittee are targeting the practices of WellPoint Inc., UnitedHealth Group, Humana Inc. and Aetna.

The companies provide insurance to a large share of the estimated 17 million Americans who buy individual insurance policies because they do not have health coverage through jobs.

Unmarried older women are twice as likely to be without health insurance than are their married peers. This was the finding of a new policy brief from the University of California Center for Health Policy Research, which evaluated health issues and health insurance coverage among approximately 3 million older women.

According to Roberta Wyn, associate director of the center and the study’s lead author, women ages 50 to 64 face a “time of critical change,” because not only are they “at risk of new and complex health conditions, but as they near the age of retirement, their insurance status may change too.”

Insurance giant American International Group said Friday that it lost about $11  billion last year, surprising analysts and showing the long-term risks inherent in the types of large, complex insurance coverage that the company once pioneered.

Of the company’s $11 billion total loss for the year, $2.7 billion on a pretax basis resulted from its decision to increase its reserves for paying future claims. This indicated AIG has been receiving significantly larger claims than it anticipated when it first sold the insurance, most of it more than seven years ago.

Auto insurance is a requirement that you can not afford to be without. If you doubt that, just turn on the news and see what sort of troubled Toyota’s been getting into lately. Regardless of whose fault it is, cars have a tendency to malfunction and break down. Unfortunately, getting the right car insurance coverage can be difficult. The cost of insurance ranges from person to person and state to state.