Live Insurance News

195 Arrested in massive auto insurance fraud bust in California

November 18, 2014November 15, 2014 Julie Campbell

54 arrests were made throughout the Bay Area and involved claims estimated at over $250,000. A widespread auto insurance fraud investigation that spanned the state of California has now resulted in the arrest of 54 people in the Bay Area, after an alleged rash of falsified claims were submitted to insurers. This announcement was recently made by the Department of Insurance within the state. According to the announcement that was made by the state department officials, the claims from this insurance fraud bust could have led to over $250,000 in…

Health insurance regulators in California not awarded more power

November 10, 2014November 8, 2014 S.Vagus

California Proposition 45 has been defeated by voters amidst strong opposition to the measure Voters in California have decided to deny the passage of Proposition 45, which would have provided the state’s Insurance Commissioner, Dave Jones, and the state’s Department of Insurance, with the power to review health insurance rate increases. Under current law, state regulators cannot reject rate increases coming from insurers before these increases have been implemented. Commissioner Jones has been advocating for more regulatory power for some time, claiming that tougher regulations would be a benefit to…

Auto insurance fraud receives more attention from state agency

September 3, 2014September 1, 2014 Nordstrom

Insurance Department begins to increase its efforts to combat insurance fraud throughout California The California Department of Insurance has begun to focus more heavily on fighting auto insurance fraud in the Los Angeles area. The agency has been working to track down and eliminate fraud in this area for some time, but has only found modest success. Those participating in fraud have, thus far, managed to find ways to sidestep regulations and continue exploiting consumers and insurance companies alike. Recently, the agency has found more success in its fight against…

California insurance could drive the economy in the long term

February 5, 2014February 3, 2014 G. Turner

Reports are showing that consumer spending is down, but subsidies could free up more cash. According to some of the latest reports – including those released by the largest retailer in the world, Walmart and the largest online retailer, Amazon – lower and middle income families have been cutting down on their spending, but at the same time, the changes made by the health care reforms could, in theory, help to use California insurance to boost the economy in the state. The reason is that the amount being paid for…

Life insurance settlements in California reach $763 million

June 11, 2013June 8, 2013 G. Turner

So far, there have been 11 insurers that have joined into the multistate agreement to pay. According to John Chiang, the California State Controller, there have been 11 life insurance companies that have now signed the multistate settlements for unpaid benefits of up to $763 million. These settlements were the result of a half decade investigation conducted by Mr. Chiang and his team. This investigation looked into the compliance that the life insurance industry has maintained with the unclaimed property laws in California. What his research revealed was that companies…

Health insurance exchange in California awards grants worth $37 million

May 17, 2013May 25, 2013 G. Turner

There have been 48 grants for 16 winners whose names have now been announced in the state. The Sacramento Employment and Training Agency, and the UC Davis Center for Reducing Health Disparities has joined a list of nearly fifty other organizations that are the recipients of a total of $37 million in grants from the health insurance exchange in California. This was a part of an education and outreach grant program by Covered California. There were a total of 16 winners of the grants that totaled millions of dollars from…

Insurance industry in California receives new approval

May 1, 2013April 30, 2013 Nordstrom

Lawmakers have given their approval to a couple of consumer protection bills for discrimination prevention. The lawmakers in California have just sent a couple of consumer protection bills to Governor Jerry Brown, which – if signed – will change the health insurance industry in the state by preventing insurers from discrimination against individuals who have pre-existing conditions, and placing a limit on the amount that they will be able to charge older people. These bills are meant to change the laws in California in order to have them match federal…