Live Insurance News

New coalition takes aims at health insurance mergers in the US

November 18, 2015November 17, 2015 S.Vagus

Consumer groups form coalition to target mergers of health insurance providers Two consumer advocacy groups in the United States have formed a new coalition in order to create pressure of antitrust regulators concerning the merger of large insurance providers. These mergers would cut the number of for-profit health insurance companies from five to three, which may have a dramatic impact on consumers in terms of insurance options and costs. The coalition may be able to shed more light on the potential impact that mergers will have, encouraging state regulators to…

Hacks are causing cyber insurance rates to skyrocket

October 21, 2015October 20, 2015 S.Vagus

Insurers are raising premiums for the cyber insurance coverage that they provide Over the past two years, companies in the United States have been targeted by aggressive cyber attacks. This has prompted insurers to increase premiums on cyber insurance coverage by a massive margin. Some companies are perceived as being a high risk, which means that they are seeing higher costs when it comes to protecting themselves from digital attacks. Insurers are not just raising premiums on cyber insurance coverage, however, and many companies are looking for a solution to…

Anthem insurance company to purchase Cigna for $54 billion

July 27, 2015July 24, 2015 G. Turner

Cigna's Headquarters in Philadelphia insurance company

Massive acquisition to take place as one insurer purchases the other for cash and stock. It was recently announced that Anthem will be buying the Cigna insurance company for a tremendous buyout of $54 billion in cash and stock, making this the latest huge purchase by the insurer. The buyout is for 55 percent cash in addition to the remaining 45 percent in stock. Anthem has agreed to purchase each Cigna share for $188. The combined insurance company will be serving an estimated 53 million plan members. This new acquisition…

Insurance companies scramble to find out if Chinese hack reached them

June 8, 2015June 6, 2015 G. Turner

cyber insurance companies security mobile

The industry is attempting to determine if the hackers that breached government employee files also affected them. Cybersecurity experts are cautioning insurance companies that the same Chinese hackers that were behind the data breach of a minimum of four million government employee files may also have been responsible for similar data thefts at two health care giants: Premera and Anthem. The tremendous hack to the Office of Personnel Management was likely not the first large scale American hack for the group. There have been a series of different attacks that…

Health insurance company hit by data breach

May 25, 2015May 23, 2015 S.Vagus

emergency health insurance policies medical technology

CareFirst has fallen victim to a significant data breach CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield has taken note of the rise in cyber crimes that are targeting health insurance companies and had been taking steps to upgrade its security. The company had hoped to avoid falling victim to digital attacks by improving its cyber security, but while doing so found that it had already been the target of a major data breach, which began in June 2014. The data breach represents a significant problem that health insurance companies are having, as it shows…

Cyber insurance market is showing signs of healthy growth

April 10, 2015April 9, 2015 Marc

Lloyd’s of London notes that more activity is being seen in the cyber insurance market Several high-profile cyber attacks on large companies have spurred more activity in the cyber insurance market, according to reports from Lloyd’s of London. The insurance company notes that claims in the cyber market have rose by 50% for the first three months of this year. More companies are becoming concerned with the digital risks that they face. These risks could result in serious financial damage, which insurance coverage may be able to mitigate, if policies…

Health insurance data breach exposes data of 11 million consumers

March 19, 2015March 18, 2015 Logan B.

Premera Blue Cross has revealed that it was the victim of a major data breach Another health insurance company has revealed that it has been the victim of a major data breach from hackers. Premera Blue Cross has confirmed that hackers have breached its consumer database, with malicious attacks going as far back as May 2014. The insurer believes that the financial and medical information of 11 million people may have been exposed in the attack. If true, this would make the attack the largest of its kind against a…