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NEWS ABOUT: insurance companies

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Veteran Loses Insurance Over 2-Cent Mistake

Ronald Flanagan needs potentially life-saving transplant

(Newser) - Ronald Flanagan already has the donor for a potentially life-saving stem cell transplant, but he can’t have the surgery—because a $0.02 mistake left him without insurance. The Vietnam veteran’s wife, Frances, accidentally paid $328.67 instead of $328.69 when paying November’s bill online, she... More »

In Retreat, Obama Weighs Scaled-Back Health Options

Modest coverage, cost reforms now on horizon

(Newser) - President Obama, chastened by the voter revolt that cost the Democrats their 60th vote in the Senate, is ready to seriously pare down health care reform in an effort to salvage at least some of it. "I would advise that we try to move quickly to coalesce around those... More »

Gibbs on Dean: Nobody 'Rational' Would Kill the Bill

'I don't know what legislation he's reading,' says press chief

(Newser) - White House press secretary Robert Gibbs fired back at Howard Dean today for encouraging progressives to kill the health care reform bill. Dean thinks the bill, without a public option, is now too compromised to deserve further support. "I would ask Dr. Dean, how better do you address those... More »

AIG's Benmosche: I'm Not Quitting

CEO is 'committed' to firm's employees

(Newser) - AIG CEO Robert Benmosche isn’t fed up with running a government-controlled insurance giant after all: Backing away from his threat to quit, Benmosche said today that he remains "totally committed” to the company. The CEO conceded, however, that he and the board “are indeed frustrated” with the... More »

Industry Report Distorts Health Reform Cost

Insurance firms' numbers blindside Baucus bill's backers

(Newser) - A new report that says the Senate Finance Committee’s reform bill would raise private insurance premiums is riddled with troubling exceptions, writes Jonathan Cohn. The report, commissioned by America's Health Insurance Plans, estimates the costs of premiums over time if the bill is implemented, but it doesn’t take... More »

Critics Say Insurers Cutting Sick People Loose

(Newser) - Insurance companies are being hit from all sides on at least one issue—in industry jargon, it's called rescission. In the real world, it's when insurers cancel coverage because they say a customer has lied to them about a preexisting condition or some other issue. It's not clear how many... More »

Let's Make Health Insurance Policies Readable

Legal mumbo-jumbo means patients can't tell what they're covered for

(Newser) - There’s one important health care issue that’s generated little chatter: the oft-inscrutable language of insurance policies, writes Rhode Island health official John Cogan in the New York Times. Policies are penned at a grad-school level, which led his state to require, as of next year, that they be... More »

Ex-AIG Honcho Settles New SEC Case for $15M

(Newser) - The SEC today simultaneously announced a complaint against former AIG chief Hank Greenberg and the resolution of the matter—a $15 million payment to settle the suit, the New York Times reports. Greenberg and a former AIG CFO were accused of “numerous improper accounting transactions” between 2000 and 2005... More »

Wall Street Rakes in $1B in Fees on AIG Breakup

Morgan Stanley set to pocket $250M in 'advisory services'

(Newser) - The crumbling of AIG forced taxpayers to take on 80% of the company, but breaking the insurance giant up is turning out to be a bonanza for lawyers and banks. The Wall Street Journal calculates that firms will pull in $1 billion in fees from AIG and the Fed—one... More »

AIG Comes Out Swinging in $4.3B Lawsuit vs. Ex-CEO

(Newser) - AIG 's longtime CEO sold crucial assets in 2005 out of spite, the company's lawyers charged as they opened their civil suit against the ousted exec today in New York. “Hank Greenberg was mad. He was angry,” said a lawyer for the bailed-out mega-insurer. Greenberg was weeks away... More »

Spending on Health Care Lobbying Up 41%

Drug, insurance companies oppose public insurance

(Newser) - As the health care debate heats up in Washington, insurance and drug companies are keeping their lobbyists busy. So far this year, those industries have increased their lobbyist spending by 41% as they fight a proposed public insurance plan, USA Today reports. That's $35 million in the first quarter for... More »

AIG Dodges Insurance Claims from Hudson Flight

Insurer accused of using goodwill towards flight crew to dodge paying up

(Newser) - Passengers from US Airways Flight 1549 are having a tough time getting its insurer, AIG, to cough up for claims, the New York Times reports. Aviation liability insurance requires a finding of negligence. But Capt. Chesley Sullenberger and his crew were universally acknowledged to have performed amazingly well in saving... More »

AIG Bailout Has Failed: Greenberg

Government should focus on reducing stake, restructuring firm, former CEO says

(Newser) - AIG’s former CEO told Congress today the bailout of the insurance firm has “failed” and that the government should restructure the company, the Wall Street Journal reports. At a House committee hearing, Hank Greenberg said he blamed his successors for the firm’s implosion: "I think they... More »

AIG Chief to Testify Amid Rising Rage

(Newser) - AIG chief Edward Liddy has the not-so-distinct pleasure of testifying before Congress tomorrow just as rage at his company is reaching a full-throated roar. The House and Senate seem to be in a race to see who can recover the $165 million in bonuses faster, the Hill reports. If AIG... More »

Report: US Gets Less Health for More $$$

Other nations in better health despite spending less

(AP) - If the global economy were a 100-yard dash, the US would start 23 yards behind its competitors because its health care costs too much—about $2.4 trillion a year—and delivers too little, says a report out today. The authors and leading CEOs say the US funnels away resources... More »

Fear of Unforeseen Chaos Keeps Feds Bailing Out AIG

(Newser) - If you want to understand the phrase “too big to fail,” look no further than AIG, the Los Angeles Times reports. With $1.1 trillion at the end of 2007, operations in 130 countries and 74 million customers, AIG is so entrenched in the global financial system that... More »

AIG Posts Record Loss, Gets 4th Lifeline of $30B

Insurer loses $62 billion in Q4 and may break up

(Newser) - AIG posted a quarterly loss of $62 billion today—the largest in American history—following news that Washington will provide an additional $30 billion in cash to the insurer and loosen the terms on previous loans. The Treasury and Fed have now intervened four times to prop up AIG, reports... More »

Back-Room Consensus: Require Health Insurance for All

Kennedy leads meetings with industry

(Newser) - A series of unprecedented back-room meetings among the biggest players in health care is close to a consensus: Any new legislation will require that every American have insurance, the New York Times reports. The next part, of course, is trickier: figuring out how to enforce it, how to make it... More »

Ledger's Insurer Settles With Daughter

Attorneys wanted $10M, but company wanted to look into suicide possibilities

(Newser) - Heath Ledger’s insurance company has agreed to pay at least part of the late actor’s $10 million policy to his daughter, Matilda. Ledger’s lawyers reached an out-of-court settlement with ReliaStar Life Insurance, which had balked at paying because of suspicions his 2008 overdose death was a suicide,... More »

Dow Falls 105 on Banks, Tech

Jobs and housing data also dismal

(Newser) - Poor economic data and turmoil in the banking and tech sectors pushed stocks lower today, MarketWatch reports. Bank of America fell 13.3% after CEO Ken Lewis dismissed John Thain amid mounting losses in the wake of BoA’s merger with Merrill Lynch. The Dow closed down 105.30 at... More »

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