Archive for January, 2011

Newer Entries »

Montana: Save Money by Refusing Workers’ Comp to Illegal Immigrants

January 11th, 2011 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in insurance news, workers compensation insurance

A lawmaker in Montana has proposed a way to reduce the cost of state workers’ compensation insurance. He wants to prohibit illegal immigrants from collecting benefits when they’re injured.

Representative Gordon Vance (R – Bozeman) has sponsored House Bill 71, which would require workers’ compensation insurers to to create verification systems allowing them to determine whether or not injured employees are illegal immigrants, to ensure that no medical or wage-loss benefits are paid to undocumented workers. Exceptions would be made for immigrants who were lawfully admitted for permanent residence at the time of their injuries, were lawfully present for performing the duties that resulted in the work-related disease or injury, or were permanently residing in the United States under color of law at the time the work-related injury-causing services were performed.

House Bill 71, sponsored by Rep. Gordon Vance, R-Bozeman, would require a workers’ comp insurer to develop a verification process to determine if an injured employee is an illegal immigrant to ensure that no wage-loss or medical benefits for work-related injuries be paid to aliens. The exception, according to the bill text, is that benefits could be paid to an alien if he or she is an individual who was lawfully admitted for permanent residence at the time the injury occurred, was lawfully present for the purposes of performing the services that resulted in the work-related injury or disease, or was permanently residing in the United States under color of law at the time the services that resulted in the work-related injury or disease were performed.

According to the Great Falls Tribune opponents of the bill feel that it could cause employers to purposefully hire illegal immigrants to get around paying workers’ comp, and that it could lead to lawsuits of whether or not the state has the right to determine who is or is not eligible for workers’ comp benefits, as well as lawsuits from injured parties who have no other way to be compensated for their work-related injuries.

At $3.33 per $100 of payroll (according to a summary conduced by the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services), Montana has the highest workers’ compensation costs in the country.

Tags: ,

Louisiana Insurance Customers Lose $133 million in Rebates

January 10th, 2011 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in homeowners insurance, insurance news

The Times-Picayune is reporting that property insurance policyholders in the state of Louisiana have missed their opportunity to collect roughly $133 million in rebates that had been available until the end of last year.

Accoding to Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon, the money, which is part of the assessments paid by commercial and private home insurance customers for the state’s property insurer of last resort, has now been turned over to the state treasury. Donelon told the Times-Picayune, “The $133 million went down the drain.”

Since 2006, property insurance policyholders in Louisiana have paid special assessments to pay off bonds to maintain the solvency of the Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp. That company was hit by a flood of claims after Hurricanes Rita and Katrina.

Despite widespread notifications by his agency, Donelon said, roughly 69% of the available rebates went unclaimed from 2006. Consumers had a four-year period in which to claim rebates, totaling $193.4 million, either via

There are still about $229 million in rebates for assessments paid from 2007 through 2010, that policyholders are entitled to claim, Donelon said. For that period about $378 million has been collected, but the rebates for 2007 must be claimed by the end of this year, while the assessments for 2008, 2009, and 2010 expire at the end of 2012, 2013, and 2014, respectively, unless the state legislature makes a change to those deadlines.

Tags: ,

Friday Filmstrips: Suze Orman on Life Insurance

January 7th, 2011 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in friday filmstrips, life insurance

Life Insurance is a tricky thing, and while we don’t necessarily agree with Ms. Orman 100%, we think her perspective is worth sharing. What do YOU think? Is Term Life the only way to go???

Tags: ,

California Insurance Commissioner Asks Blue Shield to Delay Rate Increase

January 6th, 2011 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in health insurance, rate watch

According to a report in the Insurance Journal, California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones has asked Blue Shield of California to hold off on its next round of substantial premium increases that would affect tens of thousands of individual health insurance policyholders in the Golden State. Once that rate increase goes through, some of those customers could see health insurance rates increase up as much as 59%, the state Department of Insurance said.

Blue Shield is seeking rate increases that would result in a cumulative increase that would average more than 30% over a five-month span for roughly 200,000 policyholders, according to reports distributed by the Associate Press. The next increase is to go into effect on March 1st of this year, assuming California regulators approve it, to follow other increases that went into effect on October 1, 2010 and January 1st, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.

If the newest rate hike is approved, roughly 195,000 Blue Shield customers would see their premiums go up an average of 30-35%.

In a statement to the press, Commissioner Jones said, “I find it stunning that Blue Shield would seek to impose such massive premium increases on policyholders during these troubling economic times. These premium increases will impose significant financial burdens on struggling families and, in some cases, will lead to the loss of health care coverage altogether.”

Jones also sent a letter calling on the insurer to delay their rate increase for at least sixty days beyond the proposed March 1 effective date. Under current California law, the Insurance Commissioner cannot reject excessive premium increases outright, but by asking for a delay from Blue Shield, he hopes to ensure that all proposed increases have been thoroughly reviewed.

Blue Shield points to the rising cost of health care as the impetus for increasing their rates. “We raise rates only when absolutely necessary to pay the accelerating cost of medical care for our members,” the company told customers last month.

Tags: ,

Oklahoma: Expansion of Good Samaritan Act

January 5th, 2011 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in alternative health plans, health insurance

The state of Oklahoma has enacted a new law protecting health care professionals who volunteer at school athletic events from being sued, but it’s author, State Representative Joe Dorman, wants more schools to take advantage of it, explainging that House Bill 1658 will protect medical volunteers under the Good Samaritan Act.

In a statement to the press, Dorman (D – Rush Springs) said, “I have been concerned about the lack of immediate medical care available to young athletes in our state ever since the death of Justin Barney, a Rush Springs football player who died of a head injury and didn’t get the immediate care that might have made the difference. I urge all Oklahoma schools to take advantage of this new law and ask a local doctor or other health care professional to be on hand at school sporting events.”

According to the Oklahoma Athletic Trainers Association, roughly 25% of student athletes across the state will either miss practice or competition due to head injuries. Numbers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are more than 3.9 million concussions caused by sports and recreation across the country every year.

Dorman pointed to a football player in Portland, OR, who was brought back to life by a cardiac nurse who happened to be nearby when he suffered a heart attack on the playing field. “She had not been recruited as a volunteer,” Dorman said. “It was just dumb luck that she happened to be at the game. If she hadn’t been, that young man might have died. I can’t stress how much of a risk we are taking with our young athletes when we fail to have immediate medical care available at sporting events.”

Dorman recommended that Oklahoma schools take advantage of a free online program called ACTive, provided by the Oregon Center for Applied Science. The program trains coaches on how to protect student athletes from concussions. Coaches and other school athletic staff members can enroll at http://activecoach.orcasinc.com.

Source: Insurance Journal.

Tags:

Congressional Republicans: Repealing Healthcare First on the Agenda

January 4th, 2011 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in health care reform, health insurance

The new Congressional term has not even begun and already, Reuters is reporting that the Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are planning to pass a bill repealing President Obama’s health care reforms, though it is expected that the bill will ultimately fail in the Senate.

When the new Congress convenes tomorrow with Republicans controlling the House in the wake of Novembers midterm elections, they’ll be set to move ahead with their campaign promise to attempt to repeal the new healthcare law, which the Obama administration considers to be one of their greatest legislative victories.

According to Brad Dayspring, a spokesman for incoming House Republican leader Eric Cantor, the House plans to vote on their repeal bill on January 12th. “It will pass the House,” he said.

While Republicans will control the House with a margin of 242 – 193, the Democrats retain control of the Senate with a 53-47 margin and are likely to block any repeal of the healthcare reform laws.

Dayspring said, “Obamacare is a job killer for businesses small and large, and the top priority for House Republicans is going to be to cut spending and grow the economy and jobs.”

Republicans, especially the extremely fiscally conservative ones, swore to attack healthcare reform after their party did well in last November’s elections. Still, Senate Democrats warned them against repealing a provision which closes a coverage gap in the Medicare prescription drug program for senior citizens.

In a letter to incoming Speaker of the House, John Boehner, the Democrats wrote, “If House Republicans move forward with a repeal of the healthcare law that threatens consumer benefits like the ‘donut hole’ fix, we will block it in the Senate.” They added, “Taking this benefit away from seniors would be irresponsible and reckless at a time when it is becoming harder and harder for seniors to afford a healthy retirement.”

In addition to other provisions, the healthcare reform package that went into effect last spring extends healthcare insurance to millions of Americans without coverage. Despite this, voters seem to be split over it when polled, and the reform laws have become a favorite target of the Republicans who claim it is an excessive reach by the Federal government.

And if repeal fails? The Republicans will still yield considerable power over the government purse strings and will try to use it to deny the Obama administration access to the funds necessary to implement the new laws.

Dayspring said the House will hold a procedural vote on Friday in preparation for the Jan. 12 vote.

Tags: ,

Oahu Residents: Buy Flood Insurance!

January 3rd, 2011 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in flood insurance

Property owners in Oahu, Hawaii, are being urged by emergency management officials to purchase flood insurance at current rates, before new flood maps and higher prices go into effect later this month.

FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) says update rate maps for the National Flood Insurance Program are due to be implemented on January 19th.

Parts of Hawaii affected by the new maps include Hawaii Kai, Ala Moana-Kakaako, Ewa Beach, and Makaha.

Property owners in areas designated as special flood hazard zones, and who hold federally backed mortgage are required to purchase flood insurance policies.

Business and homeowners who purchase flood insurance policies prior to January 19th will be able to take advantage of lower premiums, giving them a potential savings on hundreds of dollars a year.

Tags:

Newer Entries »