Latest Health Insurance Headlines
All the headlines from our Health Insurance Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Obama Team Confident of Ultimate Win on Health Insurance Law
Dec 13 2010 // The U.S. Justice Department is confident it will ultimately prevail in defending a key part of President Barack Obama’s landmark healthcare law, a department spokeswoman said Monday. Spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler...
Status of Legal Challenges to Obama Health Reform Law
Dec 13 2010 // Within hours of President Barack Obama signing into law last March the healthcare reforms he had championed, several states filed lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of new requirements, including one that...
Arkansas Lawmakers Propose Banning Health Insurance Mandate
Dec 10 2010 // Legislation filed by a pair of Republican lawmakers in Arkansas proposes blocking a portion of the health care overhaul that requires people to buy health insurance. Rep.-elect David Meeks and Sen. Denny Altes propose...
Calif. Insurance Regulator Highlights His Achievements
Dec 7 2010 // California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has issued a report card highlighting the progress of the Department of Insurance during the past four years, including his successful efforts to maintain solvency and...
Sidelining Agents
Dec 5 2010 // The MLR does not protect agent and broker compensation. In their zeal to control health care costs, federal policymakers may be pushing health insurance agents and brokers to the sidelines and potentially out of business....
California Delays Licensing Implementation Six Months
Dec 5 2010 // The California Department of Insurance is delaying for six months the implementation of a new licensing requirement for fire and casualty licensees that want to sell health insurance. AB 2782 would have required existing...
Federal Judge Dismisses Challenge to Obama Health Care Law
Dec 1 2010 // A federal judge in Virginia Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit challenging the landmark healthcare law championed by President Barack Obama, upholding key provisions that require health insurance coverage. The challenge, one of...
Washington Regulator Wants to Review Health Insurer Surpluses
Nov 30 2010 // Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler is asking state lawmakers to preserve his authority to scrutinize health insurance rates, boost transparency, and to let him — for the first time — consider some...
State Regulators Worried About Future of Health Insurance Brokers
Nov 29 2010 // State insurance regulators have established a task force to monitor the negative effects the new federal health reform law might have on health insurance agents and brokers. The National Association of Insurance...
California Delays Licensing Implementation Six Months
Nov 24 2010 // The California Department of Insurance is delaying for six months the implementation of a new licensing requirement for fire and casualty licensees that want to sell health insurance. AB 2782 would have required existing...
Health Insurance Brokers May Ask Congress to Protect Commissions
Nov 22 2010 // As insurance brokers feared, the Obama Administration has not exempted broker commissions from the formula for the medical loss ratio that health insurers must adhere to beginning in 2011. Brokers say they may ask Congress...
Health Insurers Win Some Breaks with Medical Loss Ratio Rule
Nov 22 2010 // New U.S. health insurance spending rules aimed at ensuring more customer dollars go toward medical care were finalized on Monday, ending a source of uncertainty for investors in the sector. Although the limits are mandated...
Illinois Wants Comments on Health Insurance Exchange
Nov 19 2010 // Illinois is seeking public comment on the structure, governance and financing of an online insurance exchange. Individuals and small businesses would be able to shop for health coverage through the exchange. The...
Calif. Agent Association Wants to Phase-In New License Requirements
Nov 18 2010 // Insurance Brokers and Agents of the West (IBA West) is working to persuade the California Department of Insurance to phase-in implementation of provisions of a new law (AB 2782) that will require property/casualty...
Medical Errors Take 15,000 Seniors’ Lives a Month: Inspector General
Nov 17 2010 // Mistakes and unavoidable problems kill an estimated 15,000 elderly U.S. patients every month in hospitals, U.S. government investigators reported Tuesday. More than 13 percent of patients covered by Medicare, the...
P/C Insurer Rules on Medicare, Medicaid Liability Claims Delayed
Nov 16 2010 // Property/casualty insurers will have some extra time to comply with new Medicare and Medicaid liability claims reporting requirements. The Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services...
Employers Given More Leeway to Switch Providers Under Obamacare
Nov 16 2010 // U.S. employers offering health insurance to workers will not lose protected status under the new healthcare law if they decide to switch healthcare plan providers, U.S. administration officials said Monday. At issue is...
Reporting Firms Face Risks as U.S. Cracks Down on Medicare, Medicaid Costs
Nov 14 2010 // New Insurance Products Cover Risks Created by New Laws and Regulations The federal government’s crackdown on fraud and errors in Medicare and Medicaid is raising liability issues for firms that specialize in managing...
U.S. Fights Against Health Care Fraud
Nov 14 2010 // The Fight Against Health Care Fraud Affects More Than Reporting Firm The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has been conducting regional seminars aimed at identifying best practices for providers, law enforcement...
Health Insurers, Drugmakers Oppose Repeal of Obama Healthcare Overhaul
Nov 12 2010 // Repeal reform? No thanks, say health insurers, drugmakers and others looking for a clearer picture of the U.S. healthcare market after the bruising passage of the controversial overhaul law. Company executives at the...
