Stories related to: insurance

American International Group posted a record-breaking $7.8 billion first-quarter loss yesterday, reports the Wall Street Journal . The insurance giant blamed the poor results on the sagging housing market, the credit crunch and the see-sawing stock market. It announced plans to raise $12.5 billion to patch up the damage to its balance sheet from heavy writedowns. More »

Pricey prescription drugs are getting pricier, and, the New York Times reports, insurance companies are asking patients to shoulder more of the burden. Insurers are quietly phasing out traditional drug plans, which charge a fixed co-pay of $20 or $30 to fill a prescription, in favor of so-called Tier 4 plans, which squeeze patients who need certain expensive drugs for as much as a third of their cost—which can run to thousands of dollars a month. More »

The "transformative" changes Henry Paulson has in mind for the regulation of the US economy will take years to implement, the Treasury Secretary said today. The plan would greatly increase the Fed's oversight powers, regulate the insurance industry for the first time, and add federal oversight of the mortgage business, the Wall Street Journal reports. “We need to begin the serious work of modernizing and reforming the structure,” Paulson said. More »

As more Americans buy individual health insurance, states are acting to make sure insurers don’t cancel the plans without fair cause, USA Today reports. Plans can be canceled if applicants misreport their medical history, whether accidentally or on purpose. But amid complaints that companies are cutting the plans unjustly, legislators across the country are working to impose stricter laws to protect consumers. More »

Wary consumers already smarting from soaring gas prices won't want to miss Insure.com's new lists of the 10 priciest—and the 10 cheapest—cars to insure. The five with the highest premiums are: Dodge Ram Pickup Chevy Silverado C/K pickup Toyota Prius Honda Accord Nissan Altima More »

A Michigan church has been denied property insurance not because it sits on the wrong side of the tracks, but because its national governing body sanctions gay marriage and the ordination of homosexuals, reports the Wall Street Journal. Denials are normally reserved for high-risk applicants, and Brotherhood Mutual was concerned that the West Adrian United Church of Christ's controversial stance would provoke vandalism or destruction. More »

The wife of back-from-the-dead canoeist John Darwin was sent to prison yesterday shortly after she issued a plea through her attorney for a reconciliation with her sons, who publicly disowned their parents after the scandal broke. Anne Darwin is charged with dishonestly obtaining life insurance benefits and a mortgage policy. Her husband is in jail facing similar charges. More »

The British man who faked his own death in a boating accident had been planning with his wife to open an eco-tourism resort offering idyllic canoeing holidays, the Times of London has discovered. John and Anne Darwin spent almost half a million dollars on property in Panama, including $390,000 on a swath of virgin forest on the banks of Lake Gatun, home to tapirs and toucans. More »

The wife of a British canoeist declared dead after missing for five years admitted yesterday that she knew her husband was alive before he walked into a police station last weekend claiming to be an amnesiac. Anne Darwin confessed when she was confronted with a photo of herself with her husband, John, in Panama last year, reports the Daily Mail . More »

California’s runaway wildfires are not likely to do longterm damage to the state’s economy, the Los Angeles Times reports—in fact the disaster could be a boon to some sectors. One of those is construction: In the first nine months of the year, construction jobs were down 3% from the previous year; a massive, insurance-backed rebuilding effort could revive the business.  More »

Cruising over to Insurance Island might not sound like the most fun thing to do with your virtual life, but Assicurazioni Generali SpA is dedicated to being the rare corporate Second Life island that works, offering a car chase game, and manning the island with real employees. The 176-year old company wants to learn “what a virtual world looks and feels like.” More »

San Francisco will provide health care for every uninsured adult in the city, pioneering an approach that works around the limits of the federal system. The program goes citywide on Monday and will serve adults under the poverty line through November; after that, it will be open to everyone regardless of income. The Times takes a look. More »

Health insurance premiums zoomed 6.1% this year, far outrunning inflation and worker earnings, a new study has found. Since 2001, premiums for family coverage have risen 78% percent, while wages have increased by only 19% and inflation by 17%, a Kaiser Family Foundation survey shows. Still, this year's hike is the smallest in eight years. More »

The US poverty rate has finally taken a downturn for the first time in 10 years, census figures show. The poverty rate was 12.3% in 2006, down from 12.6% the previous year, and annual household income rose to $48,200. But the news isn't all rosy: the number of people without health insurance soared to a record 47 million, and income inequality has never been greater. More »

Ray Nagin delivered an unscripted plea to Congress yesterday, asking for a more urgent response to the health-care crisis that has plagued New Orleans since Katrina hit in 2005. Both Republicans and Democrats echoed the mayor's frustrations at the federal government's inaction on the city's pronounced shortage of physicians and mental health professionals, the Times-Picayune reports. More »

Political-risk insurance has quietly become a billion-dollar industry, the Economist reports, as Western corporations doing business in the developing world crave protection against coups, embargoes and civil wars. The Berne Union, a syndicate of 30 of the field's biggest insurers, says members have $113 billion in outstanding policies in some of the most hazardous places on Earth. More »

The country's largest health insurer says it will pay up for good health--offering bonuses to employees who boost patients' use of preventive medical services. WellPoint Inc.'s plan is intended to encourage participation in programs like diabetes management, which helps patients handle their medical needs before they end up in the emergency room. More »

Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point and Blink, examines the premise underlying U.S. health insurance known by the Dickensian term: Moral Hazard. The theory of Moral Hazard describes the notion that insurance can change peoples’ behavior. Without deductibles, co-payments and other barriers to use, people will use too much health care. More »