iStockphoto When it comes to health insurance for young adults, the Affordable Care Act made it possible for kids to stay on their parents’ health plans until they turn 26. It was one of the first provisions of the law to take effect and has proved popular. But what happens when the parents are divorced?...
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Latest Cyber Security Breach: 1.2B Passwords Stolen
Companies large and small appear to have been targeted in what is being described as the largest known data breach to date. As first reported by The New York Times, a Russian crime ring amassed billions of stolen Internet credentials, including 1.2 billion user name and password combinations and more than 500 million email addresses....
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To Lie Or Not To Lie
Have you ever wondered how far people will go to stretch the truth in order to save a few bucks? Research out of the United Kingdom by global insurer Zurich sheds light on this behavior. In a poll of 2,000 adults in the UK, one-in-five (20 percent) admit to lying to their insurance company, despite...
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Insects, Spiders and Mites: A Workplace Hazard
Construction workers, farmers and landscape workers take note: insect-related deaths are most likely in your line of work. As reported by The Wall Street Journal’s The Numbers blog, a new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) finds that insects, arachnids, and mites were involved in 83 fatal occupational injuries from 2003 to 2010....
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Insurance Potpourri
As we head into August and the weekend, here are some of the stories from around the insurance blogosphere that piqued our interest: Bertha: Tropical storm warnings have been issued for Puerto Rico, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and other nearby islands as Tropical Storm Bertha – the second named storm of the 2014...
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Exchange health insurance premiums in 2015 – the real story
Shockingly, there’s a good deal of confusion out there regarding what will happen with health insurance premiums in 2015, more specifically what’s going to happen in the Exchanges. Let’s leave aside (for now) the possibility that we’ll have another enrollment mess like we experienced last fall (CMS officials are likely still twitching over that disaster…). Instead,...
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Aetna’s sale of Coventry – the deal is done
While it may not be closed, the deal is done. Multiple sources indicated APAX is scheduled to close the purchase of Coventry Workers’ Comp a month from now. The long-rumored sale will close October 1 – if everything goes according to plan. Here are the details – at least as they’ve been relayed to me....
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Friday catch-up
The last couple weeks of the “real” summer are flashing by…things have been a little slow out there but a few items of note crossed my virtual desk this week. Workers’ comp From Insurance Thought Leadership comes a piece about M&A activity in P&C insurance claims. While the article emphasizes the “supply chain” for auto, the...
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Good news is bad news – Medical cost inflation’s continued decline
Perhaps the biggest news to hit this summer is the decline in medical inflation. Make no mistake, this is very, very important. Important – as in huge decreases in the federal deficit. Important – as in low-single-digit health premium increases. Important – as in placing huge pressure on health care systems, hospitals, and other providers...
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Can I Buy Insurance After Being Injured In An Accident?
Alberto Ruggieri/Corbis Now that the federal health law forbids denial of insurance for pre-existing condition, some people have wondered if they can wait until they get sick to buy health coverage. Let’s say an uninsured person is in a car accident, has emergency surgery and is hospitalized, and after awaking from surgery asks to purchase...
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