Gender gap continues to play an important role in health insurance premiums

According to the latest research issued in a report by the research and advocacy group, the National Women’s Law Center, women continue to pay higher premiums than men for the same health coverage. In 2014, when the new healthcare laws are fully implemented, the discrepancy between what men and women will pay for health insurance will cease, but at the moment, many states continue to see significant gaps between the premiums of men and women without any indication that the insurers intend to shrink them. The report will become available…

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Ohio leads all other U.S. states for metal theft insurance claims

According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, Ohio is the state in which there are the largest number of property insurance claims due to the theft of metals such as copper. This insurance fraud-fighting industry-supported organization revealed that there were 2,398 claims of this nature made by property owners in Ohio, within the three year span from 2009 to 2011. Comparatively, across the country, there were more than 25,000 claims of this type within that same period of time. This represents an increase of 81 percent over the number of…

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Pennsylvania Department of Insurance given new rate review authority under enacted law

A new law that will expand the authority of the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance has taken effect this week. The law was introduced last year and won approval from the state’s legislators. Governor Tom Corbett signed the bill, Act 134, into law late last year, with an enactment date of March 21, 2012. The law is nearly identical to similar legislation in California that gave regulators more authority over rate proposals coming from insurance companies. Legislators believe that new authority granted to the Department of Insurance will help protect consumers…

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New guidelines concerning federal Insurance Verification law published by federal agencies

The Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services, and the Internal Revenue Service have released new guidelines for the federal “Insurance Verification” law that will be enacted in September of this year. The law, often referred to as “One Nation, One Verification,” aims to make verifying health insurance less problematic. The law exists to augment to Affordable Care Act. The federal health is meant to make attaining insurance coverage easier for Americans, but this ease of access could create administrative nightmares as consumers purchase policies that will allow…

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New report identifies online and mobile industry trends in insurance for BRIC countries

A new report has just been released that has provided an in-depth analysis of the adoption of online and mobile commerce strategies by insurance companies in BRIC countries. The report is entitled “Online Strategies of Banking and Insurance Companies in the BRIC Countries”. It provides insight into the latest insurance industry trends in China, India, Brazil, and Russia. What it found was that the industry in those countries are adopting social media as a part of their online and mobile commerce marketing tools. It also looked into the drivers and…

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European Union holds back on Iranian oil sanctions, considers exemptions for insurers

The European Union has been deliberating on how to handle sanctions imposed against Iran since late last year. Iran has been the target of oil sanctions from much of Europe and the U.S. These sanctions would have a significant impact of the transportation of oil from the country and much of the Middle East. One of the major problems that would arise from the sanctions concerns the insurance industry. If the sanctions are enacted, insurers in Europe and the U.S. will no longer be able to provide coverage for ships…

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International Monetary Fund claims global economy is improving due to international cooperation

The global economy is showing significant signs of improvement, according to International Monetary Fund (IMF) Director Christine Lagarde. Lagarde traveled to Beijing this week to discuss the economic improvements that are being seen all over the world. Much of the improvements come from bold moves made in the insurance industry as a way to remedy the European financial crisis. With the help of insurers and reinsurers, the European Union was able to conduct the largest debt restructure in history and pull Greece from the brink of economic calamity. Lagarde notes…

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