Posts Tagged ‘ratewatch’

Aetna Suspends Rate Hike in California

April 28th, 2011 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in health insurance, rate watch

Following in the footsteps of Anthem Blue Shield and PacifiCare, Aetna Inc. has become the third major health insurance company in California to announce that it was stepping back from its proposed rate increase there. Now, instead of roughly 43,000 Aetna policyholders being handed a rate hike of 17.9%, their insurance will go up only 12.2%. This decision came after the insurer agreed to postpone any increase to July 1, in response to a request from Dave Jones, the California Insurance Commissioner.

The reduced rate increase will likely save Aetna’s policy holders $6.7 million in premiums, and, according to Mr. Jones, the sixty-day delay added another $1 million to that savings.

Aetna isn’t reducing its rate increase without protest, however. The insurance company maintains that the rising cost of medical care is necessitating an increase in health insurance costs, and that a limit on the company’s ability to raise rates could be detrimental to its future. Addressing this in a statement, a representative of the company wrote, “Long term, our financial viability in the individual health insurance market in California could be impacted by the inability to implement rates which adequately address the rising cost of health care services in the state.”

Commissioner Jones also made a statement about Aetna, saying, “Aetna policyholders will benefit from Aetna’s decision to lower their proposed July 1 rate increase. Aetna has agreed to a reduction of their most recent increase, but Californians have experienced unsustainable health insurance increases year after year and they want me to have the authority to reject excessive rate increases. A.B. 52, which would give me that authority, passed out of the Assembly Health Committee this week.”

The announcement from Aetna represents the latest success in Jones’s push to expand the regulatory role of his office in the health insurance market.

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Ratewatch: Allstate to Raise Rates in Mississippi

April 12th, 2011 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in homeowners insurance, rate watch

According to the Mississippi Insurance Commissioner, Mike Chaney, Allstate customers in that state will be seeing a 19.4 percent increase in their homeowners insurance rates. The increase is likely to happen in June, and apply to both renewals and new policies.

For nearly two years, Chaney has been in negotiations with Allstate about the size of this increase, which, when filed, was a ridiculously high 65 percent. That increase, along with the reduced request for a 44% rate hike, was rejected.

In 2006, after Hurricane Katrina, then-Insurance Commissioner George Dale approved Allstate’s request for a 29.5 percent increase which also came with a 90% increase in the state’s three coastal counties. That rate-raising was followed by a 14 percent hike approved by Chaney in 2008, though that was an average, and coastal homeowners actually saw their insurance go up by about 40 percent at that time.

Then, in late 2009, Chaney declared that he would only accept rate increases that were proposed statewide, rather than those broken down by property zone (i.e. inland vs. coastal locations).

In the most recent negotiations, Allstate threatened to drop 18,000 policyholders from their book of business unless the 44% increase was allowed, but after more back-and-forth, the insurer agreed to drop only 5,000 policies in Mississippi, no more than 150 of which are in coastal locations, and then only after a year passes.

A representative of Allstate said that any homeowners insurance customers who also have (or move) their auto policies to Allstate will not be dropped, and will also receive a 25% discount, which is ten percent more than the previous discount of 15%.

In a statement to the press, Chaney said, “This has been a painstaking process, and as commissioner, I worked diligently to negotiate the requested rate down to a 19.4 percent increase to the policyholder. I earnestly believe I have arrived at the most equitable solution possible, while carefully balancing the percentage of increase granted with the number of non-renewals by Allstate throughout the state.”

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RateWatch: Michigan Judge Halts Blue Cross Rate Increase

November 18th, 2010 by Iris | 2 Comments | Filed in health insurance, insurance news, rate watch

A circuit court judge in Ingham County, Michigan has called a stop to Blue Cross Blue Shield’s planned rate increases there. The increases in question would have increased the cost of premiums by up to 66% for some senior citizens.

The preliminary injunction, which was filed on Tuesday, requires that a public meeting be held.

Last September, the Michigan attorney general’s office filed a lawsuit against Blue Cross and a state regulator, claiming that a hearing should have been held by the Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation.

According to state officials, 8,000 – 9,000 polices out of about 200,000 existing Blue Cross Blue Shield Medigap policies are affected by this decision.

Spokespeople for Blue Cross and the regulator said that the rate changes resulted from the elimination of a discount on Medigap policies for people who either reside outside of Michigan, or get help from their employers in purchasing coverage.

Blue Cross also said they were ordered to end the discounts.

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Texas Wind Insurance Assoc. Asks for 5% Increase

August 23rd, 2010 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in homeowners insurance, insurance news, rate watch

Some homeowners insurance in Texas is about to get a little bit more expensive, as the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) has filed for five percent increases in both commercial and residential rates, to go into effect on the first of next year.

TWIA is the state’s “last resort” insurance company, providing wind and hail coverage in 14 of the Lone Star State’s coastal counties, as well as part of Harris county. The TWIA wind and hail coverage is for property owners whose primary insurance excludes such coverage.

As required by Texas Insurance Code, TWIA is obligated to make their annual rate filing with the state Department of Insurance by August 15th of each year. While actuarial data recommended increases of 27 percent and 36 percent for residential and commercial properties, respectively, the group’s board opted to file only for a five percent increase instead.

Jerry Hagins, speaking on behalf of the Department of Insurance, said that it’s too early to say whether or not the insurance commissioner will approve or disapprove the rate increase request, but the commissioner’s approval is not actually required, since only increases that are greater than five percent need commissioner approval within 60 days. Filings of five percent or less, like this one, don’t have to be approved, though the commissioner does have 30 days to disapprove of it.

If the commissioner does not disapprove, the rate increase will take effect automatically.

Source: Insurance Journal

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