Insurance Archive

Fox Business Takes On WellPoint…in case you missed it

March 31st, 2010. By AbiK

“Bad public relations move at a very bad time…” Check it out:

Tags: Fox Business News, health insurance, WellPoint
Posted in Insurance | No Comments »

Legal Challenges to Health Care Reform: Justice, or Just Us Pouting?

March 25th, 2010. By Hunter West

Some lawsuits are there to right a wrong. To seek justice, and elicit compensation. 

Others are simply put out there to make noise. For posturing. 

As part of the continued opposition to the Obama health care reform bill, 14 states launched legal challenges to the health care reform, claiming that requiring Americans to purchase health care coverage flies in the face of the Constitution. 

Okay. So 13, of the 14 attorneys general who have filed lawsuits are Republican. The GOP is known to be against the long-held Democratic dream. The White House has been told not to worry, that the legal challenges are not winnable by the plaintiffs. 

And never mind that Timothy Stolzfus Jost, a professor of law at the Washington and Lee University (disclaimer: he’s a Democrat), blogs on CNN that there is no legal merit to the challenges. “…These cases are going nowhere legally,” he says. 

But beyond all that let’s look at the fundamental claim that government has no right to tell me that I HAVE to buy health insurance. 

Fine. Then why must I buy automotive insurance? The last time I checked, auto insurance was a requirement. You’re not allowed to drive a car if you are uninsured. Get caught, and you face a hefty penalty. 

Now, I’m a careful driver. I don’t take chances. And I own my car outright. I can see if I was making payments to a bank, a manufacturer or a finance company, then I might be compelled to have insurance in order to protect their investment in the case of an accident. If I default on my payments the repo comes and gets the car, and the bank sells it for as much as it can get. 

However, you have to have a vehicle to do that. If the vehicle is totaled the driver has nothing Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Health Care Reform, HRC
Posted in Emerging Issues, Insurance, lawsuits | 1 Comment »

WellPoint, Anthem Blue Cross rate hikes: Bloodless Economics?

February 16th, 2010. By Hunter West

The mind-boggling increase in healthcare premiums promoted to policyholders of WellPoint Inc. and its subsidiary, Anthem Blue Cross comes down to a central question, according to a story today in the New York Times… 

Is this the bloodless economics of risk, or a corporate culture of greed? 

In Los Angeles Bernhard Punzet opened up his envelope from Anthem Blue Cross and saw that Anthem intended to increase his insurance premiums by 34 percent. His partner’s would rise by 36 percent. 

Joshua Needle, a trial lawyer in Santa Monica, got a similar shock when he saw that Anthem intended to increase his premium by 33 percent.  “I have no problem with profits,” he said in comments published this morning in the New York Times, “but they’re maximizing profits without any concern that they have a captive audience.” 

He is not alone. About 700,000 Anthem Blue Cross clients are reeling with the news that they may be facing increases averaging 25 percent. That’s the average. A full 25 percent of policyholders are facing premium increases of anywhere from 35 to 39 percent. 

That’s four times the rate of medical inflation. 

Needless to say, consumers are screaming bloody murder, while advocates of public healthcare are using the issue as fodder for a renewed push behind President Obama’s universal health care reform. 

The increase has been delayed by two months, at the request of the insurance commissioner in California, in order Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Anthem Blue Cross, health insurance, WellPoint
Posted in Drugs/Medical, Emerging Issues, Insurance | 1 Comment »

CIGNA LINA disability screw-up nets $600k Settlement in California

October 7th, 2009. By AbiK

I may not agree with Steve Poizner on his views of California labor law, but when he gets it right on other things, I give him his due. The recent bad faith insurance settlement that the California Insurance Commissioner announced with Life Insurance Company of North America (aka LINA, and part of CIGNA) is one such time when he got it right. Here’s the general play by play…(click to end of post to find out if you qualify)

1. LINA Denies Disability Insurance Claims

During the period January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2007, LINA improperly handled disability insurance claims in violation of California state laws. Translation: folks filing for disability insurance during that time were denied benefits that they may have actually been eligible for…they got screwed.

2. California Department of Insurance Investigates LINA

This is where Poizner’s team comes into play. The CDI conducted an on-site examination of how LINA processed claims. That’s when the “gotcha!” moment occurred. Seems in some instances Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: California Insurance, LINA, Poizner
Posted in Insurance, Settlement | 1 Comment »

In View of Past Misdeeds, Unum is Playing it Smart

September 21st, 2009. By Hunter West

It’s time to give credit where credit is due: for a corporation oft-painted as a villain, Unum Provident is one smart company. 

Unum Provident has been dragged through the mud in recent years over various charges and allegations that the company goes out of its way to deny legitimate disability claims. A claim, after all, is a drag on an insurer’s bottom line. The fewer claims an insurer is required to process, the less money it has to pay out while premium revenue remains a constant. 

Thus, there are basically three ways to improve the performance of an insurance company: sell more policies; reduce the number of claims, or any combination of the two. 

All you hear about are the horror stories from policyholders who have allegedly been cut down at the knees by a seemingly uncaring and unfeeling insurer. However, any corporation will tell you that the road to profitability is paved with cost reductions. There isn’t an insurer worth its’ salt that doesn’t cast a wary eye every time a claim is made against a short-term disability (STD), or long-term disability (LTD) policy. Unum Provident is no different. 

If insurers have been cast as villains, so too are a handful of policyholders who really do try to take advantage and pull a fast one on their insurer by making a claim for disability when they are, indeed quite healthy. 

Be that as it may, Unum Provident—easily a global leader in the provision of insurance products—is doing a lot of things right, in spite of what its critics are saying. You can’t have 11 profitable quarters in a row without some degree of savvy. 

Here’s what Unum Provident is doing well…  Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Unum, UnumProvident
Posted in Insurance | 4 Comments »