By Gigi Douban, January 23, 2014 When you think of the healthcare marketplace, you think of options and choices. But since the rollout of the Affordable Care Act, one thing’s been clear: Options are not a given. Alabama is among a dozen or so states where every county has just one–or maybe two– insurers. Experts are noticing a pattern: Folks in …

By Chris Woodyard, January 22, 2014 The smallest cars on the road carry the biggest injury risk in a common and deadly type of crash, a report released Wednesday reveals. Only one of 11 small city and minicars passed the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s small front overlap crash test in which a car hits a barrier with the front …

By Jeffrey Young, January 10, 2014 Red tape and echoes of Obamacare’s early technological failures have created a potentially life-threatening crisis for a Connecticut woman forced to postpone surgery because her insurance coverage is in doubt. K.C. Handler, 43, of New Canaan got troubling news from her doctor in early December: Tests revealed a growth on her left lung that …

By Michael Melia, January 20, 2014 HARTFORD, Conn. — Worried about the groom getting cold feet? There’s an insurance policy for that. With the cost of the average American wedding reaching about $26,000, insurers have been selling a growing number of policies to protect against losses from extreme weather, illness and, in one firm’s case, even a sudden change of …

By Carla K. Johnson and Tom Murphy, January 21, 2014 The health care overhaul’s reach stretches far beyond the millions of uninsured Americans it is expected to help. It also could touch everything from the drug choices to doctor bills of people who have insurance through work. The law isn’t expected to prompt sudden, radical changes for workers. So you …

By Gray Rohrer, 01/15/2014 Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty says property insurance rates are decreasing in Florida. “Our analysis of the top 30 voluntary homeowner insurers in Florida shows that rates are going down, Florida homeowners are benefitting from lower reinsurance costs and the market as a whole is more robust and competitive,” McCarty stated in a report released Wednesday. McCarty’s …

By Angela Perkey, 1/15/2014 The latest report on Obamacare enrollment indicates that a relatively small number of young adults under 35 have signed up for health coverage. This isn’t surprising at all. However, it’s not for the reasons that are often cited. Those of us who fall into this generation are generally not lazy. We also don’t think we’re invincible, …

By Zachary Tracer, January 9, 2014 U.S. life insurers will use cash for acquisitions rather than share repurchases after buybacks helped drive a rally last year, Deloitte LLP said in its 2014 industry outlook. “Stock buybacks, which were an important part of the capital allocation story for 2013, may not be quite as appealing,” Boris Lukan, a principal at Deloitte, …