Tag Archives: BREAKING NEWS

By Tami Luhby, April 21, 2014 Wonder why some doctors grumble when a Medicare patient walks in the door? It’s likely because the government program typically pays only 80% of what private insurers do. Medicare has the bad rap of being a big, bloated government program, but it’s not because it’s overpaying doctors. CNNMoney analyzed the “allowed charges” for five …

The Associated Press, 4/10/2014 State lawmakers are taking a look at why New Yorkers pay some of the highest auto insurance rates in the nation. Insurance industry representatives, consumer advocates and state officials tasked with regulating insurance are expected to weigh in at a legislative hearing scheduled for Thursday morning. The hearing is intended to focus on the availability of …

The Associated Press, 4/14/2014 BOSTON — A bill freezing unemployment insurance rates for Massachusetts businesses has won final approval from lawmakers. The House and Senate voted during informal sessions on Monday to send the rate freeze to Gov. Deval Patrick’s desk. The governor is expected to sign the measure, retroactive to Jan. 1, marking the fourth year in a row …

By Wesley Lowery, April 7, 2014 Later today, the Senate will vote along party lines to pass an extension to federally provided long-term unemployment benefits — legislation that, once it’s passed, will have taken four Senate votes to get passed. While Democrats will trumpet this evening’s Senate vote as a triumph, the legislation seems to face an implausible pathway to …

By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, April 7, 2014 WASHINGTON — A growing share of Americans got health insurance as sign-up season for President Barack Obama’s health care law came to a close last month, a major survey released Monday has found. The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index provides independent validation for White House claims that the law is expanding access, particularly for working people …

The Associated Press, March 15, 2014 An unnamed Silicon Valley billionaire has purchased the world’s most valuable life insurance policy. The San Jose Mercury News reported Saturday that Guinness Book of World Record officials say the $201-million life insurance policy is more than double the previous record set in 1990 by an unidentified “entertainment industry figure.” A Southern California financial …

By Rick Moran, March 19, 2014 According to the Hill, many insurance companies are contradicting HHS Secretary Sebelius’s rosy predictions about modest increases in Obamacare premiums next year. Some of the increases will be “significant.” How significant? In some states, the increase may be as much as 300%. The expected rate hikes will be announced in the coming months amid …

The idea that marketing is something that companies “do” is so ingrained in the business mindset that it’s impossible to think otherwise. Yet, that’s exactly what needs to happen. It’s true that many marketers enthusiastically avoid the traditional marketing label with energetic efforts to recalibrate their careers. No matter what you call it, pull the curtain back and marketing largely …

By Ramit Plushnick-Masti, March 17, 2014 HOUSTON (AP) — Sara Rodriguez recently received a $4,000 bill for a six-hour emergency room visit to treat a fever. She says she can’t pay, but she’s also not planning to buy health insurance through the new federal marketplace. Rodriguez, like others gathered in a Houston gymnasium listening to a presentation about the health …

By Alex Wayne, March 16, 2014 WASHINGTON — In Maine, the insurer that has enrolled the most Affordable Care Act customers isn’t the state’s well-established Blue Cross Blue Shield plan, owned by WellPoint Inc. It’s WellPoint’s only rival: Maine Community Health Options, a startup that didn’t exist three years ago. The newcomer, funded primarily by taxpayer money lent under the …